Crack

Making a change to festivals like Bestival and Glastonbury, the drive from Bristol to the Big Chill site, nestled in the Malvern Hills, was as easy as could be, and the walk to the arena from our camp site was short and spectacular, with a great view down the hill towards a lake and the main stage.

The first big set of the festival came from theatrical electro types Empire Of The Sun. Launching into Walking On A Dream they quickly ran through their debut album with tunes such as Standing On The Shore and Swordfish Hotkiss Night. With bizarre yet impressive costumes(swordfish with keytars, anyone?), Empire had the main stage in their pockets for final song We Are The People, and left the stage to a strong reception.

Next up, Aloe Blacc. If you haven’t heard I Need A Dollar yet you probably don’t own a radio, and though nearly sick of it from overexposure we still wanted to check out if any of the Stones Throw man’s other material held up. We weren’t disappointed, with his excellent neo-soul voice and smooth charm comparable to the likes of Al Green and Marvin Gaye. Finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for in that single, one of the best radio-friendly soul songs of recent years. An encore into an instrumental version of ...Dollar proves a tad weak, possibly underlining the difficulties in playing a high profile set on a Friday night when you’ve only had one hit, but he will surely rewarded with a bucketload of album sales off the back of that performance.

Bro step pioneer Plastician was next up, and by three or four tracks in proceedings had descended from ridiculous mid-range wobble into what could only be described as a hard 4/4 resembling trance. Anticipating a long day to follow, this seemed as good a sign as any to call it a day.





We headed into the arena to catch our first act of Saturday at the People’s Ear tent, UK hip hop mainstay Jehst. It was clear that ten to four in the afternoon was an odd time for Jehst’s hype delivery, with only half of the tent’s capacity in attendance for tunes such as Weeds, People Under The Weather and 1979, a real shame for such a on-point purveyor of UK hip hop, and so we headed over to the Revellers tent to catch the Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble.

Existing at its core as three classically trained musicians (Brandt, Brauer and Frick) with seven highly-skilled instrumentalists added, they create a version of live, acoustic dance music which has as much in common with classical music as it does techno. Drummer Daniel Brandt makes light of any notions that a live drummer could never be as tight as a programmed drum machine. The BBFE easily became my live highlight of the weekend and well deserved the rousing ovation as they took their bows.




The heavens finally opened with extreme effect at the end of the set, never fully recovering throughout the weekend. We braved the conditions, however, in order to catch Metronomy. Decked out with large canvas banners of each of their caricatures and trademark white glowing lamps, vocalist and band founder Joseph Mount announced that ‘they always seem to bring the bad weather with them’, kicking off with Love Underlined. Unfortunately, an organisational cock-up led to us being turfed out of the pit soon after, forcing us to listen to one of the finest tunes of 2011, The Look, while admiring the look of the tent’s exterior.




Headliner time soon swung around, yet of course Kanye West kept us waiting for the best part of half an hour, due to a ‘sore throat’. As anticipation turned to frustration, booing was replaced by muted cheers as it became apparent that Mr. West was precariously situated at the very top section of the sound tower in the centre of the crowd.

Somehow Kanye made it onto the stage itself, launching into Power and greeted by the first real signs of appreciation. With a theatrical backdrop of Roman statues and ballerinas, he looked every inch the megastar, and while running through Jesus Walks you’d be forgiven for thinking that he may actually think of himself as the second coming. Just as momentum began to gather, he decided to embark on a fifteen minute rant, comparing himself to Hitler, launching into the state of the media, and his grievances toward his video for Touch The Sky losing out to Justice and Simian in the 2006 MTV Music Awards (yes, he STILL cares about that). It was interesting to hear the ideology behind songs such as Monster, but when you’re a multi-millionaire it’s difficult for people to relate to his whining about public perception, and the jeering began to creep back in. If he learned to laugh at himself he’d probably be a hell of a lot more likeable, but then, it just ain’t on to mock the Messiah, right?

Separating his set into ‘acts’, and with costume changes to rival Gaga, the crowd-pleasers began to come thick and fast, Flashing Lights, Stronger, Love Lockdown and All Falls Down hitting in quick succession before the biggest reception of all for Gold Digger. Say what you want about his ego, but Kanye has got swag for days, bounding around the stage and dripping with sweat.

‘Act 3’ and the encore soon come with the awful Runaway and its “Let’s have a toast for the douchebags” chorus providing a 30 second cameo for Pusha-T. Finally, Kanye returned to the stage for a tribute to Amy Winehouse with a medley of Tears Dry On Their Own and Back To Black. Obviously genuinely affected by her death, he described meeting her: “I was at Paris Fashion Week a few years ago. We went to a house party and I met this beautiful, amazing, talented and funny woman. This is in memory of her.” As touching as it was, he still managed to use it to further his own agenda, dedicating the set to Winehouse, Alexander McQueen, Michael Jackson and the media, saying “Thank you for protecting your artists ... now can you lighten up on those that are still here?”, only serving to leave a sour taste in the mouth.

People will continue to make comparisons between Jay-Z and Kanye West for as long as their new collaboration can sustain its collective ego, and the duality between the biggest and second biggest hip hop artist in the world is apparent, even if just from the size of the respective UK festivals they have headlined. Kanye still has some way to go before he can truly lay claim to sharing the throne.

2ManyDJs were last up on the main stage. Having seen them at Bestival last year, we were aware that they work through the same formula for each show, playing indie dance remixes into loud electro, into hip hop, into metal. When you’re correctly predicting tune progressions from a previous live mix CD, it begins to take the fun out of it things.

Heading over to the People’s Ear stage for Gentleman’s Dub Club and Congo Natty, we arrived half way through GDC’s suited and booted dub and ska skanking. Mixing in dubstep style sub-bass, GDC are an excellent live act and provide the first real dance your arse off moment of our weekend, which is more than can be said for Congo Natty, who would play a track for about ten seconds before pulling it back, over and over again. Time to leave and end the night dancing in the site’s many sterling bar areas.




After getting the obligatory all-nighter out of the way, we made it to the main stage on Sunday for a dose of vibes from Norman Jay, and later Femi Kuti, in the intermittent sunshine, before heading over to the main event of the Sunday: a triple salvo of Four Tet, Julio Bashmore and Jamie XX.

Originally billed as the tent headliner, Four Tet actually played first of the three. We genuinely can’t remember the set’s finer points by virtue of being completely engrossed in the dance, and can only comment on a phenomenal light show and probably the best sound engineering across the three days. Excellent set.

Next up, relatively local boy Julio Bashmore (hailing from Bristol) who started his set to around 20 people, prompting worry that Four Tet would prove too big an act to follow. Starting slow and deep, Bashmore constructed his set perfectly, and soon the crowds began to make their way back. Before long the tent was packed out, and the steady upward curve that Bashmore had cultivated was soon released with his anthem Battle For Middle You getting a huge response from the crowd. It says it all that when Jamie XX followed, it became apparent that he was the one who should have been worried. His first few selections seemed off-point, and he soon lost our attention. By this point the stamina issues had started to creep in, and with an early start in the morning, we decided to head back to HQ.




As first timers at the festival, we had no experience of the pre-Festival Republic vibe and atmosphere that a few of the more regular Chillers were heard lamenting the loss of. Personally, we thought the site was excellent, and it was nice to be at a medium-to-large sized festival where we didn’t get lost once. Big Chill doesn’t represent value for money, and has probably lost its soul to commercialisation and £4 pints of watery Tuborg, but it was definitely pleasant enough. An enjoyable festival that needs to do more to justify the price.




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Words: Artbeats

Photos: Artbeats

http://www.bigchill.net/

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