Well I have been meaning to begin a blog for some time now and the events that unravelled this past weekend at The Big Chill Festival have given me the impetus to begin blogging. So welcome and enjoy.
Having my sleeping bag stolen from my tent and losing my MP3 player aside, the Thursday was pretty uneventful, time was spent finding our bearings and exploring the site as opposed to taking in any music. My Thursday night sleep was not the most enjoyable due to being extremely cold but I managed to keep warm by snuggling up in a picnic blanket and wearing the trousers from my Great Uncle Bulgaria fancy dress costume in a survival feat Ray Mears would be proud of.
The Friday began excellently with UK rap artist Akala, who played in the largest tent at around 1pm in the afternoon. I saw Akala back in 2006 on the back of his first album “It’s Not a Rumour” and was very impressed with his stage presence and lyrical flow. Four years on and he had stepped up his game, he began his set with a new tune from his new album entitled “What is Real?” which included revving the crowd up with some audience participation, the 1000 or so people in the Revellers Tent lapped it up and provided the backing vocals of “What is Real” on cue. Audience participation was too in full force for a rendition of one of the stand out tracks from the debut album “Bullshit”. The personal highlight of Akala’s set for me was the Tomcraft (Loneliness) sampling hit “Shakespeare” which was the tune that brought Akala to my attention four years ago.
The rest of Friday afternoon was spent at the tent mainly, though on the way to getting food the PBR Streetgang boys seemed to have the outdoor crowd at the Starburst Stage enjoying their disco vibe. Next on the agenda for me was the 6pm set of Dutch dubstep/house/techno maestro Martyn who delivered a 2 hour set worthy of a much bigger crowd than was in the Paradiso tent for him. Though the crowd that were there were extremely receptive to his dubbed out deep techno which he built up over the first 80-90 minutes before unleashing some festival anthems on the crowd much to everyone’s approval starting with the old school sounding “Nous Sommes” by MMM, Inner City’s 1988 Detroit classic “Big Fun” was soon to follow before finally dropping arguably the best electronic dance floor friendly track of 2009 Joy Orbison’s “Hyph Mngo” to a rapturous reaction. Martyn’s set was the first time I had enjoyed a DJ set consisting mainly of 4/4 beats for over a year.
Friday had begun splendidly and it was only going to get better, for up next was Radiohead front man Thom Yorke playing a solo set. We headed straight to the Deer Park (main) Stage after Martyn to secure a good spot, it was strange being able to stand around 7 rows from the front for if this would have been Leeds/Reading/Glastonbury binoculars would have been required to establish any visuals of the artist. Thom walked shyly onto the stage alone, unlike his Glastonbury set this was to be 100% solo. He began with an acoustic version the title track from his 2006 solo album “The Eraser” which sounded exquisite. A fan of technology Yorke used a sample machine to record loops to allow him to ‘play’ more than one instrument at once, this worked to maximum effect during my personal highlight of the set David Kelly protest song “Harrowdown Hill” and a haunting rendition of “Everything’s in its Right Place”. The biggest cheer of the set was reserved for a tune that nobody recognised when told by Yorke that it was a new Radiohead tune. Yorke’s solo performance had a humble rawness to it, overshadowing the next act on the Deer Park stage Massive Attack.
We did see some of the headliners Massive Attack; however it was spent sitting down to the side of the stage in front of the lake. They had put on an impressive show both visually and aurally, we left before the finale of “Teardrop” and “Unfinished Symphony” but it was nice to hear the lead single from their new album and theme tune to BBC drama Luther “Paradise Circus” before leaving to see Magnetic Man who were one of the acts I was most excited about seeing especially given the quality of their recent essential mix.
Much to my dismay Magnetic Man were to deliver the first disappointment of my Big Chill experience through no fault of their own. The crowd summed it up best with a deafening chant of ‘Turn it up! Turn it up!’. Dubstep is not made to be played at those levels and despite their tunes “I Need Air” and Ms Dynamite featuring “Fire” going down extremely well with the crowd and Benga’s best attempts to gee up the crowd with his mic work, the set on a whole could not be enjoyed properly. Luckily I will get the chance to rectify my unfinished business with messrs Skream, Benga and Artwork at the Thrasher Warehouse Project in October.
