Reviews

I was somewhat nervous and excited to be attending the Secret Garden Party.  All that I had read told me to leave my expectations and inhibitions at the door, and to join my fellow gardeners in four days of absolute freedom, games and spectacles.

The festival for us started in the massive queue to get on site on Thursday evening. We tuned in 87.9 – Secret FM and listened in to the dandies from The Gentleman’s Club (Arthur & Reginald), taking us through the stages of becoming a gentleman, “Gentleman must only smoke the finest cigars and port must not be passed to the left”.

The garden is set in the gorgeous grounds of a Cambridgeshire manor house, centered around a swimming lake. This years theme was Standing on Ceremony, however, this year is an extra special edition, in honor of their 10th birthday.

Walking around this site, even covered in mud, it’s clear to see it’s spell-blindingly beautiful. There are surreal sights to feast your eyes upon everywhere; art installations, bandstands, sideshows and non-stop parties dot the site.  The crowd are already on good form and looking equally bizarre – a knife & fork go by, then a globe globe, unicorns, aliens, geishas, a pack of cards, deep-sea divers and every animal conceivable.

We head further into the site and stumble upon the Collo-silly-um – a hay baled, high walled arena where two punters are getting down and dirty in the mud wrestling pit.  It’s Britain vs. Germany and we actually win (is that a first)? The pants are off, rather than the gloves and this isn’t the first bit of nudity I’ve seen – its in abundance here. I feel my inhibitions loosening just a little bit…..shall I jump in? This festival is decadent, indulgent and hedonistic. It’s an enormous adult playground and you feel under the SPG magic spell as soon as you enter the site.

It’s clear to me by now that this festival is not all about the music – although, they do have some pretty good names on the bill. Friday afternoon saw Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves of Destiny take to the main stage. Beth clad in a hooded leotard, sang favourites ‘Dodecahedron’ and ‘Lilliputt’ to a small but appreciative crowd.

Evening comes and Alabama Shakes get things moving on the main stage with their Southern style grooves and thumbing bass riffs.  Followed by Little Dragon and finally Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. Lead singer Alex Ebert with his hippie charisma kicked off his boots and leaped onto the barriers, the audience whip themselves up into frenzy. ‘Man on fire’ was the stand out track for me. The band closed things with the equally brilliant track ‘Home’, and the crowd were once more on their feet, singing along and dancing with their arms in the air.

On the way back to the campsite, we stop on the hill and take in a vista of the scenic site. By night it’s even more impressive, transformed by neon blues and greens illuminating the trees.

The mascara wearing comedian, songwriter and musician Tim Minchin got Saturdays proceedings underway on the main stage.  He joked ‘I’m surprised to see any one up this early’.  He raised the roof (well proverbially, if there was one) to a packed out crowd with his razor sharp satirical ditties on Jesus.

The sun was out in its full glory, which meant lake swimming and more naked liberation.  We caught a boat over to the Lake Stage where rumbling DnB sounds could be heard. From here you can see more people ‘shaking their stuff’ on the Pagoda Stage opposite. T.E.E.D, Jamie Jones and Seth Troxler are DJ’in here, but stage times are not listed, instead clues are hidden around the pagoda – shhh, it’s a secret.

Around the lakeside lies the ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ Stage, its front adorned with knotted and twisted tree branches.  This rather lovely stage is playing host to a good line up of new folk and up-and-coming bands over the four days, starting with Bastille. During the course of the weekend we see Ellen And The Escapades, We Were Evergreen, Lucy Rose, Daughter, Lianne La Havas and King Charles play to packed audiences.

What I am beginning to like more and more about SGP is that there is so much to get involved in, even if the music wasn’t your scene.  The organizers actively encourage that you don’t get hung up on seeing the bands and that you participate rather than be a spectator.  You can go punting, join a literary reading, have dance lessons, go swimming, ride a camel, take a hot tub under the blue skies.  I’m finding it impossible not to fall in love with this festival.

As darkness falls, we ready ourselves for the big birthday burn.  A crescendo of activities that starts with dozens of fire jugglers surrounding the lake, hundreds of neon balloons sent floating skywards, a breathtaking firework display and then the big climax. The Lake Stage is ignited and the flames roar into the blackened sky. It was truly phenomenal. Huge crowds swell the banks as far as your eye could see. SPG know how to put on an awe-inspiring ceremony.

Taking to the stage after the immense sights on the lake were Obital. They needed something epic to follow the pyrotechnics we had just witnessed. Never failing to please, the Hartnoll brothers with trademark headlamp glasses blew the audience away with projections, laser beams and some good old classics ‘Halcyon’ ‘Belfast’ and a 15 minutes version of ‘Chime’ to conclude this blissful set.

Sunday turns out to be a hot one and perfect for hanging out at The Dance-Off stage, a boxing ring where punters challenge each other to dance like an idiot to cheesy mash-ups.  There is some serious partying going on down there.

