Ramfest 2007 Review

The Civic Hall, Ramsbottom was the venue for Ramfest 2007 and at 12.00pm on Saturday the 20th of October, the first of the musicians rolled up to start the task of humping all the gear into the hall. When Nigel from the PA company turned up, the manager of the hall was turning green! Do you really need all that equipment was his cry as he imagined the hall being blown apart with a wall of sound ! It's vital was our retort! You will want to hear a great band ! Next to arrive was Tommy with his lights - 'Oh bloody 'ell' was the reply from Charlie the hall manager as he retired into his office in a desperate search for earplugs and sunglasses! By 2.30pm we had sound checked and retired to the pub for a well earned beer.

At 5.15pm we were still in the pub and then the footy came on! Well we just had to stay and after a thoroughly entertaining game and a 4-1 victory we retired for pre-gig pizza !

At 7.15pm we wandered down to the Civic hall where we were joined by Heather who had just finished at work. After a quick sound check to make sure nothing had blown up, we were ready to open the doors. This is always the scary bit and even more so this year with the rugby world cup - would anybody turn up?


Doors Open
At 7.30pm the doors opened and people arrived! Mel and Nicola were on the door welcoming the faithful and extracting the cash, something which they are particularly good at - I should know!! From far (Preston) and wide (Manchester) people came to boogie. The bar staff where suddenly inundated with thirsty beer monsters and a glammer for the few remaining seats.

At 8.00pm there was a short announcement on the stage to welcome everybody to RAMFEST 2007 and then we kicked off proceedings with the Guilty Pleasures list. Guilty Pleasures is music provided by unfashionable artists but who have really greats songs that we love ! First up was the understated Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, followed by Ronan Keatings Life is a Rollercoaster and Gilbert O'Sullivans Get Down ! Top music ! We even had some dancers ! The music continued... David Essex, Barry Manilow, Elton John and The Nolans ! We even got an applause for Magic Moments by Perry Como !

Derian House Children's Hospice
After your family, your friends are probably the most important people in your life. They’re the people who see you through the bad times as well as the good, who share your sadness as well as your joy. It was a pleasure to be with friends again enjoying the fun filled RAMFEST event ! Derian House Children’s Hospice is also one of our family’s friends.

Derian House provides specialist care and support for children with a terminal or life threatening illness. The hospice is open 365 days a year offering support to children and their families, yet as a charity only receives statutory funding for just 2. With more than £1.4 million needed each year it remains almost totally reliant on voluntary funding.

We thanked everybody for turning up to support the event and thanked them for the very kind donations that lead us to announce we had achieved our target of raising £1,000 ! Well done everybody !

Funkystuff

At 9.00pm Funkystuff kicked off with their soul set and a track from Marvin Gaye was the first song played. The crowd was magnificent in their enthusiasm for the band with general cheering and dancing ! The Four Tops, The Isley Brothers, Stevie Wonder and the Temptations all got a play from Funkystuff.

The Raffle

After Funkystuff the raffle was next up. Bill Allpress very kindly donated a £150 Radley bag and there was a mixed case of wine up for grabs. The raffle raised a magnificent £280 and everybody was very generous - Thank you. A lady won the handbag ( good job !) and the wine was claimed by a gentleman who very kindly donated even more money !

Funkystuff Part Two

Now it was time to put on those disco dancing pants and boogie! Funkystuff played Earth Wind and Fire, The Tramps, Rose Royce and Chic as they went into disco heaven ! An hour later and everybody was still dancing ! The final track from Funkystuff was the Real Thing and after a fantastic round of appreciation towards the band, Simply Red's Stars finished the set.

The End
There was just time for a few anthems at the end, I Had The Time Of My Life, Angels and Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me finished proceedings. As soon as it had started, RAMFEST 2007 had come to an end. The PA boys (who did a magnificent job) packed up and left The rest of the muso's completed their get out. More donations were given by people on the way out and it was a pleasure to be involved in an event where people both enjoyed themselves and gave very generously.