Closing Friday night’s proceedings was the Hospital Records takeover of the Paradiso tent, we arrived halfway through London Elektricity’s set. The tent was absolutely rammed so we did our best to attain a good spot and then got down to some of Tony Coleman’s usual high quality soulful drum n bass, there was also a surprise live performance of his track “Just One Second” where Swedish vocalist Elsa Hedberg came on stage to provide her vocals to the instrumental track, before Coleman finished his set. Next up was the diamond in the crown of Hospital records Lincoln Barrett, better known as High Contrast. Unfortunately tiredness was kicking in by this point so it was a struggle, we managed to stay long enough to hear Lincoln’s own “If We Ever” which is now surely a modern drum n bass classic, and he skilfully layered a tougher tune under it. The crowd loved it and so did I!
The addition of a second fleece picnic blanket made for a more pleasant sleep on Friday night leading to feeling refreshed on Saturday morning, a shower helped invigorate further. Sadly I had ventured into the main site to get a toastie whilst my friends had bought a disposable bbq and some meat. There was a torrential downpour while I was out and about, it disappoints me that I was not around to see what would have been such a comedy of errors in true Laurel and Hardy fashion as they scrambled to get the recently lit bbq and meat under shelter.
Saturday’s music kicked off with tin-foil wearing druids Chrome Hoof on the Deer Park stage who were not spectacular but were worthy of some lazy Saturday afternoon attention. Their set was followed by some overpriced cocktails in a very luxurious bar on the side of the lake which was home to the comfiest seat I sat in all weekend! This was just the precursor to what was to be the surprise package of the weekend, we set off to the Paradiso tent to see Dave Lister and Lloyd Mullaney’s funk and soul playing alter ego Mr Craig Charles do a DJ set. There was a hint of irony in the choice to see this DJ set all of us expecting it to be humorous. The joke however was on us, Craig Charles is actually an extremely competent DJ who had created a party atmosphere in the Paradiso with what can only be described as high quality funk and soul. He got right into the party spirit himself, dancing animatedly behind the decks, occasionally getting on the microphone to sing along to tunes and gee up the crowd. At the end of the set he was happy to pose for photos with those at the front proving he is a nice guy to boot.
It was now time to retreat to our tents to slip into our fancy dress costumes, not before checking out another DJ for comic value though. The comic value much like Craig Charles was there, but there was no denying this man’s talent. The man I speak of is the legendary DJ Derek, for those who do not know DJ Derek is a 68 year old Caucasian former accountant from Bristol who spins a mixture of reggae, dancehall and ska music. Whilst sipping on a can of Fuller’s London Pride Derek dropped “Boom Shack-A-Lack” by Apache Indian in the sun, which lead to many smiling faces and a real party atmosphere on the Starburst stage.
Out came the fancy dress and a womble, a parrot, a sheep and a donkey that looked suspiciously like a hippo all marched into the main arena. Rising UK grime/hip hop star Tinie Tempah was up next on the Revellers Stage, he had drawn a massive crowd who waiting in anticipation for his arrival. Sent on first was his DJ who’s brief was to get the crowd hyped, a job he did, with the teenage crowd lapping up what I can honestly say was the most horrendous music I have ever had the displeasure of hearing at a music festival – I would have preferred to dance to the music played from the dodgems – After enduring a good 20 minutes of aural torture Tinie Tempah arrived on stage looking rather cool in a denim shirt and shades, feeling rather old in the crowd we departed after he played his current single “Frisky” which was performed very well and it was abundantly clear why he is shooting to stardom.
A quick change back into civilian attire and then it was time to head over to the outdoor Clash stage which was on the banks of one of the lakes and was painted to look like a ship, though it looked like it had been decorated by a local primary school. This was to be the scene of one of the highlights of the festival for me personally as Caribou delivered an epic set which included tunes from albums old and new, having only recently became a fan of Caribou the tunes played from the “Swim” album were what struck a chord with me the most in particular the awe inspiring live version of “Sun” which was used to close the performance. Daniel Snaith is one talented man and I will be checking out all of his back catalogue in the coming weeks for sure.
