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home » festivals » Splendour Festival » Splendour 2008
Saturday overviewSplendour 2008 reviewTuesday 22nd July 2008 Nottingham has received a lot of bad press over the past couple of years, so Nottingham City Council set to change that by finding the prettiest place within the city and inviting everyone over for a party. 
Wollaton Hall is no stranger to hosting music festivals but the grounds have been quiet for 7 years, so the team that run the ever popular Rock City within Nottingham decided to help put that right and Splendour Festival was born. So as I arrived at Wollaton Park with the sun shining but black clouds lingering I wondered what would greet me. The hall stands grandly on top of the hill and I make my way around the side to the festival site to find a rather impressive looking main stage, the problem was I had to fight my way through 3 market stalls, 5 catering wagons and 1 bar... I kid you not, 5 food outlets with a potential capacity of 10,000 I was starting to wish I'd packed a picnic.  Splendour is all about promoting Nottingham and to kick the Main Stage off in style are The Beetroot Kings they all looked as happy and upbeat as the tunes they were playing which is no surprise as they won the local radio stations podcast competition to open the festival. Their folk rock sound was finished off perfectly by Dan Booth on the fiddle by the time they played their finale Soup Kitchen they had plenty of people dancing. The Recovery kept the crowd going and won a few mums brownie points as they were able to sing along to a nearly unrecognisable but rather fantastic indie rock version of Kylie's 'Confide In Me', unfortunately a joint effort between Headway and the half an hour turn around time on the main stage left the crowd subdued and quiet. When the compares of the day announced ...it's now time for someone famous several people sat up to take in the arrival of Tom Baxter but it wasn't long before everyone got back to lazing around on their picnic blankets which somehow fitted perfectly with Baxter's voice and the warm sunshine.  Throughout the day the second stage situated in the courtyard of the hall has been a showcase for local bands Not In This Town, Mint Ive and Fists have all been entertaining a somewhat small crowd for most of the early afternoon but as Palace Fires take to the stage the numbers increase but as the queues for the refurbished courtyard toilets grow I have my suspicions why. Dog Is Dead are a surprise of the day so far for me even though I feel I'm old enough to be their mother. They are all cheeky and fun and soon have the courtyard hooked with there jazz indie-pop... let the dancing commence. 
I wander back down the hill to the main stage to catch Ocean Colour Scene the mood has changed dramatically there is a large crowd all swaying and jumping along as the hits are rolled out including 'The Circle', 'The Riverboat Song', 'You Got It Bad' and the slightly newer 'Go To Sea'...but as I sing woah oh laa laa they bring their set to a close with probably their most famous hit 'The Day We Caught The Train', I was happy and by the looks of things so were the 4000 strong crowd. Pete Du Pon and Captain Dangerous fronted by no less than Spiderman both put great performances in at the courtyard stage but its soon becomes apparent that due to the late arrival of Lightspeed Champion the headliner THePETEBOX was dropped down a slot this is my eyes was a big mistake extra security were drawn in and the courtyard was closed off for safety reasons due to the huge crowd. The award winning petebox was truly amazing and had the whole crowd in constant rapturous applause I was truly amazed, the crowd weren't prepared to let him leave and he didn't disappoint leaving everyone with his unique version of Basement Jaxx's 'Where's Your Head At. 
The highlight for the crowd on the Main stage was The Charlatans. Frontman Tim Burgess was out for a good time and managed to whip up the crowd enough to get the only crowd surfers of the day, the only one I know got most of the crowd moving and Shane Meadows the film director from Nottingham got a dedication-'Blackened Blue Eyes' as he watched on smiling from the crowd. As The Charlatans finished their encore with 'How High' Kate Nash had a battle on as the rain came and the crowds went.  review by Julie Weston photos by Julie Weston
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