Zoo twothousand

I'm soggy and sat in the 'press tent' at ~Kent's Z008 fest.

its a contraversial issue to be honest but the whole thing is an absolute blunder.
Basically the first day opened four hours late and bands had to be moved around etc... I eventually found out that the stage crew hadn't been paid and were striking. Also, Mark Ronson had not been paid his performance deposit (as other bands had not) and had to be paid with a bin bag full of coins (lets face it, his fee would hardly fit in a Tescos carrier bag now would it?)

On the second night the second stage, the Tap and Tin tent, also went down (A stonkingly good Gallows headlining set the night before had people climbing up the support beams) and I was frantically trying to find out whether Young Knives were still playing. Meanwhile a huge number of bands were striking back stage due to a lack of payment and leaving. Allegedly The Rascals turned up with Alex Turner in tow and then left again. Frank Turner also cancelled (he even posted a blog on his myspace about it.)
After no arranged interviewed via the PR company on Friday I had been gathering notes in my book from bands I managed to grab and chat with (such as Fighting with Wire and The Holloways.)
Luckily the PR people finally pulled through for us and I got to interview members of British Sea Power, headliners The Cribs and most amazingly of all...Ash! (The bassist got straight to the point of having not been paid but said they'd come from NY so it was pointless to not play.)
I also found out that Young Knives actually were playing after being told they weren't on site and ran over after Ash's amazing set to catch them. I even got an interview but as I tried to write it down it's going to take a lot of work to read my nearly illegiable scrawl.

Today its soaking. Karina, my BBC Blast mentor got to interview Funeral For A Friend and I met up with Maker, The Holloways, Marner Brown, In Case of Fire (lovely guys) and Mexico Falls.
So now I'm in the press tent waiting for a call from Chatham band 'Underground Heroes,' and also waiting to find out about whether The Hives will be doing interviews...

Frank.