Rock Ness – The Full Verdict

• 22nd Jun 2007

As the thousands pour out Rock Ness 2007 back to the campsite, the sky begins to fill with glowsticks flying through the air. People start their own light shows in the sky in playful lightstick wars, creating a visual spectacle that is a fitting end to a festival that was packed with incredible electronic displays. There were lasers from the Chemical Brothers more impressive than if Nessie him/herself had risen and probably one of the finest live shows in years from Daft Punk with a visual display that needed to be seen to be believed. More about them later though because the superlatives would be running out far too quickly.

As the Saturday begins the sun beats down on the hung-over campers and quickly kicks the spirits of the thousands of music lovers into gear. The queue files in quickly and is immediately faced with the random glory of the Bestival Arena where people are dressed extravagantly and various stands are selling headgear ridiculous enough to lighten any pre-festival tension.
The overly small Soulwax tent has got quickly underway and many have clearly been up all night as they head straight there. Others laze in the high twenty temperatures as the 1990s start to play their infectious Southside of Glasgow rhythms. The crowd is small at the main stage and this is early proof that Rock Ness may be destined to defy its name and be the definitive dance festival that Scotland needs. The atmosphere is friendly and as the 1990s finish with ‘You’re Supposed to be My Friend’, folk start to check laminates for who they want to catch as the day progresses.
As the Saturday kicks into full flow Caged Baby follows on from his awesome main stage performance last year by rocking the Clash Tent while The Wombats play a promising main stage set. Over in Soulwax DJ Yoda and then Rob Da Bank make a mockery of the low capacity with anthem bashing at its best.
On the Main Stage The Cuban Brothers provide a couple of hours of comedy value and some musical treats however by this stage people start to congregate more and more near the front as the promise of the awesome and now legendary Chemical Brothers loom.
When they finally take the stage one is inclined to believe that there may not be many surprises in store but hell mend them if they were to try and move away from the tried and tested. Anthems such as ‘Hey Girl Hey Boy’ send the place into raptures and new tune ‘Do it Again’ sounds great. Some other new tunes also indicate the Chems are back to their old best and before long green lasers fire out from the stage. A truly mesmerizing spectacle, they fill the sky and can be seen for miles around as the Saturday draws to a close.

Shouts of ‘What’s that coming over the Hill, is it a lobster?’ fill the campsite as the sunburn kicks in on a duller Sunday morning. As ever with festivals, the Sunday fills slower but still offers early treats. Kissy Sell Out entertains the Soulwax arena with a pounding electro set and on the main stage The Automatic belt out the anthem on everyone’s lips.
The talk turns to the Clash Arena where a queue has started to build – a rumor starts to stretch across the crowd that peoples’ chances of seeing Daft Punk may be diminishing. However, after Mark Ronson finishes some space is cleared and the sides of the tent are opened to let some air in. Soulwax warm up nicely as people cram like tightly packed bright red chili’s in a jar. The air of expectation certainly isn’t helped by the half hour delay as people know if they leave they won’t get back in. There is jostling and slight agro but all is forgotten as the curtains pull back and the place goes wild.
The robot heads of Thomas Banglater and Guy-Manuel de Homen-Christo shine as the beat perfect light show is a thing to behold. Records such as ‘One More Time’ and ‘Da Funk’ have never sounded so good and as they mash together with the likes of ‘Aerodynamic’, the crowd wants it to last forever.
As the night comes to its encore the giant pyramid that house the maestros turns red as the robot suits do the same in an LED spectacular. ‘Together’ along with ‘Stardust’ have people almost in tears as it mixes back into ‘One More Time’.
Fireworks could be seen outside as Daft Punk turn to leave the stage as the new kings of Scotland after turning a good festival into one of the “Were you there?” moments of Scottish festival history. If you get the chance this summer to see the French duo please do not blow it. Take a bow Daft Punk and take a bow Rock Ness till next year.