/>
musicOMH
home / features / albums / live / classical / blog
Facebook Twitter
search:
festival reviews
Login with Facebook
Camp Bestival 2009
Day 3 @ Lulworth Castle, Dorset, 26 July 2009
4 stars
Camp Bestival
Camp Bestival: Scroobius Pip (Photo: Nick Hider)
Camp Bestival 2009: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

The weather is usually a big�conversational topic�at an outdoor festival. Stories are usually swapped on how campers�managed to�survive flash floods and trench foot in previous years. Those of us who had been listening to weather forecasts on the�radio during the weekend were convinced that Sunday would be the day when a torrential downpour would turn the Camp�Bestival site into yet another mud bath.

Waking up on Sunday morning, it was a pleasant surprise to find it was dry and sunny again.�The rather pleasant weather seemed too good to be true, so packing a cagoule seemed like a good idea before heading over to the Farmer's Market to buy some of their delicious�homemade�bread to accompany�rucksack supplies of�processed chesse. �
Essex poetry and hip-hop duo Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip asked the audience at the Castle Stage if their�performance was perhaps�too up-tempo for�a 2pm Sunday�slot on the main stage, but their The Beat That My Heart Skipped was a terrific way to start a show and went down very well with the crowd. Scroobious Pip said that he had noticed the significant number of 'youngens' at the festival and had decided to cut down on his 'swears' so as not to offend anyone. The props used by the duo�during the performance were great to watch too. Their show�was quite�possibly�the only performance during the weekend to use a copy of�the�scientific periodic table to illustrate one of the songs.

The fast and furious Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip�set (they were on stage for less than hour) included the topic of child suicide and revenge murder in Angles and the excellent social commentary of�Thou Shalt Always Kill.�The vaguely�religious theme��continued when the�duo�ended their performance with the brilliant�Letter From God To Man. A superb start to the�final day of the 2009 Camp Bestival.

Those of us who had missed�the�O'Death�gig at the 100 Club a few days earlier, were pleased to see that the last date of the their UK tour before returning to the US�would include a performance in the Camp Bestival Big Top. Although they draw on traditional folk and bluegrass styles, this isn't music�to sit down�and listen to.�The�banjo, ukulele and fiddle sounds mix with a�slightly deranged rhythm section (displaying some impressive torso tattoos)�and play fast and sweaty dance music.

The band's singer and guitarist, Greg Jamie, told us they enjoyed playing in tents and regretted missing the previous evening's PJ Harvey show before launching into a frantic version of Nimrod's Son by the Pixies at the end of the set.The drummer had an impressive trick of standing on his drum kit and dropping battered cymbals to make a great crashing percussive sound. If they hired the drum kit for this UK tour, they may have problems getting their deposit back when they return it.

Horace Andy's unique soaring roots reggae voice sounded as good as ever�during�his version of�the Massive Attack collaboration, Spying Glass, on the Castle Stage. It soon became apparent, though,�that Horace was unhappy with some organisational�aspect of the festival and appeared�disinterested throughout his performance. After performing Skylarking, Horace and band left the stage without saying a word. Horace Andy's truncated set of songs had lasted less than 30 minutes.

Considerably more energy and enthusiasm was on display during Candi Staton's Castle Stage performance later on Sunday. Damon Albarn's�Honest Jon's label has given Candi Staton a higher profile recently, with a great re-issue of her early 1970s recordings and two new studio LPs. On the evidence of Sunday's show, Candi's soulful�voice is as strong as it was when she started recording in the late 1960s. The sequence of� I'd Rather Be An Old Man's Sweetheart (Than A Young Man's Fool), Young Hearts Run Free and You've Got The Love transformed the area in front of the Castle Stage into a field of�frenzied dancers.

With the deaths of Chic members Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson over the past few years, there was some concern that the Nile Rodgers 2009 incarnation of Chic might prove to be an unsuccessful attempt at�trying to re-capture past glories.�Once the�technical difficulties with the trademark�Rodgers guitar sound had been sorted out, the placing of Chic last on the bill on Sunday night seemed to be a very good idea indeed. As well as performing great versions of Chic classics such as Good Times and Le Freak, the band concentrated on all of the Nile Rodgers recording career. We were therefore treated to versions of David Bowie's Let's Dance (sung by the drummer) and covers of�Sister Sledge and Diana Ross�songs originally�written and produced by Nile Rodgers. Although it started raining during Chic's performance, this was the first time that inclement�weather had been an issue at the festival all weekend.

