Words and interviews by Phil Dudman
art direction by hayden russell
Festival guide 2013 Summer’s finally here which means just one thing… It’s festival time! read on for the latest line-ups, top survival tips and interviews with foals, electro-pop legend gary numan and disco king nile rodgers, who reveals how marvin gaye helped make him a star.
Festival guide 2013
[foals]
we want to be big
crowd pleasers
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tips [The Big Issue’s Festival top tips:] top tips to keep you smiling… whatever the weather Pick two things a day you really want to see and let the rest of the day become a voyage of discovery. Need to find your mates? Make a flag. They are wind powered and don’t receive silly text messages.
foals lit up the charts with holy fire,but will they still be smokin’ when they hit the festival circuit? keyboardist Edwin Congreave looks forward to their heady summer You’re headlining Latitude this year, which is a big deal. Are you ready for it? “I think we’re ready. We spoke about it for a long time as there was some anxiety over doing it. It’s like there’s an arrogance in presuming we can headline a festival and we were aware we need to fulfil expectations. But after playing the Royal Albert Hall recently, which itself was a gamble, we’re confident that our show is going to be big enough.”
marc sethi
Compared to a normal gig, is it tough knowing not everyone is there to see you at the festival? “We really struggled with it back in 2008. We were so used to playing intimate venues where you control all the parameters but at festivals you’re at the mercy of the crowd. However, we’re doing a few festivals this year and I think with Holy Fire we have a bigger arsenal of songs that work in that environment, so we’re less worried than two or three years ago.” Have you ever had a really nailbiting or excruciating moment before or during a show? “Ha ha! Hundreds and thousands of
t i mes, yes! Pa r t ic u la rly at festivals as there are so many different things that can go wrong. Touring South America, all of our equipment was hired for every show. There’s only a couple of hours to make sure everything works and invariably it doesn’t! So it’s a baptism of fire pretty much every day!” Has anyone’s music ever made you burst into tears? “I’ve maybe shed a very slow, small tear. But the obvious answer is probably seeing Radiohead. Every time there’s a couple of songs that just punch me in the chest. Then there was Blur at Hyde Park a couple of years ago. We supported them but I was a massive Blur fan when I was growing up and yeah, there were a couple of songs that made me leak a tiny bit! From the eyes…” l Foals play Latitude, Reading & Leeds festivals
Do you really need your iPod at a music festival? Only take what you can afford to lose… Camp on high ground to avoid floods of tears. Dig a small two-inch trench around your tent to divert surface water away. Use novelty hazard tape and spare pegs to save a tent space but befriend your neighbours and save one for their mates too – thus ensuring common ground and a primitive neighbourhood watch scheme! Remember… the bigger the group you’re with the slower it is to get around! And don’t forget to raid forums and Twitter for secret gig line-ups and exclusive shows. Party knowledge is power. k
Festival guide 2013
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[gary numan]
got the spark!
electronic music pioneer looks past the shocks and spills of a 35-year career to admit he still gets a kick out of playing live You’re appearing at Playground Festival alongside dance music’s biggest names, many of which you have influenced. Excited? “It’s a bit nerve-wracking to be honest. I know having an influence is one thing but the music I do now is different. But the good thing about festivals is the diversity. You get turned on to things you might not otherwise come across.”
Is that what stood your hair on end? “Ha ha, it should’ve been. Especially as nobody got paid till four or five years later.”
