Last weekend 50,000 eager revelers descended on a, usually, sleepy seaside village on the Isle of Wight for a wealth of musical delights. Signaling the end of the UK festival season, each year Bestival ensures that the period is given a suitably lavish finish. Radio 1’s Rob Da Bank has developed the event from a small boutique festival to one that can legitimately claim to be one of the best of its kind. While Bestival cannot compete with Glastonbury in size, its diversity and attention to detail have made it a genuine rival and, arguably, the musical connoisseur’s festival of choice.
There’s a different given theme for each event, with attendees encouraged to devise a suitable costume for Saturday’s fancy dress day. This year it was announced that it would be Rock Stars, Pop Stars and Divas, causing a seemingly never ending wave of Gaga’s and Freddie Mercury’s stumbling across the site. As one can imagine, it certainly made for an interesting spectacle. While weather reports leading up to the event suggested a washout, the sun made a lasting appearance over the weekend; meaning those with more elaborate outfits didn’t have to hide them under waterproof coats.
Headlining the bill were stadium dance/rock lords Pendulum; legendary indie godfathers The Cure and, fresh from making her latest album, Björk. However, as anyone who’s been to Bestival before knows, the weekend is by no means dictated by the headliners. Read on for our roundup of acts performing. Read more…
Jon Davies Gigs/ Events Bestival
Released back in 1979, ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ was the second single released by The Cure. While it, strangely, didn’t make the cut for their debut album ‘Three Imaginary Boys’, the track remains a strong favourite from their extensive back catalogue. The foundations for The Cure were laid in 1976, when Robert Smith gathered some friends to form a band called Malice. After a few lineup and name changes, Smith formed The Cure with Lol Tolhurst and Michael Dempsey on drums and bass respectfully. The band have now released thirteen albums, and counting, their latest being 2008’s ‘4:13 Dream’.
‘Boys Don’t Cry’ epitomises everything that’s great about the band, a timeless melody fronted by Robert Smith’s distinctive vocal delivery. While there’s no word on a new album, The Cure are set to steal the show at this year’s Bestival; with their headline performance their only European show of 2011. The event takes place on September 8th-11th on the picturesque Isle Of Wight. With festival organiser Rob Da Bank also pulling in Pendulum, Björk, Primal Scream and PJ Harvey, this year’s event looks set to keep the standard of previous years. For the full line up and ticket info, head to the Bestival website.
While there’s no guarantees over what The Cure will play, with no current album to promote, all signs are pointing to a career spanning greatest hits set. Which will hopefully mean a welcome airing for ‘Boys Don’t Cry’.
Jon Davies Gigs/ Events, Tag Of The Day Bestival, The Cure
Following last week’s awesome mix from the Lovebox team, we bring you an equally great mix from another UK festival; Bestival. With a lineup that boasts The Cure, Pendulum, Brian Wilson, DJ Shadow and Primal Scream, the guys at Bestival have prepped another stunning lineup. Taking place on the usually serene Isle Of Wight on September 8-11th, the festival is sure to close off the British festival season in style.
Each year the event encourages its revelers to get involved with its fancy dress theme. This year the instructions are to come as ‘Rock Stars, Pop Stars and Divas’ with the outfits being judged by special guests the Village People. Festival organiser Rob Da Bank comments, “I can’t think of a more suitable act to judge this year’s Fancy Dress competition than the Village People! They practically invented the genre so prepare to put some effort in to wow the cowboy, impress the policeman or win over the Red Indian with your best Rock Star, Pop Star or Diva…”.
To get you in the mood, multi-genre DJ’s The Nextmen have put together ‘The Nextmen Vs. Bestival 2011’ mix, which brings together some of the best tracks from artists all playing this years event. The mix is available for download here and features the likes of Magnetic Man, Public Enemy and SBTRKT.
Read more…
Jon Davies News Bestival
As festival season steadily creeps up on us, our eyes can’t help venture to early September and Bestival. Taking place on the picturesque Isle Of Wight on September 8th- 11th, organiser Rob Da Bank has pulled in some stellar acts. Indie Goth legends The Cure, arena conquering dance lords Pendulum and Primal Scream will all entertain the masses; while Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson, PJ Harvey and DJ Shadow will also deliver eagerly anticipated performances. But those acts are merely the tip of a huge bill that encompasses hundreds of bands and DJ’s across the weekend.
This year will see Bestival break new ground, by adding 3D coverage of the event. Bestival 3D TV will air with Sky this September, giving people at home a chance to relive the finest musical moments at home - in 3D! For those who hate the thought of camping, warm beers and sunburned necks it’s arguably the closest you can come to recreating the festival experience at home. Two hours of live 3D TV will be broadcast each day from Friday to Sunday, with a full round up after the weekend.
However the pull of 3D coverage won’t be strong enough to lure away punters from the real thing. With around 60,000 eager revelers expected to attended, Bestival 2011 will undoubtedly adhere to the high standards set by last year’s event. Tickets are currently available, but are likely to be snapped up over the coming months. For full info and line up details, head here.
Jon Davies Gigs/ Events Bestival
This weekend, we finished our summer festival season by making the journey to the Isle of Wight for Bestival. Now in its seventh year, the event has become an essential addition to many summer diaries with around 50,000 eager revelers making the journey across the water. As always, fancy dress was the order of the weekend; with a large majority of attendees – including many of the bands – adhering to the ‘Fantasy’ theme for the event bathing the site in an array of colour. The festival’s curator, Radio 1’s Rob Da Bank, once again ensured the weekend went off with a bang. With a line up that encompassed some of the biggest artists and DJ’s plus a number of one off performances that keep this festival so unique.
