Rock Ness 2012
Friday 8th to Sunday 10th June 2012Loch Ness, Scotland, Scotland MAP
£159 for a weekend camping, or £149 weekend non-camping
Daily capacity: 35,000
Nobody could deny that the journey up to Loch Ness for the Rock Ness festival is one which gets more beautiful every mile closer you get. Travelling from a city, the grey motorways made way for sprawling fields and forestry before the impending queuing traffic heralded that the festival site was near. As with any Scottish festival, nerves were frayed about what the weather would hold upon arrival, but revellers seemed cheered when they realised the forecast rain, although torrentially present on Thursday night, had not turned the site into a mud swamp and the grass held firm.
At the top of the hill, as we pass the Clash tent descending to the main stage and of course the pinnacle of the spectacular view over the loch stood a Hollywood-esque statue, the letters R-O-C-K-N-E-S-S standing proud. From here it was only a short walk or stumble, dependent on your inebriation - down to the main stage, or the GoldenVoice tent to its left. Festivals traditionally mean a lot of trudging around, walking in between different locations but Rock Ness has managed to make the site feel compact and bijou, but whilst maintaining enough room for the crowd to sit on the grass without fear of being trampled by teeming masses.
Joining the mass departure of people in Ed Sheeran's direction, the tent rapidly filled up for the 21 year old who has recently exploded onto the music scene. The audience were well-versed in all of his songs as he played favourites 'Drunk' to expected rapturous cheers all the way through to 'A-Team', accompanied by thousands as the GoldenVoice tent sang their hearts out. This youngster undoubtedly knows already how to command an audience, and the talent behind his quick rise to fame became evident as he melded acoustic-pop with beat boxing.
It is little surprise then that the GoldenVoice arena was the haven for anyone needing a dancier way to end the first evening of the festival. Etienne de Crecy spectacularly situated within a cube upon the stage, with a dazzling lightshow upon the cubes around him kept the tent bouncing with an energetic house set and remixes, including a 'Fast Track vs We Are Your Friends' remix which kept the crowd shouting along with the track. De Crecy is one of the masters of dance music, having been around since the 1990's and this DJ set, packed to the rafters just showed he still has the ability to lift the crowd and keep them dancing into the night.
One of the things which set Rock Ness apart as a dance festival is that once the main stage closes the other areas of the festival then take pride of place. The crowds were shepherded up the hill where the Clash presents Sub Club Sound System tent and the Arcadia Afterburner truly kick off for the night. While many of the festival-goers either head back to the buses to head home, or back to their tents a hardened bunch continue the party. Eats Everything Bristolian Daniel Pearce leads the tent in funky underground house, keeping the revellers grooving and dancing right up until he is cut off by the organisers at the end of his set, bang on 2am.
In the world of festivals, one thing has become a thing of folklore to those who have never been lucky enough to witness one: the Silent Disco. And luckily, Rock Ness didn't disappoint. For those who had stuck out the Clash tent until the very end, they were rewarded with the Headphone Disco and treated to an eclectic mix of pop-dance remixes. There really wasn't much funnier than an almost fully lit tent, with various bedraggled people dancing to different beats, and singing along as they forgot the world outside could hear. Yet even that had to end eventually and an hour later the hardcore few who made it through the full first day of Rock Ness staggered along to their tents to sleep off the excellent day.
review by: Clare Sinclair
photos by: Clare Sinclair
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