After a night and days’ worth of on-off downpours the Bestival arena is a veritable swamp, we’ve sacrificed our trainers to the weather gods and spent a lot of time trying to avoid falling on our faces, but it’s off to the main arena we go for A Tribe Called Quest’s last ever show.
Following founding member Phife Dawg’s sudden death due to complications with diabetes in March 2016, the band decided to wind down their shows, with the finale right here at Bestival 2017. There’s a huge turnout for the hip hop legends despite the adverse weather conditions. Taking to the stage later than scheduled, Tribe kick things off with ‘The Space Program’ from last year’s release, but truthfully – it’s a bit of a mess. There’s something really fractured about the sound, the bass is muddy (excuse the pun) and it’s hard to distinguish all the different vocal layers vying for attention. To be honest, it sounds rushed and there are a lot of puzzled looks being exchanged in the crowd.
However, bouncing about under the Tron-esque visuals, the remaining members DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad, MC’s Q-Tip and Jarobi White, seem to pick it back up and come together for an impressive run through of their career hits including ‘Excursions’ and ‘Find A Way’ with a little help from special guest rapper, Consequence. White is seen sporting a tributary jacket with a picture of Phife painted on the back and throughout the show the band and visuals make reference to their departed friend and bandmate. Old recordings of Phife’s parts were played over the top of the tracks, rather than covered by another member of the group – which seems fitting, he was part of their last show in a way.
‘Sucka Nigga’ and ‘Buggin Out’ see the crowd doing their best impressions of dancing (NB: as close to hip hop as a drunk, predominantly white middle-class crowd dressed head to toe in sequins and neon is going to get) and Tribe are now hitting the highs we hoped for. The smooth delivery of intricate lyrics is what ATCQ are known for, and it’s finally turning into an unforgettable show. Calling out for some crowd participation “Say we love A Tribe Called Quest’s Music… say do that shit, do that shit good…” the band have the entire Bestival arena on side, heading into the finale with their most well-known track ‘Can I Kick It’ and the almost sombre ‘We The People’. The refrain repeated across the site by both the band and the fans will go down as a moment to remember in music history, even if the show as a whole hasn’t been the high-energy performance we expected. Saying their final goodbyes to the crowd and their time performing together, Tribe are clearly emotional about this ending, Phife’s illuminated empty mic is the last thing we see – it’s a powerful goodbye to an important part of hip-hop history and a fond farewell to A Tribe Called Quest.
Well here we are, Friday night at Bestival’s new home of Lulworth Castle in Dorset. The arena is packed out, there’s a chill of anticipation in the air and we’re all praying the rain holds off for tonight’s main stage headliners – The XX. The band take to the stage to a huge roar from the crowd and it’s pretty much straight down to business with ‘Crystallised’ and ‘Say Something Loving’. The bands’ ear-drum thumping percussive and electronic sounds come courtesy of Jamie Smith, stood atop a platform filled with every imaginable thing you can hit, prod and poke to make noise, and he’s currently bathed in sea of smoke and warm orange light.
Meanwhile, at the back of the stage giant floor to ceiling mirror panels rotate to show colour changing LED strips along the sides and the light is reflected back onto the upturned faces in the crowd. Despite a small hiccup with the sound and a quick re-set – “er… Jamie? Where are we going from…?” asks guitarist Romy Madley Croft – they go from strength to strength with her ethereal breathy vocals and their laid back almost hypnotic style.
Calling out “I’ll tell you what, we’ve been looking forward to this show for such a long time… nothing makes me more excited or more nervous than being back home… it’s been five years since we played Bestival” bassist Oliver Sim reaps an arena-wide reply of approval for their efforts. It’s certainly something that is often remarked on by UK bands – as a country we always seem to be rooting for the underdog, but everyone knows Brits are natural moaners, if we didn’t like it, they’d probably know about it quick.
Instrumental ‘Islands’ has everyone swaying along and with the warm stage lights and the rising breaths of the crowd there’s something so… Bestival, about this moment. It’s like floating and the temptation to close your eyes and get lost in it is strong. Making light comment on current world affairs – “We can be unified… forgetting all the bullshit in the world… enjoy yourselves this weekend” it’s clear the feeling is translated. How powerful it is that music can flow from creator to listener and invoke a mutual understanding, even without words.
As huge nets of lasers criss-cross the sky, illuminating the flickering flags and polka-dotting the brightly lit castle behind, The XX play through with the likes of ‘I Dare You’, ‘Infinity’ and ‘Brave For You’ but it’s the trio of hits ‘Loud Places’, ‘On Hold’ and ‘Angels’ that sees the arena erupt in wild applause, so much so that it seems to overwhelm Croft entirely, and spurs her into screaming “I fucking love you Bestival!”. Following up with “I’m gonna say something that might sound a bit cringe but it comes from the heart… we’ve been all around the world… but to be back in the UK, and for you to show us this much love, it’s amazing.” along with a shout out to Rob Da Bank for having them back, it’s pretty obvious The XX have enjoyed tonight as much as we have.
It's September 2017 and Wilkestock Festival is back! With an amazing line up organised and booked by Juicebox Live and The horn, this year the festival celebrated its 10th birthday. The festival began as a party for family and friends and was organised by brothers Tom and Olly Wilkes. Years later it became a charity music festival with all profits going to Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research and also Keswick Mountain Rescue. Despite being a small festival, Wilkestock has grown bigger in popularity year after year. It was announced that this year saw the festival's biggest event they have ever known, as over two thousand people were in attendance to celebrate it's milestone birthday.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Wilkestock, it is a small festival based at Frogmore Hill which is just outside of Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The festival provides ticket holders with a choice of artists and bands spread throughout it's five stages (Main stage, Bella stage, Rock up and Rinse, Bangorang and The Doghouse). Main stage and Bella stage were the most prominent of the weekend event and the others showcased DJ sets and a silent disco. There was even a secret stage which was basically a converted bathroom trailer.
As the festival is a family friendly weekend event, organisers provided a seperate children's area full of large inflatables and crazy golf. There was also a small white tent filled with large cushions, which served as a cinema showcasing classic Disney films such as 'The Jungle Book', 'Oliver and Company' and 'The Lion King'. Wilkestock also had a good variety of food available to us. There wasn't many vendors in the small food court area, but the variety of food was quite diverse. There were stone baked pizzas, the sauage company cooking lots of gourmet sausages and hot dogs, an ice-cream van, indian cuisine, greek style street food such as kebabs and halloumi salads and lastly a smoothie stall making lots of delicious and healthy beverages. Of course there were also the return of the log cabin bar. The main arena looked quite a sight! Due to it's 'Hippie' themed weekend, there was an abundance of beautiful coloured flowers, peace symbols and glitter all around. Just like last year, the main arena was furnished with recycled sofas, logs and straw bales to encourage a relaxed atmosphere.
