by Vikki Chowney
Last week, I packed my bags and travelled to Eastnor in Herefordshire for what I consider to be the only festival worth attending each Summer - The Big Chill.
In their own words, The Big Chill is no longer just a festival; it’s a way of life. One that has become synonymous with cultivating up and coming acts of all kinds (from music, to comedy and art), as well as attract the big names that relate to the brand’s devotion to its ‘Leave No Trace’ mantra. Here’s a quick round up of my top moments from this year’s event that just so happens to fall on the Chill’s 15th birthday:
1. During the filming for ‘I Spit On Your Rave’ (a mockumentary by Director Chris Boyle about the first post-apocalyptic zombie music festival), I was attacked by one of the un-dead while my friend’s back was turned. Thank god it was all just a show for the Flim4/Warp Films projects and a psychotic zombie in a top hat wasn’t really mauling me.
2. I was right at the front to see Fin Greenall, who is also known as one of the music industry’s best-kept secrets, Fink. With his small but perfectly formed band, he mostly played new material from the recently released and self-produced album ‘Sort of Revolution’. I quickly lost myself in the acapella versions of ‘Move on Me’, which was co-written with John Legend and usually features the soul star on piano. The man is an understated genius, but I doubt he’ll stay that way for long.
3. One of my favourite artists – Basement Jaxx – also came up with the goods on the Main Stage. As a headliner, they replicated the set they’ve been touring with this year. As usual, their infectious kind of energy, heavy bass lines and rich live vocals translated very well to the festival environment. They opened with an epic version of Good Luck and closed with Bingo Bango, complete with carnival dancers, the full vocal crew and some beautiful visuals.
4. Without a doubt, Alice Russell is the best singer the UK has produced for decades. Every time I see her, I have no idea why she isn’t better known. Last year she appeared in Tru Thoughts Merry-Go-Round. This time round, we got to see 60 minutes of just Alice, and it was well worth the wait. Not only is her voice a bluesy, London jazz infusion of sheer quality, she knows how to work a stage. Her new album - ‘Pot of Gold’ - gets released in October. Buy it, you won’t regret it one little bit.
5. Emiliana Torrini took the stage soon after, and I couldn’t imagine a better compliment to the hundreds of lanterns being released into the sky from all around the site. The sky was pitch black and she sung her little Icelandic heart out. The haunting sounds of her soaring voice, complimented by a rich selection of musical influences made it just a little bit magical. Following the critically acclaimed 'Love In The Time Of Science', her latest offering is ‘Me and Armini’, which contains most of the material she covered on the day.
6. On the Saturday. I travelled over to Film4’s Cinema Tent and watched ‘In The Shadow Of The Moon’. This funny, emotional and visually astonishing film was a really nice rest bite in the middle of a far-too-hot-to-be-outside afternoon. 12 of the remaining Apollo moonwalkers (with the noticeable absence of Neil Armstrong) talked about their experiences, the build up to how and why they became one of ‘the 25’ and how it’s affected their lives since.
7. I also got to finally watch one of the BFI’s BUG sessions, which was themed around the ‘horror of music video’. One of the highlights had to be the newly-restored copy of arguably the greatest horror-themed music video of all time: Michael Jackson's Thriller. Bug is BFI Southbank’s bi-monthly music video extravaganza that delves deep into every corner of the music industry to shine a spotlight on the most creative and innovative offerings from some of the worlds most talented directors.
8. Comedy was the name of the game at The Coop on Saturday, as Russell Howard (of Mock the Week fame) and Dylan Moran (the legend behind Black Books, plus many more) took to the stage. Russell did a good job of warming up the crowd with a far more X-rated set than his regular censored performances on BBC2. Moran worked his trademark mixture of outlandish sarcasm and Irish charm, keeping the crowd laughing from start to finish.
9. Every year Tom Middleton cooks up something special for the Big Chill, and as one of the artists of their label, he always does them proud when returning to the mother ship. Last year I watched him spin a ‘Summer of Love: Classics’ set to thousands at the Main stage. This year, I got a place right at the front for ‘One More Tune’ in The Coop. It was, as the name suggests, a celebration of those ‘hands in the air, everyone must stop and listen to this song IMMEDIATELY’ kind of tunes that you save for the end of the night. I must have danced solidly for two hours. Good times.
10. Finishing off my list of highlights is the last set of the festival on the Main Stage from Hexstatic. The ‘AV pioneers’ are Big Chill favourites, combining heavy beats with visuals that make you dance, gawp and laugh out loud as they cut up clips of Bert & Ernie to make them sing Ante Up by MOP.
I also danced my socks off to DJ Format’s session at Frisky Bison Bar, and took refuge more than once in a pop-up version of The East Room that attempted to turn a small corner of the festival into an homage to Shoreditch. I’m slightly annoyed that I missed the interview with Michael Lang (creator of Woodstock ’69) in the Words in Motion tent, as he visited the Big Chill to talk to Alex Pietrasik, The Guardian’s Travel Editor.
Every year you can get involved with the next year’s artistic direction by telling the Big Chill what the festival means or represents to you. I’m off to buy one of the limited edition illustrations from the 2009 event, as I’ve got my eye on Supermundane’s 'Crazy happiness' poster. In the meantime, if you missed out on the fun this year, there’s always the Big Chill House to visit in Kings Cross, the Big Chill Bar just off Brick Lane – or the very first Big Chill Bristol on October 1st.
Guest critic Vikki Chowney is a London blogger and freelance writer.
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