REVIEW: BEAUTIFUL DAYS FESTIVAL 2011
Don’t fuck with the old-school”, warned Pop Will Eat Itself, during their riotous set at Beautiful Days. And the old-school presence was a major part of this ever-growing festival, organised and headlined by The Levellers.
There was also plenty of new blood, such as bouncy reggae merchants, Gentleman’s Dub Club, who shared the stage with elder statesmen such as The Beat. Beautiful Days is strong proof of the fact that nowadays, great music is timeless, and musicians are ageless more than ever before. On the festival site, you could see countless teenagers (as well as children), dressed in tee-shirts by the likes of The Clash. And before any bands took to stage, you could hear retro sounds blasting out of tents, such as Leftfield, Madness, The Specials and others. Even the Teenagers’ Tent was pumping out a jungle set, harking back to the mid-’90s. Point made: the kids just wanna have it, and they don’t seem to give a monkey’s about time. And have it they did, thanks to the many stages and tents of this rammed 3-day event. OK, on with the show.
On Friday, new-school folkster, Ben Howard (interviewed earlier in the year in 247) opened the proceedings on the Main Stage. He was backed by a drummer-come-bassist, and a cello player, and the sound coming out of the speakers was big, with plenty of bass frequencies. Folk power trio anyone? And the turn-out was impressive, with sunshine aplenty. The Levellers played the first of their 2 sets acoustically, at the Big Top Stage. But it was packed to the point that entry was impossible. Fortunately, Angie managed to showbiz her way in, to take photos. Beautiful Days is all about contrast: while Gogol Bordello were whipping the Main Stage crowd into a frenzy, with their arse-kicking concoction of gypsy-punk, John Grant was soothing our very souls at the Big Top, with his calm and serene tones.
Big Audio Dynamite’s headline set on Friday was a real treat. It was hardly believable that Mick Jones, the living legend and ex-Clash guitarist, was before our very eyes. The other B.A.D members have also achieved great things in their own right: Don Letts is a Grammy Award-winning filmmaker and pioneering reggae DJ, and Leo Williams and Greg Roberts have rocked many a festival as Dreadzone, since B.A.D split in the early 90s. It’s good to have them back, and they never got enough credit. B.A.D’s experiments with sampling, reggae, rock & roll and hip-hop made them way ahead of their time. And it’s clear that their decision to make a comeback this year was spot on: they haven’t lost their edge, and they still rock. Big time. You can’t mess with records like C’mon Every Beat Box or E=MC2. They played quite a few songs from their first two albums, but sadly not enough from the brilliant Megatop Phoenix. There has always been a sense of fun with this band, amongst the serious political and cultural observations, and their set at
Beautiful Days showed that they are also comfortable with who they are.
Celebrity journalist and have-a-go punk-rocker, John Robb introduced a few of the bands, and during the day he also conducted some live interviews at Dirty Davey’s Bandstand. One of his featured bands was Carter USM, Saturday’s headliners. When he asked them why they got so much bad press in the 90s, their reply was some old gubbins about their use of a drum machine. Wow, guys: edgy stuff! This is the band that spawned an army of “wacky kids”, who bought their merchandise by the truckload. These kids have now grown into middle-aged men, who still walk around in their “You Fat Bastard” tee-shirts. Jesus.
The Little Big Top was a comedy venue during the day, and dance tent at night. Debra Jane Appelby’s set was both outrageous and hilarious. It has to be said that rude words somehow sound funnier, when you hear them in a Manchester accent! And her cynical observations are worthy of some kind of award. Phonic FM and Exeter Respect Festival’s Paul Giblin graced this tent on Sunday evening, with his Future Sound of Exeter brand, playing host to System 7. There was also a trance set by Paul himself, back to back with Nigel Pennington, as DJ Ambiessence vs. Bostin Powers.
The Pop Will Eat Itself comeback set was the pleasant surprise of the weekend. Well, it wasn’t strictly a “comeback”, as Graham Crabb is the only original member in this new line-up, which also features Mary Byker (he’s a fella, not a lady!) from Gaye Bykers on Acid. PWEI performed an outrageous set: loud, aggressive and bass-heavy, with synths getting booted off stage. We were treated to well-known songs like Wise Up, Sucker! as well as new material, so it’s a fair bet that the new album will be a corker. The Beat were also fantastic, and again, not many survivors of the original line-up, apart from co-singer, Ranking Roger and drummer Everett Morton. Their anti-racist Doors of Your Heart is still an important statement, especially in these strange times.
Young Ones and Bottom star, Adrian Edmondson treated us to his folk interpretations of punk rock classics, such as Anarchy in the UK. Superb playing and singing, but the joke wore off after about four songs, so it was over to the Main Stage to see Paul Heaton, formerly of The Housemartins and Beautiful South. He gave us chirpy and light-hearted banter between the songs, which included classics such as Caravan of Love and Build. Stereo MCs rocked the Main Stage on Sunday, sounding more beefed-up than ever before. The new songs are a lot more electronic, and strengthened by the recent addition of a live bass-player. MC and singer, Rob now also plays an electric guitar. Rather than reflect too much on past glories, they treated us to material from their recent albums, as well as classics such as Connected and Step it Up. The Levellers headlined the Main Stage on Sunday, with an incredible attendance. At the same time as their set, it was encouraging to see that the dance tent was also well-attended for System 7, as was the Big Top stage, for the Latin-Celtic sounds of Salsa Celtica.
Beautiful Days is a festival in the traditional sense, with a non-mainstream spirit. The atmosphere during the live sets was electric, and the music-lovers were clearly just that, with no aggro or attitude. Long may it continue.
Words: Arash Torabi
Photos: Angie Knight
