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home » festivals » Camp Bestival » Camp Bestival 2011
there's Amy Winehouse tributes aplenty on day two of Camp BestivalCamp Bestival 2011 reviewFriday 5th August 2011 After treating the kids to a performance of The Gruffalo and sets by Zingzillas, Mr Tumble and Dick N Dom, it's time to begin the day's entertainment for adults with Gentleman's Dub Club's Main Stage slot.
Pushing past the jousting arena, there's time to catch a short glimpse of The Humans in the Big Top, but because of a last-minute line-up change they have to cut their set short and fill a gap on the Main Stage.
Kathryn Williams is next up on the same stage, and she picks up on the serene atmosphere. Dressed modestly in a purple cardigan, she chats away between songs in disarming fashion, revealing that these days she's up at 5am with the kids rather than up all night. 'Daydream And Saunter', with it's descending bass notes, sounds like a reflective break-up letter, while the tender finger-picking of 'Come With Me', co-written with Neil MacColl, evokes Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'.
A lengthy finger-tapping opening breaks into his opening number and it's met by a formidable roar from a crowd of clearly devotional followers. 'I Took It Out On You' and a cover of Massive Attack's 'Teardrop' which showcases his rich bluesy vocal tones while managing to strip all of the brooding, sensual atmospherics of the original, follow. Everything he does is met with universal approval - singing into his pick-ups, percussive rapping on the body of his acoustic with his knuckles and cheery patter between songs. At the tent's fringes, though, it's all bit muffled and inaudible. Shame. His most recognisable piece of work 'Place I Go' is teased out slowly before, stamping on his bass drum pedal, he summons the crowd to join in with its emotive, singalong chorus. It's easy to imagine his set as a 45-minute soundtrack to a romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Gwyneth Paltrow. Outside, a half-naked man in a straw hat and chimpanzee mask performs semi-sexual tai chi moves and we're briefly distracted. However, we're dragged back to the action in the tent when the dreadlocked solo singer begins his final song. "Surely he's not going to do it", we think to ourselves. "No, he can't, it would be cringe-worthy". "Oh, no. He's doing it..." Faulkner finishes with a full-length, irony-free version of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and about 95 per cent of the people inside the Big Top go crazy. Jesus wept.
We're spoiled with some exceptionally good food, starting with courgette flowers and goats cheese in a deliciously light tempura batter before enjoying salmon or halloumi wrapped in vine leaves with saffron and almond potatoes, jasmine rice and nasturtium salad, then a rose kulfi and a board of Dorset cheeses with biscuits and Wareham chutney, accompanied by a selection of wines. A Dogburger and a can of warm Blackthorn by the portaloos it isn't. While the early part of the day was filled with acts to keep the kids happy, this year's evening line-up is heavy with DJ sets, and two sets from Rev Milo Speedwagon bookend Mark Ronson's Main Stage performance. Perhaps this reviewer is being unfairly cynical, but large parts of his Ronson's come across like bad karaoke. He's undoubtedly an extremely talented producer and popular figure in the musical community, but as a frontman and vocalist he falls flat. Radiohead's 'Just' and Phantom Planet's OC-soundtracking 'California' get the covers treatment before he threatens to turn the place into "a seedy hip-hop New York nightclub". Ambitious, looking at the array of picnic blankets and MacLaren buggies he's faced with.
He recounts the tale of the first time they met before being joined by Charlie from The Rumble Strips for a version of 'Back To Black'. Sadly it lacks all of the soul and simmering regret Winehouse imbued it with. A disjointed 'Valerie' follows, with Ronson this time leaving the crowd to do most of the singing.
review by Helen Brown / Gary Walker photos by Steve Palmer 
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