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Essex poetry and hip-hop duo Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip asked the audience at the Castle Stage if their performance was perhaps too up-tempo for a 2pm Sunday slot on the main stage, but their The Beat That My Heart Skipped was a terrific way to start a show and went down very well with the crowd. Scroobious Pip said that he had noticed the significant number of 'youngens' at the festival and had decided to cut down on his 'swears' so as not to offend anyone. The props used by the duo during the performance were great to watch too. Their show was quite possibly the only performance during the weekend to use a copy of the scientific periodic table to illustrate one of the songs.
The fast and furious Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip set (they were on stage for less than hour) included the topic of child suicide and revenge murder in Angles and the excellent social commentary of Thou Shalt Always Kill. The vaguely religious theme continued when the duo ended their performance with the brilliant Letter From God To Man. A superb start to the final day of the 2009 Camp Bestival.
Those of us who had missed the O'Death gig at the 100 Club a few days earlier, were pleased to see that the last date of the their UK tour before returning to the US would include a performance in the Camp Bestival Big Top. Although they draw on traditional folk and bluegrass styles, this isn't music to sit down and listen to. The banjo, ukulele and fiddle sounds mix with a slightly deranged rhythm section (displaying some impressive torso tattoos) and play fast and sweaty dance music.
The band's singer and guitarist, Greg Jamie, told us they enjoyed playing in tents and regretted missing the previous evening's PJ Harvey show before launching into a frantic version of Nimrod's Son by the Pixies at the end of the set.The drummer had an impressive trick of standing on his drum kit and dropping battered cymbals to make a great crashing percussive sound. If they hired the drum kit for this UK tour, they may have problems getting their deposit back when they return it.
Horace Andy's unique soaring roots reggae voice sounded as good as ever during his version of the Massive Attack collaboration, Spying Glass, on the Castle Stage. It soon became apparent, though, that Horace was unhappy with some organisational aspect of the festival and appeared disinterested throughout his performance. After performing Skylarking, Horace and band left the stage without saying a word. Horace Andy's truncated set of songs had lasted less than 30 minutes.
Considerably more energy and enthusiasm was on display during Candi Staton's Castle Stage performance later on Sunday. Damon Albarn's Honest Jon's label has given Candi Staton a higher profile recently, with a great re-issue of her early 1970s recordings and two new studio LPs. On the evidence of Sunday's show, Candi's soulful voice is as strong as it was when she started recording in the late 1960s. The sequence of I'd Rather Be An Old Man's Sweetheart (Than A Young Man's Fool), Young Hearts Run Free and You've Got The Love transformed the area in front of the Castle Stage into a field of frenzied dancers.
With the deaths of Chic members Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson over the past few years, there was some concern that the Nile Rodgers 2009 incarnation of Chic might prove to be an unsuccessful attempt at trying to re-capture past glories. Once the technical difficulties with the trademark Rodgers guitar sound had been sorted out, the placing of Chic last on the bill on Sunday night seemed to be a very good idea indeed. As well as performing great versions of Chic classics such as Good Times and Le Freak, the band concentrated on all of the Nile Rodgers recording career. We were therefore treated to versions of David Bowie's Let's Dance (sung by the drummer) and covers of Sister Sledge and Diana Ross songs originally written and produced by Nile Rodgers. Although it started raining during Chic's performance, this was the first time that inclement weather had been an issue at the festival all weekend.
Although Camp Bestival is only in its second year, it appears to have already established itself as a more intimate family festival with attractions for everyone (although sharing a campsite with 15,000 other campers might stretch the definition of 'intimate' a bit). The festival makes an extra effort to entertain children, but it's certainly not essential to be a parent accompanied by a child to have a good time there.
 Camp Bestival 2009:
Day 1 |
Day 2 |
Day 3
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