What’s the best thing for you about festivals? “You feel proud to be there. You’re aware that not everyone is there necessarily to see you, so when they go well you know you’ve achieved something. You’re reaching out to people you wouldn’t normally get to.” What excites you about music now? “From the fans’ point of view it’s a bit of a golden era. People are giving huge amounts of their music away, there’s these amazing
How would you sum up your career in a sentence? “In all honesty, up and down. The career has gone from being one of the biggest things in the world to being dead and buried. So I’ve been all through that, come out the other side, and now I’m considered ‘legendary’ and all those lovely things that people say, which is amazing. But if I’d never been successful – and I can honestly say this because I’ve been back down to nowhere – just being in a band is the best thing ever.” l Gary Numan is at The Playground Festival, London, on June 8
LISTINGS Udderbelly Festival
April 12–July 14 Southbank Centre, London £ varies The big upside-down purple cow is back for its fifth year of comedy, circus and family shows. Next door you’ll also find the London Wonderground, a huge spiegeltent playing host to circus, cabaret and much more. Highlights from an enormous line-up of acts and shows are The Boy with Tape On His Face, Ardal O’Hanlon, Doc Brown, Abandoman and hundreds more so check the website for the lot. udderbelly.co.uk
Brighton Festival
May 4–26 Various venues, Brighton & Hove £ varies for each event Brighton’s city-wide showcase of music, theatre, literature and
dance features Lucinda Williams, The Flaming Lips, Fatboy Slim, Nina Hagen, David McAlmont, Sinead O’Connor, Apparat, Angelique KiDJo, Sam Lee and Friends, The Tiger Lillies, Wara and Zoe Rahman. brightonfestival.org
Retro Trax
May 11 & 12 Stanford Hall, Leicestershire £45 day, £85 weekend A two-day camping festival dedicated to the greatest oldskool dance classics. Acts include Phil Hartnoll (Orbital DJ set), Hardfloor (live), The Orb DJ set, Fast Eddie, Fabio/ Grooverider, Sunscreem, Njoi, Bam Bam, Bady D, 2 Bad Mice, Justin Robertson, Blue Amazon, Colin Dale, Alfredo, Krome & Time and Shades of Rhythm. retro-trax.com
The Comedy Hullabaloo
May 23–26 RSC’s Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Boat Club, Idolize Spiegeltent, Swan’s Nest Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon £9-£25 per show A comedy weekend from the Underbelly team, taking place in venues across Stratford-uponAvon, including a magical 1920s German spiegeltent. Hullabaloo features comedians Al Murray, Ed Byrne, Milton Jones, Mark Watson, Danny Bhoy, The Horne Section and Sandi Toksvig. comedyhullabaloo.com
Wychwood Festival
May 31–June 2 Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire £120 (plus £20 for camping) Wychwood, which is pitched up at
Cheltenham racecourse and overlooks some green, lush rolling hills, is like a small-scale Glastonbury (7,500 people). This relaxed festival embraces roots, world and contemporary music with comedy, workshops and a family-friendly atmosphere. Highlights include Soul II Soul, The Human League, Dreadzone, Kate Nash, The Beat, Bill Bailey and Sadie & the Hotheads. wychwoodfestival.com
Eden Sessions
June 3–July 14 Eden Project, Bodelva, St Austell, Cornwall £35 per session A magical showcase of comedy and music backed by the stunning domes of the Eden Project. Acts include Eddie Izzard, Kaiser Chiefs, Sigur Ros, The XX, Jessie J, Cosmo Jarvis, Michael Cassidy, k
Keith Martin
What’s the craziest thing that has happened to you on tour? “At a festival on the south coast the stage hadn’t been built very well, the rain was pouring in and it all went live because the electrics hadn’t been done properly. Things were sparking; amps blowing up. It was an absolute disaster.”
packages of artwork and extras wrapped around an album, and so many people are playing live you’re spoilt for choice. For bands it’s more challenging – personally I find it the most exciting time ever. I love it.”
