REVIEW: BEACH BREAK LIVE 2011
Since 2007 Beach Break Live has been creating an exciting buzz around the festival scene and thanks to a little help from BBC TV show Dragons Den the festival is now one of the biggest in the UK. The festival which is now held at Pembrey county park in South Wales have seen the likes of Ellie Goulding, Vampire Weekend, Chase & Status and Calvin Harris previously headlining the festival.
Thousands of people arrived early at the festival on Thursday to pitch up their tents and explore the grounds ahead of a weekend that would see Tinie Tempah, Example, Professor Green, Magnetic Man, Katy B, White Lies and many more perform at the festival. Despite the fact that Thursday didn’t have any major acts perform, this didn’t stop hoards of people rush to the main arena to party in Club Tropicana and Merlin’s Forest to celebrate the opening night of the fifth Beach Break. Bearded Kittens Forties to the noughties was an early highlight of mine!
Friday saw the launch of Dells main stage and some predictable welsh weather provided by the lovely mother nature, causing people to avoid both the beach and early mains stage acts and instead hide in sheltered arenas such as Chai Wellah and The Moustash Bar giving smaller acts a better chance to shine. The first impressive crowd gathering at the main stage was drawn by Maverik Sabre who performed a small but impressive set which also included a uniquely clever cover of ‘Wonderwall’ by Oasis. Crowds and high pitched screams came next for an artist who is only destined for big things, Ed Sheeran who performed a variety of tracks including ‘Let it Out’ and the huge sounding ‘Little Lady. What strikes me about Sheeran is he don’t realise how big his following is getting, even Tempah was checking him out from the side of the stage. Professor Green was given the job to warm the crowd for Friday’s headliner and as always the rapper from Hackney delivered! Bursting on stage with the huge ‘City Of Gold’, Green had the crowd in the palm of his hands and brought the party vibe to Beach Break Live. He was later joined again by Maverick Sabre to perform ‘In The Air’ and ‘Jungle’ before concluding his set with ‘Monster’.
As the sun came down, tents were ditched, other arenas were empty and for the first time of this year’s Beach Break there was no room to move on the field. Yes it was time for the first headliner of this weekend, Tinie Tempah who got the crowd in a frenzy with opening hit ‘Simply Unstoppable’. It’s really easy to forget how big Tinie Tempah currently is, considering he has cracked America by having ‘Written In The Stars’ as the main song for the second most watched sporting event in America and has even debuted with one of the greatest drummers in the world, Travis Barker. Tinie performed a number of hits including ‘Wonderman’ and ‘Miami 2 Ibiza’ before concluding his set with ‘Pass Out’ which brought an unbelievably loud sing-along. However this wasn’t the end of Friday night by no means, crowds rushed to catch Zane Lowe djing over at Merlins Forest while Tinie Tempah performed a very sneaky DJ Set over at the secret horsebox stage.
With the sun glazing, Saturday turned into a tops off party! Crowds headed to sun bathe and participate in sports at the beach while others waited around to catch beatboxing god Beardyman which went down a storm with the crowd. He was followed by New York indie band We Are Scientists who brought a more rocking student feel to the festival in comparison to the lighter acts. Other stages were ditched for the next act who has been welcomed back to perform at the festival for the second year, Example. Arriving onstage to thousands of screams he rushed through a set packed with new and crowd favourite hits including ‘Dirty Face’,’Last Ones Standing’ and ‘Two Lives’. Example is the perfect party starter and has no problem getting the crowd awake. Example concluded his set with crowd favourite ‘Kickstarts and recent number one hit ‘Changed the way you kissed me’. Headliners White Lies sounded nothing short of epic musically despite the amount of people who abandoned them for other activities including a loud set from Sub Focus.
The last day of Beach Break saw Newton Faulkner draw the first impressive crowd back to the main stage with his acoustic playing antics. He was followed by a disappointing live set from Katy B who failed to get the crowd alive for Sunday’s headliners. Strobe lighting bursts and chest pounding Drum n bass saw Magnetic Man close the main stage for this year. Magnetic men are never short of amazing and must possess a degree in creating the perfect vibe.
Beach Break festival proved that its one of the most exciting and fresh festivals that the UK has to offer. There is just not enough time to soke up the variety of games, music and activities that the festival has to offer. With this festivals growing population, I can’t wait to see what Beach Break brings out of the bag for next year, Glastonbury watch out!
Words and photo: Mike Lewis