Headlining the event’s main stage this year were the Prince of Grime, turned permanent chart botherer, Dizzee Rascal, American indie Godfathers The Flaming Lips and, providing one of Bestivals most raucous send offs, dance legends The Prodigy. However this was only the tip of the iceberg, with hundreds of other bands and DJ’s providing countless line up clashes across the weekend. Whether it was the draw of the Big Top, or the fire breathing chaos of Arcadia; Bestival provided a weekend of unbridled madness that already has us counting down the days till next year.
Read more…
Jon Davies News Bestival, Dizzee Rascal, Flaming Lips, LCD Soundsystem, Prodigy
With just ten weeks to go until this year’s Bestival, even more acts and DJs have been added to the event’s already jam packed line up.
Heading the bill will be Dizzee Rascal, The Flaming Lips and The Prodigy. 2010 has already been a great year for Dizzee, after wowing the masses at Glastonbury and scoring his fourth number one with ‘Dirtee Disco’ the rapper’s headline set will kick off proceedings in a suitably raucous fashion. (We won’t mention his fifth number one, his ill fated rallying cry for England’s football team, ‘Shout’) Saturday sees Flaming Lips headline, a band that have steadily risen to become a must see act. Expect stage invaders in animal outfits, a mind boggling light show and a lead singer floating through the crowd in a giant bubble. Finally, The Prodigy will give Bestival a brutal send off with a hit laden set that will undoubtedly cause bouts of mass hysteria. However Bestival is far more than just the headline acts: the weekend will also see sets from Roxy Music, Fever Ray, LCD Soundsystem, Chase & Status, The xx and Richie Hawtin - in a rare appearance that resurrects his tripped-out Plastikman guise.
With the festival already sold out you would have thought the Bestival crew would be kicking back with a frosty Mojito until the event. However, any thoughts that festival head honcho Rob Da Bank may have had of relaxing have clearly been put to one side. Far from resting on their laurels Bestival have announced a plethora of new acts added to the weekend. Highlights include 80’s slap bass wizards Level 42; British rap hotshots Giggs and Prof. Green; plus Nneka, Eliza Doolittle and The King Blues. DJ’s just added to the bill aren’t too shabby either coming in the form of High Contrast, Trojan Soundsystem, Queens Of Noise and Ashley Beedle’s new project, Darkstarr.
For the full line up and more info head here
Jon Davies Gigs/ Events Bestival
Evergreen would be a good word to describe Greg Wilson. Despite recently turning 50, the Liverpool born DJ and electro-funk pioneer continues to compile diverse sets of music that put many of his younger peers to shame. Highlight achievements of Greg’s early years include him being the first DJ to appear on UK TV, the first UK DJ to get a record pressed on vinyl and even teaching Fat Boy Slim how to scratch back in 1983. It’s a much overused word, but Greg is a genuine legend.
To mark his upcoming performance at Bestival – which takes place 9-13th September on the UK’s Isle Of White – Greg has put together a stunning new mix. Featuring plenty of exclusive re-edits from the man himself, Greg’s mix takes in everything from The Beatles to hip young things, The xx.
To download the mix, simply click here.
For more info about Bestival, head to their website.
Tracklisting:
01 T-Coy – Carino (Greg Wilson Edit)
02 War – Youngblood (Livin’ In The Streets;Cosmic Boogie Edit)
03 William DeVaughn – Be Thankful For What You Got (Onur Engin Edit)
04 Banbarra – Shack Up (Revenge Edit)
05 Rocha – Feel The Love (Greg Wilson Version)
06 Florence & The Machine – Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) (Leo Zero Mix;Greg Wilson Edit)
07 The xx – Night Time (Greg Wilson Version)
08 Goldfrapp – Dreaming (greg wilson version)
09 Hercules & Love Affair – Blind (Frankie Knuckles Mix)
10 The Clash – Casbah Breakdown (Joey Negro Edit)
11 The Beatles – Tomorrow Never Knows (Leftside Wobble Edit)
Stephen Titmus New Music, News Bestival, Greg Wilson
Now in its seventh year, Rob Da Bank’s Bestival continues to stand out among the wealth of festivals that take place over the summer. After 2009’s crowd were wowed by German electro pioneers Kraftwerk, expectations were certainly high for this year. Thankfully the Radio 1 DJ has pulled yet another stroke of organisational genius and has come back with a veritable feast of musical goodness. This year’s event takes place on the Isle Of Wight on the 9th to 12th September. Headlining the opening day will be East London’s own Prince of Grime, Dizzee Rascal. Stepping up to the headline slot will surely be no problem for the rapper and no surprise for anyone who witnessed the reaction ‘Bonkers’ received during his Glastonbury set last summer. Also playing will be psychedelic pop masters The Flaming Lips, whose enchanting stage show will no doubt fit in perfectly with the festivals trippy aesthetics.
Making their fifth festival outing at this year’s event will be Hot Chip, whose appearance comes hot on the heels of fourth album, ‘One Life Stand’. If that wasn’t enough, LCD Soundsystem will also be showcasing tracks from their highly anticipated third – and rumoured to be final – album.
As always with Bestival, the headliners are just a small portion of what you will witness over the weekend; with many other bands and DJ’s equally vying for your attention amongst the masses of fancy dressed revellers and unexpected sideshow attractions. The list of acts is already jaw dropping and as the event isn’t until September – it’s only going to get better. For the full line up and ticket info, head to the Bestival website.
Jon Davies Gigs/ Events Bestival, Dizzee Rascal, Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem, The Flaming Lips
