Festival season is here, and for those about to rock, we salute you.

On and off, I’ve been a gigging musician since I was 15 years old, yet perhaps bizarrely, I’ve always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with festivals.

Radio 1’s Big Weekend rocked Liverpool from last Friday to the bank holiday Sunday, and over the course of the next few months, thousands more revellers will be partying with joyous abandon at the likes of Creamfields, Leeds and Reading, and, of course, Glastonbury. My love of music has been a defining passion of my life, yet when it comes to festivals I’ve always been a little trepidatious, and am all the more so now that I’m in my very, very, very late twenties *cough*.

Don’t get me wrong, over the years I’ve had some great times as a sweaty mess kneeling at the altar of my favourite bands, but as someone who loves to perform rather than spectate, said experiences have often been akin to watching a group of kids play football in the park - truthfully, you’re just itching to join in and show them how it’s done.

When I’ve attended festivals as opposed to standalone indoor gigs, this feeling has been........

© Shropshire Star