So, music, who performed? Who was good? Who wasn't so good? After attending this awesome festival last year and loving the artists that the organisers had booked in 2016, I was somewhat a skeptical about this year's line up just not comparing at all to the brilliance of last year. In all honesty that is how I felt. I was totally wrong! And I am glad that I was proven wrong. Wilkestock really out done themselves to celebrate their big birthday. Not only did they have amazing headline acts to close each night, but they also had many acts returning from last year and some new bands and artists that I hadn't heard of before that really impressed me. DJs Adam O and and Matt Crawley also owned the decks throughout the entire weekend!
FRIDAY Let's start with all of the musical goodness from Friday. The main stage was opened by four piece male indie rock band Mono 01. Although only three of the band's members had turned up. The guys performed singles including 'Lost Dreams' and 'Get Out Of My Face'. Other bands that played on Friday included indie rock band Arcadian from St. Albans who played their hits 'Mandy', 'Talk Slow' and also an amazing cover of Kanye West's 'Stronger'.
We also saw Alternate pop rock female duo Rews. These two ladies from London and Belfast totally owned the stage while performing singles''For The Broken Hearted', 'Violins' 'Miss You In The Dark' and new single 'Shine'. Their debut album is due to be released in November this year.
The first of the returning acts from last year were Bedford based band The Scruff. In 2016 the band played and completly packed out the Bella/BBC Introducing stage. This year the lads had been promoted to the main stage for a bigger set. I will be honest. When I saw this band perform last year, I thought that they were a good band but not really a band for me. This year they did a complete flip reverse on me. They were one of my highlights for Friday! The Scruff played a variety of music, both old and new. What really changed my opinion of their music was when they performed their newest single titled 'Her' a song about being kind to your mother, it is also dedicated to one of the band member's late mother. A beatifully written and very emotial song which completely tugged at my heartstrings. One feeling I didn't expect to feel while watching this band perform. They are definitly worth a listen to so check them out.
An act that appeared to entice a lot of people were rock band Blackwaters. Our photographer especiallly. While headbanging and owning the stage the band performed their singles 'Let The Good Times Roll', 'Help Me', a pretty awesome cover of Britney Spears hit 'Toxic' and the very memorable 'F**k Yeah!' (I'll let you fill in the gaps haha). The band's lead vocalist was quite the showman, dressed in fitted black trousers and what I can only describe as a mariarchi style shirt. Not only did he rock the stage and interact well with the audience but he also jumped down from the stage to rock out in the arena with the fans watching too. For some reason a lot of very young children appeared to like this set too. There must have been around five children under the age of three sporting their ear protector headphones and bopping to this band's music. It was rather amusing. Perhaps a new generation of rockstars emerging, who knows?
Friday's warm up act for the headliner were British indie/alternative band The Sherlocks. The band brought in quite the crowd which gathered at the front of the main stage arena. I'd heard many people talk about their excitment to see this band on stage. The lads have just released their debut album titled 'Live For The Moment' and are currently touring all over the globe. Their single 'Heart Of Gold' has recieved air play from BBC Radio 1 DJs Annie Mac, Huw Stevens and Greg James. They also played at Reading and Leeds festivals last year (2016) before then supporting the Libertines on their arena tour. They performed hits for us including 'Chasing Shadows', 'Blue', 'Last Night' and 'Candlelight' before then exiting the stage to make way for the evening's headline act. Carl Barat and the Jackals. What a lovely tie in to The Libertines there! With people flooding in from all corners of the grounds to see this set, it was heaving! Carl Barat is best known for being co-front man alongside Pete Doherty in The Libertines. In 2014 Barat had set out to to search for a new band online via popular social media site Facebook. He had recieved well over 1000 applications before he then chose members to then form The Jackals. The collaboration works really well and their music is something that many peope enjoy. They are on tour and their current EP 'Harder They Fall' is out now.
SATURDAY Saturday was a big day for the festival, not only was it fancy dress day with a hippie theme but it was also the day that the festivals birthday celebrations took place. Throughout the day announcements were made on the main stage in regarding the 10th birthday of the festival. Including a heartfelt speech from the festival's founders Tom and Olly Wilkes. While thanking friends, family, press and production for their support over the years a cake was brought on stage as we were all encouraged to sing happy birthday. For the rest of the afternoon free birthday cake was available at the log cabin bar. And you can't go wrong with free cake! The day even saw a live proposal on the main stage. Congratulations to the happy couple!
Some of the best sets of the day came from artists including Honeylung, a male rock band that are fresh from the BBC Introducing stage at Reading and Leeds festivals 2017 with their grunge like apparel. A band that I thought were a tad different was Haunt The Woods. I can only describe their music as rock/eerie. The guys from Cornwall put on a great set with their singles 'Beautiful Catastrophe', the very haunting sounding 'Twisted' and 'Red Wood' which the band members themselves named a folk song.
We also saw a very girly punk rock set from female trio Hey Charlie who had packed out the tent at the Bella Stage. The fiesty girls (Lizz, Sophie and Lauren), who play their own instruments also played at the British Summertime Festival in Hyde park earlier this year. I had a lot of fun watching these three. I loved their music! Their song 'Cheer UpPrincess' is a brilliant upbeat punky pop song that got everyone up on their feet and left us singing the lyrics throughout the day.
Saturday like Friday night also had a warm up act before the big headliner. Saturday evening brought us the very energetic and amusing band Vant. These lads are absolutely brilliant live! Their music has had a lot of air play, particularly on BBC Radio 1 lately and are really starting to make a name for themselves. I only saw this band just over a month ago at Truck Festival and I loved their set there too. It seems that they like to introduce themselves by saying "Hey we are Vant from planet Earth!" Early on in their half an hour set one of the band members burst into song to sing the Spice Girls hit '2 Become 1' which of course set off a kareoke like chorus from everyone else in the arena. This was hilarious! The band even stopped half way through perfomorming their single 'Do You Know Me By Now?' to pass comment on a security issue that was being dealt with in front of the main stage. The front vocalist shouted out to the security team "security! Have you not been to a punk rock show!, Let the man stay at the front, I will keep an eye on him". This absolutely ticked myself and many other people there. The band just seem so down to earth and have a great connection with their audience. The guys continued afterwards to play a number of songs including their popular hit 'Karma Seeker'.
Just before the headline act graced the stage, one of the DJs played a number of songs over the speaker system to keep us all entertained in the meantime. Whoever that DJ was did a great job! They just kept throwing out hit after hit which really got the crowds of people dancing and singing along. Especially when 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' (Originally by Nirvana) was blasted out. I've never known so many people to jump around and go wild. There were even middle aged people acting like the teenagers that they once were. It was really quite something to see. It just showed how much fun can be had at this festival and it brought everyone together.
