Following on from Part One and Part Two, up now Jennifer McKean’s final part in her review of Bestival for VB. Ed
In a bold move to vamp up the Ambient Forest, contemporary Wordsworth, Scroobius Pip, presented a daily programme of poets and spoken word artists. Sound of Rum vocalist, Kate Tempest, had the audience in stunned silence until her highly emotive set ended in a standing ovation. Looks like Pip’s Satin Lizard Lounge is set to be back for a second year. I caught up with the man himself.
You’ve done Bestival a good few years now”¦
Scroobius Pip: Yeah every year! This is my fifth year in a row I think.
So how does this one compare?
Pip: I’ve absolutely loved it, I mean I’m biased because it’s the first year I’ve gone to do my own Spoken Word tent here in the woods and I didn’t know how it would go. But turnout was just amazing every day. Bestival has that way of”¦ the crowd’s always in that high spirit and it’s always so friendly.
So why is it important to get spoken word to the Bestival?
Pip: It’s just really nice to show people it’s not really boring, stifling old people just reciting posh poems and stuff.
Kate Tempest was amazing! Got a lump in my throat at the end.
Pip: She always gets that reaction! Kate Tempest and her band are so many people’s festival highlight. At Bestival, Latitude, Glastonbury… they have been for the last three years. I gave her an extended set because I normally give twenty minute slots. But with Kate everyone demands longer. So I give her a 45 minute slot, so she did 45 minutes of poetry, they still demanded more, and she ended up doing like an hour. But still no one moved. There was like hundreds of people all in silence.
So do you think you’ll be doing the Satin Lizard Lounge again next year?
Pip: Yeah hopefully, I mean it’s all gone really well and I’ve really enjoyed it. So, hopefully that’ll be the case. Obviously it’s down to Robbie and schedules. But I’d definitely love to. Even if I can’t be here I’d book it again and hand it over to Kate.
You will be here”¦
Pip: Of course I’ll be here! It’s ridiculous to claim there’s a possibility I won’t be here! I’ve every intention to come back year after year and do spoken word here. It was amazing to see that many people in the woods and having to climb trees to see and hear it all.
So had you ever visited the Island before Bestival?
Pip: I’ve only ever been to Bestival. Someone asked me the other day, because I’ve been here five years in a row, “So whereabouts on the Isle of Wight is Bestival?” I was like, I don’t know.
You come off the ferry, you go up this bit, then there’s that Tesco’s, then there’s that pub on the corner – I can describe it – I can drive you there! I just don’t know the name of it. My knowledge of the Isle of Wight is these fields. Which I know really well, I could take you around these fields amazingly, I could get you to every stage, but that’s my knowledge of the Isle of Wight.
It’s loads bigger this year!
Pip: Yeah, they’ve opened loads more up. It’s not just random, it’s more open, there’s more going on. But this year is the first year I’ve stayed in a hotel –
Oh no –
Pip: No but it’s upped my knowledge of the Isle of Wight! I’m staying in Shanklin, which sounded proper gangster. Where I’m from like, a shank is a violent thing! So I was thought, we’ll stay there, it’ll be like Essex. But it’s beautiful.
Bit diva-ish staying in a hotel though, isn’t it?
Pip: No, I mean, after my fifth year of camping”¦ and it’s purely because I was doing three-hour hosting every day on this and a gig with Dan, I’ve been really pleased that I hotelled it because it’s given me that extra oomph. You’re coming on site each day and it’s exciting to be on site again. Whereas where you’re waking up in a sweaty mess somewhere and have to go and do this. But there is obviously a level of guilt there.
[Roadie] Lightweight!
Pip: Exactly, see!
Lost, one pair of wellies
En route to main Stage, some poor chap squelched past in his socks. What happened to his wellies? “Sushi tent. Have to take your wellies off at the door, and-“. No further explanation was needed, as a vivid image of someone rubbing their hands together with glee cast out a fishing rod for abandoned wellies.
Icelandic travelling flea circus
Have you ever seen a travelling flea circus? Thought they were all but extinct?
Step right up, for Sunday night saw Bjork and her bonkers homemade instruments completely deflate thousands of expectant fans.
With no monitors or big screens, a whole one hour and fifteen minutes rolled into one long dreary hymn service that no one could see. “I’m off.” One disillusioned onlooker declared. “Come on it’s Bjork,” his mate replied, “I’m going to stay here and rough it.”
A slight hiccup to an otherwise sensational weekend.
Bestival has not only bettered itself but set the standards for eclecticism across the festival circuit. Can Robbie ever top 2011?
