Live Review

Bestival 2009 – Isle of Wight

• 22nd Sep 2009

Forget Area 51 Roswell, the Isle of Wight is the place to be if you want to mix with little green men, aliens, rocketeers and pioneers of intergalactic frontiers.

With more than half of the 40,000+ Bestival crowd in full fancy-dress regalia, focussed (of sorts) on this year’s theme of deep Space, the final festival of the year provided another aural and visual experiences to last until, well… at least Bestival 2010! I’ve been to fancy dress parties where people make less effort, and this truly added to the whole experience of what is probably the most enjoyable festival in the world already.

The beauty of Bestival is that you can pretty much avoid the main arena for the whole weekend if you are so inclined and still have the time of your life. Dance stages, catwalks, nature trails, Burlesque shows, comedy, fairground rides, firework displays and so much more, which explains why it is so popular with families rather than just your generic indie crowd like so many other festivals.

So many bands to talk about and so little room, so here are some of the highlights.

Glasswerk comedy faves GOLDIE LOOKIN’ CHAIN went down a hit with the daytime crowd, provoking mass singalongs and dances, and probably a few awkward questions from tots to their parents.

SPEECH DEBELLE played a tent that was far too small for her current stature and won the audience over with her infectious charm and enthusiasm. There’s so much talent there, and she’s a worthy Mercury Prize winner.

A special mention must go out to THE DULOKS who were responsible for the most entertaining set of the weekend on the Bandstand stage, with the singer taking full advantage of her cordless microphone to “fully involve” members of the crowd from as far away as 100 yards from the stage!

MASSIVE ATTACK and KRAFTWERK were bands to tick off the “not seen” list but did little to get the party started, instead surprise contenders for this award were LILY ALLEN and MIKA. It doesnt take much to have the Bestival crowd warm to you, but bothering to talk to them does help.

But the highlight, as we knew it would be, was also the closing act of the weekend… ELBOW. A magnificent, epic performance from Garvey and gang built to a rousing finale that left hairs on your neck tingling and could not fail to win over even those who had never heard of them.

photo: Rob Ball