The H3 2006 Review by Andrew Guilder :)

H3 took place at Brawdwell Abbey, Milton Keynes from the 30th June to 2nd July 2006 and featured an eclectic range of bands from across the sphere of British Christian music. Divided between two stages (a Marquee stage and a Main courtyard stage) and with a campsite on the side H3 is the three counties closest Christian equivalent to Glastonbury - apart from the weather was fantastic and there wasn't quite as many people!

Friday night's programme saw three bands on main stage - Kurious, Soul'd out and Mowglee - it was a decent sized dome stage backed onto a courtyard which gave it an intimate feel yet could fit in a good thousand or so revellers. Kurious, the first band on, are a YFC band who tour schools, and they brought us a collection of covers with a couple of their own songs, the highlight being a cover of Angel and Airwaves song the adventure. The second band on Soul'd Out are a collection of various artists from the Soul'd Out Entertainment record label; these guys are top notch rappers, and though the crowd were tough (not a South London or Notts group!) they were fantastic in both performance and music. The end of the night saw four piece rock group Mowglee perform, who were as usual fantastic - the highlight of their set was a rock cover of a classic Elvis track, it worked a treat.

On Saturday morning I decided to explore the Marquee stage and see what the talent on there were like. I have to say I was not disappointed. The Quench Band - part of the battle of the bands competition - were fantastic (I was disappointed that they didn't win) doing some great rocky worship covers. Suzie and Dan was a two-piece with Dan playing keys and Suzie Wade singing. She had a fantastic vocal and interacted very well with the crowd, the encore especially had everyone clapping along. Dan and Dan was another two-piece, Dan Hobbs played keys and sang backing in one of the songs, Dan Sheills played various guitars and sang. The performance of his own material was great, especially when he dived into Vicky Beechings 'Yesterday, Today and Forever' mid-song.

I saw three other bands on Saturday, on the main stage somethingABOUTnothing a young four-piece group from Kent who were great. They had some brilliant material and their crowd interaction was impressive for 15-17 year olds - well worth looking out for in the future. I also saw the Austin Frances Connection who were perhaps one of the highlights of the weekend. Placed on the marquee stage (a shocking decision - a lot of the bands here were much better than the main stage!) AFC brought some summer fuelled hip-hop perfect for a Saturday evening as the sun set, a three piece band with a singer, a guitarist, and a lad known as 'hobbit' who is one of the UK's premier beat boxers, they had the crowd bopping and cheering in delight at their talents. The songs were cheeky and the lyrics beautifully funny, they also framed the talent of the young beat boxer! Finally on main stage I watched the delights of [dweeb] perhaps one of the maddest bands of all time! Their music was loud and proud, but their most noticeable quality was their crowd interaction - they really got everyone moving and jumping around! A very good band!

On Sunday I relaxed more and didn't see quite so many bands, there was less I was interested in viewing. The highlight of the day was a rocking group called Electrolyte. They're a three-piece from Essex, who brought songs with a lot of pace and that really rocked! Impressively all three members harmonised perfectly all throughout the gig (incredible when you think about it!) that added great depth to the music. Another band to keep an eye on!

Faults would be some dodgy stage allocating and the lack of showers on site (I had to wash with baby wipes!), they could also do with running the two stages at the same time; the movement was a great opportunity for people to disappear! The marquee stage would be a great venue for tables, chairs, refreshments, and 'choiry style' or 'acoustic' music, whilst the main stage is definitely suited for the rock and urban bands (and the Battle of the Band contest too)! Although it did have its faults overall H3 was a great weekend - there was a lot of talent around and a lot of great music (especially on the Saturday). It's definitely a festival that I have already booked in my diary for next year.

Visit the H3 Gallery @ Andy's Album. Also look out for full interviews, bios on bigfattoothbrush and soulexeter v2 (coming soon!!) where the August podcast will also feature a number of the bands, interviews and clips of their music!