Festival guide 2013
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Kezia, Lily and Meg, Daughter, Willy Mason, Mwahaha, Luke Sital Singh, Thomas J Speight, Saturday Sun and West Barbary. edenproject.com/sessions
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Rockness
The Playground Festival
June 7 & 8 O2 Brixton Academy, London £35-£50 day, £70-£85 weekend The Playground team take their renowned club brand to dizzying new heights, showcasing the cream of electronic music. This banging event includes Digitalism (live), Gary Numan (full band live), Unkle/James Lavelle, Booka Shade (live), Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, Pantha Du Prince (live), Dj Hell, X-Press 2, John Foxx & The Maths, Wolfgang Flur, Nathan Fake, Mickey Pearce, Om Unit, Maxx Baer and Templa. theplaygroundfestival.com
Rockness
June 7-9 Clune Farm, Dores, Inverness, Scotland £139 Set in the Highlands, the eighth year of RockNess, which blends dance and electronic music with rock, includes a typically heady line-up that includes Plan B, Basement Jaxx, Example, Fatboy Slim, Alabama 3, The Futureheads, Madness, The Vaccines, Bombay Bicycle Club, Ben Howard, Ellie Goulding, The Maccabees and Jessie Ware. Plus comedians Jim Jefferies, Dylan Moran and Daniel Sloss. rockness.co.uk
[nile rodgers]
disco inferno
Isle of Wight Festival
June 13-16 Seaclose Park, Newport, Isle of Wight £75 (day), £170-£185 (weekend)
nile rodgers, 60, brought disco to the masses, penned mega-hits for Madonna, bowie and Duran Duran… and is the riff-writing wonder behind Daft Punk’s tune of the summer, Get Lucky. he tells us why disco will never die and how he made his peace with marvin gaye
The historic rock fest, resurrected in 2002 from the original 1970 bash, is back for another superb weekend of music. This year offers The Stone Roses, The Killers, Bon Jovi , Bloc Party,
Where was the first festival you ever played? “Ever in my life? Holy cow! The touring Kool Jazz Festival with Chic, the summer of 1978. The first show was the Oakland baseball stadium – a super funk show, promoted by Kool cigarettes. Even Kool and the Gang spelt their name with a ‘K’ like Kool cigarettes! But I’ll never forget looking out at over 70,000 people – a sea of humanity. I was really nervous so my roady gave me a swig of beer, I shouted “Oakland!”, they shouted “Chic!”, and we proceeded to kill it!” TOBY MADDEN
Isle of Wight
Why do you think disco has never died? “Because it’s communal, spiritual groove
mu s ic t h at br i n g s p e ople t o ge t her. With groove music, a breakdown takes your emotional level down so you can catch your breath, so the groove masquerades as actual life. You can’t be hyper all the time. Life is up and down.” What was the greatest live moment of your performing career? “Anaheim baseball stadium with the Kool Jazz Festival, 1979 or 1980, whenever we opened for Marvin Gaye. But I’m telling this story secondhand because it was Rick James who was in Marvin’s dressing room when it happened. When we finished our last song,
ca lled Chic Cheer, the crowd star ted stomping their feet in sync going, “Chic, Chic!”. The entire stadium was rocking and shaking and Marvin Gaye jumped under a desk and told Rick James: “Man it’s an earthquake! Jump under the desk, are you crazy!?” And Rick James says: “No man, I’m not crazy, you’re crazy, that’s no earthquake, that’s Chic!” The cops had to come out to get us to quell the crowd three times because they thought there was gonna be a riot, so we drove around in a baseball cart that looked like the Popemobile, waving like we were the Queen or something. It was crazy because we wanted to give respect to Marvin Gaye but the people wouldn’t let him play.”
The Stone Roses at Isle of Wight
What happened after that? “Man did I have love for Marvin Gaye but we didn’t even speak to him because we felt so uncomfortable. I was convinced that he hated us, until I spoke to a journalist last year who played me Marvin’s last interview before he died, talking about Chic! So he went from not knowing who we were and me going a full 30 years thinking he hated us, to that. But that gig… that was a huge, huge moment.”
Paloma Faith, The Maccabees, Happy Mondays, Blondie, Boomtown Rats with Bob Geldof, Paul Weller, I Am Kloot, Ke$ha, Steve Harley, Laura Mvula, Jake Bugg, Emeli Sandé, Palma Violets, Stackridge, The Blockheads, Levellers and Rizzle Kicks. isleofwightfestival.com
