Whilst still one of the smaller, emerging events on the ever-swelling festival circuit, Guilfest has raised its profile massively over the course of a decade or so, shifting from a tiny one-day event with a handful of local bands to an established ‘proper’ festival (though still supporting local talent), complete with vast booze tents, posh food stalls, the token oxygen bars (who buys it? WHO BUYS IT?) and headliners including the mighty Orbital.
Ah, Orbital. Their Friday night set confirmed that, yes, they still sound superb and yes, their live show is as engaging as ever, demonstrating why they’re so hugely important to pretty much the entire modern-day dance scene. As well as the timeless ‘Halycon’, other classics like ‘Chime’ and ‘Satan’ are rolled out alongside the impressive tracks from new double A-side, ‘Don’t Stop Me’ / ‘The Gun is Good’. The brothers Hartnoll finish, of course, with a particularly ravey version of the Doctor Who theme. Bliss.
Before Orbital, however, was the jumpy electronic rock of Hadoken. Not my cup of tea but the younger crowd lapped it up. Fair enough. But the surprise highlight of Friday was And So I Watch You From Afar – a superb little band in the rock tent who mixed up the mellow, instrumental post-rock vibe of Explosions in the Sky with occasional brutally heavy punky passages, making for an enticing show.
Day two, and after watching some ‘fish therapy’ (punters sticking their feet into tanks of tiny Turkish Gangal Garra Rutta fish, which “exfoliate and heal human skin”, apparently), I catch Mungo Jerry out of curiosity, although they turn out to be a very capable blues/funk outfit with more strings to their bows than just the relentlessly optimistic but undeniable anthem ‘In The Summertime’. Good on them.
Next up is another chance gem courtesy of my festival companion, who guides me towards the bassy frequencies of one of the few reggae acts at the festival – local band Rhizomes, who are low-key in nature but big in sound, and turn out to be a delight to watch.
Saturday’s final action involves trying to catch simultaneous sets by space-rock veterans Hawkwind and synth-pop veterans The Human League. As it turns out, both are very decent and make for great viewing. Hawkwind are still masters at the tripped-out jam vibe, and The League are as entertaining as ever, running around the main stage and blasting out their big keyboard riffs, inciting numerous mass singalongs.
Day three and the first act to catch our eye is Ian Dury’s former band – the punk/rock/funk/blues mash-up of The Blockheads. Though Dury will always be sadly missed, the band are still full of charisma and put on a fine show. Hearing them play ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’ is always going to be ace.
Afterwards, none of us can resist the guilty pleasure of sticking around for 10cc, just to catch the whiteboy faux-reggae of ‘Dreadlock Holiday’. Maybe I’m getting old, but it still sounds pretty good.
Next up we go on the search for some fresh local talent, finding it in the form of a cracking little band called Black Cannons. Favouring the heavier edge of things, the band’s set mixes up rock melodics, grunge and a bit of dirty funk, underpinned by marvellously crunchy riffs and some obscenely good drumming. Local talent indeed.
And then, alas, it’s time to leave the confines of picturesque, leafy Surrey and head back to the smog and 24-hour off-licenses of London. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable retreat to the country, soundtracked by some cracking bands.
Words by Tristan Parker
