Campfires, fire breathing dragons and mud. Olenka Gibbs reports from Nova 2012.
And Alas! On olde English marshland, the first Nova festival is born! Firmly positioning itself as a 'Festival of Art and Music', my expectations of fun and frolicking in the deepest lush green fields of West Sussex ran high as I arrived at the site, but soggy weather is affecting play. I stare into the chocolate fondant slurp of mud and am reminded that it could be far worse; at least my tent is dry... kind of.
A festival’s first year is a tough one. Its raison d’etre, its kudos, its 'thing' is yet to be established, leaving it wide open for the colourful bands, curators and crowds to create something new and exciting. The crowds are super smiley and friendly and the line-up looks interesting.
DJ Food kick starts the dancing for me after an afternoon of average bands veers me to the dance tent. Turn by turn, he rocks classic dance and hip-hop with seamless scratching in the Fearless Theatre, with a fearless audience dancing to squelchy background beats in wellies. Hexstatic follow suit with impressive aurally astute visuals.
Youthful instrument swappers We Were Evergreen come on to sparse, but rising cheers on the main stage and play faultless, harmonious pop. We all fall a little bit in love with them, with life, with their sheer talent and charisma. Sofar Sounds cement the love with their sweet rendition of Kavinsky’s electro classic “Nightcall”. Ahhhh, these young Parisians are going to go far!
‘Anna Pheobe’ catches my ear in the overly packed Cinema tent - clever beats on tambala drums mused over mystical violin and acoustic guitar to create an incredible trio that really gets tongues wagging. Just one of many multicultural surprises.
Generous heat and even more generous acoustic music from folk collective ‘The Nest’ continues long after the lasers have been turned off around the campfire. Three beardy blokes of ‘City Shanty Sounds’ harmonise to an engrossed audience happy to sing along. Who knew a sea shanty could be so stirring? Hearty stuff.
Shielding from a particularly intense downpour, I take refuge in the poetry / pancake tent. Nick and co. sweetly harmonise over the thud thud thud from the Valley Stage DJs (playing to an empty field) and the soulfully talented Joe Williamson sings with his heart in throat.
In the on-site pub, the Nova Arms, I’m tempted by the fourth ale of the day and DJs aplenty, all nestled in a this cute stone courtyard. Reeps One’s ridiculously amazing beatboxing is something to behold, with a limitless capacity for mic tricks and phat drops at every tongue turn. Dancing to Mixmaster Morris feels somewhat distracting – maybe because the mixing is anything but masterful at times.
Tune-Yards are definitely one of the stand-out bands of Nova 2012. Front lady Merrill Garbushas got some serious lungs; mashing and looping soulful screeches with a ukulele, stunning syncopated drumming backed by a sax section.
On to the art. I’m not actually convinced a lot of it is necessarily art, but wandering around the various fields, there are some cool things to look at: the metallic fire breathing dragon, paper butterflies filling the air around the Snuggle and Tea tent, and orange and blue life models posing around the lake.
A cracking afternoon of good gags and surreal sketches grabs at my funny bone in the comedy tent. Abanderman skilfully weave audience members’ quick fire subjects into lightning quick raps, wacky five-some Late Night Gimp Fight provide bizarrely funny full frontal comedy, and John Hegley ukes his way through a charming spoken word set.
The festival is coming to a close for the remaining survivors and rewards are reaped as Ghostpoet treats our smiling, un-dampened spirits to an immense performance. By the third song, my wellies are muddy and heaving, but my ears are soaking up perfect beats delivered through thoughtful rapping. This unique artist crosses boundaries, rousing elements of urban hip hop, electro, pop and grime, all delivered with utter charm, and sharing several bottles of vin rouge around the audience was always going to be a winner.
The words talented, funny and heartfelt seem to conjure up the essence of Nova. Maybe that is quite simply its ‘thing’ after all. Oh yes, that, and the hot tubs!
Olenka Gibbs
Click here to return to Spoonfed's festivals homepage.
Add an event
Review: The Company You Keep
Robert Redford, an iconic face of Western cinema whose influence for decades has weighe...