The merriment continues with the infamous paint fight at the main stage. Organizers hand out bags of powered pigment and before you know it people are multi-coloured from head to toe in garish, blue, yellow, purple and orange and the air is full of colourful dust.

In the evening we get ourselves into the north field in time for another birthday parade. Just when you think SPG couldn’t pull out any more surprises out of the bag, well they did.  From the skies came five parachutists landing on the lake, two planes that created a love heart in smoke trails in the sky, a carnival style procession with a band of foxes, a giant cake, a brass brand, camels trail.

Glastonbury may be taking a sabbatical this year, but there is no chance of festival goers feeling hard done by with this festival. I urge anyone who hasn’t been, to give this one a go.  You might not set foot on Worthy Farm again……but shhhh it’s a secret!

Click here to view photos from The Secret Garden Party

This would be first day festival I have attended this summer, well actually my first one ever, I was unsure on what the atmosphere would be like and how it would differ with the full weekend events.

The morning started well, bright beautiful sunshine and clear blue sky’s which was a change from the last two weeks constant down pours. 15,000 tickets had been sold before the event and with the opportunity to buy tickets that day the sun would defiantly draw in a lot more people.

The future sound of Nottingham  winner “The Afterdark Movement” were the first band to play on the main stage,  the soulful six-piece band fusing hip hop, rhythm and blues with a dash of pop brought the early festival goers to their feet with their enthusiastic show coupled with the engaging presence of the main singer Bru-C.

Along with The Afterdark Movement, Nina Smith, Indinia & Sinners Highway, all future sound of Nottingham finalists played at the festival. The festival was really geared towards local bands and promoting the best of Nottinghamshire music.

Towards the late afternoon and early evening the big names from past and present started making appearances on the Main and Jagermister stages.

Levellers made a huge impact on the Jagermister stage with hundreds of true fans crammed as close to the front as possible singing in sync to every song and every lyric and even getting myself singing to some of their classics such as “What a Beautiful Day”

Katy B was the highlight of the day for me, known for the chart topping singles “Katy on a Mission” and “Lights On”

Dizzee Rascal ended the festival but not until leaving his fans waiting for 20 minutes, the late start was made up for with a high energy and high impact set which sent the crowd into a frenzy with a few mosh pits within the crowd. Pyrotechnics and CO2 cannons added to the whole atmosphere and Dizzee used every available space on stage giving everyone, left, right or centre a good view.

After a long sunny day the festival was at a close with a wide range of musical acts and genres on offer at the festival, from the local unsigned bands, to world music, and big names from the past and present every Nottinghamshire resident should have this marked in their calendar for next year.

Click here to view photos from Splendour Festival 2012

It would be impossible to write about Larmer Tree this year, without mentioning the mud and, in typical British spirit, the weather. So let’s get that out of the way. It’s been a bad year for festival organisers this year. Many outdoor shows and events have been cancelled up and down the country due to horrible weather patterns. A few days before I am meant to set off for Larmer Tree, I am constantly checking for updates, hoping it hasn’t been cancelled too. As it happens, the organisers seem to be doing a great job preparing for any unexpected circumstances, and I pack my things to leave. On the day I am meant to arrive, however, it is me who has the problem. Flooding and storms in my area have closed off my main route to the grounds, and disappointed I am forced to stay at home.

Luckily, the next day the roads are open and back in business and I set off first thing. It rains the whole way there, and when I arrive, it shows no sign of stopping. I am greeted by stewards and staff who are completely un-phased by the elements, and more than happy to help any of the arrivals.

Even against the dark grey sky, and through the sheets of rain, the first thing I notice when I enter the Larmer Tree Festival site, is the colour. Circus style marquees, flags, stalls and eateries are some of the most creative and vibrant I have seen at a festival. Stalls are selling the bizarre and the beautiful, from clothing to trinkets. And it doesn’t take long before a small wander makes my eyes several times larger than my belly and I instantly want to eat at least one of everything going. From fresh baked pizza, curries, Chinese food and pies, to having tea and crumpets served to you by corset-clad girls at Strumpets with Crumpets. All the favourites are here. Over the course of my weekend, I managed to try a fair amount of what is on offer, and it was all delicious.

Larmer Tree consists of five main venues; the Main Lawn hosts both a Main Stage and a Garden Stage, the Garden Stage hosting both live music and DJ’s who entertain during Main Stage changeovers. The Big Top (looks exactly as it sounds) holds both live bands and workshops that vary from Swing Dance to Didgeridoo lessons. The Arc is another circus style tent, it holds both seating and standing room, and is home to more live music and comedy. Club Larmer is home to Theatre and talks for adults, Film screenings and DJ events. The Social has a bohemian pub type feel, and is also home to live performances, and contains its own bar. On a walk through the Lost Wood and the Secret Garden, other smaller stages appear along with craft workshops and activities, including a Healing Zone where you can even get massages. The gardens also contain brilliant works of art and sculptures and I’m left thinking: “Is this a festival, or a cave of wonder?”

