Beautiful Days 2003

What an aptly named festival! Even though I've been to several this year, this one was probably the best: the weather being perfect – not too hot, sunny with a cool breeze, not too commercial but with lots of interesting stalls and tasty food and best of all excellent music throughout the weekend.

This was a relatively small festie with just about 5,000 people, mainly over 25s and not many kids. There were plenty of activities for kids provided by a couple of different scrapstores and Weaveworld as well as puppet shows and magic near to Big Top stage and site entrance. There were also a lot of hammocks for them to swing about in on the edge of the camping field.

Camping was available right next to the Main Stage field and even from my tent I enjoyed good acoustics and a view of the site. It was from there that I heard a lot of the Oysterband and later, the Groundhogs – the latter producing some strong slide guitar sounds, not to my taste but obviously excellent musicians.



The only bands I really managed to catch fully in the Big Top were Drunk in Public – lively acoustic Levellers sounds on Saturday afternoon and the Mad Professor who produced some good stomping dub which got me dancing and into festie-mode. The mood they produced stayed with me all weekend and after that I wanted to catch every moment of good music. I wish I had been able to see Mad Dog Mcrea that evening having had the pleasure of hearing them the week before at the Maker Sunshine festival but I got too caught up with Lee Scratch Perry who I found a bit disappointing.

Perhaps I was expecting too much having not seen him perform before (shame on me!). I love dub and I was expecting some heavy sounds, having managed to see the Mad Professor and his cohorts only minutes before. The Mad Professor and his crew turned up on the Main Stage with Mr Perry. I was amazed by their energy and ability to move between gigs so quickly! Most fans of Lee Scratch Perry really enjoyed the gig but unfortunately I wasn't inspired to dance (perhaps I was just too tired after the madness of the Big Top). There seemed to be mixed reactions; some people loved him and said it was the best gig of the weekend; others even complained of missed notes and poor songs. He still got his audience grooving so he couldn't have been that bad.



One of the best things I noticed about Beautiful Days was that you could find music on site even after the Main Stage had emptied. The Clandestine Cabaret Café had acts going on until about 4am and on the other side of the site I had an excellent late night sitting by a fire listening to a girl called Hattie singing and playing her accordion and people playing Levellers songs on their guitars. However the camp site area itself was completely peaceful – no heavy techno sounds thumping through my dreams.

Where the Big Green failed to have an epicentre this year, Beautiful Days had the perfect space in the Main Stage area. I heard rather than saw the Bluefoot Project. Later on Goldblade produced some really impressive punk sounds that I haven't heard reproduced since the era itself and The Jeevas were much more worth listening to than I ever expected. I had to drag myself away to find healthy salads in the café by the Big Top but it didn't take long for me to find my way back later for The Selecter who produced some of the best sounds ever with many of their old songs and some great new ones.



I loved Hybrid because they produced such strong dance floor beats, live rhythms and electronic sounds through sheer musical talent. Definitely a band to listen out for. Dreadzone were fantastic – everything I expected and more. However, the Levellers topped every performance for me and produced what must be one of the best festival gigs that I have ever been to. I stomped so hard that I could hardly walk from the tent to the car next day!



Beautiful Days reminded me of the early days of Glastonbury when it was still a small festival but with excellent bands. There were the old favourites like the Groovie Moovie and the Tiny Tea Tent, workshops and complementary therapies on offer as well as excellent beer from the local Otter Brewery. Only the meat eaters seemed to suffer big queues and that was at the sausage stall for breakfast! Most of the meat served up appeared to be sourced organically and locally too.

Incidentally, the organisational side of Beautiful Days was excellent. All the bands turned up (as far as I know) and seemed to appear on stage promptly without any extra messing about. Nobody seemed to be stressed out or in a bad temper looking for someone who was supposed to be somewhere else and everything seemed to be where it was supposed to be.

I was never made to feel like I was just another punter, that the presence of ticket holders was taken for granted. My only complaint was the heavy security – even on-site wrist band checks but it seemed important for security to be vigilant in order to be able to apply for a licence next year. If security were strict, they were also generally polite and good tempered and the police presence was pretty low-key.



The Levellers might be pleased to hear that I did feel part of a community as opposed to feeling like just another punter. It was great seeing various musicians in the same tea queue as me and then on stage only a few minutes later! I hope there is another festival next year and that the ticket prices don't go through the roof because it really felt like a festival in the truest sense of the festival spirit.

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