Free Port Isaac Summer Gigs in 2012
I’m sorry to say that we appear to have been swamped by our own success. With a heavy heart, we’ve had to reluctantly take the decision to cut the number of free gigs we do down on the Platt this year, simply because the lack of beach means there’s not enough room when the tides are high to accommodate two or more thousand people.
Short of auditioning King Canute for the group, to hold back the Atlantic while we sing, we’re a bit between a rock and a hard place…
It manifests itself in two ways –
When the tide is right up at around six, we can’t set ourselves up because so many people are already on the Platt and it’s impossible to position our equipment. We can’t set up any earlier because we’re all working in our ‘proper’ jobs! By the time we’re due to start singing at eight bells, we can hardly get through the crowds to our ‘stage’, and the crush is ridiculous.
When the tide is still coming in and reaches it’s highest point during a performance, say at eight thirty or nine o’clock, the audience who have been watching from the beach behind us have to squeeze sardine like up onto the Platt and slipway. It’s become quite impossible, and save a generous benefactor building us a coliseum with similar harbour views and ambience, we have had to become the world’s first tidal buoy band!
I can’t remember the last summer when we didn’t spend each and every Friday evening in Port Isaac singing down by the harbour. It must be fifteen or more years, and has become part of the Fisherman’s Friends DNA. We know that it’s an important part of many visitor’s holidays, and a weekly social for lots of locals. In many ways the music has become almost incidental to the gathering as a whole.
Those of you who have been to one of our open air gigs will be familiar with our dilemma and I know you’ll understand our decision, which has been taken with great reluctance and sadness.
By announcing the dates of this year’s free Platt gigs as early as this, we hope to minimise any inconvenience to you all and hopefully save you any wasted journeys.
So here are the dates when, weather permitting, we’ll be up to giving you all a good, hard shantying!
Hope to see you all there!
June 2012
01/06/12 – Port Isaac Platt
15/06/12 – Port Isaac Platt
29/06/12 – Port Isaac Platt
July 2012
13/07/12 – Port Isaac Platt
27/07/12 – Port Isaac Platt
August 2012
10/08/12 – Port Isaac Platt
17/08/12 – Port Isaac Platt
31/08/12 – Port Isaac Platt
September 2012
07/09/12 – Port Isaac Platt
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