Rob Swaine chills his boots at The Big Chill.
I never expected a festival to take its name so literally but the format to the Big Chill is just that: Chilled. That’s not to say that it never achieves moments of exuberance, just that they’re reserved for the later hours. As for the daytimes, they’re for kicking back in the Mr Scruff tea tent, joining the masses as they sit on the hill overlooking the Deer Park Stage, discovering something new on one of the smaller hidden stages, or simply strolling around the site, taking in the visual treats on offer, and there sure are plenty of those.
The focal point of the festival layout is the lake behind the main stage. Spanning the length of the grounds, two of the stages are carefully constructed so as to rest on the lakes’ surface. Many of the most popular chill-out points are also found along the banks of this aquatic centre-piece, with bars, cafes and perfectly positioned beds lining the lake-side. All the while, the elegant Eastnor Castle among the majestic Malvern Hills provide a beautiful backdrop to the festival.
It’s clear that someone had a lot of fun designing the finer decorative details for the three day event. Look a little closer and everywhere you turn, delicate and intricate touches jump out at you. The trees watch your every move through their mischievous inflatable eyes, the ducks on the pond turn out to be an entirely rubber family, and the majority of the lights in the main arena are covered by vintage frilly lampshades, the likes of which usually exist only in your Granny’s front room. It’s touches like these that make a festival stand out, that make it unique and excited; a land of discovery.
However, it’s all very well having a pretty festival but the deciding factor to any music festival has to be just that: the music. On paper, the Big Chill Festival seems to have it all, and in reality, it does. Eclectic and daring, the line-up itself is imaginative and at points, surprising. The Deer Park Stage, being the main stage, plays host to some of the most vibrant and enthralling avant-garde acts of the festival, notably kicking off Saturday’s proceedings with Chrome Hoof, an eleven-piece disco-influenced metal outfit, all clad in metallic silver hooded gowns. Those still half asleep from the night before, certainly aren’t for long.
The headline acts just about hold their own, with an outstanding live performance from the trip-hop maestros, Massive Attack; a spellbinding but quiet show from Radiohead honcho, Thom Yorke, mainly acting as background music to a murmuring audience; a mundane but crowd-pleasing appearance from Lilly Allen; and a truly baffling spectacle from M.I.A who arrives onstage ten minutes late, and purposefully cuts her set short by twenty minutes with the instigation of an irreversible stage invasion, all the time chanting ‘Come On London!’, blind to the fact that she’s surrounded by green fields, lonely farms and sheep aplenty, not red busses, metrosexuals and concrete.
However, there are plenty of other gems spread across all the stages to make up for the shortcomings of the headliners. Without doubt, one of the best acts of the festival comes in the form of Mike Patton’s Mondo Cane and The Heritage Orchestra. It’s the most energetic and animated orchestral performance I’ve ever seen. Covering 1950’s Italian pop songs, Patton’s vocals switch from sounding reminiscent of a young Pavarotti at one moment, to sounding like the harrowing screams of a fox getting frisky at night, the next. It shouldn’t work but it does, and with delightful effect, as the rough vocals perfectly compliment the elaborate orchestral re-workings of these Italian classics.
Over on the Revellers’ Stage and the Easy Star All Stars display an incredible reggae and dub extravaganza, climaxing with an intense rendition of ‘Paranoid Android’ from their second covers album ‘Radiodread’. The Heatwave provide a sizzling Saturday morning wake up call from the outside Starburst Stage for all those late risers still in their tents, as their summery mix of dance classics and blistering bashment clear the skies for a scorching afternoon of dancing. Alice Russell on the Chill X stage proves that funk and soul still holds the key to the ultimate fun-filled party, while Fiona Bevan lays down her sweet, luscious folk songs to a captivated Words In Motion tent, just as Saturday becomes Sunday.
What’s striking about the Big Chill Festival is that it attracts people of all ages. From toddlers who can barely walk, to teenagers who can barely walk, right through to aging hippies, as well as more straight-laced grandparents, simply accompanying their families on a weekend away together. The reason for this is clear: From chai tea to champagne cocktails, sausage roll snacks to lobster dinners, acoustic folk to in-your-face dubstep, merely spectating to enthusiastically participating, there’s something here for everyone.
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