Stopping for a lunchtime pizza, and a very necessary cuppa, I am soaking but happy and enjoying myself. As is everyone I can see around me. Larmer Tree seems to attract an incredibly diverse audience; young families with young children, teenagers in groups on their own, middle aged and elderly people (judged by age, and absolutely not by spirit), and twenty-something’s like myself, and every one is more than welcome. I would like to add at this point that, age-wise, this is by far the most diverse festival I have ever been to. Larmer Tree really does seem to offer something for everyone, and it is clear from chatting to many people that I meet here that if you come once, you are most likely to return. Some people I speak with are so fond of this festival (returning 4-5 times), that they encourage me to ignore the relentless rain, hating the thought of me thinking anything negative about their beloved Larmer Tree festival.

–       It’s OK, the rain didn’t ruin anything. Except maybe the inside of my tent.

Thursdays three main headliners are Yes Sir Boss, Tim Minchin and Paloma Faith.

First up are Bristol-based Yes Sir Boss, who do a great job warming up the crowd with an energetic set-list and a small horn section. Oh, and they have Joss Stone do a guest appearance with them too.

Next up on the Main Lawn is the exceptionally multi-talented comedian, singer, songwriter and musician, Tim Minchin. I knew he was talented, but I was not prepared for his brilliant showmanship and abundance of energy throughout the set. As soon as he walks out on stage the whole audience comes to life as they witness him jump around and throw his wellies in the air. By the end of the first song alone, he has jumped up and down on his piano stool while singing, and then continued to play on all fours. At the end of the first song he says one of my favourite things that I heard all weekend in the garden and forest style setting:

“Which one’s the Larmer Tree?”

Paloma Faith is Thursdays’ last main stage act. In all honesty, I knew she was a good singer, but I didn’t expect such a good performance and was very pleasantly surprised. Her vocals were brilliant, as was her showmanship, and the crowd leave the Main Lawn in a great spirits, ready to continue the party elsewhere in the grounds.

On Friday, the weather is thankfully much drier, although the aftermath of Thursdays’ rain is a huge amount of swamp-like mud. It still doesn’t affect anyone’s mood, and everyone seems to have fully embraced the conditions, determined to have a great weekend – even those who forgot to pack their wellies.

First of the three main stage acts of the evening are Dizraeli & The Small Gods. The seven piece folk-come-hiphop band manage to combine the two genres in a genuinely spine tingling way, entwining hiphop vocals from Dizraeli around stunning female vocal leads and harmonies and brilliant music. With such a talented first act of the evening, I know I must be in for a treat for the rest of the night: Dub Pistols, followed by The Levellers.

Dub Pistols are one of the liveliest and most entertaining bands I have seen so far over the last two days. Another genre mixing act, I can only describe them as trumpet fuelled hiphop, come ska punk, which turns out to be a great combination.

The Levellers give a great performance; only they seem to have attracted a different part of the Larmer Tree crowd than the earlier acts. Musically the eclectic use of instruments follows on well from their predecessors, however, attracting a slightly more mature audience there is quite the change over.

After the acts on the Main Lawn have finished for the evening, I explore some of the later events, and decide to head to The Social. While exploring in yesterdays rain, many people found themselves in this tent while sheltering from rain, enjoying the built in bar, some poetry reading and live music. Playing when I walk in, are a three piece band called The Wishbones, who turn out to be one of my favourite acts of the weekend; their line-up includes a banjo, lap steel guitar, double bass and great vocals. Unfortunately, acts in the social don’t feature on the main timetable, so I’m glad that I caught them, and will be keeping an eye on these guys.

When I leave The Social, a fire show is taking place outside. This sums up the festival, always something to do for everyone involved.

Saturday is a hugely diverse mix of sounds and cultures, and is also a fancy dress day where everyone is invited to dress to this years’ theme – All At Sea. Today’s Main Lawn acts feature GIVERS, Amadou & Mariam, and Caravan Palace; starting off with GIVERS, who seem to have quite the following, particularly among younger crowd members. They are among the youngest bands that I’ve seen here so far, clearly each member is incredibly talented and the crowd get behind them completely.

Amadou & Mariam are a duo that came together through their blindness, and they win everyone over with their uplifting musical sound (and brilliant guitar skills, I heard people saying “I can see fine and I’ll never be able to play that well”).

Caravan Palace are a lot of peoples must see act for this festival, and they supersede everyone’s expectations with a really amazing set, and I can’t help but dance while I’m taking photos. The general consensus is that no one has ever seen such beautiful people all in the same band, who each have so much energy and never stop dancing. The crowd danced just as much, and the entire field was jumping.