Wow… so what’s the worst moment you ever faced on tour? “That came just a few months after. Hip hop had started to break, and this fantastic guy called Kurtis Blow had come out with a song called The Breaks. He was our opening act. So the same thing that happened to Marvin Gaye happened to us. Kurtis Blow did The Breaks, and by the time Chic came out it was like ‘wooo…’ – no one cared.” Finally, when you are having a tough time who or what do you turn to first? “I lived on the street and in the New York City subway system. We were called ‘tunnel rats’. Then I lived in a commune, I was a panhandler or what they call ‘spangers’, as in ‘spare changers’. But I always had a guitar. Being a wandering minstrel was how I earned money but also spiritual capital. We live in the moment. So while I was playing music I knew, while there could easily be a better tomorrow, right now there is a pretty good today because I’m playing music, trying to become smarter and trying to become better. That hasn’t changed for me.” l C hic fe at u r i ng Nile R o dg e rs pla y Glastonbury, Bestival, Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival, Love Saves The Day and Ibiza 123 Rocktronic
Bad Apples, Gramophones Theatre Company and Robots Found Errors. funnyasfolk.co.uk
Ibiza 123 Rocktronic Festival
Download
June 14-16 Donington Park, Derbyshire £195-£205 weekend Download, set over five stages, features a killer line-up of heavy rock. The pick of the filling-rattling bunch are Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Rammstein, Queens of the Stone Age, Alice in Chains, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Bullet for My Valentine, Motörhead, The Gaslight Anthem, Mastodon, Enter Shikari, Korn, Limp Bizkit, UFO and Vision of Disorder. downloadfestival.co.uk
Funny As Folk
June 28-30 Cabourne Parva, Caistor, Lincolnshire £50 weekend This hybrid festival, nestled in the Lincolnshire Wolds, features a dizzying arrays of genres: comedy, street performance, art and crafts. Acts to savour include Nick Harper, Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack, Poor Old Dogs, Legendary
July 1-3 Carrer Cervantes, San Antonio, Ibiza €65 day, €150 for 3 days Rocktronic is located on the coast of San Antonio, in front of one of the most famous sunsets in the world, and features a random mix of the biggest dance and classic rock stars. This year’s acts include Japanese Popstars (live), Wally Lopez, Madeon, Chase & Status, Nile Rodgers Presents Chic (live), Sting (live), David Guetta, Tiesto, Hadouken (live), Rob Da Bank, Labrinth (live), Tine Tempah (live), 2ManyDJs, Elton John (live), Pnau (live), Fatboy Slim, Pete Tong, M83 (live), Lenny Kravitz (live) and Luciano. ibiza123festival.com
FOUND & FOUND Warehouse After Party
June 15 Haggerston Park, Shoreditch, London £50 FOUND proudly presents a sunshine fuelled day of electronic music in the heart of Shoreditch with exclusive sets from Maya Jane Coles, Henrik Schwarz, Wolf + Lamb, Floating Points, MK, Lee Foss, Voyeur, Waifs & Strays + over 30 more playing across 4 stages. This will be followed by FOUND: Warehouse After Party running through the night at the legendary Great Suffolk Street Warehouse with Maya Jane Coles, Deetron, Maayan Nadim, Joyce Muniz, WildKatz and Palace + More TBA k foundseries.co.uk/festival
Festival guide 2013
Festival guide 2013
Electric Elephant
The Garden Festival
July 11-15 The Garden Tisno, Petrica Glava 34, 22240, Tisno, Croatia £110 or £150 (with Garden Festival Ticket) Electric Elephant returns to Croatia for a sixth instalment of dancing under the sun and stars on the beautiful Adriatic coastline. The line-up includes Carl Craig, Frankie Knuckles, Mr Scruff, Andrew Weatherall & Sean Johnston and Chris Duckenfield. electricelephant.co.uk
The Beat-Herder Festival July 5-7 The Ribble Valley, Lancashire £105
A unique, rootsy Northern festival that rivals Secret Garden Party when it comes to sheer escapism. Standout acts include Groove Armada, Booka Shade, Jimmy Cliff, Norman Jay, Feed Me, Roni Size, Kissy Sell Out, Shackleton (live), Jaguar Skills, Mr Scruff, Gentleman’s Dub Club, Clean Bandit, Bondax and Temples. beatherder.co.uk
Mostly Jazz Funk & Soul Festival July 5-7 Moseley Park, Birmingham £35-£37 (day), £85 (three-day weekend)
A three-day festival celebrating the best in jazz, funk and soul music. The pick of the performers are Chic featuring Nile Rodgers, Bonobo, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Candi Staton, The Blockheads, Soul II Soul, Troumaca and Snarky Puppy. mostlyjazz.co.uk
Blissfields
July 5-7 Vicarage Farm, Woodmancott, Winchester, Hampshire £80 weekend An intimate family festival with a distinctly non-corporate
Funny As Folk
Optimus Alive
July 12-14 Passeio Maritimo de Alges, Lisbon, Portugal £45-£105