Saturday's headline act was the one performer that everyone was talking about, even the other artists on stage. Razorlight! I had loved them in my late teens, so I was quite excited to see them perform myself. They did not dissapoint. The opened their set with a quick "hello" before going straight into their first song of their set, the well known 'In TheMorning'. the band took many of us on a trip down memory lane with a variety of hit singles accompanied by an array of laser and strobe lighting. All in all they showcased a total of eighteen hits in their alotted time slot at the end of the night. They rounded off not only their set but also the evening by performing probably their biggest hit 'America' to which the production team also set of huge confetti cannons that filled the grounds and the air, leaving us all reeling from excitement.
SUNDAY Lastly, Sunday was a shorter day at the three day event but to be honest it was my favourite of the three days. The music was a lot more diverse rather than mainly rock bands throughout the day. As much as I like rock music it was nice to see some tamer styles of music. My highlights of the weekend were mostly acts from the last day of Wilkestock. On the list of stagetimes it showed that at lunchtime we were to see another of the returning bands from last year My Little Empire. When they took to the stage this was quite different. I say they, but only lead singer and guitarist Rob from the band took centre stage alone. As only he attended this enabled him to perform a slightly different set to what was originally planned. One man and his guitar often means one thing. A relaxed acoustic set. Yep, the band's front man performed their singles 'Solitude', 'Letting Go' and a really good cover of Ocean Colour Scene's 'Robin Hood' which he had said was an iconic song to him growing up. As it was to many of us too. This would have been the band's 7th year playing at his festival. But Rob certainly managed to pull it off all by himself.
Another Wilkestock veteran returning from last year were St. Albans based indie/rock band Alexis Kings. I loved them last year and to be honest I was quite enthusiastic about seeing them again over this weekend. The all male musicians had a slightly more grown up look after recently returning to the UK as they have been busy touring Asia. They played at the Summer Sonic festival in Shanghai alongside the likes of The Kooks and Sum 41. We heard some familiar songs from them such as their most popular single 'Squire' and a personal favourite of mine 'Strawberry Blonde'. They also sampled their newest masterpiece, 'Magic Mind' which they admitted they've only performed live a handful of times. This single is set to be their next release in around two months time. Watch out for it, it's a really great tune and I will be surprised if it doesn't do well.
To be honest I think the most popular performance of the day came from electro/pop group Club Drive. This set was a particularly important one to the band members as four became three. This was their bass player's last gig alongside the other lads as he is moving on to bigger things in his life outside of the band. Club Drive are becoming more and more popular with each single they release. The musicians from hertfordshire put on an amazing show for all ages. Everyone was up on their feet enjoying the music from their set. There was tons of energy on stage too. Their music is very upbeat and infectious. They certainly bring the party with them.
Sunday evening and the festival weekend was brought to a close by the cheeky chaps from Padding Needed. I had spoken to one of the band members in the afternoon before their set and he informed me of the antics that the band get up to while they are performing on stage. They had spent their afternoon handing out flyers inviting everyone to their pillow fight in the tent they were playing in. The band member that I spoke to had told me that the reason why they provide lots of pillows and encourage a huge pillowfight at all of their gigs is due to their single 'Pillow Fight'. They thought it was something unique and very fitting to promote their single. Ever since then, they have had giant pillow fights at every single gig they have played. This weekend we saw not only their famous pillow fight, but balloons being thrown into the crowds which packed out the tent completely and also what appeared to be sparklers on the ends of their guitars. They really do put on a gig like no other. The band that are based in the Milton Keynes/Northampton area are currently gigging all over the place and they even have their own festival planned for December called Pillow Fest! Which sounds like a massive fun party. If you get the chance to see these guys live then do so, you don't want to miss out on this much fun at a gig. Great music and laughs, what more could you possibly ask for?
So now this brings my rather lengthy review to a close. Wilkestock really upped the ante for this year's event. I'm so glad I've been able to go for the last two years as its a great family weekend out. Tickets for next year have already gone on sale and they will probably sell out fast so get them while you can. Thank you Tom and Olly for having us share your festival fun once again!
For more photos by Kane Howie click on day links below.
With just 48-hours to go until we throw open the gates to our historic first Bestival on the Lulworth Estate, we are super-excited to announce a huge line-up of comedians and clowns who will be performing on Oberon’s Observatory throughout the weekend. From seasoned pros to the most exciting new kids on the block, grab your tickets now and don’t miss all the top-drawer action from some of the pithiest performers around!
Bestival comedy booker, Get Comedy’s Brett Vincent says: “What a great mix we have for you this year. We have scoured all the funniest comedians from all over the globe to bring you some of the best comedy you’ll see this side of the Jurassic Coast and beyond.
“From comedy superstars, Andrew Maxwell and Marcus Brigstocke to Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer Nominees 2017 Chris Washington and 2016’s Jayde Adams. From one of the best LIVE acts currently on the festival circuit, Oh My God, It’s the Church to my favourite act that you shalt not miss The Raymond and Mr Timpkins Review on Sunday there are also so many GREAT acts this year! Don’t miss… Tony Law, Ray Badran, Chris Betts, Desiree Burch, Sarah Callaghan and Paul McCaffrey then mix in some of the newest and brightest comedians to hit the UK in years… Elliot Steel, Tom Lucy, Andy Field, Sophie Duker, Tom Houghton and Emmanuel Sonubi you are guaranteed a right laugh from every one of our amazing comics throughout the weekend. Come find us! And remember laugh hard, laugh long! Nanu Nanu”
Topping our headline triumvirate of comic capers, we’re delighted to welcome Marcus Brigstocke back to Bestival. Bringing the comedy line-up to a triumphant close on Sunday evening, Marcus is a Radio 4 stalwart, who has appeared on every TV panel show known to man, delivering a pitch perfect, searing line in smart, multi-faceted observational comedy.
Long-time Bestival fave Andrew Maxwell tops the bill on Friday with his hilariously in-yer-face fare. A double Edinburgh Comedy award nominee and a regular on your TV, Maxwell never fails to destroy the crowd with a mix of intrepid social commentary and on-point observation.
Saturday’s headline show is Oh My God it’s the Church, a raucous interactive party experience and parody of a Deep South Pentecostal church brimming with the best soul, blues and disco tunes. Fronted by the insane pastor ‘Michael Alabama Jackson’ the service will lead you through a sermon of serious partying. Don’t miss out.
