overview

Saturday
Clambering out of a roasting hot tent in the morning to see glorious sunshine is always a moment pleasing enough to make you forget about the sleep deprivation, and with the stunning scenery around the campsite, it seems even more special. Shame that the same can’t be said of the toilets, which manage to be hideous, even by festival standards.

When the arena opens, it truly becomes clear about why the festival is so breathtaking, running down the hill towards the XFM stage, which is backed by the beautiful Loch Ness. Call To Mind have the job of opening the stage up for the weekend and do a pretty good job, something that can’t be said of The Draytones, who provide the perfect opportunity to head to the X-Posure tent to catch the last few songs of Edinburgh band Chutes then pop for a spot of lunch.

The food situation is surprisingly good - lots of stalls that cook Angus steak burgers or sausages over red hot coals, or haggis, neeps and tatties - quite fitting for the surroundings, and the options of drinks is very good - as well as Carlsberg, Strongbow, Bacardi Breezers or wine, separate bars offered spirits with mixers, and the rather fantastic Bollywood themed bar offered cocktails including the ‘Nessie’ - champagne, gin and fresh lemon which proved to be very refreshing in the boiling hot weather!

Poor organization rears its ugly head from time to time - when The Whip are winding up their impressive set, there are still workers putting the finishing touches to the XFM stage. It doesn’t detract from their excellent electronic sound, but it’s an unwelcome distraction.

Having DJ Yoda billed in the small Radio Soulwax tent means that a lot of people are left outside, including eFests, so it’s back to the XFM stage for 1990’s and The Wombats, and both manage to put in lively sets that get people dancing.

El Presidente are up next, but thankfully eFestivals has done its calculations and has figured out the point that is mathematically the furthest away from their atrocious sub-Scissor Sisters dirge. However, lots of people seem to have the same idea, so we give up and head back down to the X-Posure stage to see Sergeant, whose La’s-esque jangle pop may plunge new depths of unoriginality, yet still manages to be really enjoyable in a nostalgic sort of way.

The heat is clearly taking its toll on the thousands of people partying away, and many have found a way to combat this, sitting down in the shade of the parasols at the Bollywood Bar or tea and cakes stall, listening to the DJs.

By the time that we can actually bear to pull ourselves away from our French fancy cakes and cocktails, The Charlatans are playing on the main stage, and despite an absence of ‘Weirdo’, festival classics such as ‘Hey Country Boy’ and ‘One To Another’ get the sizeable crowd singing every single word back at them. New song ‘Oh, Vanity’ does the job too.

The Clash Arena looks packed for Groove Armada, and with too many of their big songs left to the end, the Chemical Brothers instantly become the preferred option, and what a choice that turns out to be. Opening with ‘Galvanize’, then quickly following with ‘Get Yourself High’, ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’ and new single ‘Do It Again’, the entire hill in front of the XFM stage is dancing away. A spectacular visual show aids the set, and by the time that the set is wrapped up with the likes of ‘Believe’ and ‘Block Rocking Beats’, a spectacular pyrotechnics display and ticker tape leaves the crowd wanting more.

It doesn’t come, but despite some hitches with the organization on the Saturday, the glorious sunshine and an impressive line-up of bands and DJs make sure that the punters go back to the campsite happy, ready to take the party well into the early hours of the morning.

Sunday
After the glorious weather of the previous day, a bit of cloud cover is very welcome - many people are burned to a crisp, and although it’s still warm, it’s not nearly as tiring as the previous day. A fresh fruit smoothie and a whisky and honey porridge from the campsite provide sufficient nutrition for the day ahead.

Sadly, by this point rumour was spreading around the campsite that one man had died in his car in the car park, something which later turned out to be true. It’s always a real shame when you hear stories like this, as so many people are blissfully unaware of tragedy when they are dancing the day away.

Dundee band The Law opens things up on the main stage, and although they have the look and attitude, with the exception of ‘Still Got Friday To Go’ they lack the tunes needed to go with everything else. Pull Tiger Tail follow, and although the first half of their set is downright dull, throwing a whole load of tiger masks into the crowd and having singles such as ‘Hurricanes’, ‘Let’s Lightning’ and ‘Animator’ make things a bit more enjoyable and they just about manage to salvage the set.

For all the detractors of Shitdisco, the turnout for their set in the Clash Arena is hugely impressive - it seems that around three quarters of the tent has been filled, and the band feed off of this - throwing away ‘Reactor Party’ as the second song is brave, but with tunes like ‘OK’, ‘I Know Kung Fu’ and a Prodigy cover get more people moving than you could wave a glowstick at.

A couple of hours later, the Levellers turn out to an impressive crowd, especially considering the amount of people queuing outside the Clash arena in hope of getting into see Daft Punk later on. Not only do they have the back catalogue, but they have the charisma and stage presence to hold a claim to be the ultimate festival band.

Following band The Automatic are to be praised for attempting to upstage them then, but they fail to do so by a spectacular margin - ‘Monster’ now sounds stale and they don’t really have any other songs worth mentioning, and their oh-so-hilarious cover of ‘Golddigger’ just feels tacky. By this point, the queue for Daft Punk now stretches way back past the Sunday Best tent, and later forces organizers to roll up the sides of the Clash arenas tent to allow more people to see what was one of the main attractions for many people at the festival.

The Feeling fare better than the Automatic did, throwing away three singles in the first four songs: ‘Never Be Lonely’ is preceded by ‘Rose’ and ‘Fill My Little World’, and the band throw in a couple of great covers of ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ and ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ to make them the feel-good band of the weekend. By the time they finish the two noticeable contingencies have split for the weekend - those there for the dance music have largely crowded around to see Daft Punk or DJ Twitch of Optimo, and those there for the rock and indie are at the main stage for Welsh rock legends the Manic Street Preachers.

Kicking off with ‘You Love Us’, the band have managed to turn back the clock, where ‘Know Your Enemy’ and ‘Lifeblood’ were fairly awful albums, newbie ‘Send Away The Tigers’ has shown a return to form, and the live show is reflecting that. ‘Your Love Alone Is Not Enough’ gets a huge reaction, and it’s also fairly hilarious to hear James Dean Bradfield try and mimic Nina from the Cardigans vocals on record. Classics such as ‘If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next’ and ‘Everything Must Go’ sit alongside new songs such as ‘Autumnsong’, and the only weak point is the particularly bland ‘Ocean Spray’, intertwined with a rather pretentious saxophone solo.

By the time they round the set up with ‘Little Baby Nothing’, ‘Motown Junk’ and an epic ‘Design For Life’ which has a backdrop of fireworks over Loch Ness, the crowd has grown to an impressive size. Whether the Manics will ever be able to fill stadiums again is highly doubtful, but judging by their headlining set, they certainly have become an essential live band again.

As the thousands of people begin to head back to the campsite and their cars, Rock Ness seems to have left a positive impression on the majority of those who attended. Despite some organizational hiccups and disgusting toilets, it does feel like that it’s a festival destined to grow, and with positive feedback from the bands, it appears that the Highlands has another festival to be proud of.

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