I spend a lot of time telling you, dear readers, about upcoming gigs and nights out, but all too often, never get around to writing a review of the night.
The main driver for this, is that I normally forget enough detail in order to write one.
So, having a clear head after the Bestival Bands Competition meant that, apart from a possible mixup in the running order, I’ve managed to knock out a few words about the night.
Actually, after a couple of hours of writing early Sunday morning, it turned into a bit more than a few words, so I’m splitting it up into five parts which I’ll stick up on the Blog each day.
You might not agree with some things I’ve said, but it’s just my opinion. Many thanks to Julian Winslow for his (once again) excellent shots of the night.
Well, the time had come, my first Bestival related outing of the year. Having missed the warm up parties back in April and May, I was getting very excited at the prospect of being infected with some Bestival fever last week.
When the time came to get in the car and drive to Ryde, I felt like someone had extracted the last ounce of energy I had left. A few weeks of late nights and hard partying had finally taken their toll and once the first yawn started, they came like an avalanche, one after the other all the way from Ventnor to Ryde.
Luckily, a refreshing glass of Britvic orange (shaken not stirred) perked me up and realising we’d arrived ten minutes before the first band were due to play, was welcome news.
First up were The Operators and what a performance they gave. Although I’m not massively into their kind of music, I knew enough to appreciate that technically they were superb. Each member of the band was really into the performance and gave it their all.
By the end of their set I was totally engaged and wanting more. They missed the top spot, but only just. I’m certain that they have the determination to continue pursuing what they clearly love doing and will be very successful.
They are a brilliant band to watch live and were due to play at Shindig on Saturday which has now been postponed – but once a new date is set (and we’ll keep you up to date on the Blog), check them out.
In the traditional style of mixing it up, next up was the first DJ. The first is always the hardest, people were still arriving and without a few drinks inside them, many weren’t prepared to free their bodies on the dance floor.
Phat Funk Mac brought some choice selections to play to the crowd, but instead of using his 10-15 mins to build up the pace and get the tempo going, he decided to cut in each track after 30 seconds or so.
It was a great showcase of his collection, but didn’t really work in terms of getting the audience to show their appreciation by ‘getting down’ on the dance floor.
The tempo and beat of the tracks was changing too regularly and it was very difficult to dance to.
An interesting approach, but I reckon he’d have been better off playing a normal set. He certainly had a top selection of music and could’ve easily pulled it off. I’ll definitely be looking out for his name on flyers for gigs on the Island and if you’re a promoter, I recommend you track him down.
More tomorrow in part two of the review – Emily Jane and DJ Sparrow.
