Hull Trinity Festival headliners Dodgy are planning a show to remember at their last festival gig of the year this weekend.
The band whose hits include Good Enough and Staying Out for the Summer have been playing to thousands of fans on the outdoor festival circuit but will be back indoors after Sunday’s performance on the main stage outside Holy Trinity Church. Not that they’ll be playing many gigs anyway. Drummer Mathew Priest reveals that, second time, around the Britpop trio are moving at a slower pace.
“We’re not travelling as much and we’re doing other things with our time as well,” said Mathew, who formed the band with bassist Nigel Clark and guitarist Andy Miller in 1991.
“If we were going to Japan and Canada and had a record company breathing down our necks for a new album we’d be working much more quickly and we’d probably split up again!”
The break-up came after ten years and the reunion five years ago after tragedy struck their long-standing lighting director, Andy Moore.
Mathew said: “Andy had a brain tumour and we all met up at a testimonial for him before he died. There’s nothing like that sort of situation to make you realise how short life can be, so we looked at each other and decided to see if Dodgy could still work.
“We found that it does work, and because it works at our pace it lasts longer and we enjoy it more.”
Proof that it does indeed work came from the critical acclaim which greeted last year’s album Stand Upright In A Cool Place, a set which features prominently in the current live set, alongside their debut release The Dodgy Album from 1993.
Dodgy’s promise to fans in Hull on Sunday is to deliver a mixture of their new material and their hits. They have fond memories of previous visits to Hull to play the Adelphi Club and the Welly, but a big stage and an outdoor crowd enjoying a free festival is seen as an opportunity to have a lot of fun.
“We recognise that our new stuff has to be better than people expect so we really do up our game, but at the same time our debut album is 20 years old this year so we play that as well.
“We have re-established ourselves as a creative force and while we don’t mind playing our hits we have not gone down the route of heritage band because that’s a creative cul-de-sac and you run out of space.
“Hull Trinity Festival will be a bit of everything but we will lean towards songs that people can sing along to, a few special bits and bobs that go down well at festivals.”
Dodgy are due to perform at 7pm on Sunday. On Saturday, King Charles will headline the main stage at 6pm. A full programme of local bands including Streaming Lights, The Talks, the Black Delta Movement and Counting Coins will entertain the crowds during the afternoon, with performances beginning at 2pm on Saturday and 1pm on Sunday.
After the action on the main stage, pubs around the Old Town will also feature the cream of local talent, including Stevie Mould, Lindsey Simpson and Beverley-based duo Sea Of Wires, who have contributed a stand-out track to the new City of Culture compilation CD produced by Fruit Trade Music.
Hull Trinity Festival, now in its third year, is being organised and funded by HullBID with support from The Warren and is one of the launch events for Purple Flag Week, which celebrates the success of the city in gaining recognition as a destination for a safe and enjoyable night out.
Purple Flag Week will then run until Sunday September 29 with activities being planned throughout the city centre to demonstrate the variety and quality of the evening economy.
Kathryn Shillito, HullBID City Centre Manager, said: “Hull Trinity Festival will bring down the curtain on a fantastic summer of festivals in our city and it promises to be an amazing event.
“We’ve managed to book two high profile national acts to headline the event and we’ve also got some of the best home-grown talent, with 13 local bands taking their place on the main stage and many more booked to perform on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in pubs and café bars around the Old Town.
“The Purple Flag is awarded to towns and cities which are seen as offering a safe, varied and enjoyable night out and what Hull Trinity Festival will show is that when the festivals take a break for the winter there is still plenty more top class entertainment in the many venues around our city centre.”
Further information:
Dodgy: http://www.dodgyology.com/
Purple Flag: http://www.purpleflag.org.uk
Hull Trinity Festival: www.facebook.com/hulltrinityfestival
