Author Archives: Richard Mylles

I’ve Got the Hots for Boomtown 2015

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Fireworks and ting.

Fireworks and ting.

Summer isn’t covering itself in glory at the moment. In fact right now it feels like it has already been and gone like an unreliable lover, leaving nothing but a warm, sticky slug-trail of sweat and frizzy hair in its wake. Like an unreliable lover.

But snap out of it, because we’ve still got two months of it to go, hooray! And if you, like me, would like to squeeze one more festival into your sticky, puffy-faced existence then let me take this opportunity to recommend Boomtown Fair.

Boomtown is an unusual festival. For a start it’s probably the only one in the world that took the global financial crisis as its founding inspiration. Back in 2009, its organisers surveyed the unfolding doom of the Western economic order and thought, presumably, “good time to put on a new festival”. Taking those tedious real world events as a loose foundation, they conceived Boomtown, complete with its fictional backstory of a mining town fallen into Mad Max-style anarchy after the gold ran out.

There have been six chapters in the Boomtown story, with a new one written each year. The last Fair saw an election which culminated in the now ex-Mayor of Boomtown chasing his victorious opponent out of the city following some nifty time travel-related skullduggery courtesy of a 40-foot mechanical alien spider called Arcadia. Follow? Excellent. You can read the full story of all six previous festivals here.

Boomtown wasn’t the first festival to have a fictional narrative running through the proceedings of course (Shangri-La, Glastonbury’s after-hours mecca, got there just a few months before in June 09) but, boy, do they do it well. Each one of the eight ‘town districts’ has its own story and stages, and a dizzying array of characters, played by actors, obviously (I suppose), jolly things along.

If all this is in danger of sounding a bit twee, the festival itself certainly isn’t. 38,000 people attended last year. This year the capacity is 49,999. Those making the trip this August will unearth a rich seam (because it’s a mining town) of underground (ha!) talent and performers. Boomtown’s organisers prefer to book a lesser-known but judiciously-chosen roster of acts which cover the full gamut of what you might call the ‘non-commercial’ genres*. Hence you’ll find house and garage in Barrio Loco where DJ EZ is headlining, reggae and dancehall in Trenchtown with Stephen Marley (son of Bob), Ska and Punk in Chinatown and so on and so on. 500 artists are playing across 24 stages in all.

The arts, crafts, massages and whatnot of Whistler’s Green probably deserve a mention too, although with the humidity what it is as I write this the idea of being drizzled in oil and rubbed about by a stranger is just filling me with a clammy sense of foreboding.

Anyway, I urge you to get your beautiful selves to Boomtown. And maybe bring an ice box.

*if your tastes are more commercial then you’d probably be better off looking elsewhere. Maybe V-Fest. Yes, go to V-Fest…

BoomTown Fair takes place in Winchester on the 13-16th August. Tickets here.

Oh Secret Garden Party, how you spoil us…

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Looking good, SGP

Looking good, SGP

Words by Olivia Outram

With April having fooled us pale-and-sun-hungry Brits into thinking summer was already here (ha!), it has brought on quite the festival hunger pangs. Sold out again this year is my personal favourite, Secret Garden Party. But why write a preview if it’s already sold out? I hear you ask. Why tantalise us with forbidden fruits available only to a privileged (and they are very privileged) few? Why would you be such an insensitive, FOMO-inducing, festival-tease, Liv, why? Well calm down you silly things, for there is a resale coming up on Thursday 14th May. So as long as you can drag yourself out of bed in time for 9am you should be able to nab yourself a couple of tickets to a not-at-all Secret Garden Party.

 

This year the Secret Garden Party theme (there’s always a theme. Last year’s was Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) is Childish Things. Fred Fellowes, the impresario behind SGP, or ‘Head Gardener’, promises this year’s festival will constitute a ’100-acre toy box’. From the meandering forests, which feel like they were landscaped by a visionary seven-year-old, to the annual paint fight where each secret gardener must make the pivotal decision of whether to get involved (fun, but dirty) or just take snaps for their phone screensaver, it’s always a cornucopia of childish delight. And the crème-de-la-crème of childish whims comes on the Saturday night. Last year’s was the wittiest, most spectacular firework display I have ever seen, so hopefully it’s set to make pint size pyromaniacs of us all this year too.

 

On the music front, Secret Garden Party is set to be the ultimate people pleaser. This year we have headliners ‘Jungle’ and ‘The Cat Empire’ on the Great Stage. Jungle, a British soul and funk collective that’s burst onto the scene over the past 2 years will be transporting secret gardeners to the tropics with their steel drums, “tropical percussion, wildlife noises, falsetto yelps, psychedelic washes and badoinking bass” (‘Everything You Need To Know About Britain’s Hottest Band’. Esquire. 2014-07-01).

 

Aussie band The Cat Empire are set to be another highlight, with their fusing of jazz, ska, funk, rock and Latin influences. Like Jungle they will be intermixing decks and vocals with a rich array of instruments from trumpets, percussion, keyboard and double bass.