But that’s not all there will also be side-splitting fun from sight-gag geniuses and comedy circuit legends The Raymond & Mr Timpkins Review, situational comic Andre Vincent, super-surrealist Tony Law, modern day renaissance women Jayde Adam, and frank and fearless multi-ward-winning comedian Sarah Callaghan, Plus there will be rip-roaring sets from Rich Wilson, Paul Mccaffrey, Tom Houghton, Emmanuel Sonubi, Chris Betts, Ray Badran, Garrett Millerick, Elliot Steel Tom Lucy, Sophie Duker, Andy Field, Morgan Rees, Huge Davies, Desiree Burch, Chris Washington, George Rigden , Harpers Harlots, and The Banyard Twins.
It’s day one of BOA 2017 and we’ve got our obligatory black band tees on, grabbed our wristbands and are headed into the arena for a weekend of pure metal fun.
Friday sees Swedish metallers Soilwork take to the main stage with classics ‘Nerve’ and ‘Stabbing the Drama’ but the sound doesn’t seem quite settled yet and most of what you can hear is distortion and cymbals. Luckily the Kraken tiki bar is on hand with cocktails and you can get your mitts on a Black Kraken ice-cream again, but be warned, it stains your teeth like you have scurvy. Maybe pirate emulation is the point? There’s also a pretty extensive merch stand this year at BOA, taking a leaf out of the Wacken book perhaps, you can now dry your bits with a Bloodstock towel… drink from a Bloodstock flask… don some fabulous branded leggings… the list goes on! This of course is in addition to BOA’s Exploding Ape collab which includes gym wear and an onsite Strongman/Strongwoman competition.
Over at said competition, a whole host of incredibly hench and serious looking women are taking turns lifting incredible amounts of weight to see who can complete the most clockwise rotations on the turnstile. It looks insanely tough and there’s a decent crowd cheering them on. Just to the side we spot The Motley Brew – which is possibly the most British thing ever. A tea tent, serving almost every tea under the sun (and free biscuits, bonus) out of proper mugs, with puns everywhere. We drank ours out of “Sweet Chai of Mine” and “Love in a Percolator” mugs… narf.
Nearby on the Sophie (Lancaster) stage, Denderq are busting out melodic but heavy harmonies and shout out to the BOA crew for “such a well run festival”. Following them, another UK band (and veteran Bloodstockers) Season’s End take the stage after an extremely long hiatus. It doesn’t seem to have done them any harm however, and lead vocalist Becki Clark is absolutely belting it, their symphonic style is fairly rare in UK bands so it’s nice to see them back on the scene.
Over on the main stage a guy dressed as a bloody Patrick Bateman is staring blankly into space and starting to creep the security guards out, but it’s time for Cali thrashers Testament to take control of the arena. Now, I always take it as a good sign if a metal band decides to rep their own tshirts and Testament have no problem doing just that, tick one for Metal-bingo. They’re also playing what can only be described as just good solid chuggy metal, to a pretty huge crowd, who are more than happy to jump around a bit as it is absolutely bloody freezing outside now. Goth girls in jorts are freezing their goosepimpled pale legs right off, and I bet come nighttime they actually have a faint eerie glow being almost translucent. In contrast there seem to be a lot of men rocking a leggings/fur coat combo, looking extremely pleased with their fashion choices this weekend. Bloodstock welcomes all. Testament are a testament (geddit) to old school metal, there’s loads of hair-windmilling and epic guitar solos, and one extremely tiny child with bunches and a mini battle-vest is bopping around to them as if it was tots tv.
On the Sophie stage, Shrapnel are getting all screamy with a crowd ready for some rioting, and the penultimate main stage band Blind Guardian come to the fore with an electric blue-lit entrance. They’ve always been a band with a lot of presence, but I will never not giggle that lead vocalist Hansi Kürsch is so unassuming that he looks like he could be doing your taxes or offering you legal advice. Nevertheless their uniquely symphonic sound is well received here at Bloodstock and the crowd joins in when asked “you will be our backing vocals… we have full trust in your skills… this one’s called Nightfall”. Kürsch is also keen to add “We are going to dedicate this one to Amon Amarth because it’s thanks to them we are here, we lost all our stuff” as the band is playing on entirely borrowed equipment.
Last up, Swedish Viking metal in the form of the mighty Amon Amarth, with an absolutely amazing headline show. They have fire, they have drinking horns, they have ever so much hair… they have a giant headbanging serpent on stage and dance moves (yes, I am claiming the rowing as a dance move) but above all else they are just furiously brilliant at what they do. Click HERE to read our complete headline review.
SATURDAY
Saturday sees the tiny but loud Jager stage fired up with UK scamps Bangover who have gathered a frankly massive crowd then incited them to create a circle-pit around the entire stage, only to then crowd surf (well you know… be ceremoniously carried) from there to the main stage at the end of their set.
Annihilator are rowdy good fun on the main stage, yelling “We are from that racist terrible country called… Canada… I know I’m sorry, I’m sorry eh” and joking “Our money has the Queen on it, so thanks for that guys”. With an album due in November it’s nice to hear some new stuff too “…finally back to early thrash roots… it’s called Twisted Lobotomy” which is absolute shredsville and the crowd is clearly loving it.
A little punky, a little rocky, a little classic metal… Spyder Byte on the Jager stage are just downright decent and judging by the crowd they’ve gathered, they could really play a bigger stage next year with no problems. Municipal Waste are determined to smash shit up with a giant circle-pit from the outset, even before they’d dropped a note, screaming “We’re Municipal Waste and we’re fucking back!”. Calling out “I’m all fucked up on buckfast right now… we play buckfast thrash” and the topical slew of hatred “Fuck Donald Trump! This song’s called ‘I wanna kill the president” only serves to amp up the already rowdy crowd even more, and a record 711 crowd surfers were recorded going over the barrier during this set alone.
Florence Black have pulled a decent crowd over on the Sophie stage, but we’re off in search of sustenance. Yet again Bloodstock have upped the ante when it comes to food, for a small festival there really is a more than decent offering. After looking into stalls selling Paella, Ostrich burgers, Vegan wraps, smoked meats Texas-style and some heart-stoppingly sugary doughnuts, we settle on a gigantic chicken offering from Burrito Boys which was fantastic.
Back at the main stage, Hatebreed enter to the laid back Bad Boys theme to emphasise the juxtaposition of their immediately screamy harsh metalcore flow. Lead vocalist Jamey Jasta stops for a breath and to say “You guys never disappoint man… this is why people come from all over the world to Bloodstock! Thanks for the positivity guys” as a pack of fluffy unicorn people march through the crowd throwing horns.
