Camp Bestival 2012 Review
Rob da Bank's Dorset shindig, now in its fifth year, is going from strength to strength
Friday 27th to Sunday 29th July 2012 – Camp Bestival @ Lulworth Castle, Dorset Words: Rakhi Sinha
In a nutshell, Camp Bestival is the coolest crèche for kids.
It’s also where adults can rediscover their lost youth and embrace their inner child whilst still maintaining a decent amount of street cred. Where else can you Freak Out to Chic, pretend you’re at a kid’s party with the hilariously inappropriate Cuban Brothers, and slide down a hill on a massive makeshift waterslide?
Rob da Bank’s Dorset shindig, now in its fifth year, is going from strength to strength. In the beautiful surrounds of Lulworth Castle in Dorset, it’s a family-friendly festival of fun and miles cooler (is that what the kids say these days?) than taking the sprogs to water parks.
!The difference is the entertainment on offer as it’s not all for the young mites, just mostly.
Like any self-respecting family holiday resort, Camp Bestival have their very own army of kids’ entertainers- The Bestival Blue Coats headed by THE CUBAN BROTHERS, who take inspiration from sub-standard cabaret performers. They had kids in stitches with their mustachioed, afroed selves, boundless energy and madcap games such as silly gurning and binocular football. Mums and dads loved it too and I even saw adults hotfoot it from the dance tent to limbo with the kids to Prince’s Controversy.
This was just the start of the surreal on Day One of the festival as I then found myself to be a guest at a wedding in an inflatable church where people were doing the running man to MC Hammer as the bride-to-be made her way down the aisle. “Do you take this man to be your awfully-wedded husband?” screamed the robed priest in gold hot pants.
HOT CHIP, the Friday night headliners, have probably never played to a crowd where the majority are under ten but they embraced the spirit and dedicated one of their songs to keyboardist Joe Goddard’s sleeping child. ‘One Life Stand’ and ‘Over and Over’ were included in a set which provided the perfect act for the first day of the festival.
Although another contender for the biggest audience was the Olympics Opening Ceremony which was being broadcast on a big screen. Fitting then that the theme for this year’s fancy dress was Silly Olympics- well it had to be really, didn’t it? I lost count of the number of 118-clad people I saw but they definitely shouldn’t get a gold medal for originality.
As the sun went down, cider kicked in and kids were put to blow-up bed, Mancunian electro DJ JUSTIN ROBERTSON helped parents to wind down with a dancey set in the ornately decorated Bollywood tent.
Day Two and the sun continued shining on Lulworth Estate. Rather than being kept up into the wee small hours by hedonistic adults, we were woken up bright and early by the heady screams of excited kids- MR TUMBLE was on stage! Not being a parent I didn’t really know what this meant, but judging by the size of the audience, it was a pretty big deal. His slap-stick clowning around and the Hokey Cokey were like cat nip for the wee ones who went absolutely berserk.
A tough act to follow but JIMMY CLIFF, the only living musician to hold the Order of Merit (the highest accolade given by the Jamaican Government for services to the arts), gave it a good shot. As folk relaxed, Pimms in hand and kids in trolleys, they nodded their heads to a series of hit tunes by the reggae legend, like ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’ and ‘Hakuna Matata,’ “Reggae music makes you feel alright!” He shouted to cheers.
!At times Camp Bestival gave a lesson in being a seriously open-minded parent. There was the daytime comedy with plenty of swearing and jokes about sex, Howard Marks giggling about the Billy Goats Gruff searching for the best grass as he fronted story time, and swathes of teens in tiny shorts going bonkers to RIZZLE KICKS.
Perhaps the Rizzles were trying to appeal to the adults in the audience with their covers of White Stripes’ ‘Seven Nation Army’ and KC And The Sunshine Band's ‘That's The Way I Like It,’ but it didn’t really matter as the shrieks and screams of young semi-clad girls led to Rizzlemania.
The stalls, talks and sideshows are as much of an attraction at Camp Bestival as the music, and these provide a lot of the daytime entertainment for the adults.
The most exciting of these, in my opinion, was the NILE RODGERS pre-concert interview. He spoke about his heroin-addicted mum who had him when she was 14, working with David Bowie and the way New York taxi drivers disregard him because of the way he dresses and his long hair: “But I’m gonna wave my freak flag high!” And why shouldn’t he? This legendary musician has written some of the best disco and pop tracks of all time and produced music for a plethora of stars including; Diana Ross, Sister Sledge, Madonna and Duran Duran. He’s a captivating orator.
Nile then raced to the Castle Stage to kick off the Saturday night disco vibes with his band CHIC: “Let’s get one thing straight, Chic is not a cover band.” They played hit after hit in an electrifying performance that had the whole crowd dancing, singing and exclaiming “I didn’t know this was by them!” Kids on shoulders quickly picked up the catchy melodies and songs as they clapped their hands. The finale was a fantastic crescendo and I was gutted I wasn’t a kid as dozens of them were invited on stage to join in with ‘Le Freak’ and ‘Good Times.’
Headliners KOOL AND THE GANG followed on from the disco dancing but were undoubtedly outshone by their warm-up act. Their slow grooves and decision to play smoochy songs dulled the upbeat mood somewhat.
Beats for Saturday night into Sunday morning were provided by GREG WILSON followed by drum and bass legend LTJ BUKEM in the Bollywood tent whilst over at the Wagamamas restaurant, DJ YODA played a cracking hip hop set to an appreciative audience. He later posted this on Twitter: “Camp Bestival was literally ridonkulous last night, not sure what was better set - Big Top, or Wagamamas DJ set. Yes Wagamamas DJ set.”
Day Three and the atmosphere was decidedly more terse as hangovers kicked in and parents began to get annoyed with their hyperactive kids. Good thing then that the entertainment on offer was more chilled out after the disco dancing on Saturday night.
FANTASTIC MR FOX the opera took over an area of wooded land in a shady forest, it was so engaging it was like a giant game of sleeping lions and you could hear the steady breathing of a hundred captivated little ones. The setting was beautiful and there was a live orchestra accompanying the actors as they sang their way through the performance.
!Meanwhile on the Castle Stage LITTLE ROY, the other Jamaican reggae artist on the bill, played a surprisingly good set which included a series of reggae Nirvana cover songs. Unfortunately these could be heard loud and clear from the Dingley dell where the Fantastic Mr Fox was trying to discretely raid farms.
SCROOBIUS PIP and friends took over the Literary Tent for 90 minutes of spoken word: “I know what you’re thinking, 90 minutes- I can’t sit through that.” But it was easy enough as a hotchpotch of talent wound their words into carefully constructed poems, jokes and quips.
Headliners for the night were the HAPPY MONDAYS- these guys needed no introduction as the reformed Madchester mad ‘eds took to the stage to tear through a set of baggy classics including ‘Step On,’ ‘Loose Fit’ and ‘Hallelujah.’ Like Chic, it too ended with a tribute to the guests of honour at Camp Bestival- the kids- as they danced to ‘Wrote For Luck.’
Camp Bestival is mainly for families but as you can see, there are plenty of things to enjoy if you don’t have one. However, if you’re after a big party that lasts all day and night, perhaps its big sister, Bestival on the Isle of Wight, is better suited.