Review: The Garden Party @ Kelburn Castle, 20-21.06.09
The Garden Party 2009: an unknown DJ Brian D’Souza rocks the booth at the Viewpoint stage. (Thanks, Bruno FK)
Note: This is a guest post by Andy Sharp, roving reporter, small-festival addict and longtime contributor to Earz Mag.
Set in the beautiful hills and glens of The Kelburn Country Centre near Largs in Scotland, home of the world renowned Graffiti Project, the perfect setting; this two day festival with three stages and over fifty acts was a definite highlight of the year for me. Organised completely independently by David Boyle — the Viscount of Kelburn and festival director, and a whole team of volunteers and Kelburn employees — the crowd were treated to fantastic performances including Mungo’s Hi-Fi Soundsystem, Bonobo, Joe Acheson Quartet, James Yorkston, Samba Ya Bamba, bombskare, The Aliens, The Bays and many more, a full bar and cocktail bar were available, with good food and adequate facilities all round. Plenty of camping space turned the site into one big party, without even going to the stages yet.
From chilling out during the day and just watching the festivities develop, to dancing the late night and early morning away with Martyn and Tom Middleton, I found the atmosphere extremely relaxed and peaceful. A world away from any of the big corporate festivals you can catch in Britain; a true spirit of independence.
From the organisers point of view I believe that the number of attendees was too low to call it a true financial success, however it is clear that the potential to develop year by year into a top festival is there. I just hope there was enough of a profit in the stalls and ticket sales to make it possible to do an independent 2010 Garden Party. It is a real disappointment that such a small amount of people made the effort to buy the ticket and take the ride. Those who heard about this and didn’t come, missed out big time. If another festival happens here next year then anyone who can make it would be crazy not to. I spoke to a load of people at the end of it all, and no one was coming away without having had a great time and loads of happy memories. Some said it was the best festival they had been to, and these were some hardcore festival goers.
If independent festivals like these can’t make it year after year then it’s not just the organiser’s loss, it is everyone’s. The central drive and the momentum are all there, it just needs more people to turn on to The Garden Party.
Sitting at the back of the crowd, when Bonobo played the Garden Stage, was the central memory that my whole experience seems to revolve around, some of my favourite songs of all time are by this artist and they played them all: Between The Lines, Recurring, Gypsy, and Nightlight were all played with a grace and style that for me summarised everything that was good about this festival. Being their first performance in Scotland as a full live outfit, this was a totally unique moment, in a totally unique festival environment.
Bombskare had the crowd jumping and Ska dancing all around the Garden stage, with a raw and heart pounding sound. This is a band I hadn’t heard before, but now I will be buying their music and doing some bedroom Ska dancing of my own. There wasn’t a single band I saw that didn’t deliver the goods.
There was plenty of variation to suite all tastes from dubstep, reggae, folk and blues, and hip-hop, and this was definitely the main strong point of this festival over many others. You didn’t have to be of a certain style or persuasion to enjoy the event.
The security were friendly and outgoing, and yet stayed in control of the crowd, ensuring glass bottles and cans weren’t allowed near the stages and that people weren’t sneaking in or causing trouble. The police were totally chilled out, no hassle at all. As far as I’m aware there were basically no arrests or charges over the entire weekend, which goes to show this really was a peaceful and worthwhile event for the local community. Most people who travelled here from around the country, stocked up at local stores, and used local train, taxi and bus services to get to the event, which clearly brought money into the town.
Some of the coolest, laid back people I have ever met had come to this festival, and if it goes ahead next year there can only be more.
Links:
Previously:
Preview: The Garden Party, Kelburn Castle, 20-21 June
Podcast: The Kelburn Garden Party / Compunctio Records
Posted in Events & Music & Reviews by Andy Sharp on June 26, 2009.
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