Bestival - The Bands

Elbow

Bestival 2009 may have been the year of the spectacular but it was also the year of Mercury Panel approved artists. Six of this year’s eleven nominees were scattered around the site over the weekend and the main stage concluded with a rousing set from 2008 winners, Elbow.

Pacified and sombre, Elbow may not have been the obvious choice for a crowd-stirring, hands-flailing, final salutation to the last big fest of the summer. Singer Guy Garvey even announced a celebration of all the babies that may have been made over the weekend with a song about “crushing alcoholism” through ‘Some Riot’. But their brooding bass and lush strings, overlaid with Garvey’s smoothest vocals, made for a set so hypnotic Derren Brown should be taking notes.

Elbow closed with epic versions of ‘Weather to Fly’ and ‘One Day Like This’, set off with white confetti exploding into the night sky. From twice-dropped underdogs to festival headliners, for Elbow it’s definitely been the year of the bloody spectacular.

Lily Allen

From panda suits to purple wigs and 70’s style spandex jumpsuits, Lily Allen is pop’s queen of dress up. Dressed in a white, mirror bedecked, Barbarella style get-up, complete with over-the-knee boots her new look was less cute and comical and more space vixen. From the outfit to the set list, Lily was all about keeping the crowd hyped in the last of the Summer sun.

A fast-paced rendition of ‘Smile’ was gently eased into a reggae beat and all her big hits were sprinkled throughout. Despite yet another brief power cut Lily strutted and shimmied across the stage for a suitably seductive 'Womanizer' and twirled and stomped along to the accelerated beats of a selection of her other hits. Introducing London MC Professor Green to the crowd, Lily and the Professor went on to perform a unique cover of 90’s hit, 'Just be Good To Me'. Giggling her way through the set Lily produced a performance that was perfect Summer fest fare.

Marina and the Diamonds

As Marina strolled out onto the relatively small stage in front of a smattering of sun-lounging festies at half-two in the afternoon it could be assumed that a placid time was to be had by all. But whilst Marina’s songs aren’t all storms and rage, the girl’s sure got fire in her belly.

At times delicate and gentle, Marina’s voice often soared into the realm of Amanda Palmer-esque deep forcefulness, perfectly mirroring her scathing lyrics before veering towards the high notes. Like many afternoon acts it was a poor show on the fancy dress front but she still bounced around in high heels, a Hello Kitty sweet dispenser swinging round her neck and her contribution to the space theme was made through a fantastic cover of Late Of The Pier’s 'Space and the Woods'.

But despite the energy on songs like 'Mowgli’s Road' and a beautiful rendition of 'I Am Not A Robot', it all felt slightly restrained, especially for someone so poised to produce a musical tirade.

La Roux

Man, that quiff is definitely reaching new heights. Heavily gelled hairstyles aside, La Roux’s slick synth pop was sounding smoother than ever. Elly Jackson’s voice was stronger and she’s definitely packing more power behind the high notes in songs like 'Quicksand', whilst the music itself was dripping with glorious pop glossiness.

Predictably the big hits, 'In For The Kill' and 'Bulletproof', were the most excitedly received tracks, thrashing the crowd into an excited flurry and temporarily transforming the Big Top into an 80’s disco (minus the mozzarella), whilst album tracks like 'Colourless Colour' received a more reserved reception.

Elly Jackson’s shyness in between tracks was a refreshing break from the exuberance of Bestival’s other female singers and still allowed for perfect pop à La Roux.

Mr Hudson

“He’s met Kanye West” squeals one young festie as Mr Hudson and his band, The Library, take to the stage in full Star Trek regalia. Indeed, Kanye’s golden touch has taken this British singer/ song writer/ producer from reggae and hip hop infused tunes and relative obscurity to vocoder-heavy, chart-friendly success.

Mixing songs from previous album, 'A Tale Of Two Cities', with those from his upcoming album it’s interesting to hear that they’re not actually that different. Minus the vocoder, Hudson’s vocals are still old-time crooner smooth and his lyrics are still wry and intelligent. 'Lift Your Head' is bittersweet and laid-back, whilst next single 'White Lies' filled the Big Top with it's unrelenting beat and yearning vocals. Biggest hit so far, 'Supernova', sent a wave of excitement through the crowd, demonstrating that Kanye is definitely on to something.

Florence and the Machine

For Bestival’s benefit she traded in the black batwing leotards for a spacey green jumpsuit but Florence Welch wasn’t going to remit an ounce of melodrama for anyone. Parading, howling and stamping across the stage, Florence put in an impassioned performance. Despite nearing the end of an extensive festival season for the whole band the theatrics were just as heartfelt, drums on tracks like 'Drumming Song' were just as unremitting and melodies were just as bleakly beautiful.

'My Boy Builds Coffins' retained its haunting mellifluousness when extended to a full main stage crowd and the high-energy, staple cover, 'You’ve Got The Love', reflected the blissful feel of the whole Bestival weekend.

Florence proved herself to be a darkly diva-like exhibitionist capable of drawing in the main stage crowd and the Machine proved itself more than capable of keeping up with her.

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip

One of the most recognisable elements of this duos work is the intelligent, fervent rap that often verges on soapbox preaching. Unsurprising when you realise that Scroobius Pip started as a spoken word poet. 'Thou Shalt Always Kill' therefore gets the biggest response, the Big Top crowd shouting “just a band” louder and louder, but in a festival setting many of Pip’s wordier raps were lost under Le Sac’s boisterous beats. Thankfully this just proved that the duo is well matched in terms of talent.

Further proved on 'The First Time We Met Musik', a track originally on Pip’s debut solo album but given the Le Sac treatment for the special edition of their album, the live performance left the story undecipherable but the music sounded amazing. New songs were aired, including one feverous in rhythm and simplistic in rap, proclaiming, “it’s all about the beat”. Some messages may have been lost in translation to the festival stage but their rap/hip hop tempest still raged.

Words by Stevie Keen