Julio Bashmore and Rudimental are the highlights of a great day at Boardmasters

Boardmasters 2015

Wednesday 5th to Sunday 9th August 2015
Watergate Bay, Newquay, Cornwall, TR8 4AN, England MAP
4 days £119 with camping

Daily capacity: 30,000

With the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky with the temperature up onto the 20's, yet again it seemed like the perfect day for surfing, so I took the 2 or so mile stroll down to Fistral beach.

Stopping on the way at an amazing pasty shop to grab some dinner. One of my girlfriend's best friends had recommended the Doom Bar and steak pasty, so we gave it a go, along with a proper old school Cornish pasty, neither disappointed.

On arriving at Fistral I took it upon my self to purchase some new sunglasses after a good browse I came across a custom shade maker called Sili, who helped kit me out in shades fit for the occasion. They did well to help me make any decisions as their stall was right next to the vert ramp on which they were running the professional BMX finals.

I always find it amazing to watch these competitions, as the bikes seem to defy all laws of physics and gravity itself, how is it possible to do a double back flip on a push bike? Until that one rider comes down with a giant bang, reminding me that they are fallible!

At this point I moved back down to the beach to watch a good afternoon's surfing, again with the glorious weather, it wasn't the choppiest of days and there was not a major swell on the ocean, the competition was impressive, but I did long for bigger waves.

We stayed to watch 4 rounds including two rounds consisting of 2 male, long board surfers followed by the women's professional short board championship in which 4 women surfed at a time, this format I found much more exciting, as with four people competing there seemed to be somebody up and surfing on pretty much every other wave. With the day getting on we decided to head up to the Watergate bay site, about a twenty minute shuttle bus ride, this trip cost £5 for a round trip.

With much of the days spent listening to chilled out music supplied by DJs whilst watching the surf, or lack of roll in, it was nice to get back to some live music. We headed straight to the large open air main stage, where Rae Morris was due to take to the stage. With a voice to match her good looks she was the perfect easy listening treat to ease into the early evening.

As I mentioned earlier, where Everything Everything seemed to be lacking, Rae took advantage, with a string of radio friendly hits people flocked in upon realizing familiar songs. The recent hit 'Love Again' produced a mighty female sing-along.

With most of the acts having half an hour, followed by a half an hour turn around, the acts soon shoot by, and before we knew it and a full ten minutes earlier than his billed time, Seasick Steve shuffled his way out onto the stage.

Catching everyone by surprise, giving him an extra ten minutes of which the great raconteur filled with ease, even bringing one lucky young lady up on stage and serenading her. As always Steve never fails to get every toe tapping in the house.

When Steve finished we decided to go and see who was playing on The View stage, yet again never has a stage been more appropriately named, as the view afforded in the back drop to the performers area was breath taking in the utmost!

We enjoyed a picnic over looking the ocean with listening a superb melodic set by Will Joseph Cook.

Another thing I liked a lot about Boardmasters, was they were very relaxed about you bringing your own refreshments in. At no point did I really feel like a fish being shot in a barrel. There were only 3 major rules to follow - you couldn't bring in your own alcohol into the arena, and you couldn't bring glass bottles. And I think it helped swell the numbers of families attending, as buying tickets alone can be bank breaking in itself, add on feeding a family of 5 and your looking at an expensive day.

So hats off to Boardmasters here again! After finishing our picnic we had a little walk all around the site admiring the stunning views out to sea, and the care and decoration that had gone into making some of the smaller stages feel so personal. My favourite was The View, with its forest of giant wooden mushrooms on which people were free to sit or climb as they wished.

We made it back to the main stage a few minutes into a great performance, De La Soul were bringing their original brand of hip hop to a new audience, with many in the crowd unsure of the legends in front of them I was not sure how they would be received. I had no need to doubt the calibre, as the hip hop trio powered through a barnstorming set full of audience participation, done the way only a truly seasoned outfit can rally, good honest fun.

And just as the day before, the crowd filled to the brim only minute before the headline act. Tonight's headliners were more than equal of the standard set only the night before.

In Rudimental organisers had really secured one of the bands of the moment, in what was again a relentless headline show. There was no let up in the set list, hit after hit came crashing through the crowd at breakneck pace with a total of 12 members on stage at any one time. 3 brass 2 backing singers, guitars drummer, guest vocals and the 4 main men of the band Rudimental came with serious intentions to fill the Newquay sky with their Music.

The crowd didn't stop bouncing for the full show, with a few new tracks thrown in for good measure getting a good response the night was rounded in style with 'Feel The Love.

Having had an early night on Friday, and knowing we had to leave late afternoon Sunday due to a 6 hour drive home, we stayed to the bitter end. We got a few drinks after Rudimental had finished and headed for the Unleashed stage where DJ Ez was whipping the crowd into a frenzy with his samples of classic hip hop tracks thrown in with some really obscure backing tracks. The night was then rounded out by a real man of the moment, the boy from Bristol Mr. Julio Bashmore.

One of the big players in the British house scene, with a strong passion for Daft Punk and Cassius style funky house, he is ploughing his own furrow out of Bristol into the ears of many. Tonight I witnessed just why he is often cited as a revolutionary in the scene. One thing that really made my night was the fact that Bashmore still does things old school, no jumping up on the “decks” spraying champagne or throwing cake into the crowd. Just good old fashioned workmanship on the decks and digging into his record box to select the next vinyl! One of the first DJs I have seen this year using VIYNL!! A great set indeed - Julio Bashmore, take a bow.

continues in part 3... more >>

review by: Jamie Licence

photos by: Jamie Licence / Tor Jones