Although Camp Bestival is only in its second year, it appears to have already�established�itself as a more intimate family�festival�with attractions for everyone (although sharing a campsite with 15,000 other campers might stretch the definition of 'intimate' a bit). The festival makes an extra effort to entertain children, but�it's certainly not essential to be a parent accompanied by a child to have a good time there.

Camp Bestival 2009: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

recent festivals coverage
PREVIEW London Jazz Festival 2011
REVIEW Lost In Music 2011
REVIEW Reeperbahn Festival 2011
REVIEW Bestival 2011
REVIEW Moseley Folk Festival 2011
REVIEW Reading Festival 2011
REVIEW Green Man
REVIEW Field Day 2011
REVIEW Standon Calling
REVIEW Summer Sundae
REVIEW The Big Chill 2011: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
REVIEW Indietracks
REVIEW Cambridge Folk Festival: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
REVIEW Camp Bestival 2011
REVIEW WOMAD 2011
REVIEW Secret Garden Party 2011
REVIEW I'll Be Your Mirror, curated by Portishead
REVIEW Guilfest 2011: Part 1 | Part 2
REVIEW Latitude 2011: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
REVIEW Lounge On The Farm 2011
REVIEW Sonisphere 2011: Part 1 | Part 2
REVIEW Main Square, Arras, France
REVIEW Hop Farm 2011: Part 1 | Part 2
REVIEW Glastonbury 2011:
Day 1 and a bit
| Day 2 | Day 3
PREVIEW: Indietracks 2011
PREVIEW: Guilfest 2011
REVIEW: Primavera 2011
REVIEW: ATP/Animal Collective 2011
Part 1 | Part 2
REVIEW: Camden Crawl 2011
Day 1
| Day 2
REVIEW: SXSW 2011
Part 1
| Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
festivals latest

PREVIEW London Jazz Festival 2011
REVIEW Lost In Music 2011
REVIEW Reeperbahn Festival 2011
REVIEW Bestival 2011
REVIEW Moseley Folk Festival 2011
REVIEW Reading Festival 2011
REVIEW Green Man
REVIEW Field Day 2011
REVIEW Standon Calling
REVIEW Summer Sundae
REVIEW The Big Chill 2011: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
REVIEW Cambridge Folk Festival: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
REVIEW Main Square, Arras, France
REVIEW Camp Bestival 2011
REVIEW WOMAD 2011
REVIEW Secret Garden Party 2011
REVIEW I'll Be Your Mirror, curated by Portishead
REVIEW Guilfest 2011: Part 1 | Part 2
REVIEW Latitude 2011: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
REVIEW Lounge On The Farm 2011
REVIEW Sonisphere 2011: Part 1 | Part 2
REVIEW Main Square, Arras, France
REVIEW Hop Farm 2011: Part 1 | Part 2
REVIEW Glastonbury 2011:
Day 1 and a bit
| Day 2 | Day 3
PREVIEW: Indietracks 2011
PREVIEW: Guilfest 2011
REVIEW: Primavera 2011
REVIEW: ATP/Animal Collective 2011
Part 1 | Part 2
REVIEW: Camden Crawl 2011
Day 1
| Day 2
REVIEW: SXSW 2011
Part 1
| Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4


related articles
REVIEW Camp Bestival 2011
PREVIEW Camp Bestival 2011
REVIEW Camp Bestival 2010: Day 3
REVIEW Camp Bestival 2010: Day 2
REVIEW Camp Bestival 2010: Day 1
PREVIEW Camp Bestival 2010
REVIEW Camp Bestival 2009: Day 3
REVIEW Camp Bestival 2009: Day 2
REVIEW Camp Bestival 2009: Day 1
PREVIEW Camp Bestival 2009
REVIEW Camp Bestival 2008: Day 3
REVIEW Camp Bestival 2008: Day 2
REVIEW Camp Bestival 2008: Day 1
PREVIEW Camp Bestival 2008
external
Camp Bestival



  more on festivals...



musicOMH
about us
contact us
copyright
home page
elsewhere
Twitter
Facebook
Last.fm
Soundcloud
© 1999-2011 OMH