Live Review

Love Box Weekender – Victoria Park, London

• 21st Jul 2009

Victoria Park’s Love Box festival is in its seventh year and has been quietly growing in repute as the Capital’s own mini Glastonbury, with its laid-back vibe and varied line up. The setting for the scaled-down “happening” (in the hippified parlance of the event’s website) is a pretty one: grassy and tree-lined, compact enough to walk from end to end but with enough nooks and crannies to get pleasantly distracted. A wander around the site gives a good feeling of the Love Box experience, an experience to which the two main stages can sometimes seem incidental: attendees are spoiled for choice with the lesser attractions which range from the chilled eclecticism of the Fringe stage to the more excitable dance crowd at the Relentless stage, via such cheerful sideshow oddities as ten-pin bowling and barn dancing. The toilets are serviceable, for a festival at least, as is the geographically diverse range of cuisine on offer.

Tommy Reilly, charged with opening things up, pleases the chilled-out, mostly sitting crowd at the main stage with his gentle pop-rock, the amiable Scotsman endears with enthusiastically flustered between-songs chat, seeming genuinely chuffed and bemused to be up there, having been plucked from obscurity recently as the winner of a TV talent show. Elsewhere Ben Howard’s appearance on the Gaymers Stage is another opportunity for some pleasant lazy listening, and the again prostrate crowd give his mellow acoustic sound a generous reception.

Much less mellow is V.V. Brown, a name we’re sure to be hearing much more of over the coming months, the growing crowd is quickly turned on by her fun retro sound and affable onstage persona, the excitement peaks when she belts out her cover of the Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody”. Next up, The Rumble Strips keep the good vibe ticking over with their crowd-winning indie rock swagger, replete with a brass-embellished sound that goes a treat with the still at-large sunshine.

Dan Black is a revelation down the other end of the site. A born showman, he courts the audience with his slick brand of electro. Energized by Black’s tight set, it’s back to the big one to see Florence and the Machine with what could well turn out to be the appearance of the festival. It’s hard to believe the eponymous Florence has not before been acquainted with a festival stage; she’s clearly got it nailed as she runs up and down the photography pit to sing amongst the crowd. She has a rare, riveting stage presence, alternately brooding and explosive and boy can she hold a tune, everybody is entranced all set long despite the weather turning rapidly halfway through – the closing numbers are delivered to a sea of bouncing umbrellas as the rain lashes in.

Booking N.E.R.D. for the main stage reflects the eclectic spirit the festival is going for and it’s to an appreciative reception that they take the stage, Pharrell and co putting on what looks, from way back by the mixing desk, to be a lively show. I’d have loved to stick around for more than a few songs but the lure of seeing Gang of Four at the other end of the site is too much. The small but keen crowd gathering in front of the second stage had the same idea and the godfathers of post-punk don’t disappoint with an exhilarating set sourced almost entirely from the peerless Entertainment!, the audience bouncing appreciatively to the better-known songs as frontman Jon King bristles with angry energy, throwing himself around much more than a man well into his fifties would be advised to and, to much applause, rhythmically destroying a microwave oven with an iron bar.

Main stage headliners Duran Duran couldn’t be further removed from this gleefully nihilistic display, and what must be nearly all of the 60,000-strong turnout has now descended on the main stage, exploding into singalong mode from the off as the band launch into “Wild Boys”. A smattering of newer material is well-received, but that’s not what the masses have shown up for and it’s with hits like “Rio” and “Save a Prayer” that the 80s idols whip them into a fervour. Joined by Mark Ronson for the last few numbers, they end the day’s proceedings on a high with “Girls on Film”.

What makes Love Box slightly surreal as a music festival is that, when everything has died down, the audience gradually retreat not to a sprawling camp site but swiftly, via the contrasting grimness of the East End and the conveniently located Central Line tube station down the road, to the comfort of their own beds. Plenty will return tomorrow for a second helping.