atmosphere. Acts featured include Man Like Me, Mystery Jets, Bastille, Post War Years, Marika Hackman, Public Service Broadcasting, Far Too Loud, Zion Train, Subgiant, Subsource, Ben Goddard, Bitr8, Bosch Stacey, Boule, Charlie Ayliffe, Charlie Fox, Cholombian, Chris Ward, Deadproud, Dem Hungry, DJ Grey Jumps and Dr Strangelove’s Burlesque Discotheque. blissfields.co.uk
The sun-drenched festival in the Portuguese capital is blessed with some incredible acts, including Depeche Mode, Kings of Leon, Green Day, Vampire Weekend, Two Door Cinema Club, Biffy Clyro, Phoenix, Editors, Soulwax, Tame Impala, Band of Horses, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Jake Bugg, Vampire Weekend, Tribes, Jamie Lidell, Jessie Ware and Gold Panda. optimusalive.com/en
The Original Cornbury Music Festival
July 5-7 The Great Tew Estate, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire £78 day, £170 weekend
Yahoo! Wireless Festival July 12-14 Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London £75-£190
The 10th outing for Cornbury, arguably England’s most well-heeled festival, offers acts both old and new and a familyfriendly atmosphere (it’s famed for its magical children’s zone). Acts include Squeeze, Seth Lakeman, Keane, Van Morrison, Beverley Knight, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Proclaimers, Bellowhead, Tift Merritt, Imelda May, Jack Savoretti, Amy Macdonald and Bo Bruce. cornburyfestival.com
The superstar rapper Jay-Z headlines the three-day event, which features the biggest names in hip-hop and dance music. Acts include Justin Timberlake, A Tribe Called Quest, Emeli Sandé, NAS, A$AP Rocky, Rizzle Kicks, Snoop Dogg, Trey Songz, Jessie Ware, Katy B, Magnetic Man, 2 Chainz, Porter Robinson, Angel, Daley, John Legend, Miguel, Frank Ocean, Rita Ora, Kendrick Lamar, Miguel and Calvin Harris. wirelessfestival.co.uk
The Garden Festival
July 3-10 The Garden Tisno, Petrica Glava 34, 22240, Tisno, Croatia £105 or £150 (with Electric Elephant ticket) The Garden Festival, now in its eighth season, is Croatia’s original event, revered for its intimate family ethos and setting on the beautiful Dalmatian coastline, beyond which glitters the enticingly warm Adriatic. Acts include Metro Area (live), Space Dimension Controller (live), Hot Coins (live), Chez Damier, Luke Vibert and Theo Parrish. thegardenfestival.eu
Latitude
Andy Sheppard / Heather Shuker
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Carl Craig at Electric Elephant
Buddhafield
July 17-21 Culmhead, near Taunton, Somerset £117 weekend camping Buddhafield celebrates the study of Buddhism and meditation with music, arts and more in beautiful surroundings. The performance line-up is still to be confirmed, but expect live acts and DJs playing a full spectrum of musical styles. buddhafield.com
Benicassim
July 18-21 Benicassim, near Valencia, Spain £150 camping This year Benicassim, one of Europe’s most established rock festivals, will turn 18. The jewel in the European summer festival crown, this year’s line-up includes The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Queens of the Stone Age, Dizzee Rascal, Primal Scream, Kaiser Chiefs, Azealia Banks, Jake Bugg, Miles Kane, Beach House and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. fiberfib.com
Latitude
July 18-21 Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk £190.50 This perennially intriguing festival celebrates all aspects of art and culture, including poetry, literature talks and comedy (Daniel Kitson, Tim Key and Lee Nelson). But indie rock is still the main draw and Latitude once again boasts one of the finest line-ups of the year, with Foals, Kraftwerk, Hot Chip, Bloc Party, Grizzly Bear, James Blake, Jessie Ware, John Grant, Stornoway, Tim Burgess, British Sea Power, Ed Harcourt and Duane Eddy. latitudefestival.co.uk
Farr Festival
July 19-21 Bygrave Woods, Hertfordshire £75 weekend camping The quality electronic music festival continues to raise the bar k
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Festival guide 2013 Somerset vista”. Acts include
Ghostpoet, Black Strobe (live), Luke Unabomber, Chicken Lips, Leftside Wobble, Civilisation of the Rough, Dr Fish, DJ Mishima, Art Brut and The Skints. farmfestival.co.uk
redfest
July 26 & 27 Robins Cook Farm, Redhill, Surrey £36 for one day, £65 for two
Eleonora Cecchini / Julia Boggio
Farm Festival
for its fourth year, with this excellent best dance line-up, featuring Bicep, Jackmaster, Eats Everything, Maxxi Soundsystem, D-Bridge and Andrew Weatherall. Farrfestival.co.uk
