Wow, what a weekend. I’m sitting down to write this on Monday 8th June, so events are still fresh in my head and the beer’s still fresh in the bloodstream. Proofing’s going to be fun in a few days.
Where do I even start? The weekend couldn’t have been more varied in terms of weather. We had blazing sunshine, hoolies blowing, rainfall, cloud cover and some traditional Cornish mizzle. Sometimes all within the space of one hour.
But nothing could stop these festival fans from hunkering down and determinedly helping themselves to the time of their lives.
Friday
I arrived around 4pm and got immediately drawn in by the second stage, where the colourfully clad Mr Tea and the Minions were jamming out to a happy crowd. But I couldn’t miss Dutty Moonshine Big Band on the main stage. And boy, did they deliver. They had the crowd absolutely bouncing with their hefty bass, energetic brass and hip hop influences, all fronted electrically by Michael Rack and Abi Nyxx. My first time venturing into Duttyland – and definitely not my last.
I popped back to check out Seas of Mirth and arrived at the tail end of their soundcheck. Mildly distracted by the bass player’s choice of outfit (if you know, you know), I loved their intro: a Belinda Carlisle mashup: “Oooh, baby do you know what that’s worth, ooh heaven is a Seas of Mirth”.
I took in around half their set before heading back to the main stage for Scouting for Girls. Frontman Roy Stride’s boundless energy and bounce is something to be studied: I swear his trainers spent less than five minutes total in direct contact with the stage.
That was it for Friday for me, a long week at the coalface meant I didn’t have much left in the tank. But an early night and I was all ready for what Saturday held.
Saturday
I had planned to arrive right at kickoff but, as we all know, the weather had other ideas. For a short while, it was uncertain whether day two would be going ahead at all, what with the festival site being pummelled by 35mph winds.
But the organisers took the decision to go ahead, cancelling any main stage performances until later on in the day but keeping stage two running, where I caught 3 Daft Monkeys’ dynamic set that had the crowd jumping and, at one point, romantically waltzing on the sand.
Over at the main stage, the team’s hard work paid off, and they managed to get things safely up and running ready for the Good Old Fashioned Lover Boys’ set. If you haven’t seen this killer Queen tribute act yet, you simply must rectify that. Flamboyant ‘Freddie’ brings all that legendary Mercury stage presence, while ‘Brian’ rips out authentic riffs that get the crowd going every single time.
Next up was the Amy Winehouse Band, comprising the original lineup from Amy’s heyday. Led by Beth Morris on vocals, the band did a stellar job of honouring Amy’s legacy. They held themselves well in the face of a short power outage, something that might put other performers off their stride.
Being proudly married into a Scottish family, I couldn’t miss the Proclaimers. Trotting out all their classics and leaning emotionally into a performance of Sunshine on Leith, their stage presence was all at once quiet and magnetic.
I took off my writer’s hat at this point (or did it just blow away?) and lost myself in the remainder of Saturday night, mainly involving silent disco shenanigans.
Sunday
I arrived just in time to catch Cornish legends The Oggymen kicking off their main-stage set. Their harmonies and idiosyncratic setlist are always fantastic, but it’s the pally jibes and jokes that skip off frontman Rower’s tongue that deposit the crowd directly into the palms of their hands.
Nick Mulvey was a serene choice for the mid-afternoon slot, his warm-hearted and spiritual delivery lulling us all into contemplation. Which was swiftly obliterated by the Antarctic Monkeys storming the stage for some powerhouse covers of the Sheffield rock band’s best tracks, getting the entire crowd jumping.
Raconteur Professor Green surprised me, achieving an instant rapport with the crowd and taking another of the stage’s short power outages firmly in his stride.
True to form, it was at this point I disappeared back into the silent disco. My respect goes to the organisers of this great little pocket of the festival. Guaranteed good times and some truly original dance moves.
The packdown
What never fails to astound me is the speed with which our beloved beach is cleared and returned to normal after the festival. I took a stroll down on Wednesday morning and you’d never guess the spot had been home to a behemoth main stage, multiple food trucks and thousands of people just days before.
Thanks so much to the Tunes crew for inviting me along. I reckon I’ll have just about recovered in time for the next one.
Tunes in the Dunes 2027 will be taking place 11-13th June. You can register for early-bird tickets at www.tunesinthedunes.co.uk.