Thom Yorke and Caribou delivering stunning sets would have been ample highlights for the Friday and Saturday but the treats were not to stop there as we embarked on a trip to see UK hip hop alumni turned soul singer Ben Drew aka Plan B. I have been a big fan of Ben since his first album the raw “Who Needs Actions When You Got Words” and a massive fan of his collaborations with Chase & Status. The first time I heard his new concept album “The Defamation of Strickland Banks” I was sceptical as to why he had lost the raw edge which has landed him to be compared as the UK’s answer to the young angry and raw Eminem. However when I read the concept behind it and listened in depth I discovered the true beauty of the album and that Ben’s talents stretched further than just laying down angry but intelligent rants.
The show began with a warm up from the beat boxer Fake SFX who entertained the crowd with a barrage of beat box covers of well known tunes including the 2006 house hit “Calabria”. It was then Plan B’s time to shine taking to the stage in a smart suit and launching into song. It wasn’t long before we were treated to “Prayin’” the anthem about Strickland Banks having to commit murder in an act of self preservation it was followed by a special live reggae remix which was both quirky and cool. Fake SFX was brought back on half way through the set to provide a dubstep interlude where he collaborated with the live band to switch between “Eastern Jam” by Chase & Status and “Sweet Shop” by Doctor P whilst Plan B free styled over the top, this seamlessly mixed into a dubstep cover of Seal’s “Kissed By a Rose” before finishing with a cheeky rendition of “Forgot About Dre”. It was then back to the business of tunes from the album, with Plan B inciting a mosh pit for the up-tempo “Stay Too Long”. After the set the crowd’s applause was the loudest of the weekend and fully deserved too. If I was pushed to pick one single performance as my favourite from The Big Chill I think I would opt for Ben Drew and I cannot wait for a second helping of the man in October.
As we still had a bit of time left we wandered up to The Deer Park Stage to catch the last half an hour of M.I.A. we arrived just in time for “Paper Planes” and the much publicised stage invasion debacle that followed. It was a sight to see the crowd charge forward and MIA disappear in a mass of 200-250 people on stage. The show finished soon after so we sat around waiting for the late night DJ, dubstep don Plastician. The Plastic Man faced similar problems to what his dubstep allies Magnetic Man had faced before with the volume having been turned right down, the chants of “Turn it up” were in full force again. To his credit Plastician turned round his monitor speakers to give the crowd some extra volume. Eventually there was a compromise reached between crowd and sound engineer and the volume was acceptable as Plastician dropped a full on dubstep festival set to a massive late night crowd on the outdoor main stage including the anthems “When I Look At You”, “Cruel Intentions”, “I Need Air”, “Fire” an “Heavy”.
We finished the night by popping into the Paradiso tent en route back to our own tent, where Andrew Weatherall was playing what can only be described as mundane or mediocre dull techno the anonymity of which was only magnified by the fact its precursors were the magic of Caribou, the brilliance of Plan B and the dubstep smash-a-thon of Plastician.
Sunday began with a trip up to art trail to participate in a life drawing class, which was a nice relaxing start to the day, ran by two artists and surrounded by people who took the class seriously it was a surreal but pleasant experience. This was followed by a 2 hour stint in a hammock while listening to the sounds of Norman Jay and Morcheeba on the Deer Park stage in the distance, the relaxation levels were high, it was so chilled up there (pun intended).
