rock ness 2009

[Jim King]

hi everyone

sorry i didnt manage to get on line over the weekend but just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who came to the festival.

quick couple of points that i thought went well or not so well.

flaming lips - i thought they were great. they did what we wanted them to do and delivered something new to the festival.

jaxx - massive party set. they absolutely loved it btw.

prodigy - was going mental down the front. as big a crowd that we've ever had for main stage. i've seen some of the tv footage and you lot are going bananas, the whole hill is jumping up and down.

placebo - the scissor thing was a missunderstanding apparently. i was by the stage when it happened and their tour manager said that someone threw something on stage and when brian looked down he saw a small pair of scissors and thought someone had thrown then at him. i think we'd all be a bit pissed off if that happened to us so he left the stage briefly to speak to his tour manager and security. whats transpired is that the scissors had been left on stage by one of the crew and this led to the confusion. i personally thought that placebo were amazing. the tent was really busy and as a band they're really tight. they were really happy after the gig and were going on about how great the crowd was.

orbital - i walked in to catch a bit and just by chance they'd just started chime. great timing. phil ended up staying on sunday as he loved the show so much.

guetta - if it hadnt rained he might he had the biggest crowd of the weekend. he was smashing it.

cubans - mike's been threatening to get naked for the last 3 years so it was going to happen at some point. i think northern constabulary are still looking for him!

biffy - brilliant. such great guys as well. they had a great time.

really really sorry about some of the no shows. we tried to get the info out there as quickly as we could on the screens. the boards outside the tents didnt work that well so sorry about that. as soon as we'd put up an info sheet someone would take it off but hopefully you saw the screens.

zane is gutted he couldnt make it and sent a text which we put up on the screens. did anyone see it?

dubfire's flight into london was delayed so he missed his connection to inverness. to be fair to him he tried everything including asking if he had time to drive it!!

brodinski was going to be late then missed the flight. sorry about that but not much we could have done.

ed banger party, soma, subclub - bollywood was amazing all weekend.

soco was just nuts all weekend.

i though the toilets were prtty well serviced all weekend but i'd like to hear back on this from everyone on whether this was the case.

not enough bins on site again. sorry.

a load of people missed the location of the vip camping toilets which were located by the teepees. really sorry if that was you. not sorry though to the f*ckwit who blocked them up with a tracksuit so we had to close them on sunday. nice one. very funny.

i thought the signing sessions went really well so big thanks to wayne and to placebo for doing that and thats something we'll definately build out next year with more acts. big thanks to carling for allowing to use their area.

i was a bit dissapointed with ourselves over the public showers. posh wash guys did a great job but we should have had a nice cafe around it and make it a much better area. we'll do that next year though as they seemed to be very popular.

black isle brewery ran out of beer twice so i dont think we need to say if that was popular or not.

last year 100 tent thefts, this year only 5 have been reported. thats brilliant news.

big tragedy though with the poor lad who died. he was one of our disabled customers and had a pre existing illness. its a real tragedy and i'd like to send our sympathies to his family and friends.

we need to do more work on managing the taxi Q. we are going to re work this whole arena next year.

i think having cash bars instead of vouchers was a good thing but i'd like your feedback on that.

food was ok. the highland village is a good start and i managed to get through 4 of the isle of aran organic burgers which were amazing. we need more of this though and so we're going to try and attract more traders for this area next year.

the church was really great fun again.

i missed out loads of stuff but i'll try and cover it all later and i'll come back on line later this week and do another couple of hours or so for a kind of de brief with you all. i'll get neil and bruce to arrnage this and circulate the times.

in the mean time, thanks for coming. in such a tough year for everyone for us to get the numbers that we did was fantastic and i'll be bck on line soon.

take care

jim

ps just realised i forgot to mention soulwax. i listened to the whole set and they are amazing. that was apparently the first time they'd played live in 6 months. i spent some time with them afterwards and they said they love coming to rock ness. i've offered them the position of house band for next year and left them with 2 bottles of an amazing organic whisky to think it over. an hour later both bottles were empty so hopefully they were giving it serious thought!

[Paul ™]

Had a great time cheers Jim.. just in so will post more later but no complaints from me!

[Sooperstar]

Was my first RockNess and I'll definitely be back next year.

Toilets were very clean, they seemed to be getting serviced constantly so that was good.

I thought the cash bars worked fine, didn't have to queue for a drink at any point.

Highlights for me were Basement Jaxx and The Prodigy. Biffy, who I've never really gotten into, were also brilliant.

[Tommy]

Good show Jim. Glad you posted actually cos I aS going to email you on a couple of points, one positive, one not so.

Positive first, I think I speak on behalf of everyone involved with festival media coverage this year when I say that Get Involved PR are head and shoulders above just about everyone else when it comes to festival press organisation. All weekend they were absolute stars, bending over backwards to sort out the photographers and journos. They really couldn't have made it any easier for us to get stuff done. Special mention to Orla and Aidan. Awesome agency.

