The Beat Surrender

More often than not, a festival isn’t a big success in my eyes because of the bands that play; it’s about the setting, the crowd and the organisation that goes into it. That is the reason why Glastonbury has such a good reputation, it’s why the Leeds Festival often descends into running battles between the police and the punters on the last night.

Bestival is quickly gaining a reputation for being the best festival on the circuit, it features a dizzy mix of eclectic acts, it’s well organised on the scenic Isle of Wight and more importantly it’s considered the friendliest festival on the circuit.

All of these things were in evidence again this year as we headed down to the Isle of Wight, having set off from wind and rain swept Leeds we were delighted to find ourselves facing glorious sunshine when landing on the island.

Having got into the festival and got set up (I’m the least practical person to have with you when it comes to putting up a tent) then it was time to hit the main part of the site and wander around the various stages getting gradually more and more inebriated. The excellent Bollywood Bar provided the first stop off point as we got into the mood for a long night of revelry thanks to the varied sounds of Giles Peterson.

One of the best things about this festival is the fact that it’s quite compact, so nipping between stages and tents is relatively quick and simple, so onwards and upwards for us as we then turned catching part of an artists performance into something of an art form. We made it to the main stage to see Dub Pistols finishing off what sounded a decent set, caught the start of Mylo but decided we’d seen him live too many times in the last year with no new material to keep us interested and then caught the last few songs from the ever dreary British Sea Power.

No sleep that night and it’s off we go again on the Saturday, staggering around the campsite bleary eyed to get a dodgy breakfast and then finally making it onto the beer again in the early afternoon. Then things get a little bit bizarre. Sat minding our own business at the back of the Bollywood tent and listening (kind of) to Kid Carpet spin his tracks..when suddenly whats that? Yep he’s only gone and ended his set by playing the b-side to Leeds, Leeds, Leeds which see’s me and my friend hit the dancefloor, not the easiest song to dance to but hell you’ve got to when that happens.

As early evening approaches we realise that we have still yet to find the hidden disco, it’s not called that for no reason, as without the help of some local knowledge we’d never have found it tucked away in the back of the Casino tent! So we tip up there and find that there is a queue a mile long to see DJ Andy Smith. It’s at this stage that I’d like to say a big thank you to Bruce for sorting us out with press wristbands. We might have been getting some funny looks for the little pink bits of plastic but they certainly helped us blag our way into what turned out to be the highlight of the weekend.

Smith has long since held a love of Northern Soul and his set was peppered with it, the fact is though that he’s such a wizard on the turntables that he can mix and do things with records that you wouldn’t believe if you haven’t seen him. The sixty or so people crammed into the tent were loving every minute of an eclectic set that saw him playing everything from the Jackson Sisters, to The Jam through to House of Pain. Now Bez was supposed to follow him on, but in true Bez style didn’t actually make it in time, so on played Andy Smith much to everyones delight. It gave him the chance to play more Northern Soul and show off with more turntable tricks as he seemed to be enjoying himself as much as the crowd.

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