Camp Bestival Lulworth Castle, Dorset 24-26/7/09
4/5
By: Tom Hocknell
At first glance Camp Bestival appeared to have been last in the queue for booking their line up, in some cases by 30 years. In fact, few festivals produce as many surprises as this. From the ever-enthusiastic staff in Bluecoats – even entertaining the crowds outside the gates, to the all-conquering (could they have done otherwise), Chic on Sunday night, this remains the family festival with musical backbone.
Dj’s Matthew Burgess and Tom Hocknell opened proceedings. Their set included neglected pop 7’s, Rock pearls and lounge surf-disco, to an appreciative crowd of five (year-olds), while the rest of the festival pitched tents and lost children; which was (in some cases, literally) their loss.
[FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE - PHOTO COPYRIGHT DAVID LIVINGSTONE]
On the main stage, overseen by the 1600’s Castle, owned by the Weld family since 1641, Florence and the Machine took to the stage. She is becoming increasingly difficult to like, despite being an indisputable success of the year. Her flouncey set only really has three good tunes, such as the soaring ‘Hurricane Drunk’. Although the main irritant is the between-song banter; annoying as a hairdresser chat on too little sleep. There is something of the drama school show-off about Florence, that, despite a similar background, her clearest influence, Kate Bush, managed to avoid. Actually, that’s unfair, it was only Kate’s latter albums that shrugged the precociousness away, so perhaps Florence is indeed ‘one to watch’.
The crowd thinned out around 8, as parents drifted back to mammoth and expertly-pitched tents. This allowed the rest of us to get close to the front for what turned out to be the best set of the night. Mercury Rev delivered a performance of such effortless symphonic joy that memories of Florence and her histrionics swiftly faded into the two-dimensional distance. Beautiful melodies swirled around blasts of noise and songs emerged as if mixed by some particularly innovative celestial DJ hovering just above the distant rainclouds. It was a perfect performance for the countryside and the castle. Word must have spread to the gazebos and sleeping pods, as by the time Jonathan Donohue conducted ‘Goddess on a Highway’ to a close, the field was full again - the crowd saucer-eyed not through psychedelics, but surprise. (Matthew Burgess)
Overcoming fears of matinee wash-ups, Kid Creole and his newly recruited Coconuts, (apparently the next career step for ex-Miss World contestants), took to the stage. In a flurry of samba bongos, and a purple suit that even the Joker may have baulked at, the ‘Kid’ required something to compete with the Coconuts’ well-heeled legs disappearing into mini-skirts. Never have husbands so unapologetically elbowed partners and offspring aside for a closer look; at the tailoring presumably. ‘Stool Pigeon’ stood out, but the set was basically a Latin American dance party, setting the bar high for what proved to be the celebratory theme for closing acts on the main stage throughout the weekend.
As ever, Festival Saturdays are more sedate, the previous day’s rampant enthusiasm waning, as the true impact of waking at dawn, having seen it rise, arrives. Not that the main stage respected this.
Shamefully we missed Laura Marling and Lucky Elephant, but the now more commercially renamed, CrazyP delivered a perfectly executed electro-set, with Danielle Moore’s brazen vocals over oak-solid grooves, such as the grinding trance of new song ‘Love on the Line’. They are effectively the Hed Kandi in-house band, but that’s no bad thing when they understand dancing as fluently as this. They close with a celebratory cover of Shannon's ‘Let The Music Play’. Why this band isn’t bigger is completely unclear, it’s not like they had an unmarketable name. Oh…
Frenchmen Phoenix also gave a blinding performance of MGMT-tyle rock disco, like the Strokes with a better sense of fun. Their effortless muscianship exposed the fact their most recent album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is actually their fifth. Despite frequent Daft Punk comparisons, they are far better, with a larger musical palette, though with a similar sense of abandonment. If the choruses were any more uplifting, the crowds would be ricocheting from the rainclouds.
Talking of in-house bands, the (actually South East Londoners) Cuban Brothers are Bestival/Camp Bestival’s in-house band. Arriving to the theme to Rocky, they probably awoke the ancestors in the Castle with faux-disco and funk rhythms, supported by an elevated band. Comedy and music has not been this well mixed since East 17. Despite toned-down language for the kids, it remains hilarious, such as the polite warning, before ‘Give It To Me Baby’, “As you say in England, Be careful, It’s about having too much drink. You love someone, but you try to show them at the wrong time.” He then adds, “Welcome to the floor – double penetration.” Miguel Mantovani also berates fellow band-member for wearing fancy dress (the festival’s animal theme), thus letting down the style of their show. The note-perfect closer, Lionel Richie’s ‘All Night Long’, provides touching whimsical to the evening.
Sunday: Sorry. We missed PJ Harvey.
The ‘almost wilfully-booked to demonstrate open-mindedness’, of Will Young proved to be shrewd. There’s little to dislike about him, which of course some would level as criticism. However, inoffensive, radio 2 soul-pop on a hung-over afternoon is an ideal alternative to slumping in front of DVD’s, and distraction from finally looming rain clouds. He successfully entertained, pleasing Mums and toddlers alike, wearing the currently obligatory pop uniform, of circus-garb. He has a strong voice, and actually showcased some better songs than the obligatory roll-out of ‘Leave Right Now’.
Aeroplane played a brilliantly filthy DJ set, of course including their mix of Friendly Fires’ ‘Paris’, then it was Chic, featuring Nile Rogers. It’s a strange description, like calling the Beatles featuring Paul McCartney. Perhaps it’s in homage to Bernard Edwards that Nile is reluctant to see Chic without his song-writing, and that bass playing, partner. What is there to say about a band trotting out originals of this calibre, plus writes for Diana Ross and Sister Sledge? Any set including ‘Everybody Dance’, ‘Lost in Music’, ‘Good Times’ and ‘Freak Out’ can be justly described as victorious. They also covered Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’, which they only produced. The band finally left the stage, although the cheering continued to pull Nile out of the shadows for repeated one last times, before curator Rob Da Bank played out a Dj set to accompanying fireworks from the castle’s battlements. The cries of woken children in the campsite were lost amongst the rockets and firecrackers.
[CHIC PHOTO COPYRIGHT HEATHER SHUKER]
Artists in this article: Florence & The Machine
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment