Witnness Festival
by Edin Murphy from The Evening Herald - August 5th, 2001
Texas rain supreme at festival
WHILE THE heavens opened up and it poured rain, Witnness was anything but a washout.
Fans flocked to Fairyhouse in their thousands to see some of the world's hottests acts varying from the chart-topping Stereophonics to ex-Pixies front man Frank Black.
Other big names included Texas, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Ash, Faithless and the Stereo MC's. In all there were over 50 acts , spead among three tents and the main stage.
EXCITEMENT
Mid-Saturday, as Irish band the Waterboys were starting to generate some real excitement, the weather broke and rain, thunder and lightning gave the fans a little more water than they were expecting.
Not to be beaten by the elements, the crowd fled to the tents and those that couldn't get in gleefully played in the mud in true Woodstock fashion.
As the weather eased off, the crowd's anticipation increased as they waited for Welsh rockers, the Stereophonics to lift their spirits.
They didn't disappoint as they made a cold, damp and muddy audience sing and chant to songs from their three albums.
Sunday proved a real treat.
The Fun Lovin' Criminals worked up the audience with jokes, a soulful version of Danny Boy and the occasional guitar-bashing fit.
With the crowd almost in a frenzy, the FLC's departed to make way for the toast of Witnness, Texas.
FEISTY
Fronted by feisty Sharleen Spiteri, they had the crowd in rock 'n' roll heaven.
At one point there were three audience members up on stage dancing with Sharleen and her backing singers.
They encored with Inner Smile, a number from their new album.
Sharleen dressed up as Elvis in an all-leather suit and then finished with one of his classic hits, Suspicious Minds.
Roll on next year..........
THE HIGHS AND LOWS
Best Performance: Texas
Definitely the crowd pleasers of the weekend
Best Song: Danny Boy
Huey from Fun Lovin' Criminals charmed the Irish with a soulful rendition of Danny Boy
Biggest Moan: Food Prices
We had to rely on free ice cream to keep us going
Silliest moment: Closing the bars at 10pm
As soon as the bars closed, hundreds headed back to the campsites in search of booze, regardless of who was playing.
Funniest Moment: Divers
Groups of teens dived head-first into the mud pools and then chased girls for a kiss
Worst Moment: Portaloos
Enough said!
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