As the sun goes down you could be forgiven for thinking that the stage was being set for a headliner, but no – the insane amount of props and settings belong to penultimate act – Kreator. Heralded onto the stage by two demonic people brandishing red flares and a giant explosion of red tickertape, it’s clear Kreator mean business. There is a bit of unfortunate-ness with the curtain snagging on the giant devil horns at the back (a man dutifully tramped out with a ladder about halfway through the first song to unhook it… so rock n roll) but the band are absolutely killing it. There’s tonnes of pyro during ‘Satan Is Real’ and the massive church windows are actually screens providing more visuals to light up the stage, it really is a huge undertaking for a non-headline set. ‘Violent Revolution’ and ‘Pleasure to Kill’ go down a storm and it seems like the arena is shoulder-to-shoulder packed, as a huge silver and white streamer explosion rains down over the crowd.
Kids wrapped like tiny Egyptian mummies are streaking around the place as Bloodstock gives their two headline announcements for 2018, Gojira elicits an enormous roar of approval but the reaction to Nightwish is mixed at best.
Onto the actual mainstage headliner for Saturday – Ghost. Despite a technically good set, and a hardcore set of fans down the front they just don’t have the wow-factor we just experienced with Kreator, it’s maybe a shame for them that they followed such a great show. Read our full review of Ghost’s headline show HERE.
SUNDAY
Sunday finally brings the sun and we’re on the hunt for the best tattoos of BOA 2017 – check out our gallery on Facebook to see if we snapped yours! Possessed and Obituary are both shouty good times on the main stage, and Prognosis are absolutely ripping up the New Blood Stage, to a packed tent.
Local Derby lads HELL are predictably mad, with their stained glass window backdrops, crown of thorns and underlings lighting burning sconces. After a little technical difficulty with his headset, vocalist David Bower, armed with a handheld mic is now creeping around the stage amongst the eye-watering amount of pyrotechnics criss-crossing the pit area, calling out “How’s it going bloodstock? It’s been awhile…”. After a brief exit he returns to the stage dressed as a demonic Mr. Tumnus (read: Narnia meets the ninth circle) clicking his hooves as he sermonizes the crowd with a flaming trident. It’s all very surreal, particularly when he makes the ultimate metal Dad-joke “You should have told me bloodstock you were wearing black… we would have changed”. Groan.
Welsh ragga-metal band Skindred are much beloved by the UK metal scene and they absolutely do not disappoint, heaps of banners and backdrops do nothing to distract from the fact that they are completely unique and amazing at what they do. With a tribute photo of Roger Moore on the drumkit, mash-ups of the Imperial March and Benji’s signature spiked sunglasses you could be forgiven for thinking Skindred are all about the gimmick, until you hear them bust out the likes of… er… “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands”… oh.
No worries though, Benji soon yells “we stand together as people who love fucking rock music right now… this song is about people coming together and living as one… Doom Riff” which is exactly the kind of wild, raucous metal we came here for. With a barrage of strobe lighting for ‘Sound The Siren’ he asks “…you like the new songs? Yes or no don’t fuck about!” before launching into ‘Pressure’ which gets everyone up and bouncing. Benji jokes about “Anyone want a tshirt? On this side? Twenty five fucking quid go and buy one you cunts” before getting serious mentioning the death of a friend, and noting “…none of us are promised tomorrow, just like Sophie (Lancaster)” and urging everyone “if you love someone go and fucking tell them”.
‘Kill The Power’ is huge, but it’s the firm favourite ‘Warning’ featuring a mass twirling of tshirts… bras… one giant inflatable t-rex… for the Newport Helicopter, which is really impressive. Skindred walk that fine line between being cheesy Butlins comedy and just really fucking awesome. Obviously as Brits we love everything about that.
Up next, Arch Enemy destroy the stage with vocalist Alissa White-Gluz, who is a force to be reckoned with. Her Frozen-esque locks, shredded leather and fringed jacket make her look like some kind of ethereal warrior, and that raw bloodcurdling roar earns her a mark of respect amongst the death-metal crowd. As three people on microlights soar above the arena, Alissa addresses the crowd “This is a very special show… about 3 years ago ae released an album called War Eternal… since then we’ve been touring, we’ve done about 300 shows…and this, Bloodstock, is the last one of this War Eternal cycle!”.
Next up on the Jager stage, Voodoo Blood are giving a belting classic metal show to an increasingly large crowd, but as they finish up the arena is filling for finale headliners Megadeth. What a way to close Bloodstock 2017 – Megadeth are true masters of their genre and the crowd is loving them, out with a raft of Marshall amps and some serious shredding they are the perfect sound to end what has been an exceptional weekend. Check out our full Megadeth review HERE. The Bloodstock blues will hit hard next week but for now we are riding out on a serious high, this festival really is family, and it seems pretty strange to be going back to our normal lives for another year. With two announcements already down, we can’t wait to see what else BOA has in store for 2018.
Wilkestock 2017 is the 10th Anniversary for the small independant festival located in Hertfordshire running 1st-3rd September. It may be small and compact, but it has a lot to offer. You can lay back and relax on recyled sofas at the main stage arena or find hidden stages through the straw bale walkways. With previous years showcasing some amazing bands such as The Subways, Mystery Jets, Bastille, Dub Pistols and many more. This year has a 'hippie theme' with a fancy dress competition on the Saturday. The line up has been organised by Juicebox live who put on many bands in surrounding areas. Headlining the weekend is Carl Barat and the Jacks, Razorlight and a secret headline guest for Sunday.
Some of the artists that we think are worth checking out include:
Alexis Kings who are are a rock band from St Albans, last year they played the BBC introducing stage and had great success with their performance. They will be playing on the main stage on sunday this year.
Vant who are a London based punk rock band who have had numerous singles named as Annie Mac's Hottest Record In The World. They have played with Royal Blood, Biffy Clyro and Catfish and the Bottlemen. These guys recently rocked the main stage at Oxford's Truck Festival and we have no doubt they will do exactly the same at Wilkestock.
http://www.wearevant.com/
Club Drive is a 4 peice guitar funk pop band from Hertrfordshire. With similar sounds of Maroon 5. The band have already caught attention of the BBC Radio 1 introcuding team and they have also sold out national and international headlining shows. They are definitly a band to watch out for!
The festival is also a family festival event. Organisers will be providing a secret cinema, facepainting, bouncy castles and crazy golf within their family area. Plus if the festival is anything like last year's event then it will also have a great selection of cuisines to choose from too. We had great fun at last year's event, so we cannot wait to go again in a few weeks time!
For more information check out Wilkestock's website HERE!
Someone said all good things must come to an end, and sadly it is the final night of Bloodstock Open Air for another year. On the plus side, tonight sees the mighty Megadeth return after headlining the festival last in 2014, this time as part of their Dystopia World Tour. The LA thrash idols fronted by Dave Mustaine, known for their political commentary and lyrics, are sure to have something to say about the current events in America unfolding this week – adding to the overwhelming anti-Trump sentiment coming from many of the bands both last year and this.
