Cowely Road carnival is a street carnival in Oxford, rather like Notting Hill, but much smaller. The weather is rather threatening and I'm told it traditionally rains. On the M40 I drive through a very heavy rain shower. I have a dilemma about parking. In the end I drive to a car park that is walking distance rather than stopping at the park and ride. In the St. Clements car park I discover that chivalry  is no more, even amongst the middle classes of Oxford. Getting a place in the car park is completely ruthless. I am stationary somewhere that makes it completely obvious  that I am waiting to reverse into a space that is shortly to be vacated; but some complete fool goes past me and manages to actually block the person who wants to leave into the space, in their desperate effort to wrest the opportunity from me. Eventually they move, the other car leaves and I park. Frankly I felt inclined to just drive into the desperate car, their stupidty makes them look prime candidates if you need someone else's insurance company pay for your scraped bodywork.
The weather is looking nice but it does rain enough to generate a field of umbrellas as Little Fish take to the stage. At one point in 'am I crazy' the umbrellas are bobbing up and down in time to the music. It looks like a good crowd and spirits don't seem dampened by the shower that lasts for most of the set. Afterwards the sun comes out and a drink in the garden of the Star is very pleasant and warm.
For no obvious reason the M40 is extremely slow on the way back, but this doesn't spoil a good day.

Little Fish are playing around 4 at this festival at Blenheim Palace. As a festival it is quite civilised. Competing with Glastonbury may not make great business sense but it's nice to buy an ice cream on a sunny afternoon without having to queue. The trip is quite leisurely too, altough in the end I don't have much leeway between entry and Little Fish taking to the stage. Being so near Oxford their are quite a few people I know including the Radio Oxford guys who are on their second day and several Little Fish crew who are here just day trippers like me.
My thoughts that the Isle of Wight was like a rehearsal for greater things are proved today. They are a bit more confident and their set is much improved by a change of order. It is difficult to compare but I think the audience is larger and some of them have definitely seen the Fish before. The lights are a little less impressive than the Isle of Wight, but then I can't really imagine better lights than the Isle of Wight. They are much better than what I'm used to.
This time I make an effort to see some other bands; I see "A Silent Film", ....... and the "Young Knives". They are all quite enjoyable but none of them are stirring enough to buy their cd or visit their myspace. Supergrass are playing at 11.30pm which is rather late. i give Paul a lift to Woodstock where he has left his bike. As he has no lights we leave as the sun goes down, after the Young Knives. The weather has been nice and we have seen another step up the ladder by Little Fish.

 It's a fair way to Southampton, but only an hour and 15 minutes in the car. Talking Heads is a large pub with a decent stage. They have real beer on gravity which I sample, but as I am driving, cannot fully enjoy. The audience seem abnormally flat (for Southampton). Juju asks me afterwards if they were rubbish; they weren't but the audience were half-hearted. The band don't let it get them down and Juju tries to get them singing but has Nez has predicted largely fails. Strangely quite a few people sign up for the mailing list. In that sense it compares to their gig in Northampton. Tonight's gig lying between their festival appearances next weekend and last weekend's signing celebrations was always going to be a bit strange.

Today Little Fish signed to Custard Record/Universal....it was an evening of celebration.

 It's back to home turf for Little Fish and me tonight. The gig is a bit last minute and it's a monday, so it's not as packed as when they normally play the Dublin Castle. Yesterday they played 'Come to my room' in the middle of the set; I don't think that really works as it builds up to such a crescendo you really expect Nez to kick the drums over at the end. Tonight they finish the set with it and it works much better for me. The Dublin Castle has good lights at the moment, although they are a bit lob-sided; this forces me to adopt a different shooting angle which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Although not packed out there are still plenty of Fish fans (squid squad) to chat to.

This is really exciting I'm actually uploading this blog from the festival, minutes after Little Fish have finished. I am privileged to see Little Fish play the Big Top stage at the Isle of Wight. Whether I will be able to get in has been a bit in the balance all week, and I wasn't going to book a ferry until I was sure I could get in. So it was only yesterday that I got out my credit card. I set off brightly at 7.30 to catch the 10am ferry (you are supposed to arrive 30 mins before sailing). The roads are quiet and I arrive in good timeand got straight on the 9.30 ferry.I'm early enough to meet the band at their hotel (which looks like it has seen better days but is cheap as befits an unsigned band). The sun is shining. Everything is pretty relaxed as we have suitable passes and stroll in. The Big Top seems to be the only place undercover, so we are quite hoping it will rain to bolster the crowd for Little Fish; it does cloud over and a few drops of rain fall but no downpour.
As a photographer used to working in virtually no light it takes a while to adapt to the serious stage lights in use here. Everything goes well and there is a reasonable crowd, but to me it seems more like a rehersal for things to come. Afterwards I lounge around writing this blog and uploading pictures from the backstage bar. We help the band demolish the rider and later there are meal tickets for the canteen. Having booked an early ferry it is time to  leave after eating. Apart from a slight diversion through Cowes  including a Ferry across the harbour, the journey home is uneventful and without delay. Overall its been a good day and I sleep well.