Still dancing, I head to The Arc, where I’m going to watch my first comedy act of the festival. Up tonight are Swedish comedian Daniel Simonson, Alun Cochrane, and Stephen K Amos, and Comedy Club Compere Tom Craine. This turns out to be a brilliant combination of comedic acts, the whole tent belly laughs and heckles like any good comedy audience should.

It’s late now, but the journey back to my tent is halted by the DJ sounds coming from The Social, and the idea of a late night pizza.

The sun comes out on Sunday, and sheds light on a carnival procession; The United Colours of Larmer Tree! This is a combination of crazy costumes and live music that ranges from Brazilian dance drums to Accordion based shanties, and many children who have made costumes in the Kids Club take part.

From the press area in the afternoon I hear Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends sound-checking while I’m charging up my camera batteries, and a few of us run outside to see them on the main stage giving a rendition of The Drunken Sailor. It’s such a beautiful sound made by the vocal choir, and their set is fantastic. Another great act of the day is Otis Gibbs, who plays in The Arc.

I instantly fall in love with the first of the final main stage Larmer Tree acts, Raghu Dixit, who not only play great Indian folk-rock, but also seem to impart wisdom and wellbeing to the entire crowd.

Imagined Village take to the stage next, and the crowd love them so much that they are called up for an encore.

The last act set for the main lawn this year is Roots Manuva, who has a very different sound to the previous act, and got even the most reluctant dancers dancing.

So, that’s it for the Main Lawn, but as always in Larmer Tree there is still something left to do, tonight I head to The Big Top to see a performance from hiphop Shakespearian, Akala. Having seen Akala a few years ago, I know that he is a brilliant lyricist and master of words, and it’s great to see how his musical sound has developed.  There is just time to run on over to The Arc to catch another comedy act – Milton Jones, who is famed for his one-liner wittiness. The festival eventually ends at around 3am, with the ‘Uplifter’s Reggae Sessions’ that take place in Club Larmer.

To put it simply, this has been a fantastic weekend. Although this is a relatively tiny festival, there is so much to do, for absolutely everyone. What Larmer Tree may lack in the way of big festival names, it more than makes up for with a huge amount of hidden gems and surprises.

Review by Elise Price

Click here to view Larmer Tree Thursday photos
Click here to view Larmer Tree Friday & Saturday photos
Click here to view Larmer Tree Sunday photos

When you imagine Benicassim, the festival (a.k.a. FIB – Festival Internacional de Benicassim) your mind takes your straight to the beach, sitting in the sun whilst sipping a cocktail and listening to some live music.

What I discovered, as probably everyone knew before me, is that the festival itself does not take place ON the beach at all, just near one. The music generally does not start until about 6 in the evening, and finishes around 12 hours later. So you really have no choice but to sleep on the beach in the daytime, and stay up all night dancing from one tent to the next until dawn…

The music at the festival officially began on Thursday early evening.

Thursday’s highlight was going to see Florence and the Machine play, who unfortunately was cancelled.

As a replacement De La Soul was moved to the main stage from the Trident Senses stage (essentially the second biggest stage), who completely lifted the spirits of the then-still-fresh faced festival go-ers. An hour of loud, powerful hip-hop and a load of sing-a-longs, the group ended with their collaboration with Gorillaz, Feel Good Inc.

Another band that played which I enjoyed were Kurt Vile & The Violators, who had a Dylan-esque voice and clear influences of 60s and 70s psychedelic rock; a bit like Fleetwood Mac.

Friday’s headliners were Chase & Status, The Maccabees, Bombay Bicycle Club, and Bob Dylan.

Dylan was spectacular, and although his voice wasn’t what it used to be – it is much more raspy and lower than in his ‘golden’ days – he and his band were completely up to par. He mainly played his new material, and only a few classics, which included Like A Rolling Stone and Ballad Of A Thin Man.

The Maccabees were fantastic, energetic, enthusiastic and played a good mix of all their albums.

Later that night Katy B performed; she is so appreciative, friendly and crowd-pleasing, on top of being a brilliant singer too.  On top of all of her most well known songs (Katy On A Mission, Lights On) she performed a remix of Mosca’s ‘Bax’, which was unexpectedly well done too.

Saturday’s busiest headliners were Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, The Stone Roses and Dizzee Rascal.

The High Flying Birds sounded a lot like Oasis, with similar guitar riffs and (obviously) perceptibly similar voices and lyrics.

Most people watching Stone Roses wanted to see Dizzee too, so it seemed as though halfway through the crowds did a switch, as there was a massive rush in and out. The Roses played all their classics – I Am The Ressurection, I Wanna Be Adored, etc. and Ian Brown didn´t look as though he had slowed down much on the intoxication part; his reputation follows him.

