Big Chill @ Eastnor Castle 2009
Friday 7th to Sunday 9th August 2009Eastnor Castle, Ledbury, Herefordshire HR8 1RL, England MAP
adult w/e £145; aged 13-17 £60; parking £7.50; live-in vehicles £50
Sunday dawned just as hot as Saturday before it, and we were soon seeking shade in the main arena, watching The White Tree feat. Ludovico Einaudi, and Robert & Ronald Lippok on the Open Air Stage. Prior to the festival I was familiar with a grand total of none of those names, but their blissful and soaring sonic sound-scapes were the perfect soundtrack to ease me into the day gently after a cider-fuelled evening.
Wanting to catch Noel Fielding on The Coop stage, and with the cautionary tale of our fruitless attempt to see Bill Bailey the year before still fresh in my mind (eg. Go early or you won't get near it), we reluctantly left the Open Air Stage to walk to the other end of the site. We never should have bothered. Getting into the tent was not a problem, because as soon as we got there it became obvious that people were departing in droves. It seemed there was no 'set' to see here, just Fielding stood on a stage talking random rubbish, occasionally inviting audience members onstage for no discernible reason, and singing the odd 'Crimp' from his Mighty Boosh TV series. Fielding did at least have the good grace to seem embarrassed by his self-confessed 'shambles' of a set, but I was not the only one disappointed. He was billed to be on stage for an hour, and in the end he left in about 20 minutes, having barely told a joke.
Unfortunately, now being an old codger of 28 these days, it was at this point that I had to leave The Big Chill, as I couldn't get the Monday off work from my real job, more's the pity. It's an old cliché in festival land that The Big Chill is the event of choice for reformed clubbers who would once have been awake all night raving, but now prefer something a little less hectic, and easier to recover from without taking a week off work. There is truth in this cliché, without a doubt, but do not let that dissuade you from the fact that this is a fantastic music event that attracts nice, friendly, fun people to listen to interesting and varied music from around the world.
review by: Lynsey Haire
photos by: Martin Woodhead / Phil Bull
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