News

Roxy Music Join The Bestival Bill

• 26th Feb 2010

Oh the times they are exciting in the Bestival bunker as the intrepid Rob da Bank and his trusty team continue to conjure strange delights making special plans for another Isle of Wight adventure from September 9th – 12th; Bestival 2010, The Year Of The Fantastic! Featuring some properly iconic acts and a visionary fancy dress theme, this year's show is going to be an earthly paradise beyond compare.

Rob da Bank says:When it's the year of the Fantastic at Bestival it doesn't get much more fanbleedingtastic than Roxy Music. A lifelong fan of it all from the Seventies and Eighties, Roxy have always been at the vanguard of creating imaginary worlds in music all backed up with some of the best music of the 20th century. Add in Besti faves Mumford and Sons, the legend that is Tricky, Nile Rodgers bringing possibly the funkiest band alive Chic to the Island and loads more from Cornershop to Sub Focus, Skream to garage god Todd Edwards and we're really taking shape now. Come and join us!'

We are incredible pleased to announce that real life legends Roxy Music will be playing a hit-packed set on the main stage on Saturday night. One of the most influential acts of all time, the punks, new romantics, electro-poppers and more that have followed in their wake all owe a huge sonic and sartorial debt to this truly timeless act. Driven by the refined and effortless cool of Bryan Ferry, one of pop music's most revered frontmen, Roxy Music's catalogue of boundary-crushing songs, that include Virginia Plain, Street Life and Love Is The Drug are sure to blow the Bestival faithful away.

Commenting on their appearance Bryan Ferry said: “The Isle of Wight has a strong festival tradition so it's great to be coming to Bestival with Roxy Music – it seems a great idea to have fantasy as this year's theme. I'm also really looking forward to seeing Nile Rodgers and Chic again”.

Having kept it a closely guarded secret we can now unveil the incredible and much anticipated fancy dress theme for our Year Of The Fantastic… Rob da Bank says:'Roll up roll up tribe of the Bestivalites descend from your starships, rise out of the seabed, fall from the stars, unleash the Magick and release your imagination into our 2010 world of FANTASY. Open the gates and welcome in Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, The Lord of the Rings, hobbits, trolls, elves, fairies, the Odyssey, King Arthur, Merlin, the Dong with the luminous nose, William Morris, A Midsummer Nights Dream, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Willy Wonka, Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, Harry Potter, Spirited Away, The Time Machine, Star Wars, the Incredible Hulk, magick, the supernatural, Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Lord Ganesh, Fantasy Island, Caractacus Potts, Tarzan, Veruca Salt, Zombies!' The only limit is how far your mind's eye can see…

Staying very much with the fantastical there's even more amazing music to be announced including, alt-folk sensations Mumford & Sons. Currently riding high on a crest of adulation for their acclaimed 'Sigh No More' album, the band is a renowned live sensation that will add a sublimely rustic rock vibe to proceedings. One of Camp Bestival 2009's most incandescent delights Chic Featuring Nile Rodgers are set to wow the Robin Hill crowd with their peerless disco-funk that spans not only their own amazing back catalogue but also takes in Nile Rodgers penned solid gold hits from the likes of Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, David Bowie and Madonna. Plus there will be Bristolian rhyme messiah and all-round musical maverick Tricky who is currently mining a rich seam of form that will see him captivating one and all with his genre-smashing exploits. The Brown Punk don is a bona fide trailblazer who, from his debut album 'Maxinquaye' all the way through to the recent, lauded 'Knowle West Boy', has never failed to capture the imagination.