The rest of my Saturday night was spent at the one and only Cocktail bars, where Mojitos went like water and where the DJ played music from the Doors, James Brown and the likes.

My Sunday night was spent at the Fib Club stage, starting with Howler, a 5 piece band from Minnesota who sound like they have been strongly influenced by The Vaccines. The front man, Jordan Gatesmith, had a sincerely strong and formidable singing voice as well as a chatty personality. And although they kept calling themselves The Vaccines, it was definitely obvious that they had a very good sense of humour and their own type of sound.

They were followed by T.E.E.D (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs), who had another fantastic costume that made him look like a newly grown flower, along with his two incredible dancers who had a series of costume changes themselves, and made his set just that little bit better. As well as playing material from his Trouble EP, he also played some of his new songs, which are a little heavier on the bass than, say, ‘Garden’.

Todd Terje kept the spirits high after T.E.E.D. finished, with a 2 hour set full of house music – Spanish and English. He played some ambiguous re-makes of traditional Spanish music as well as his very own ‘Inspector Norse’, which the majority of the crowd clearly recognized and loved.

The last person I went go and see perform was David Guetta, who really does not deserve a positive review because his set was genuinely disappointing. His mixing was off, and considering he has so much well-known material, he could have played some that the crowd could sing and dance along to.

Keep an eye out for next year´s line up on http://fiberfib.com/

– Nina Hoogstraate.

The lazy Sunday vibe is washing over a warmed up crowd at Hyde Park as they wait in anticipation of tonight’s headliner, musical maestro Paul Simon (of Simon and Garfunkel fame). There’s an overtly different feeling in the air compared to last night’s Bruce Springsteen show, fans this evening are relaxed and calm as well as being of an over-all older age group and there’s something rather nice about it.

Opening with soft bluesy ‘Kodachrome’ to a round of appreciative but grown-up cheers and applause, Paul Simon steadily rides through the song in his so-laid-back-he’s-almost-horizontal way but the sound gets a little bit washed out in ‘50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’. He is then joined on stage by “… a great hero of mine, Jimi Cliff” (sporting gold sequinned trainers no less!) who gives the reggae edge to the proceedings with ‘The Harder They Come’ and ‘Many Rivers To Cross’.

Moving on to Simon’s decisive African Township influenced ‘Graceland’, which caused quite a stir back in ’86, is tonight reverential, and is felt all over again as the formidable Ladysmith Black Mambazo take to the stage to do it justice. There’s no formal ceremony about this show, it’s unassuming but special, and the likes of ‘Homeless’ and ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’ seem to take the breath away from the awed onlookers.

When Hugo Masekela comes out for a spirited ‘Mandela’ as the sun shines down, people are warming up their dancing feet and with two encores featuring the likes of Simon & Garfunkel hit ‘The Sound of Silence’ and ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’, he rounds off the Sunday jam session with an easy casual manner. This was undoubtedly Paul Simon at his best, but it smacked of a quiet comedown for Hard Rock Calling rather than a sensational out-with-a-bang type of affair and the crowd definitely began to wane from around 9pm in favour of early tubes and soft beds.

There’s a reason 76 thousand people turned up to Hyde Park in this, the most miserable of summers, and that reason is the man, the legend, Bruce Springsteen. After a tense 30 minute wait (in which time we managed to sardine ourselves between a very jolly man yelling ‘Bruuuuuuuce’ at random intervals and an extremely short couple trying to swap saliva as if it were life-force) The Boss rocks up wearing his signature jeans and waistcoat combo with serious swagger and no pomp or fanfare whatsoever. This guy just commands attention on his own.

Dropping the lights to a single beam, Bruce breathes into the mic “This is the first song I played when my feet touched British soil” and opens with an absolutely epic acoustic rendition of super-hit ‘Thunder Road’ which honestly, nearly brought a tear to my eye. Straight into ‘Badlands’ and pushing on through ‘We Take Care of Our Own’ (plagued by a temporary fit of poor sound, which is overridden by the thousands of chorus voices) Springers already has us enthralled. ‘Wrecking Ball’ is punchy and the Bill & Ted style guitar wind-milling shows us that the 62 year old rocker is anything but past it. Bruce welcomes on stage friend Tom Morello (of Rage Against The Machine fame) “and his furniture” for ‘Death to My Hometown’ and ‘My City of Ruins’ heralded by sage words “It’s about the things that leave you, it’s about the things that never leave you, the things you remember for the rest of your life. This is for my old faces in the crowd.” Bruce walks off the stage and into the clamouring arms of his fans, even putting one lucky (?!) punter in a friendly headlock.

