Horace Andy brings a true slice of Kingston Town to Eastnor Castle
The Big Chill 2011 review
Monday 15th August 2011
Friday is ushered in by a nice bright blue sunny sky, always a welcome addition to any festival, I cook up some breakfast and get set for the day, it takes a mere 5 minutes to enter the arena, which is just over the brow of the hill from where I camped on yellow camping, to the main stage I go, where Mahala Rai Banda are creating a gypsy Balkan party. I over hear a lad say, "it sounds like the Borat film soundtrack on acid". They are a great way to kick the weekend off, a bit like The Destroyers but not quite as good.
I spend the next few hours taking in many of the festivals art installations, and getting lost in the enchanted garden area, which very much reminds me of the Greenfields of Glasto, full of healers, a few green crafts and a lovely chilled ambience, I wonder past the Starburst stage, which has the Cubehenge set up in place, its right next to another lake, manned by life guards, and have a listen to part of the heavy set the Jalapeno Sound System are pumping out, another great venue in this paradise of a festival, not much further away is the second stage, known here as the Revellers Stage, which has many current big names down to appear over the course of the weekend, of which Fenech-Soler are on stage as I arrive, they have a good sized crown in the tent, which I take one look at and start to wonder what they were thinking when they booked Example and Calvin Harris to headline it Saturday night, great bookings but they could of done with doubling the capacity of this tent.
I doubled back to watch Zola Jesus, a tiny girl with a huge voice, a great set full of variety, yet again The Big Chill pulls out an artist I had never heard of and smashes it, with haunting vocals and sublime sounding tracks Zola is a wonderful way to spend 40 minutes on a sunny afternoon.
Horace Andy is soon to appear on the Revellers stage, this was to prove a real highlight of the weekend, bringing a true slice of Kingston Town to Eastnor Castle, he slices through a back catalogue, with his unique voice still hitting all the right notes, whilst playing 'Money Is The Root Of All Evil', he gets the crowd into a mighty sing along, with possibly the tightest band I have ever seen, a quick trip past the ostrich burger stall, which I must say was the finest burger I have ever had, and I could hear Neneh Cherry - 'the queen of the buffalo stance' had entered the stage over on the Deer Park Stage, with a crowd pleasing set of greatest hits, she brings her set to a climax with a rendition of '7 Seconds', bringing out tears from many of the watching females, singing back all the words.
Time for something completely different, Empire Of The Sun with their fresh electro tunes like an upgraded MGMT they own the stage, with a great mix of stunning visuals catchy songs and an intense stage presence I can only see them moving up line-ups over the next 12 months, they were the perfect band to get you in the right frame of mind for the headliners - The Mighty Chemical Brothers. This was to prove the best show I have seen for a long, long time pulling together all their years of dominance on the dance music scene, knitting perfectly together all their hits into the most intense 90 minute set, through what I can honestly say I think was the loudest sound system I have ever experienced, when the bass kicked you could feel it rumbling your ribs, just what you want on a Friday night, they contorted the audience in every which direction they wished to take them through sublime very trippy video accompaniments like only the brothers know how. An amazing way to finish the night off.
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