Via a quick detour to see the jazzy goodness of The Nicola Conte Jazz Combo it was time to take in Gilles Peterson’s mid afternoon set in the sunshine of the Starburst stage. Beginning the set with a slot of around 20 minutes of deep chunky house music Peterson settled into the groove nicely, getting people dancing. He soon veered away from the house music to explore his eclectic tastes beginning with an instrumental jazz remix of “Good Life” by Inner City which was given the rewind treatment much to the crowds excitement. My personal favourite moment of the set was when the Nas and Damian Marley collaboration “As We Enter”. A friend commented on Peterson’s animated nature behind the DJ box being uncharacteristic of the man, he was clearly enjoying himself, constantly getting on the microphone to encourage the smiling crowd, once jovially ribbing two lads at the front of the stage for requesting more dance music during a time when he was playing soul leading the majority of the crowd to sound a chorus of banterous boo’s their way.
Another pleasant surprise act was to follow with the smooth US soulful R&B band Dam Funk and Master Blaster in the paradise tent dropping some mellow Sunday afternoon funk with deep bass and lush vocals in the Paradiso tent.
The crème de la crème of Sunday’s line up was next on my agenda a man I had been waiting over a year to see, with disaster striking the two previous times I had been set to see him once his fault for not showing, once my fault for being too inebriated to stay in the club for his set. It was Joker time! (Not before wandering past the Deer Park stage to hear Newton Faulkner murdering Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”). Catching the end of Appleblim’s set made me a tad disappointed that I had not caught it all as what I heard was top notch and the vibe in the Paradiso was buzzing with excitement in anticipation of Mr. Purple. MC Nomad begun the set by explaining there was to be a concept to the set, created by the frequent comparisons made between Joker’s music and that of video game soundtracks of the late 80s early 90s era, it was said that each stage of the set would be a level and a big boss would need to be encountered at the end of each level.
The most up for it and electric atmosphere of the weekend was created by Joker as he played a swashbuckling set which was about as far from chilled as you could possibly get. Dropping his own tunes “Tron”, “Digidesign”, “Purple City”, “It Ain’t Got a Name” (with TC), his Simian Mobile Disco remix and my personal favourite “My Trance Girl” he also included Magnetic Man anthems “I Need Air” and “Fire” amongst a series of other big hitters both known and unknown. Joker was well worth the wait and I am delighted to know that by the turn of the year I will have seen him four times in three months.
About to join Joker, Caribou, Plan B and Thom Yorke in my top 5 highlights of the weekend were the house DJ duo of Jamie Jones and Seth Troxler. I had to miss the first twenty minutes of their set because of a slight overlap with Joker but when I walked out and joined my friends in their position in front of the DJ box I was just in time to hear one of the twosome drop Green Velvet’s “Perculator”. The two had the crowd locked into their deep groove from the offset, the crowd swaying to the underground groovy rhythms of their house beats. There was a party atmosphere to boot typified by the hedonistic nature of Seth Troxler who frequently popped down to the front of the crowd to join in with the fun. The highlight of the set - that is surely not up for debate - arrived when Jamie Jones dropped in the house classic “You Don’t Know Me” by Armand Van Helden which triggered a mass sing-along and a few hundred delighted faces. As the night came to a close Jamie dropped in a couple of what I was informed were his new disco edits, before Seth finished with a few more deep house gems. Finally the two were given the rapturous reception they both deserved. The best house set I have heard in years.
Closing the Sunday was a trip to the Hoochie Coochie cabaret which was random to say the least during a 40 minute stint in there I saw a man play a saw as a musical instrument, a topless biker girl covered in oil flame eating, a trapeze artist on a ring suspended above the tent and a stripper strip naked to “Breaking the Law” before proceeding to mime with her vagina to the words of the song. The night was one of the coldest of the weekend, we finished off with a trip to see Zero 7 DJ in the Revellers Stage, I was too cold and tired by this point so I wasn’t receptive to the brand of house he was dishing out, but the tent was absolutely packed to the rafters and everyone else seemed to be enjoying it.
All in all my Big Chill experience was a fantastic one. I would whole heartedly recommend to most people, especially if the size of festivals such as Glastonbury, T in The Park or Leeds/Reading put you off. Going with an open mind and a willingness to try out new things, listen to new music etc. Will result in as good of a weekend as I had I’m sure.
Suggested Websites
The Big Chill Festival
Akala
Martyn
Hospital Records
Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show
Caribou
Plan B
Joker
