This extreme sports festival returns under new management, hoping to make it competitive with the big festivals on the same weekend (Download and the Isle of Wight festival). A rocking line-up including Less than Jake, Pendulum, The Subways and Late of the Pier.
Though this festival has a great music line-up the focus is on the adrenaline sports. BMX, FMX (freestyle motorcross), skateboarding and inline. It also hosts the World Streetboard Championships with top class riders battling it out for the title. Add to that, there is also an 1000 ft freefall, Paintballing and an Adrenaline Village to keep you buzzing. If that doesn't excite you, you're at the wrong festival.
As you arrive on site your greeted by security doing a bag search, taking any alcohol you brought. The long queue stretches down the car park with some trying to finish what drinks they have before they go in. Crates of beer stashed in the bottom of your bags get stacked up in the nearby office waiting for what could be a massive staff party.
After a quick look around the site I headed for the Braun Spine Ramp to watch some of the pros practise their skills while most of the crowd set up camp. After seeing some unbelievable tricks I headed off to see what else was going on.
Across at the FMX arena the Relentless UKFMX Team had revved up! The riders started off with regular tricks then moved onto more impressive stunts with backflips and supermen where the rider moves their legs out parallel to and above the bike. The grey skies threatened rain, so I headed indoors to the street course. The course was open for everyone at the time so many hopefuls were attempting to perform tricks with limited success. Realising it was more fun doing it than watching I headed back outside hoping the heavens hadn't opened.
After tiring myself out watching the sports, I headed off to watch Metronomy. Their rather static performance failed to excite the crowd. Most were happy to sit back and chat through it. Odd robotic dancing and strange white plastic bowls stuck to their t-shirts were more amusing than anything.
Does It Offend You, Yeah? pulled in the crowd with their nu-rave sounds. Between songs they played to the audience with jokes about inline skates and bantered with hecklers. Finishing with their biggest single 'We are Rockstars' the crowd left happy. The Synth heavy rock fitted a half hour slot well but did not compare with Rage Against the Machine who they style their live act on. Sadly for Late of the Pier not much of the crowd stayed for their set. This promising new band, yet to release an album, didn't seem to fit the festival bill well, though their unconventional sound and abstract lyrics got the fans dancing.
As the light faded on the site with a fireball of a sunset, what seemed like the whole festival descends on the main stage for the headline act, Pendulum. Opening with an onslaught of hits from 'Hold Your Colour' the crowd descended into a maelstrom. Highlights including 'Blood Sugar' and their cover of 'Voodoo People' kept the crowd frantic throughout the set. Whether their new material is weaker than their début album didn't matter, they stormed through without the usual pause for an encore. Exhausted, the crowd dispersed, staggering off for the night's adventures.
Saturday brought more of the same - blazing sunshine and more energetic activities. Many people on site were happy to laze about and wait for the music to start, while others raced around hoping to show off their skills during the open hours on the street course.
The main competitions for the BMX had started with the qualifiers in the afternoon. A mixture of talent was on show with some tricking every move while others built up speed for more complicated aerials. Heading back to the main arena I caught the beginning of In Case Of Fire. Unfortunately, they failed to impress; my lasting memory was their requests to "check out our Myspace page..."
Then it was time for the Streetboarding Vert finals. The winds looked pretty strong at the top of the 14ft high ramp making tricks challenging. The final ended with a closely fought battle between the top two riders Sergi Nicolas and Gabi Muñoz . Sergi managed a massive backside 540s that held in the air for an age, while Gabi stole the show with a couple of backflip 180s to fakie.
The Mod Rockers, Beat Union, took to the main stage with a mixture of classic rock and modern Clash inspired tunes. The energetic bassist, Ade Preston (Rod Stewart lookalike) got the crowd dancing along with him. The pretty boys of rock Elliot Minor followed them to the stage. Image over content, they looked like they had spent longer on their hair than they did on stage.
Considering all The Subways have been through, their set was awesome. Billy Lunn's voice was top notch. Mixed with quirky harmonies from Charlotte Cooper, the atmosphere was electric. Crowd surfers galore the security were over-run letting a couple of fans get on stage. Billy kept the buzz going wanting the crowd hyped for the headlines he asked the crowd "I want two circle pits, like a pair of boobies". Happy to oblige, the sweaty pit got moving.
A unique opportunity to see Less Than Jake had not been overlooked by the mass of enthusiasts. Apart from an intimate warm-up show, it was their only UK performance. Filling their set with a mixture of old and new material nobody was disappointed. Loving every minute of being on stage, lead singer Chris Demakes played to the crowd at every opportunity.
Competitions for their previous years tour banners included armpit farting and a 'dads drinking competition'. Immature... Yes. Was that a problem, who cares! The band looked like they were having more fun than the sometimes messy pit. The highlight of the show had to be the brilliant 'Gainesville Rock City'.
review by: Chris Mathews
photos by: Chris Mathews
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