Reveiw of Bella 08

[thedementedpoppet]

Ok Ok, people are going to call me bias, so I will put my cards on the table, I have been to every belladrum and I live locally.

My first comments according to the security gaurds the organisers had sold as many tickets as last year, however the security gaurd also said that people were arriving later than they had in previous years. I certainly felt that there was no less than previous years.

However there was a feeling that there was a lot more space, I think this was due to the layout, which felt more spacious than previous set ups. Things tended to be more clustered in themes together like shops, childrens field, healing fields.

There was certainly a very heavy family presence, given that under 12's were free no surprise at all. The general feeling was relaxed and chilled, probably helped by the the good weather. This was certainly not a mini rockess. There was a wide range of food, nothing that we have not seen before but all seemed particularly well priced. Saying that a guy sitting beside us had bought a bottle of champagne and a pitcher of pimms for £48 (normal beer tokens were £3.20)

There was a bit of a queue for beer tokens but according to staff this was going to be addressed later. However this did not appear to be the case and queues did appear to continue through the weekend, it certainly felt as if last year it had been better organised.

I have to be honest i did not see an awful lot of music (taking a 7 month old does limit the opportunities a bit). Baka beyond was great for setting the scene and one night only seemed to get the crowd going. Starship jefferson were surprisingly good, I was not sure what to expect and they pulled off a good set with recognisable songs and an attempt at building a rapport with the crowd that went down well.

I am going to get a slagging for this next bit, mainly from people who were not there. Scouting for girls certainly appeared to have had the biggest crowd that I have seen at belladrum and certainly they were moving around a bit more too. There was two significant covers (travis and the proclaimers both of which were playful and got the crowd going). I think they were in good form and whilst it would not have turned those who are offended by thier presence as headliners, it certainly would have appealed to the neutrals.

The stand out act for me on saturday were nouvelle vague, followed by the ever reliable dreadzone. Sons and daughters cancelled at the last minute and were replaced by coldwar kids, unfortunately the big stage did not appear to do them any justice and I think they fell a little flat. The waterboys did a functional set which was bouyed along by the crowd.

For the second day we did notice a big influx of people, however we never felt this impacted on accessing food, toilets etc

A word about the security, who were the most sensible I have experienced for a long time ( a company from manchester i believe), not particularly intrusive whilst retaining a presence. The police too were significant but not intrusive.

On the whole from what I experienced, the best first night of bella ever

Edited August 10, 2008 by thedementedpoppet

[cloud factory]

just drove past 10 mins ago.miserable.its pouring rain and theres idiots wandering about in t shirts and shorts.glad i aint at it.lousy weather and no decent bands/acts.

[thedementedpoppet]

just drove past 10 mins ago.miserable.its pouring rain and theres idiots wandering about in t shirts and shorts.glad i aint at it.lousy weather and no decent bands/acts.

[rollergirl]

it's a real pity you were not able to come this year, maybe next?

[thedementedpoppet]

Nah, he only goes where The Stranglers go!

What was the weather like yesterday? Did you all manage to stay dry?

[perthperson]

Just home. Had an absolutely brilliant time - added to by the wit and bonhomie (ooer missus) of fellow efesters. Thought I'd have a quick look in here before becoming unconscious for 24 hours. (Paul - you'd be proud of me - didn't get to bed till 5 this morning!)

Weather was tons better than expected. Loads of sunshine, bit nippy on the 2nd night. Bits of rain in the morning before we went into the arena I think, but generally really warm.

Went along to see very end of Scouting for Girls and there was a huge crowd having a brilliant time, same for the Waterboys the previous night. Neither were exactly my ideal headliners but I think it was great so many people had a brilliant time watching them - my musical highlights were earlier on in the day - I think the organisers were spot on with the two headliners for the audience who go to Belladrum.

It did seem more spacious and I'm pretty sure less people on Friday but there seemed to be as many people as ever on Saturday. Good selection of food, lots of side attractions, seemed to be loads of children's stuff.

My highlights - Twilight Sad, Black Affair, Broken Records, Lemonheads, Frightened Rabbit, Root System and Salsa Celtica.

Best Tartan Heart yet for atmosphere and general all round goodness.

PS Hope people who were injured with the gas canister are not too badly hurt.

[Paul ™]

Paul - you'd be proud of me - didn't get to bed till 5 this morning!