As the giant screen backdrop explodes into the Megadeth logo, the band enter with an eardrum shattering blast of pure thrash metal for ‘Hangar 18’. Again BOA have absolutely nailed the sound this year, every note is perfect and Megadeth just keep rolling through a rock-solid set. The likes of ‘The Threat is Real’ and ‘Wake Up Dead’ have the entire arena going nuts, the pit is jumping and you can’t move without being thrashed in the face by someone’s wild headbanging hair.
Backed by an absolute wall of Marshall stack amps, the band stop for nothing, not even for a giggle at the guy crowdsurfing the inflatable ducky getting unceremoniously bounced into the pit. The screen visuals are also pretty interesting and topical, with despotic world leaders and killers flipping over and over during ‘Sweating Bullets’, but it’s the incredible acoustic intro to ‘Conquer or die!’ performed by Kiko Loureiro that has us in utter awe. Bathed in orange light centre stage, Loureiro picks alongside strange disembodied hands doing the same on screen, it’s unnervingly incredible to actually be able to see what he’s doing from anywhere in the arena.
It’s the sense you get with this whole show – these are just people who are incredibly good at what they do, and there’s no stage set, costumery or amount of pyrotechnics that can come close without that level of mastery that comes with years of practice. Oh and as any good metal band should – everyone gets a turn, there’s a chance for drummer Dirk Verbeuren to do his thing from his lofty height mid-stage and everyone else takes turns at dueling guitars during ‘Poisonous Shadows’.
Finally on pause, Mustaine calls out “Good evening, are you feeling good? See I didn’t wanna waste your time tonight by talking a lot…” as the crowd jubilantly chant “Me-ga-deth” back at them. Following this he says “…they told me tonight was the biggest Bloodstock ever. Thank you for breaking that record… hopefully we'll beat that next year, and it'll get bigger and bigger and bigger” which, at least for the second half, doesn’t garner much reaction. I think there’s an unspoken hope amongst the crowd that Bloodstock remain a smaller festival, one which is well run and for the most part, avoids the trappings of the larger festivals. It’s why people come here.
Of course ‘Symphony of Destruction’ was going to be huge, but there is nothing like the wallop hearing something so iconic, so anthemic, up close and personal, in the flesh. Oh and if ever there was a more poignant time for this song, I don’t know it. The AV depict bombs exploding, guns, the American flag aflame, and a lot of fat white men sitting around with cigars laughing and to be honest it’s all a little too real right now. Heading into the encore of ‘Peace Sells’ we spot two very happy Megadeth fans in furry clothing who have a primo view of the show, I mean, if you can’t headbang to Megadeth on top of a bin, dressed as a carpet at Bloodstock… when can you?
Closing out with an insanely heavy ‘Holy Wars… The Punishment Due’, Mustaine takes one last chance to address the crowd “Drive home safe tonight… as always you’ve been awesome… and we've been Megadeth!” and with that, it’s over for another year. Megadeth absolutely brought the house down, ending BOA 2017 in a blaze of glory.
Night two at Bloodstock and we’ve seen a whole host of spectacular bands already. It’s with little surprise that we see the arena considerably less full than yesterday, Ghost are one of those marmite-type bands who seem to divide people pretty cleanly into love or loathe.
The loathe crew really do have a point though, there is just no necessity for a twenty minute introduction of classical piano pieces and a choral arrangement. Honestly not even the actual Pope requires that kind of ceremony. The stage is set pretty sparsely with only some stained glass window banners as a backdop, but the nameless ghouls are sporting their metallic demon masks and darting about the place to make the most of the vast bare space.
Papa Emeritus emerges in his traditional Pope garb and painted face, in the midst of a huge cloud of smoke and it’s straight on with ‘Square Hammer’ and ‘From the Pinnacle to the Pit’. Yelling “Bloodstock are you with us?” it’s clear from the crowd reply that minds are not being changed tonight. Ghost fans are fans, but the margins who are there simply because it’s a headline act, aren’t convinced. It’s not that Ghost are awful by any stretch, they’re good musicians, it’s just they’re not actually that exciting.
Out of the robe now, Papa is leaping around the stage in some sort of cross-emblazoned 90s shiny bomber jacket and there are some rather sombre nuns pacing around during ‘Cirice’. ‘Year Zero’ serves to amp things up a little, only to be sabotaged with the comedic sermon preached by Papa, swinging a censer ball around and trying to look ominous. Yeah sure there’s some pyro, strobe and flash bangs going off, but the atmosphere in the crowd just isn’t there to back it up.
In the crowd someone dressed as Papa Lazarou is yelling “I’m the real Papa” to the mirth of those around him, and Papa Emeritus appears to reply with “I want you to say loud in your British English voices… NOOOO! In you life… say no to shit.” which seems fairly apt as the area has thinned considerably with more people saying no to Ghost (and the fact that it’s cold as balls tonight).
Closing with ‘Ritual’ and ‘Monsterance Clock’ there’s actually little ceremony at the end and people are walking before they even strike the last note. It’s hard to judge this Ghost performance without conflict – they’re good, but they’re not great. They’re capable, but they’re not exciting. I guess the biggest thing to recognise is that they were preceded by one of the most insane Kreator shows we’ve ever seen, and unfortunately for Ghost, their slower more melodic style is sort of like throwing a bucket of water on all that built up fire and fury.
It’s Friday night, we’re all wearing black and the arena smells strongly of rum and beer. Let’s do this.
Twice now, the Swedish vikings have hit the second-from-top billing at Bloodstock Open Air and tonight they finally get to bring their full fire-fuelled show to the hallowed ground of Catton Park. There is nothing about the stage set that suggests Amon Amarth intend anything less than a completely immersive show tonight, with the drum kit set atop a giant viking helmet, sporting two insanely huge upturned horns. It’s Iron Maiden levels of crazy.
Burning straight out with ‘The Pursuit of Vikings’ and some very synchronised headbanging, they draw the remaining stragglers from around the arena into their fold with their melodic yet heavy sound. Yelling out “Bloodstock! Welcome to our little Viking feast… for the first time we are headlining this motherfucker… are you ready to feast like Vikings tonight?” they throw themselves headlong into ‘First Kill’ and the crowd follows suit, there are a lot of people with incredibly long hair here, and they are windmilling it with wild abandon.
Joined on stage by a couple of battling vikings in full gear, flanked by an obscene amount of pyrotechnics in the form of fire cannons (which can be felt even at the back of the arena, they’re damn hot!) as well as an almost constant blast of smoke between bursts of strobe lighting, Amon Amarth are absolutely killing it. They are hands down one of the best headliners BOA have ever booked, and it’s been a long time coming.