year’s theme is “superstition” and the line-up includes DJango DJango, Soulwax, The Strypes, Bastille and Embrace (DJ set). secretgardenparty.com
Secret Garden Party
July 26 & 27 Gilcombe Farm, Somerset £50
July 25-28 Mill Hill Field, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire £165-£195 This radically expressive and radically inclusive festival has two hedonistic areas created either side of a picaresque lake. This
Redfest, now its seventh year, has gained a reputation for championing new emerging bands, solo artists and DJs. Acts include Young Guns, The Skints, Natives and Modestep. redfest.co.uk
Camp Bestival
Farm Festival
August 1-4 Lulworth Castle, Dorset £175 (student), £190 (adult)
The Farm Festival doesn’t believe in “media hype or inflated prices”. It believes in a “genre defying selection of alternative music, local produce and good times set to the backdrop of a beautiful
This giant playground of jollity, dance and psychedelia features a superbly eclectic line-up. Revellers descending on Dorset can expect stellar acts including Richard Hawley, Levellers, Ash, Heaven 17, The Proclaimers, Toots and the Maytals, I Am Kloot, Billy Bragg, Nik Kershaw, Lissie, The
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Farm, Grandmaster Flash, Sasha and Labrinth. campbestival.net
Oya Festival
August 6-10 Middelalderparken, Oslo, Norway £85 day, £255 for 5 days camping A Norwegian medieval park surrounded by beaches, greenery and fjords is transformed into an arena for musical, visual and cross-cultural performances. Acts featured here include Alabama Shakes, Angel Haze, Azealia Banks, Beach House, Blur, Carmen Villain, Danny Brown, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Slayer and Solange. k oyafestivalen.com
Nik Kershaw at Camp Bestival
Festival guide 2013
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Fairport’s Cropedy Convention ’13
August 8-10 Cropredy, near Banbury, Oxfordshire £105-115 for full weekend camping Fairport Convention’s 33rd “annual three-day festival of music and good cheer” features Fairport Convention, Alice Cooper, 10CC, Levellers, Nik Kershaw, Fake Thackray, Richard Digance and Mediaeval Baebes. fairportconvention.com
Wilderness
August 8-11 Cornbury Park Estate, Oxfordshire £139 Wilderness brings together music, food, debate and talks, late-night parties, outdoor pursuits and theatre and takes place on the stunning Cornbury Estate. A strong line-up includes Empire of The Sun, Noah & the Whale, Rodriguez, Martha Wainwright, Michael Kiwanuka, Tom Odell, Ghostpoet, Tribes and The Bees. wildernessfestival.com
Shambala Festival
August 22-25 Secret Location in the Midlands £129 Northamptonshire’s Shambala,
which snaffled the Greener Festival gong at the UK Festival Awards in 2011, alongside numerous green awards over the past few years, is a music-laden family festival ideal for children with its carnivals, woodland activities and fancy dress for everyone. Acts include Alice Russell, Courtney Pine, Dr Meaker, Fatoumata Diawara, Hollie Cook, Sam Lee & Friends, Skatalites and Lou Rhodes. shambalafestival.org
Creamfields
August 23-25 Daresbury, Halton, Cheshire £70-£250 Creamfields, one of the world’s biggest dance festivals, once again takes the party to Daresbury. The event features DJs and live acts such as The Prodigy, Madeon, Zane Lowe, Tiësto, Nervo, Duke Dumont, Mark Knight, Chris Lake, Just Blaze, Danny Howard, Steve Angello, Hardwell, Tommy Trash, Alvaro and David Guetta. creamfields.com
[underbelly]
laugh it up
Reading Festival
Ed Bartlam and charlie wood, Founders of Underbelly comedy productions, have made festivals fun again. ed tells us why comedy and music are made for each other…
August 23-25 Little John’s Farm, Richfield Avenue, Reading, Berkshire £202.50 Reading festival is the apex for any self-respecting rock act, and this year there is smoking dance line up too. Acts include Green Day, Eminem, Biffy Clyro, Foals, Frank Turner, The Lumineers, Swim Deep, Azealia Banks, Editors, Johnny Marr, Magnetic Man, Tame Impala, Twin Atlantic, Chase & Status, White Lies, Jake Bugg, Bring Me the Horizon, System of a Down, Fall Out Boy, Alt-J, Deftones, Tomahawk, Palma Violets and Modestep. readingfestival.com
Shambala
So when did you start Underbelly and what’s your take on the comedy scene at the moment? “We started at Edinburgh Fringe back in 2000 and launched the Underbelly festival in 2009 – now London’s largest festival of comedy, running for 12 weeks. It’s been a real success. People love to laugh, particularly in the current climate, but also there is huge breadth in comedy talent on offer now.”