[Da_J_Doc-~]

Now that is a festival, just in and we had a ball, the kids are already on countdown to next year and when i mentioned not going next year it was met with howls of derision.

Hardly saw any bands just wandered from area to area, kids stuff was fab, weather was excellent except for the start of Saturday but we just had an extra long lie.

Food was amazing, sitting with my daughter in the sun eating victoria sponge and cream with and organic lager was the highlight of my whole summer.

Idlewild and Dreadzone were brilliant, SFG are never a headline act in a million years but there was one extremely happy 8 year old in our camp when "shes so lovely had finished"

[Jill G]

I agree - an excellent summing up, Perth person. we had a ball, it definitely wasn't the flop some people thought it would be. Scouting for girls put on a great show and seemed genuinely delighted to be there. The proclaimers cover was inspired - these boys know exactly what they're doing. They seemed to be there to entertain their audience rather than massaging their egos - I hope they stay that way. The whole festie was great, we will be back for our 5th Bella next year!

[Jill G]

Poor you - you missed a great weekend! We stayed at a campsite at Bunchrew, so by the time we got to Bella the rain was off - we had an entirely rain-free Tartanheart festival!

[Jill G]

I agree that SFG aren't really a headline act, but they were the next best thing, we had 12 very happy 5 - 13 year olds in our party, and quite a few happy grown-ups too! Idlewild were an excellent substitute for those who couldn't cope with SFG.

Edited August 10, 2008 by Jill G

[Da_J_Doc-~]

I agree that SFG aren't really a headline act, but they were the next best thing, we had 12 very happy 5 - 13 year olds in our party, and quite a few happy grown-ups too! Idlewild were an excellent substitute for those who cope with SFG.

[Starcraft]

I have to say this was my first Bella and what a great weekend me and my 2 sons had.

I was very negative RE: the line up earlier on on this forum, but I take it all back. SFG who are not a band I would listen to had the crowd in the palm of thier hands I also thought they were actually quite good. Kazoo F/O were superb as was my highlight of the weekend The Infadels.

In general Bella is a fabby fest helped with such a relaxed atmosphere.

As I said earlier this was my first but not my last - roll on 2009.

[Spooner]

well i dont know where to start..........................

Arrived on thursday evening and sat very civilised for a few hours drinking beer and chilling out. Met some folk from Aberlour who made us very welcome at their party gazebo for the rest of the weekend.

Friday i got a bit too tispy at said party gazebo but managed to see Jocasta Sleeps, Twilight Sad, Black Affair and Idlewild. Idewild put on a great show. Had an early night but was woken at 3.30am to a field rendition of bryan adams "everything i do"

Saturday - again some party gazebo action followed by Nouvelle Vague who were great, infadels (highlight of the weekend), Cold war kids (only bad thing about the weekend was that i missed half the set as i didnt know they had moved stages) then saw waterboys.

Overall a fantastic weekend, i dont hink i will ever go back to TITP after being to Belladrum. Atmosphere was excellent, security/stewards were great too. Was surprised how strict they were on the under 18's....the stewards decided to pass on the confisgated beer to us so cant complain.

[stevieg72]

Just home and had a brill time, sorry didnt manage to catch up with any fellow efesters, although i thought both the headliners were not great there were plenty other things to do,me and the wife had a fab time on the saturday night at the village disco, never danced and laughed so much in my life, was really dissapointed that sons and daughters cancelled and cold war kids are one of my favorite bands also but agree they just were not right for the main stage, highlight for me was angus and julia stone broken records and frightend rabbit also heard favourable reports from the wife and freinds for root system. all in all a great weelkend roll on next year.

[Paul ™]

i dont hink i will ever go back to TITP after being to Belladrum.

[Red Day]

Here's my break down.

1. Security on arrival and throughout festival were great. Very friendly and professional.

2. Time I got in and pitched the tent it was nearer 10pm on the Thurs. I did go to the craik it open but didn't see anyone.

3. Weather was great

4. Line up was pretty weak so I spent alot of time wandering about and had a really good weekend. That said I did pick up one of the kids at SFG before heading back to Idlewild and they seemed to go down well. Awful band but they seem to please.

5. Music highlights - Frightened Rabbit, Twilight Sad, Infadels and Idlewild. Best biggie - Lemonheads and newie was Edgar Prais

6. Headphone disco last night after headliners . First time I've been to that but it was brilliant.

Overall a pretty laid back weekend and again a great atmosphere.