Vocalist Johan Hegg yells out “You guys are loud! I’m not surprised though… this is the true metal country” and pushes the pride button inside every British metalhead, we just bloody love being told we’re the best at this – especially as for many, Bloodstock is the only time of year you get to be surrounded by kindred spirits. Following up with a tradition for the band which was apparently started here, he calls for the crowd to sit down “…and show the world how it’s done… this is Viking fucking rowing!”. Now if there’s one other thing the British love, it’s the chance to re-run some cheesy childhood memories, and this bares an extraordinary similarity to Oops Upside Ya Head at school discos… Aaaanyway, a huge portion of the arena is given over to seated metallers pretending to row-row-row their boats. We are such a strange country.
‘Deciever of the Gods’ and ‘Destroyer of the Universe’ go down a storm with the already hyped up crowd, and a Loki-esque character takes to the stage to stomp about a bit, but mainly he seems to be getting in everyone’s way. Being very literal with their song-to-décor ratio is a good thing in my book, I appreciated the face melting amount of fire during ‘Death in Fire’ and the torched rune during ‘Runes to My Memory’, I mean you really know what they’re trying to convey. Vikings like fire. Taking to the front of the stage armed with an array of drinking horns, the band take a moment to toast their main stage debut “We want to take this opportunity to raise our horns to you… skol! Or cheers!” eliciting a huge roar from a crowd who in turn are thrusting their own drinking horns high into the air.
‘Guardians of Asgaard’ is bone shatteringly heavy and the sound quality here tonight is absolutely top-notch, but it’s finale ‘Twilight of the Thunder God’ that rocks us to our core. During a simulated (thankfully, no rain here) thunderstorm with lightning and a rainy backdrop, a giant serpent/wyrm from the album cover, is wheeled on stage and it’s just one of the most amazing sets we have ever seen here at Bloodstock. Targaryens would feel right at home. As they play the song out and call “Stay safe, row hard, and most importantly, raise your horns!” there’s a sense the crowd here would have easily gone in for two more hours of Amon Amarth, and that’s really what a headliner should be, right? A vaccum where nothing else matters outside of the moment. I reckon they achieved it.
August 2017 saw the town of Bedford celebrating its 21st year of putting on its brilliant Park Concerts. With everyone still reeling from the success of last year's event, which saw performances from rapper Dizzee Rascal and the one and only welsh legend Tom Jones, organisers really had to step up to top that for this year's concert weekend. Boy did they certainly do that!
The weekend provided three nights of amazing performers. Friday night (4th August) took us back in time to the 80s and 90s for the ultimate party that was oozing with cheesy pop goodness. The evening got off to a great start with performaces from 90s Zambian solo artist Rozalla who was most famously known for releasing the track "Everybody's Free" and singer/songwriter Nik Kershaw. Kershaw not only saw fame as a solo artist but also wrote big hits for other artists. Including Chesney Hawkes infamous "The One And only" which Nik also performed himself this weekend dedicating the song to Hawkes. Friday night also gave us the lovely and rather sparkly Baby D who performed three tracks, one of which was the amazing club classic, "Let Me Be Your Fantasy". One act of the night that was getting people talking was 80s english pop band Go West. The Duo enjoyed their peak of popularity between the mid 80s and onto the early 90s with hits including "We Close Our Eyes" and the iconic song written by the band for 1990 film realease "Pretty Woman" which was indeed the unforgettable "King Of Wishful Thiking". We were lucky to see both of these being performed on friday night also. Friday's biggest performances came from 80s pop hunk Jason Donovan, Livin' Joy and DJ Dave Pearce. Shortly after 8pm, the pit area of the arena was filled with middle aged women anxiously awaiting the arrival of their favourite 80s hearthrob. Donovan still looked great, and performed famous hits of his including "Sealed With A Kiss", "Nothing Can Divide Us", "Especially For You" which he sang with a guest female soloist for Kylie Minogue's segments of the single, the amazing "Any Dream Will Do" from the infamous musical Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat" and he finished his energetic set with fan favourite "Too Many Broken Hearts". In My opinion, Aussie favourite Jason Donovan has certainly still got it! His stage presence was charismatic, cheeky and comical. During sets for Livin' Joy and Dave Pearce we were treated to many 90s club classics and heavy bass beats while watching an amazing laser light show from the stage which filled the grounds.
Saturday evening (5th August) Bedford featured artists including, London based band Victoria, Bedford town boys The Wholls, 90s indie band Feeder and headliners KaiserChiefs! In amoungst thousands of people eating pizzas, mexican cuisine and drinking rather large quanitities of Pimms, I could feel how electric the atmosphere within the park really was. Chatter of people so excitedly waiting to see their favourite bands of the evening, including the performers families and friends. Rock/indie, Bedford boys The Wholls drew in a younger audience while performing original songs "Give It Up", "Perfect Waste Of Time" and "Roll It Out". The local lads are quickly climbing up the music fame ladder after recently signing to big recording label Sony. If you like new up and coming bands, you should definitly check them out. Their debut album is out now.
The first of the most anticipated acts of saturday night were met with a rather loud roar of excitement from the crowds of people in front of the stage. Of course this excitement was when 90s welsh rock band Feeder stepped on stage. The band formed in Newport in 1992 and were originally named Reel. The band found fame with the name feeder later on in their career. They are said to have been inspired by Nirvana, The Police and The Smashing pumpkins. Feeder gained much more media attention in 2001 during the release of their third album which featured lead track "Buck Rogers". Now some time on are now looking very different, but can still play an amazing live gig. Over the weekend we saw them perform a variety of hit singles including the chart topping "Buck Rogers", "Feeling A Moment", "Just A Day" and the very mellow "Just The Way I'm Feeling" which caused the arena to become filled with fans gently waving their mobile phones with torches on in the air. Lead vocalist Grant Nicholas also revealed that they will be releasing a best of album in September 2017. This album will feature all the favourite hits and also debut nine new tracks. During the final song of Feeder's set a flare was lit in the crowd which to be perfectly honest looked quite spectaluar with its yellow glow and smoke filling the pit area. Despite looking rather awesome, this was a big hazard which could have caused harm and this was dealt with very swiftly by the security team looking after everyone over the weekend.