As Bruce sings a little thought along the lines of “Who’s in the house tonight? Are your legs hurting, and your ears hurting and your sexual organs… stimulated? It’s in the smallprint of your ticket…” he stands up against the crowd barrier with a security guard hanging onto the back of his pants for dear life, at serious risk of de-kegging the rockstar. Back up on the stage steps, he takes time for a little recline next to E Street saxophonist Jake Clemons as they duet, and are then joined by the great John Fogerty, who played the main stage previously.

A wavering sign in the crowd attracts the attention of Springsteen, a fan who has been following him around the world repeatedly requesting the little played song ‘Take Them As They Come’ gets his wish as Bruce shouts “Tonight you’re gonna hear this damn thing, It’s your song buddy”. As the skies begin to cloud over and darken, aptly named ‘Because The Night’ brings on a few drops of rain and an extreme case of tone-deaf karaoke from the girl a little way behind us. No dear, dogs in Hounslow can hear you, but Bruce can’t. Guitar slung nonchalantly across his back, bopping an inflatable Mr. Blobby back into the crowd, Bruce asks security guards to drag a small boy out onto the stage with him to sing ‘Waitin’ on a Sunny Day’ with him. That lad’s life has hit its peak, what else will ever be as good, I ask you? Following this lighthearted act, ‘The River’ sends the thousands strong throng into complete awed silence, the like of which is rarely witnessed in the music world, and there is something entirely mesmerising about his gravelly voice soaring out across the silhouetted faces of all these people.

Morello re-joins the group for ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’ and blasts out a face-melting solo with insane harmonics, after which Bruce drops ‘Born In The USA’ and fan favourite ‘Born To Run’. ‘Glory Days’ sees Bruce and E Street’s Steve Van Zandt shaking their asses to the crowd at the top of the steps and the incredible ‘Dancing In The Dark’ is cue for Bruce to grab a young lady from the crowd and pick her up for a spot of dancing… er… in the dark. She may never marry after that!

Bruce needs no intermission, no encore, the man is a veritable machine. How many other musicians do you know who can pull a 3 hour set without a break, let alone one who’s been gigging for as long? To cap off an already celebratory show, who should turn up but pal and UK rock-legend Sir Paul McCartney. Yes that’s right, Sir Paul McCartney. This unbelievable occurrence  sees more than a few around me rubbing their eyes in astonishment as they do Beatles hit ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and a cover of The Isley Brothers’ ‘Twist and Shout’ before finishing up with a jumping cheese-tastic ‘La Bamba’.

Okay, so you might have already heard a fair amount of bitching about the plug-pulling incident, but here’s my take. It was only 5 minutes of La Bamba – funny but not great by any stretch of the imagination, it’s the song played by crap DJ’s at weddings, right? It’s a shame that Bruce didn’t get to say his goodbyes (heck, he didn’t even know the sound was off for a while) but the man gave us unadulterated power and polished rock n roll for over 3 outstanding hours. Despite various celebs tweeting about the ‘incident’ (even Boris Johnson weighed in) this shouldn’t be the final word on what was otherwise an utterly astounding set. Springsteen has one hundred percent earned his title of The Boss and this is just a tidbit of news on the back of one of the best shows ever to grace Hyde Park.

A damp day in London’s Hyde Park and a subdued, sparse crowd awaits 90’s grunge titans Soundgarden. It’s not the best of situations but Chris Cornell’s obvious nonchalance as he walks on stage to a fanfare of grimy amp feedback, seems to please the avid fans at the front (cue girls screaming). With an intro like ‘Searching With My Good Eye Closed’ it’s clear they intend to roll out the hits tonight, in their two hour headline set, and follow up ‘Spoonman’ is hurt either by dodgy sound quality or an un-warmed vocaliser a la Cornell, it’s hard to tell.

Luckily, the further into the set we get the better. As clearer vox on ‘Jesus Christ Pose’ and chart hit ‘Black Hole Sun’ start to warm up the crowd, Cornell laments on the 15 year hiatus and proclaims that they’re “Happy to be back”. Despite the joyful sentiment, the weather has other plans and chucks buckets on the already soggy scene, and despite the very public notices about an arena umbrella ban, up go the multicoloured domes to shelter the London crowd. Two drenched hippies in a state of distress (and miss-dress, they were wearing an extraordinary collection of woven garments which must have sucked up ALL the rain) stagger past holding each other up and screaming “I don’t know what you’re saying” over ‘Let Me Down’ and ‘Pretty Noose’. The melancholy sentiment now matches that of the dwindling crowd.

Something about an event in the heart of London seems to breed a disinterested attitude towards outdoor music, a guy next to us said that five of his friends who bought tickets today, didn’t bother to come because of weather forecasts. It’s easy to ditch and hop on a tube home here, unlike a normal camping festival and people seem to be embracing it, as Soundgarden move through to their more self indulgent numbers. ‘Super Unknown’ is a glistening gem in this moody close but encore track ‘Rusty Cage’ is met with indifference from the majority of listeners as they spend an age playing around with their pedals and messing about with feedback and resonance. The sight of these grown men standing resolutely holding their guitars up to amps like some teenage garage band, is a little funny to tell the truth. There’s a fine line between cool and cock, and this definitely crosses it. Soundgarden put on a good show, but not an epic one, and possibly weren’t the best fit for this festival, however – die-hard ‘garden fans got exactly what they came for.