Survey is available on Bella website so I've asked for Manics and Madness next year along with Tennage Fanclub.......Chances ?

[Jill G]

Manics are a bit dull! Did you ask for Coldplay, Dire Straits and Genesis while you were at it?? 'Playing - not so live - in a lift near you!'

[somerled]

We are just back from Belladrum. sad movies that it's over.

What a great weekend that was.

My highlights were:

The weather.

Meeting some more e-fest folks and perthperson again as well as bumping into 'irons' --- man your 'it's like Harry Potter in here' comment when opening up your tent to reveal to terrified urchins is still cracking me up.

Colliding again with the Drumnadrochit Cultural Mission in the form of Donald, Liz, Fiona and Groovy -- see you guys at Loopallu.

Toilets were really good.

Good food (wee aside to the Loch Fyne wifie, we REALLY dont need to import madagascan prawns and all those food miles aint REALLY that sustainable)

The Vatersay Boys - I'm liking them more and more.

Justin Currie on Friday was knockout.

Edwin Collins on Saturday was truly incredible.

The Wyntownn Marshals - after touring with Chuck Prophet they really have raised their game.

Jefferson Starship - groovy.

No gripes really, well apart from selfish parents who put their kids on their shoulders and block the view, whilst the child looks around bored and not at the band. That and the prawn thing which is annoying considering our langoustines are the best in the world. Grrrr.

All in all it was a blast and god willing I shall be there next year for my 5th Bella.

Anyhoo, hope you all had a grand time at Bella and the folks on here who are heading up to Loopallu : see you in the Seaforth on the Thursday.

Pete

[Red Day]

Manics are a bit dull! Did you ask for Coldplay, Dire Straits and Genesis while you were at it?? 'Playing - not so live - in a lift near you!'

[saraha]

A few comments from me on what was an excellent Bella, probably the best of the 3 we have attended

1. The security were indeed very good and fair, on the whole. Even managed to sneak in some proper wine glasses!!

2. Getting in to campsite with no queuing, and the fact the quiet one was in a seperate field which really did make it quiet ( i know we're lightweights ) It also had it's own toilet block and even a sink for washing up..brilliant!!

3. The layout of the arena was so much better this year..the kids bit was huge and spacy..and some of the activities were brilliant..we had a group of 5 kids variously joined by 4 or 5 others they knew ranging from 9 to 16..they particularly loved the Animation workshop in which they got to make short movies & we liked the woodland orchestra bit especially after dark with the logs burning.

4. The Potting Shed was a delight in the sun.

5. Bandwise my picks were Idlewild, Orchestra Del Sol ( so much fun!!), Twin Atlantic ( also so much fun, and having to sit down for half the set, absolutely hilarious, up and down, and all the panicking security...great music too), Kissmet & Frightened Rabbit.

6. I too think, on hindsight, that SFG was an excellent choice of headliners and the bookers did get it right ..all the kids in our party and their friends were there, and we went over after Idlewild finished to see the biggest crowd looking like they were having loads of fun.

7. Toilet were excellent as usual.

hopefully will be back next year ( despite earlier protestations), but will be trying other small festies too, I don't think this will be beaten for the whole atmosphere throughout the weekend though

[Jill G]

Now Marillion headlining would be good, and I could spend endless happy hours educating my children on the matter! I suspect Mr G would be less than impressed though.

[hopeisimportant]

My first Bella and will definitely be going back next year. Excellent weekend and a good balance of bands I think.

Highlight was definitely Idlewild - storming set. Infadels were also superb due to their energy on stage. I almost made it up when they invited everyone on stage but as I hopped over the fence the panic stricken security stopped me from getting up. Was hilarious.

Gutted I missed Twin Atlantic. By the time I got their it was full and you weren't even allowed near the tent. Sounded brilliant from the path!

Pretty lucky with the weather. It did pour down at times, but at the right times. In the morning when all I was in a fit state to do was lie in my tent.

Oh, and after me slagging off Root System in another thread last week - superb! Much better than last time I saw them and was probably the most fun I had over the weekend. Still think they're rubbish though

We got a box (well the bag) taken off us in the arena. Gutted. The miserable security gaurds were just doing their job I suppose but c'mon!

[cloud factory]

Now Marillion headlining would be good, and I could spend endless happy hours educating my children on the matter! I suspect Mr G would be less than impressed though.

[somerled]

that would be a superb choice.