Now the negative. On Saturday afternoon, I was stopped from taking an empty plastic water bottle from the campsite to the arena. Now I hope this was nothing more than a badly briefed member of staff, and not actual festival policy. As Rockness prides itself on it's dance provision, and with the drug culture which exists around that scene, it would be downright irresponsible to stop people from taking bottles into the arena to fill up. You may want to look at how security are being briefed on these matters, for safety more than anything else.

Awesome show all told though. Nice one!

[The Disco Deviant]

awsome, awsome, awsome, all of it!!

rizzla bus, jon carter/riton and that funcion 1 soundsystem, wow!!!

1 question, the sound at the prodigy wasnt that great, seemed to fade away and come back, especially the mid and highs. was it caused by the wind or just cos we were further away on the hill??

once agan, amazing weekend, thing i wanna rizla bus in my back garden

see ya's next year.

ps. who was on instead of brodinski? i was sure it was him but couldnt figure out who the other guy was??

[Isla_S]

Hey Jim

I thought it was amazing. I missed last year, so the difference between this year and two years ago was huge, and in a very good way. Basement Jaxx pretty much took my breath away and David Guetta was rocking! The Rizla tent was my highlight, and at times there was just too much to choose from. In fact, I just remembered that the Infidels were fabulous too!

The toilets were much better (although my friend who accidentally knocked one over when he was in it might not agree!), and the catering was very good. We lived on organic burgers too, burgers and cider, and I agree the cash bar worked much better.

Anyway, congrats to you guys, and to the PR people who happily answered a couple of fairly ridiculous questions from me in the build up!

[jwilsonjohnny]

Hi Jim

brilliant weekend all round, ive been to all 4 rockness' now and each year it continues to get better & better!

only one negative to be honest, only that i think security could have been a bit more lenient with people bringing plastic bottles into the arena, my mate had lost the last of his money, so he had a bottle of water to keep him going, but had it taken off him, so he had to depend on other people getting him drinks!

many positives though.....Please please keep the festival the same way for the coming years, in my opinion you guys got it bang on this year!

the toilets were a huge improvement on last year!

the bars taking cash was a winner, i never had to wait longer than a couple of minutes for a drink!

now for the acts!

my highlights were The Crookers, Dizzee Rascal, Orbital, Busy P (had the ed banger tent bouncing!!), Chase & Status, Soulwax, Erol Alkan & The Prodigy!

I was saying to my mate that the crowd at the Prodigy was spot on, busy but really good!!

just a few questions for you Jim.....

I was wondering what happened to Herve?? he was on the bill leading up to the festival, but was'nt on any of the timetables!

and also have you got any acts saying that they'd want to come back and play again in the future?

thanks for a cracking weekend!!!

[Alpha Kenny 1]

Was really gutted i couldnt make it this year but its a dead cert for me next year. Sounded brilliant from the people ive talked to.

[babsy1983]

Now the negative. On Saturday afternoon, I was stopped from taking an empty plastic water bottle from the campsite to the arena. Now I hope this was nothing more than a badly briefed member of staff, and not actual festival policy. As Rockness prides itself on it's dance provision, and with the drug culture which exists around that scene, it would be downright irresponsible to stop people from taking bottles into the arena to fill up. You may want to look at how security are being briefed on these matters, for safety more than anything else.

Totally agree with the above, tried to take a empty bottle thru, but was snatched off of me, i didnt appreciate the attitude of the staff either, i think they were a bit too happy to take bottles and cans away from folk. I think ppl should be allowed to take drinks thru but only have like a 4 can max or something like that as for an empty bottle - why not, its not just the drugs thing either if ppl are drinkin ur gonna get dehydrated etc so come on let ppl bring water thru!!

Apart from that, as my first festival, its was AMAZING!!!

[hall123]

Hi Jim

brilliant weekend all round, ive been to all 4 rockness' now and each year it continues to get better & better!

only one negative to be honest, only that i think security could have been a bit more lenient with people bringing plastic bottles into the arena, my mate had lost the last of his money, so he had a bottle of water to keep him going, but had it taken off him, so he had to depend on other people getting him drinks!

many positives though.....Please please keep the festival the same way for the coming years, in my opinion you guys got it bang on this year!

the toilets were a huge improvement on last year!

the bars taking cash was a winner, i never had to wait longer than a couple of minutes for a drink!

now for the acts!

my highlights were The Crookers, Dizzee Rascal, Orbital, Busy P (had the ed banger tent bouncing!!), Chase & Status, Soulwax, Erol Alkan & The Prodigy!

I was saying to my mate that the crowd at the Prodigy was spot on, busy but really good!!

just a few questions for you Jim.....

I was wondering what happened to Herve?? he was on the bill leading up to the festival, but was'nt on any of the timetables!

and also have you got any acts saying that they'd want to come back and play again in the future?

thanks for a cracking weekend!!!

[Kowalski]

Great weekend Jim, no complaints from me.

Saw some excellent bands. Highlights for me were Alabama 3, Orbital, Flaming Lips, James Murphy & Pat Mahoney, The Aliens, Sneaky Sound System, The Whip, Detroit Social Club.