Photo courtesy of Hard Rock Calling.

The action all kicked off on the Friday with loads of people arriving and not just setting up camp, but unloading their BMX bikes, skateboards and inline skates. The Razor skate park was open for public sessions for most of the weekend, letting everyone of all abilities get involved with their own kit as was the outdoor Motion ramp, until the rain started.

The Squibb Freestyle team also managed to put on a bit of a display on Friday before the rain started. Indoors at the Pro Skate Park there were lots of practice sessions going on ready for the competitions to be held over the rest of the weekend – these included skateboarding, BMX and inline. You could already tell from the practice sessions that the competitions were going to be exciting, with some real displays of talent.

Into Friday afternoon and evening, the live music started. Relentless NASS 2012 had a wide range of music across the various stages and arenas. The night featured some great acts on the main stage including Shy FX and Chiddy Bang, who built up the atmosphere before the truly energetic performance of DJ Fresh, who everyone went wild for. A great mix of DJs played sets in the UKF and Drum & Bass arenas as the crowds got bigger and more drunk. The highlights were Subscape, Cutline, Fred V & Graffix (who also did some great crowd surfing), Loadstar and Doctor P. The Front Magazine stage featured music that was definitely more of the rock variety from the likes of Set Your Sails and Marmozets.

Saturday saw a lot more rain and a lot of mud. A lot of the sports events planned for the day could unfortunately not go ahead due to the weather, but indoors at the Razor Park the UK Champs took place as well as a best trick competition, while it was a very busy day in the Pro Park with the qualification rounds for all sports.

The anticipation at the Main Stage built up and up throughout Saturday evening as Pulled Apart By Horses played, followed by a bouncing show from Modestep and then perhaps the most anticipated act of the weekend – Sum 41. Many of those at the festival had grown up with Sum 41 and loved seeing them perform classics such as 'In Too Deep'. The Drum & Bass Arena and the UKF Stage were once again busy as people enjoyed great sets from the likes of Crissy Criss, Friction & Linguistics, Drumsound & Bassline Smith and DATSIK.­­­

Sunday eventually saw some sun, and all the athletes were keen to make the most of it, which saw some great displays on the Relentless Street Spots course, made all the more exciting by the cash incentives offered for tricks. It was a busy day for the action sports part of the festival, as the finals of the competitions for all sports also took place in the Pro Park.

Overall, Relentless NASS 2012 was a great festival, despite the mud and rain, that perfectly combined music and action sports, and even provides the opportunity to get involved by having a go at the public skate park.

Click here to view photos from Friday @ Relentless NASS
Click here to view photos from Saturday @ Relentless NASS
Click here to view photos from Sunday @ Relentless NASS

Arriving at the car park on Sunday, I was grateful it wasn't raining again, but by the time I reached the main arena, that gratitude was slowly sinking, much like the festival goers. The mud was ankle deep and if you went down to flat land, you were lucky if the pools of mucky water wasn't 12 inches high. All of this aside, the Scottish crowd seemed to be enthusiastic for the day ahead. Wandering around the arena people were, throwing mud, sliding face first in it, one guy even dived off a picnic table in to it. Safe to say, no spirits were dampened by the ground conditions.

Chase and Status were definitely one of my highlights of Sunday, the two DJ's joined on stage by their drummer Andy Gangadeen and vocalist MC Rage put on an amazing show. With special guests Maverick Sabre and Liam Bailey, Chase and Status certainly pulled out all the stops and provided a memorable performance. The crowd for Chase and Status was certainly a rowdy one, several mosh pits were started and crowd surfers had to be pulled out by security.

Elbow's crowd wasn't quite as energetic, but they were not any less committed, singing along to all of their hit songs providing a classic, chilled out festival atmosphere.

Going over to the Radio 1/ NME Stage the atmosphere changed completely, Nicki Minaj, being 55 minutes late, ran on stage, with no explanation as to why she made her fans wait so long. Scotland's crowds are well known for being enthusiastic and energetic and were complimented by bands and artists over the weekend, but when Nicki Minaj kept them waiting, they were anything but forgiving, in between tracks, you could hear heavy booing and insults being thrown at her from all directions. Cutting her set short, I doubt she'll be rushing back to Scotland anytime soon and if she does, she better at least bring an apology back with her.

