This year was my fourth Bestival, and the best one so far. As usual Rob Da Bank and Josie smashed it with a mix of madness, music, art and festival fun. We set off at 4:15 on Thursday morning, and we didn’t even care that we’d only had 2 hours sleep as we were on our way… Na na na nah!
After a quick and easy drive down to Portsmouth, we boarded the ferry and one cheeky coffee later, we were on the sunny Isle, and sunny it was. Seeing as it was still bloody early, we drove to Cowes to go for a traditional breakfast at the Octopus Café.
This place has shitloads of Beatles memorabilia and stuff to look at but, shock shock horror horror, to our disappointment it was closed and for sale. So we went to a lovely little artisan bakery that wouldn’t look out of place in Shoreditch instead, and got in a gorgeous home made bacon sarnie and loads of tea and toast. Necessary sustenance for the weekend ahead.
We made a quick and easy entrance into the festival site, then parked up and joined the queue. After a 40 minute wait, we were in. It was a hellish 20 minute uphill trek to Black Camp, with our massive trolley piled high with booze and tents. Painful isn’t the word, but all was forgiven when we found a great spot, pitched our tents, and got down to the business of doing what we do best; getting hammered.
Thursday
The Thursday Bestival institution that is Back to the Phuture drew us out of the camp-site and over to The Big Top, for a stellar Thursday line-up that included Alabama Shakes, The 2 Bears, Adamski and the one and only Hot Chip. They were on excellent form, with their encore including their reworking of the Fleetwood Mac classic ‘Everywhere’. The party finished at about 2 in the very early morning, and we took ourselves off to bed, so we would be fresh and ready for all that Friday had to offer.
Friday
We woke up early doors on Friday morning. The sun was shining and the weather was sweet, and after a cheeky breakfast toastie, we got on with the serious job of getting pissed in the camp-site. Several shots of Sambuca and a few pear ciders later, the crew were ready to go.
We hit up The Roller-Disco, the place to be for electronic music, to see Moodymann smash it with a 3 hour set. Good vibes were all around us as people boogied on down in the sun. The tent got busier as the crowds arrived to see the man of the moment, Julio Bashmore, who came on and absolutely stonked it out. Go on son.
Things got hazier and hazier as the night went on, and all of a sudden it was time to go to the main-stage. For me, the band we were off to see were one of my essential views of the weekend, and as the sun went down and the jackets came out, on came The XX; wow, is all I can really say. I had goosebumps all over, as the crowd sang along to their opening tune and new the single ‘Angels’.
They were incredible, their sparse bass and haunting tunes evoked a beautiful atmosphere. Like everything good, it was all over far too quickly. One of my best Bestival memories is my brother bopping in his sunnies, proclaiming they were the best live band he’d ever seen.
Then it was time for the main event, the lovely Florence and the Machine, who were one of this year’s headliners. They played an amazing hour and a half set, Florence was a woman possessed running up and down the stage, belting out her amazing tunes, like a goddess in green. Like many of those ‘you had to be there’ moments, I’m not sure I can put into words how beautiful it was, but if you have a gander at this, I’m sure you’ll get an idea.
The crowd matched her word for word, as did the stunning on stage choir. All this was topped off with an incredible orchestra. I’ve been to Bestival many times before, but this has to be one of my all time favourite experiences at this Isle of Wight.
I must say by this point we were all very sloshed indeed. Anyone who’s ever been to a festival will understand when I say the next few hours were a bit of a loss to me. I think we must’ve been stumbling around looking for a bar for a good hour or two, getting the beers in and having a laugh.
We headed to The Big Top at three to see the 80’s stalwarts Inner City. By this point our dancing skills had degenerated into stumbling and shuffling, but nevertheless, we ‘ad it large. They started off with all their old school classics, like ‘Good Life’, but by the end of their set they were smashing out proper squat party techno, my music of choice. Their set must have finished about half four, when security cleared the arena, and sent us girls back off to our tents, with our walk illuminated by the dawn’s early light.
Saturday
I was awoken just a few hours later by the sun blazing into my tent, and the need to get out and get some water. It was Saturday already, and this was designated as Bestival’s famous fancy dress day. The theme this year was Wildlife, and wild it was. It was so hot that I think a lot of people didn’t do dress up, as wearing a Kigu in 20 something degree heat is not ideal. What we did see however, was some serious ingenuity. There were 3 people dressed as a camel, a load of girls joined together dressed as the Human Centipede and much more in-between.
I went as The Laughing Cow, with red face et al and some earrings made out of the cheese packets. It went down a treat, with a load of laughs and compliments from strangers. Luckily for me, no furry suit was needed. I must say that due to Friday’s festivities, a lot of Saturday was a write-off for me, but I managed to recover myself in time for the Dirtybird Showcase at Bollywood.
Those Dirtybird boys absolutely killed it, with Claude Von Stroke, Justin Martin and Eats Everything going back to back for 4 and a half hours. They were indeed dressed as Dirty Birds, in full fur costumes complete with massive costume heads, which they kept on the whole time, braving the late afternoon heatwave. It was so banging that it seemed to fly by in a flash, and all of a sudden it was 1 AM. We pottered around for a bit, and then it was back to camp for a cheeky after-party sesh.
Sunday
The weekend had literally flown by and suddenly it was Sunday. Again, waking to the blazing sunshine was such a treat, a rare occurrence on this year’s British festival circuit. After spending half an hour scrubbing the red paint from my face, my brother Sam and I cruised into the arena.
After a quick pit stop at Pieminister, we went to the main stage for the opening special guest. Sam assured me that he had inside knowledge that it was to be the lovely Kate Nash opening, making me more than excited. Sadly for me, he must have heard it wrong, as it was in fact Fake Bush, a Kate Bush tribute act.
So after a bit of a laugh, we went for a tactical snooze in the sun, and headed back to the camp-site to chill out for a bit and make a cunning plan. My bro’s act of choice were on at 5:15, so we dutifully wandered over to The Swamp Shack to see the one and only Chas and Dave, who’ve become a bit of a Bestival institution. It was brilliant, with everyone getting down and singing along to classics like ‘Rabbit’ and ‘Snooker Loopy’.
After the day’s earlier special guest fiasco, we took a wander up to The Replay Stage, to actually see the real Kate Nash this time. I was surprised to see that she’s gone all punk. She smashed out a wicked set, closing with ‘Foundations’, prompting a mass sing along.
Then it was time to find a spot to watch the one, the only… Stevie Bloody Wonder. This is probably my all time Bestival moment ever, as he came on and did a magical two hour set. It could be the quickest 120 minutes of my entire life, with Stevie laughing and joking the whole way through. This was one of the highlights; he brought his girl out on stage and sung ‘Isn’t She Lovely’, which he wrote when she was born.
There were tears and group hugs everywhere, as I don’t think people could actually believe that they were seeing the man himself. He closed his set with ‘Happy Birthday’, so I made sure I phoned up my mum, as it was her 52nd. She was absolutely delighted to hear 50,000 people serenade her on her big day. Happy Birthday Jules.
And that was it… Sunday night. Where had the weekend gone? This year Orbital had the honour of closing The Big Top and the festival. It was an awesome end to what had been an incredible incredible weekend. Thank you Bestival.
Final word
Arriving home was bitter-sweet, as the news had just broke that a coach, taking revellers from the festival back to Liverpool had crashed, killing 3 and injuring dozens. What a terrible end to a beautiful weekend. So our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of those who were affected. May they all rest in peace.
With it being Bestival’s 10th birthday next year, I can’t wait to see what Rob Da Bank has got planned. So hurry up 2013 as we can’t wait to see you all there.
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