[xmagsx]

First time at Rockness and it was ace.........totally burnt wi the sun though.

Had a 12 year old with us and he loved it too, his very first gig/festival!! Cruise kicked him out of their wee area though cos he was only 12 which was well bad as he still had to pay for a full price ticket so should have gotten to go anywhere. He loved Dizzy though.

Wasn't too impressed with Mrs Hitler at the arena gates though....she must have been on commision!!!

[Perratt]

Sod all complaints here man. What a f**king weekend.

[Montrose Moron]

Amazing weekend,loved the feel good factor of the festival and people we spoke to were excellent. Musical highlight had to be Dizzee or The Prodigy. Was right beside the massibe brawl that broke out and respect to Dizzee for stopping his show. "This is aint fight night bruv" . Anyone hear that group of lads constanly shouting Sergio?

[Iain333]

big tragedy though with the poor lad who died. he was one of our disabled customers and had a pre existing illness. its a real tragedy and i'd like to send our sympathies to his family and friends.

[Jossy]

What a weekend

Biffy Clyro were the best had the place bouncing and even had a mosh pit going

[ColFace]

Hilarious from start to finish. It was my first one and it had the same kind of atmosphere you used to get at TITP before it was over-run by idiots and nazis.

The toilets were great, lay out was great. The main stage backing on to the water is just amazing with the hill to chill out on. Good choice of food especially the smoothies which was a god send. Its the wee things like the wellie exchange and beer exchange which are cool. £8 for fags in the campsite is taking the piss though.

We had brilliant neighbours in the campsite which always helps.

SFA's set was a bit dreary, it must be said.

All in all, well done though. Great fun had by all.

[AmyAmyCuldo]

it was my first time at Rockness and it was amazing! - i went to T last year and i now find rockness so much better... everything was so close and the bollywood tent was amazing!

i saw noone be sick (except on the bus home) and only one girl pissing against a fence where as titp i saw a bunch of girls not wanting to use portaloos !

just a couple of questions though

why did soulwax finish a bit early.. cause we were going to leave at quarter to, to see biffy but they finished just at quarter to... did they start early or what?

also might i add you spelt dizzee rascal wrong on the program things... it said dizzy :/ did anyone else notice this?

did he notice cause he mighta been pissed off

thanks xo amy

p.s. why do you not use fabric wristbands for full weekend campers? i would like to keep mine on but the plastic ones rip after like a week

Edited June 15, 2009 by AmyAmyCuldo

[babsy1983]

The fags in the arena were cheaper!! I just asked around and sussed out the place, i was glad that they sold fags to b honest cos i wasnt sure if they would or not. Had my backup of golden virginia just in case!!

[GavSkagTrendy]

i had such an amazing weekend. such an amazing festival overall, will defo be back next year. LOVED IT!

[Katie123]

everything was awesome except the accident with placebo

i'm so coming back for the whole weekend next year!

thanks a lot!

[PhantomHumper]

Gutted about dubfire, amazing weekend though.

[Jeebs]

Fantastic fantastic festival. Stellar work from Mr King and co. Flaming Lips, Alabama 3, Orbital, Biffy, Prodigy, Soulwax, Blood Red Shoes, all highlights.Some of the crowds got a bit T-esque, and i did get kicked 3 times in the head at Prodigy and one full can of tennents to the head during Biffy, but nothing i can't deal with.

Glad to hear the Placebo incident wasn't some idiot throwing blades about. Thought the toilets were pretty good again, and i loved the cash instead of tokens, actually seemed to get everything going much much smoother. Food was fine. Gutted for the lad that died though.

More thoughts later once i've had some food.

[weesteve]

Amazing yet again, Well better than last year i thought.

Cash intake was a brilliant sceme. Made the q's shorter and it alot simpler to get a pint while in a hurry to cut some shapes.

Well happy i went.

But can we sort one thing out.....Was that real veneson - Coz me and andy are sure it was badger.

[gamma911]

HI Jim,

Registered here to give some feedback.

As a first time festival goer, thought I'd give some feedback as an (ex)virgin.

1. VIP camping was a superb idea so glad I upgraded, it was well worth it, especially on Sunday when we could chill in the VIP food area.

2. Showers and toilets were fine, well serviced and no sign of those horrid stories you hear from other festivals. I was pleasantly surprised.

3. Bands were amazing, Jaxx was AMAZING, and prodigy took my breath away.

4. Saw 1 person 1!! being aggressive,(diffused by his g/f) that is a testament in itself how relaxed and great the crown was, nice one guys.

5. Food - I spent all my money at the Thai stall, I saw so many people being Ill from bad food, we spend most our time eating healthily and then eating like this over a weekend causes all sorts of problems!

Please, please next year less Burger Vans ( serving really bad bad stuff) and more stuff like the Thai, Noodles and the highland burgers. - Oh and the cafe in the VIP area was a god send also.

I will surely be back next year, the gods truly shine upon Rock Ness.