Stars reveal their festival favourites (From Stourbridge News)

Stars reveal their festival favourites

7:00am Saturday 27th June 2009

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Want to know what your favourite band's best festival memories are plus their advice as to what all you campers should bring when attending? We speak to bands including Simple Minds and The Blockheads ahead of festival season.

By Polly Weeks.

As the festival season kicks off, fans will be casting their minds back to patterned wellies, terrifying trips to the loo and vain attempts to find friends among a sea of other unsuitably-dressed music-lovers. But what memories do the bands take away with them?

We've spoken to everyone from seasoned pros Def Leppard (who hold Donington 1986 close to their rocker hearts) to new musician VV Brown, whose favourite memory so far is crowd-surfing in Sweden.

They've also given us the benefit of their in-the-field experiences. So whether it's Teitur's suggestion of taking a camping chair, or drinking tips from The Rumble Strips, find out which festivals your favourite musicians loved the most and their advice for making this summer another season to remember.

Jim Kerr, Simple Minds

Favourite festival: "The Isle Of Wight Festival. The line-up is always to my taste, as is the location."

Best memory: "The Sweet Waters festival in Auckland, New Zealand (1984). The bill included Talking Heads, Eurythmics, Pretenders, and of course Simple Minds!"

Can't live without: "A camera!"

Phil Collen, Def Leppard

Favourite festival: "It would have to be Donington, because of the memories."

Best memory: "Donington 1986. [Drummer] Rick Allen joined us on-stage for the first time after the accident. We reintroduced him to the world after his near-death experience. There wasn't a dry eye in the area."

Can't live without: "A hooded raincoat."

Emmy The Great

Favourite festival: "It would have to be Glastonbury."

Best memory: "Watching the Lemonheads at Truckfest last year was pretty great."

Can't live without: "Ladies, you're going to need a She Pee."

The Proclaimers

Favourite festival: "T In The Park."

Best memory: "2001, playing in the Big Tent at T In The Park."

Can't live without: "Waterproof and sunblock!"

Cara Dillon

Favourite festival: "WOMAD."

Best memory: "Finding a freshly-cleaned loo backstage at Glastonbury in 1997 - a one in a million chance, I was truly blessed."

Can't live without: "A waterproof."

VV Brown

Favourite festival: "Reading. You can discover great new bands at this festival."

Best memory: "Crowd-surfing in Sweden. I wasn't very good at it, and it hurt a lot, but it was amazing!"

Can't live without: "Wellies and loo roll!"

Scott Matthews

Favourite festival: "Latitude"

Best memory: "Seeing Morrissey at Reading Festival."

Can't live without: "Bleach"

Lee Harris, The Blockheads

Favourite festival: "Rhythm Festival in Bedford. It's put together by Jim Driver and always has a great line-up."

Best memory: "Glastonbury last year when Phill Jupitus was on-stage with us, and at the end of the first number Phill said to the audience, "Let's sing some songs for Ian", and there was an almighty cheer. It was heart-warming to feel that the love for Ian (Dury) is still there.

Can't live without: "Wellington boots."

Alex Rosamilia, The Gaslight Anthem

Favourite festival: "Reading would be my favourite, solely for it being my first."

Best memory: "Watching My Bloody Valentine and The Cure at Coachella this year. They're two of my favourite bands, and to be able to watch them back-to-back was pretty amazing."

Can't live without: "Sunscreen and lots of water."

Wallis Bird

Favourite festival: "I really loved Electric Picnic last year, it blew me away completely."

Best memory: "I was using the toilets at Glastonbury, and I started to whistle the theme tune to Murder She Wrote - by the end of the theme tune, there were about 20 of us screaming and banging the doors to it."

Can't live without: "A happy heart, everything else can be acquired there!"

Cam Muncey, Jet

Favourite festival: "Any festival where the sun is shining. I admire the Brits for enjoying their festivals even if their trousers are full of mud and they have trench-foot, but for me sunshine is top of the list."

Best memory: "Our first time playing at the Big Day Out. I remember being nervous. The show went well and then after we had this amazing feeling of euphoria."

Can't live without: "A ticket. Nothing worse than having to fork out extra cash to a tout. They are thieves."

Corey Taylor, Slipknot

Favourite festival: "Download. By far."

Best memory: "When the crotch of my coveralls split open in front of 6,000 Belgians at Pukkel Pop. I had to sing a whole song backstage while lying on the floor having my crotch sewn back together. Good times."

Can't live without: "Sunblock (SPF 1000), clean underwear and a helmet -we're gonna blow your mind."

Raissa, The Mummers

Favourite festival: "Glastonbury holds the most memories for me."

Best memory: "My first time at Glastonbury. We didn't have tickets and we turned up in the middle of the night and dodged the security. I remember making a mad dash for it down the hill, high on excitement."

Can't live without: "Nice comfortable high platform boots - good for all weathers!"

Teitur

Favourite festival: "The G! Festival on the Faroe Islands and Roskilde in Denmark. Great music and atmosphere."

Best memory: "Opening Roskilde on the main stage last year was pretty special."

Can't live without: "A camping chair is not a bad idea."

Laura Dockrill

Favourite festival: "Latitude!"

Best memory: "Performing at Latitude and realising that there was an audience for poetry... at last! And marrying my 'wife' (best friend Kate Nash) at Glastonbury to Iggy Pop, we had a DJ as a priest and old rusty rings."

Can't live without: "Wet wipes, always wet wipes."

Henry Clark, The Rumble Strips

Favourite festival: "The season usually begins with Glastonbury and ends with Bestival, and these are my two favourites."

Best memory: "Last year's Benicassim. We were treated amazingly well - the booze flowed, the food was delicious, they had a swimming pool backstage and then to top it off, the gig was packed and everyone knew the words. Very nice!"

Can't live without: "All you really need is booze, and I'd advise cider for the daytime (always tastes good, even warm) and Whiskey Mac for the evening, which warms the cockles and has a serious kick."

Baaba Maal

Favourite festival: "Glastonbury. It is just so large and diverse and they all make so much effort to make sure everyone has a unique experience. It also helps that it is set in the beautiful English countryside and it does not even matter when it rains."

Best memory: "Glastonbury 2005, when at the time of the G8 all the music stopped and we asked the audience to join hands to support the protest and erase debt. I was invited on to the other stage with Athlete and there were just so many people."

Can't live without: "A good spirit and willingness to discover something new!"

Lisa Hannigan

Favourite festival: "The Electric Picnic in Ireland. It's a smallish one, so you never have too far to stagger to your tent and all of my friends are there too."

Best memory: "Playing at the Electric Picnic last year. It was a week before the album was released and I was pretty excited in general. There was an unexpectedly big and friendly crowd in the tent and I'll never forget it."

Can't live without: "Wellies. Great for stomping about, not having to look down, and feels a bit safer when negotiating the loos."

Ali Renault and Sebastian Muravchix, Heartbreak

Favourite festival: "Glastonbury, no question."

Best memory: "Crying while watching Al Green at Glastonbury a few years ago. We went down for the day and the weather was beautiful."

Can't live without: "An ashtray."