Onto Saturday night's headline act! English rock band Kaiser Chiefs! The park was filled with screams and excitement when members of the band stepped on stage. Even more so for front man Ricky Wilson. The band was formed in Leeds in the year 2000 under the name Parva and released just one studio album which was titled '22' in 2003 before then establishing themselves as Kaiser Chiefs. With six studio album releases under their belts they are still going strong and continue to make great new music. The five piece opened their exciting set with the ever popular "Everyday I Love You Less And Less" to which at the end of the song singer Ricky Wilson came to the very edge of the stage to encourage ticketholders to be louder and dance. Over the course of the evening we saw them perform hits including "Never Miss A Beat", "Modern Way", "The Angry Mob" which we saw Ricky teaching lyrics to the audience to sing along with him, "Ruby", the massive "I Predict A Riot" and a favourite of Wilson's from their latest album "Hole In My Soul". Their latest singles from the 2016 album 'Stay Together' are quite different from the slightly heavier rock style that we are used to hearing from Kaiser Chiefs, they have a bit more of a slight pop/indie sound with catchy lyrics and more mellow rythms. During their set the very energetic front man was continuously playing up to cameras and playing one side of the audience off against the other during tracks. We were even asked by the band to sing "Happy birthday" as a birthday cake was brought out filled with candles on stage to celebrate the birthdays of a member of their sound crew and also drummer Vijay. After filling the park with music, strobe lighting and fans jumping around like caged animals the lads left the stage leaving us all shouting for "More, More, More" The rather tired looking band members returned to the stage once more to perform not one, but two more hits for us. They played "Misery Company" and then ended their set with the brilliant "Oh My God" I can honestly say Kaiser Chiefs have to be the best band that I have ever seen live! I am still feeling the buzz since seeing them on saturday night. And I'm pretty sure I will be for a very long time. Before this weekend I had enjoyed them, but now I love them!
Still reeling from the night before, we then attended Sunday's Bedford Park Proms. A much more relaxed kind of day with a lovely calm yet excitable atmosphere. This year's theme was Bedford Proms Goes To The Movies. Upon entering the grounds we were greeted by a replica of the famous Delorean from "Back To The Future", which looked amazing with twinkling lights and its doors up in the air so that we could see some fun movie props from the films. All that was missing was Doc Brown and Marty Mcfly. On the far side of the stage we could also see a huge inflatable of Staypuft from the Ghostbusters films and a birds of prey meet and greet tent inspired by the enchanting Harry potter film franchaise. The Proms really was an event for all of the family to enjoy. The grounds were filled with people equipped with tables, chairs and fancy food spreads. We even spotted someone that brought their own drinks bar with them. While some were sitting in their fold up chairs, covered with blankets just soaking in the ambiance, others were chatting with friends and relatives while dining on some rather exquisite meals which even included snacking on lobster! Very elegant stuff indeed. A popular and clever food choice taken by many ticketholders was large quantities of watermelon. Have you guessed why? It was a little reference to the iconic film "Dirty Dancing".
To get the musical evening off to a start we saw the young, talented and very brave children of the Pilgrim School Choir enter the stage with their teacher. All smartly dressed in their school uniform sporting lovely green blazers the children began to sing some of their favourite classics from the movies. Their time slot gave them the chance to perform well known songs from musicals and feature films including "A Whole New World" from Disney classic Aladdin, "When I Grow Up" featured in Matilda, "Do-Re-Me" from the timeless film and stage show The Sound Of Music and popular Mary Poppins track "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" which was made famous originally by Dame Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. The small choir sang beautifully and were very professional on stage during their performance. It was very lovely to watch as the primary school children smiled at their families who were sitting in front of them in the pit area with cameras and tears of joy feeling immensely proud of their little ones for such an amazing achievement.
Shortly after a small interval entered the next act of the evening. The students from The Redford School of Speech and Drama. The teens looked flawless as they were elegantly dressed in tuxedos and ball gowns as they walked onto the stage to take their places. The teenagers began their set with their rendition of the chart topping single "Skyfall" which was the title track originally made famous by popstar Adele from the James Bond film Skyfall. With gentle harmonies their version was just beautiful and soothing. The Choir then went on to perform Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" which was also featured in hit TV musical show Glee. The choir featured a male and female soloist during their version of the peppy pop song with the rest of the group performing in an accapella style. One memorable part of the performance from this group of talented people, was a female soloist coming forward to sing latest disney release "How Far I'll Go" which happens to be the lead track on the soundtrack to Disney's Moana. The single was originally performed by Auli'i Cravalho who also voice's the lovely Moana in the animated feature film. The young blonde vocalist in the school choir sounded remarkably like the original voice actor while performing this song. She had the most beautiful and delicate voice, her rendition literally gave me goosebumps. The group performed a medley of music from feature films to finish their set, which again featured acapella vocals. During the medley the choir performed tracks which included "Part Of Your World" from The Little Mermaid originally sang by Jodi Benson, the "Star Wars Main theme", "Rule The World" originally performed by Take That for the film Stardust, "The Circle Of Life" from The Lion King, "The Time Of My Life" from Dirty Dancing, and an amazing leg slapping routine to "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone" which was used in the film Pitch Perfect and was performed by actress and singer Anna Kendrick. During this amazing medley of memorable soundtracks the group also performed approproate theatrics on stage to accompany each hit that they sang. These young people had amazling talent and really could go far in the music industry.
For the main concert, which started around 7.30pm our ears were treated to the sounds of the London Gala Orchestra who also introduced the Bedford choral society and west end stars Joanna Forrest, Daniel Koek, and opera vocalist Alison Buchanan. Daniel had performed "Born Free" and also sang "The Prayer" alongside Joanna. AlisonBuchanan performed the ever wonderful "Ave Maria" with the orchestra also. During the concert we heard many well known soundtrack releases from feature films being performed by the London Gala Orchestra which also heavily focused on the amazing compositions of the award winning John Williams to which they played some of his most memorable pieces such as the "Star Wars Main Theme", "The Imperial March" also from Star wars, the "Jaws theme" from the movie of the same name, the "Superman Theme", the "Jurassic Park Theme", the theme from the whiptastic "Indiana Jones" and many many more. At the end of the night the orchestra brought their time to a close by playing the patriotic "Rule, Britannia" and "The Land Of Hope And Glory" as they were joined on stage by all three vocalists wearing great britain attire. The grounds was a sea of Union Jack flags waving in the wind. They then performed famous music from the James Bond film franchaise during a spectacular firework display, which also saw the organisers set off what I can only explain as mushroom cloud flame throwers which were situated in the pit area of the park. Sunday was definitly the most enjoyable night of the three for me (minus the Kaiser Chiefs on Saturday evening). There was no rushing around, no being trampled on by people trying to see their favourite acts. Just good old fashioned patriotic fun.
My weekend at Bedford Park Concerts was certainly a busy one. But nevertheless a very enjoyable one. I loved my time there as did our photographer and our 2 year old son.
I wonder how Bedford will be able to top this next year? I can't wait to find out what they will have in store for their 2018 weekend!
