you get a lot of bang for your buck at Common People

Common People (Southampton) 2016

Saturday 28th to Sunday 29th May 2016
Southampton Common, Southampton, Hampshire, SO15 7NN, England MAP
£45 weekend tickets or £25 for a day ticket

Daily capacity: 30,000

As a festival backdrop you can't beat it, as I approach the site through beautiful South Park along the horizon the magnificent spires, rooftops and historic buildings of Oxford come into view. Making my way into the arena I am struck by how compact the site is, but at the same time there's plenty of space as I wander around to get my bearings. For those unacquainted with Common People, this is the latest addition to Rob Da Bank's festival portfolio which already contains Bestival and Camp Bestival not to mention the Southampton leg of Common People. This is Oxford's inaugural year so I'm looking forward to seeing what it has to offer.

To fortify myself I check out the numerous food stalls first and I am slightly surprised and disappointed in the lack of variety whilst there are 'veggie' options I find them limited to Veggie Pizza or Hot Cheese Sandwiches there is no sign of the ubiquitous Falafels and Haloumi festival fayre. I would have liked to have seen more adventurous options too, where are the Ostrich Burgers I wondered?

As I make my way towards the main arena the Chuckle Brothers are already on stage and the crowd are lapping them up (you can't help but be won over) they also take my mind off what is, contrary to the weather forecast, a chilly and grey start to proceedings. It took me a while to work out what was different at the front of the stage, and then I twigged - NO CAMPING CHAIRS! For once I didn't have to negotiate the usual clique of people who have staked their claim to a good spot close to the stage for the duration. Two reasons for this; firstly this is a no camping festival, so no camping paraphernalia etc. secondly it clearly states on the tickets camping chairs are not allowed and it would seem the security team are on top of this.

Up next is Lady Leshurr who I had not been aware of to date, but I am clearly in the minority as thousands of young teens bounce along to her pop/RnB/Grime tunes. She was masterful in her frequent interactions with the crowd at one point asking them 'who has clean underwear on?' which I thought was quite random until she sang about 'nasty panties' (all her tracks to my ears sounded very similar but I'm sure the masses who greeted her would beg to differ).

For me the next artists up needed no introduction, The Sugarhill Gang who always bring the party with their old-school hip-hop. Guesting with them another genuine legend in the shape of Grandmaster Melle Mel owns the stage. Their boundless energy brings out the sun as the clouds finally disperse. At this point the field was filling up nicely, as expected 'Rapper Delight' and 'White Lines' garnered the biggest responses. As much as I enjoyed them it was somewhat of a relief to change pace to something a bit more chilled on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the shape of local boy and ex-Supergrass Gaz Coombes. It was bliss to just layback close my eyes and let his breezy guitar pop wash over me. Some of the crowd may have been disappointed not to have heard any Supergrass hits but to be honest I don't think it mattered.

It was noticeable how much the crowd swelled in anticipation of Craig David's TS5 set, a fusion of DJ set and live vocals. Craig opened big with 'Re-Rewind' courtesy of Artful Dodger which was the first song that had introduced him to the world. There is a lot of love here for him from the thousands singing along. During the set, Craig dropped in mixes from other RnB artists whilst adding his own vocals. Visually however it was slightly odd to see him standing on stage behind his Lap-Top mixing and singing along, but there is no denying his voice and evident natural charisma.

As Craig David leaves the stage, the DJ who has been entertaining the crowds between sets, once again unleashes yet more RnB, Grime and Urban tunes. If I have one criticism it's this. With all the RnB/Hip-Hop on the bill, all of whom pro-longed their sets and filled time with lots of repetitive mixing etc; a change in tempo or genre from the DJ would have been most welcome and refreshing.

It has felt at times (from the artists and DJ in-between) like listening to Urban FM. Of course with the majority of acts from an RnB background this could have been expected, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it but I would have loved more variety.

I'm not sure that scheduling the sublime Ghostpoet after the big beat anthems of Craig David was a wise move judging by the thinning crowds. That said I welcomed the more languid change of pace and it was great to see and hear a full band line up.

As day turned into evening, and as I strolled around the site it was good to see a real mix of ages from toddlers and young children unleashed enjoying their freedom, teens, mums, dads and even some grandparents! the site has a very cosy and safe feel to it. Of course as is the case with many festivals there are long lines for some of the food stalls and toilets (at key times) but if you timed it correctly, it was easy. I also noticed some small ride attractions for the younger children and some serious shapes being thrown at one of the many outdoor DJ shacks by the somewhat older contingency.

Hip-Hop legends don't get much bigger than the mighty Public Enemy, and knowing they were on for only one hour I, was determined to properly relish the set. Although Flavor Flav was MIA, Chuck D more than carried proceedings. I could however have done without the 10 or so minutes of filler with various backing rappers and instrumental solos etc. Public Enemy have more than enough material not to have to pad things out, but we were happily treated to a whole host of heavy hitters from 'Fight the Power', 'Don't Believe the Hype' and set closer 'Harder Than You Think'.

As a festival headliner Primal Scream make total sense due to their dance/rock crossover, a band with a rich and diverse back catalogue their seminal album 'Screamadellica' cementing their status as pioneers. Bobby Gillespie, the consummate lead singer prowling the stage from side to side, taking in his prey, looking for the next 'kill'. The band is extremely tight and it's so good to finally see some striking visual production values. I like the fact that, at least in the first half, the set was not so 'festival friendly'. Primal Scream (and rightly so) refuse to be a heritage act and it's this that keeps them writing and relevant. But of course, towards the latter half of the set we get an explosive 'Swastika Eyes' which sets the tone nicely for 'Loaded' the singalong 'Country Girl' and of course seeing the festival out with 'Rocks'. As much as I enjoyed some of the other artists on the bill today, it was Primal Scream who absolutely owned it.

So all in all you get a lot of bang for your buck at Common People, nice easy access, a laid back vibe with something for everyone and if you want an affordable day/weekend out for the whole family with big names, exciting new artists in a safe environment, you have come to the right place. Rob Da Bank scores again!