As if that wasn't enough to get you writing off anything else but booking a trip across the Solent for the second weekend in September we have got so much more to tickle your fancy including Aussie atmospherics from The Temper Trap, live tear out action from Sub Focus, the majestic musical musings of sing-a-long geniuses, Cornershop, plus we'll have BBC Radio 1's newest purveyor of late night beats Alex Metric playing live, heads-down psych-garage agents The Jim Jones Revue, off-kilter pop from Everything Everything, bloggers delight Memory Tapes, North London types Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, trad. Scottish and English folk turned on its head by Erland And The Carnival dysfunctional electro-pop from the incredible Example and mesmerising ensemble singing from Gaggle. We'll also have gruff and grungy folk from Deer Tick, bittersweet drama from Sparrow and the Workshop, alternative rockers Summercamp, the wild and unkempt folk poetry of Crystal Fighters and lush, cascading, scuzz-rocking from the hotly tipped Egyptian Hip-Hop. one-man indie folk/alt country band Phosphorescent, future jazz from Portico Quartet, Euros Childs' protégésRace Horses lo-fi ramshackleness from Neon Indian, the unprecedented sounds of North Atlantic Oscillation, Gallic new wave house from Mademoiselle Caro & Franck Garcia, soulful singer songwriter Jamie Woon and surf noir from The Bikini Beach Band.

Extra hands in the air DJ manoeuvres will come courtesy of the inimitable Mylo, techno don Dave Clarke, Erol Alkan's phantasy sounds, the blissful Aeroplane, deck-wrecker DJ Yoda, the incredible Skream, liquid funkster High Contrast with MC Wrec, the visionary Tom Middleton, Garage doyen Todd Edwards, the legendary DJ Zinc, bass chieftain Joker,turntable virtuosos Jackbeats, junglist Shy FX, dubstep playas Caspa & Mc Rod Azlan, soundsystem warrior Adrian Sherwood, the inimitable MC Dynamiteremixer du jour Jakwob, chill out maestro Chris Coco, heads down action from Villa, the killer riddims of Reggae Roast, The Autonomic Showcase featuring dBridge, Instra:mental andSP:MC, the devastating Breakage, the Feeling Gloomy crew, Bestival's very own Fear of Theydon and Sombrero Sound System and freestyle spinner Paddy Freeform.

With one more headliner and even more amazing Bestival delights still to announce make sure you keep on checking the all-new and super-stunning link for all the action. Having undergone a complete redesign that will leave you more than a little breathless, such is its beauty, there's even more reason to visit the site as we've got an exclusive 15-minute long 'Serge Santiago epic-edit' of Roxy Music's classic single 'Angel Eyes' to give away alongside some collage artwork created especially for us (& you) by the band!

Previously Announced Acts:

Live music from: A Genuine Freakshow / Archie Bronson Outfit / Beardyman / Beth Jeans Houghton / Bookhouse Boys / Chase & Status / Chilly Gonazales / Countryside Alliance Crew / Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip / Deer Tick / Delphic / Dizzee Rascal / Echo and the Bunnymen / Ellie Goulding / Fat Freddy's Drop / Fever Ray / Flying Lotus / Four Tet / French Horn Rebellion / Gil Scott Heron / Glen Matlock / Goldhawks / Here We Go Magic / High Llamas / Hot Chip / Hurts / King Charles / Kitty Daisy & Lewis / Laura J Martin / LCD Soundsystem / Mixhell / Richie Hawtin Presents Plastikman Live / Rolf Harris / Samuel and the Dragon / Simian Mobile Disco / Sisters of Transistors / Spindle and Wit / Starless & Bible Black / Stornoway / Telegraphs / The Antlers / The Boy Who Trapped The Sun / The Cuban Brothers / The Flaming Lips / The Gaslamp Killer / The Japanese Popstars / The Lost Brothers / The Twinkle Brothers / The Vegetable Orchestra / The xx / Three Trapped Tigers / Worship / Tim and Sam Band / Tinie Tempah / Tunng / Ulrich Schnauss / Unicorn Kid / Vitalic

DJ Sets from Rob da Bank: Annie Mac Presents / Back To The Phuture / David Rodigan / Dixon / DJ Derek / Ewan Pearson / Greg Wilson / Nathan Fake / Greg's Greats / Huw Stephens / Jaguar Skills / Jakwob / Joy Orbison / Horse Meat Disco / Mary Anne Hobbs / Ramadanman /SBTRKT / Seth Troxler / The Broken Hearts / Untold

Plus: The return of The Afterburner / The Castle In The Sky Bonfire Extravaganza / Brand Spanking New Fields: The Wishing Tree & Tomorrow's World / Early Bird Ferry Deals / and Myriad Treats & Bestival's usual Merry Mayhem…