k
What have you got planned for the summer? “We’re launching a comedy festival in Stratford-upon-Avon called the Comedy Hullabaloo. A weekend festival of comedy in a quintessentially English setting. We’ll have names like Al Murray, Milton Jones, Mark Watson and Ed Byrne and then newer acts all doing mixed bill shows – all for £10-20 a ticket.” Comedy seems to have an increasing presence at music festivals… “So many music festivals programme comedy, so they work hand in hand. Tania Harrison, who programmes all the non-music stages at Latitude, took her experience from Edinburgh and turned it into a weekendlong format. Bestival’s another big one. But in such a competitive market, it’s all about people’s wider experience, so to me such a progression seems incredibly natural.” Are there comedians who bridge the two particularly well? “More and more. People like Tim Minchin and this guy called Abandoman who toured with Ed Sheeran last year. He’s a stand-up comedian and rapper from Ireland who takes instant suggestions from the audience to improvise amazing raps backed by a band. Then there’s Doc Brown, who is doing Comedy Hullabaloo and was part of a London hip hop group but now turns the genre on its head as a comedian.” l underbelly.co.uk
Charlie Cooper
Alice Cooper at Cropedy
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south west four
August 24 & 25 Clapham Common, London £47.50-£52.50, £95 weekend
South West Four celebrates 10 years as the UK’s premiere inner-city dance festival, with Carl Cox, Pete Tong and Eric Prydz.
Bestival
September 5-8 Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight £180-£190
Leeds Festival
August 23-25 Bramham Park, Leeds, West Yorkshire £202.50 Eminem, the most successful rapper in history, was the first headliner to be announced on the Main Stage for the always epic Leeds festival. Other big acts include Green Day, Biffy Clyro, Foals, Skrillex, Nine Inch Nails, Frank Turner, Magnetic Man, Hadouken!, Haim, Peace, White Lies, Jake Bugg and Fall Out Boy. leedsfestival.com
One of summer’s most vivacious festivals features Elton John, Snoop Dogg, MIA, Franz Ferdinand, The Flaming Lips, The Knife and Belle & Sebastian. bestival.net
Festival
September 28 & 29 Gloucester Guildhall, Gloucester Free Underground Festival is an emerging and unsigned showcase for the best upcoming bands from all over the UK and beyond. This free music festival will feature Bastille, Peace, Canterbury, Swim Deep, Don Broco, The Struts, Proxies, Last Dinosaurs, The Dangerous Summer, Hey Sholay, All of This and Young Kato. undergroundfestival.co.uk
Oxjam
October 2013 £ varies Oxjam, which began in 2006, consists of a month-long season of gigs, events and “takeovers” across the country, raising money to fight poverty and suffering around the world. Expect assistance from regular highprofile supporters of Oxjam such as Jarvis Cocker, Fatboy Slim, Damon Albarn and Hot Chip, plus hundreds of local bands playing different venues across the UK. oxfam.org.uk/oxjam Bestival
Festival No. 6
September 13-15 Portmeirion, Wales £170-£180 Set in the magical village of Portmeirion, Festival No 6 includes Manic Street Preachers, James Blake, I Am Kloot, Alunageorge, Laura Mvula and Andrew Weatherall. festivalnumber6.com
Dan Medhurst / Charlie Raven
Alexis Taylor at Oxjam Festival
Festival guide 2013 Underground