I've never really been a huge fan of Kasabian, I've always seen them as just another band, lacking anything extra special, but seeing them at T in the Park I was very wrong, delivering a lot more grit and character than I ever expected. Unlike a lot of bands, you weren't just drawn to the singer but you found yourself watching the whole band. Their song Velociraptor off their new album is definitely worth a listen.

After announcing they will be splitting after completing already confirmed gigs for this year Swedish House Mafia's set was set to be a sort of, farewell performance, and they didn't disappoint. Having preformed at T in the Park last year they had set themselves a standard barrier, which they smashed to smithereens. I can't explain it in words, you will have to watch the multiple videos on YouTube to fully understand where I'm coming from. Absolute madness.

Even if the weather was horrific this year, the Scottish crowds were still in full force and didn't let it dampen their spirits over the weekend. T in the Park is an amazing festival, with brilliant characters and a phenomenal atmosphere. I would recommend everyone get tickets for next year, as it is T in the Park's 20th anniversary and it'll be even bigger.

Check out photos from Friday @ T in the Park
Check out photos from Saturday @ T in the Park
Check out photos from Sunday @ T in the Park
 

The day kicked-off with a bang, when X- Factor judge Tulisa took to the main stage to sing two new songs from her debut album. Launching an attack on the ex-lover behind her recent sex tape scandal, she stuck a finger up at the 60,000 strong crowd and invited them to join her in publicly mauling him. 

Professor Green followed Tulisa on the main stage, giving a confident, energetic, and crowd-pleasing performance.

He opened his set by announcing Wireless as the ‘biggest f***** audience’ he’d played to all summer.  His nerves didn’t show as he ferociously rapped his way through a number of chart friendly tracks.   Biggest cheers (and mass audience participation) came for his encore, the No.1 hit and Emeli Sande collaboration, ‘Read All About It’.

Over on the Pepsi Max stage, British singer-songwriter Delilah lived up to recent music press hype.

A striking presence in camouflage jacket and knee-hi dominatrix style boots, she captivated the audience with her soulful and haunting voice.

Heartbreak and versatility framed her set as she stunned the crowd with a track list that compassed a cross of genres such as dub- step, soul, trip- hop, and R&B.

 Her last release, ‘Breathe’,   and the debut single, ‘Go’ (which carries a heavy sample from Chakka Khan’s ‘Ain’t Nobody’), were met with astounding reception.

Labrinth did his best to outshine Delilah, and very nearly succeeded until he was let down by poor sound quality inside the Pepsi Max tent.

An exuberant performer, he carried on regardless, and got the masses bouncing along to the cheery and catchy single ‘ Express Yourself’.

The Hackney-born star turned things down a notch with a beautiful, acoustic version of his debut hit, ‘Let The Sun Shine’.

 A massive crowd hurtle ensued as he launched into the mega selling single‘‘Earthquake’, which concluded a lively but inconsistent set.

Proving you don’t have to sell millions of records to make an impact at a commercial festival, up- and-coming South London soul singer Josh  Osho took to the tiny Bandstand Stage and became the surprise highlight for many.

Blessed with a powerful and silky voice, he also displayed his flair for epic song writing on tracks such as ‘S.O.S’, and ‘Redemption Days’.

A cover of the Alex Clare hit ‘Too Close’, went down a storm with the younger crowd, and worked exceptionally well in acoustic format.

As the rain started to pour down, the Wireless crowd waited in anticipation for U.S. hip-hop star and female powerhouse, Nicki Minaj to take to the main stage.

Sporting a typically colourful outfit (and bright blonde wig), she was greeted with a frenzied response. The Wireless crowd just couldn’t get enough of the eccentric performer and her foul-mouthed banter. From firing a dry- ice gun into the crowd, to performing hits such as ‘Moment 4 Life’, ‘Starships’ , and ‘Superbass’, she proved to be festival gold and kept the damp punters smiling through the rain.

Deafening screams were heard all over Hyde Park as headliner Drake took to the stage.

The charismatic rapper was completely at ease with his huge audience(who were gradually getting wetter and wetter as heavy rain set in), revealing that ‘London is like a second home’, and requesting that they chant along with his rhyme: ‘ I don’t give a f*** about the rain tonight cos I’m here to watch Drake go insane tonight’.

His adoring fans responded immediately and sang along to the short bursts of rapping at the start of the set.

Drake performed two storming collaborations- ‘Crew Love’, with The Weekend, and ‘Make Me Proud’ with Nicki Minaj.

Racing through rap numbers, ‘She Will, and Headliners and Practice, Drake’s vocals shone through on his slower, R&B tracks- sounding smooth and effortless.

The obvious encore had to be -and was, the Rihanna duet, ‘Take Care’.  The Barbadian superstar didn’t appear in person but her vocals were sampled throughout the track.

She closes the festival tomorrow and is sure to successfully round off a fierce, dance-tastic Wireless 2012.

Photos courtesy of Wireless Festival