 

But if a trip to the tropics isn’t your cup of tea, then put down your piña colada and join the hardcore ravers down at The Drop with the likes of Ben UFO and Joy Orbison. Most of the dance line-up is yet to be announced, but these two Djs who are already on the bill are a good sign of things to come. Individually they could headline any night very respectably, but at SGP this year they will be on stage together, pumping out the choicest of beats back to back. It’ll be well worth a look. Techno lovers please keep your pants on.

 

Oh Secret Garden Party, how you spoil us…

 

 

What was the best festival of 2014? Olivia Outram spills the Secret

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SGP

The Secret Garden Party

So with the initial line up for 2015 released this week, I think it’s about time to gush a bit about my festival of last summer.

The Music
As the sun went down over the main stage on a balmy Saturday evening Sub Motion Orchestra revealed themselves as the standout performers of the festival for me. Theirs was the kind of bass that makes the earth, not shake, that wouldn’t be the right word, but sway in a luxurious, sensual manner. Ruby Wood’s ethereally jazzy vocals were the cherry on a quite delectably sexy cake. Clean Bandit have really upped their game since doing the festival rounds in 2013, commanding the main stage with tens of thousands of festival goers singing back their lyrics. And for the late night lovers, Sigma “absolutely smashed it” (as Cheryl Cole might say) in Temple of Boom post 3am. My only personal disappointment was standing pride of place on the top platform of the Collisillium, having elbowed hundreds of people out of the way, waiting for this year’s secret act to perform (Chase and Status again…) at the stroke of midnight – Only to be left waiting… and waiting… and waiting… Rumour has it they finally rocked up over two and a half hours late. Not. Cool.

The Locale
This really was the ultimate adult’s playground, whether you like it colourful, eerie, hard-core or filled with sunflowers, there was a playground for every personality. There was also the option of swimming in the lake, which might sound spontaneous but after you’d donned your sexiest swimsuit you were left standing in line for the best part of an hour waiting to be refreshed (or, let’s be honest, have a replacement bath). To be fair the excessive queue was no doubt due to the scorchingly hot weather we enjoyed at SGP this year (Sorry (not sorry) to all of you who pinned your festival hopes and dreams on Glastonbury but forewent your summer glow for trench foot). From secret tunnels, floating dance floors, winding forests and colossal stages to fields filled to the brim with 6 foot tall giant sunflowers hidden behind a secret portaloo door – the one thing we can all admit is the hills of Abbots Ripton are transformed into something truly magical, that even Alice in Wonderland would gawk at.

Local Wildlife
The clientele cannot go unmentioned. It seemed like this year’s festival had an unparalleled supply of beautiful people – everywhere you looked you saw another “genetic lottery winner”, as one companion commented. As ever, body paint, glitter and “quirky” headwear were all the rage. Meaning the usually bold and unique individual fizzled into the crowd. Those who really wanted to stand out, and there were quite a few, dispensed with the outfits altogether, some choosing to don only carefully applied body paint and a few of the most adventurous opting for just the glow of the summer sun and a dab of moisturiser. For the sake of their nipples, I sincerely hope one with SPF.

Inevitable Celebrity Sighting
This bit all depends on your definition of “celebrity”… you could feast your eyes on pretty much the entire cast of Made in Chelsea. Alex Mytton even made the sought-after headlines of Daily Mail Online with his episode of “exhaustion”. For the more refined celebrity oglers, his royal highness (absolutely no pun intended) Prince Harry graced us with his presence in full Secret Garden Party glittery glory with his face painted a smirf-tastic shade of ‘royal’ blue.

Transcendent-moment-where-everything-makes-sense
As the sun dipped behind the horizon on the Saturday evening, it was replaced by a spectacle of fiery colourful delight with the annual SGP fireworks extravaganza. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a Secret Gardener who didn’t suddenly think their drink had been spiked with the best type of acid, when a plane flying low rained giant bubbles over the entire festival’s heads. This, combined with the darting lasers piercing the wobbly, translucent globules made for a truly incredible vision. The whole of the main stage appeared to be covered in glittering fairy dust. Either that … or the drive to the festival from the station with the utterly charming former Police Constable Simon, now of ‘Steve’s Cars’. Simon you are an utter legend.

words by Olivia Outram

Unknown pleasures

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Unknown Festival site

Croatia didn’t have the best of it in the 20th century. Occupied by pretty much everyone with a standing army and a superiority complex (Austro-Hungary, then Germany and Italy, a bit more by Hungary and finally by Yugoslav communists) its post-communism civil war only ended in 1995. Since then it’s managed rather better, becoming the world’s 18th most popular tourist destination, the 28th member of the European union, and (if my acquaintance is anything to go by), the number one destination for unstoppable lads looking to get tanked up and forget they work in finance.

But more important than all that: it is now the country the brains behind Field Day and Hideout have chosen to bless with the inaugural extravaganza of sun, sea and pumping dance music that will be new festival Unknown.

The biggest luminaries of the genre will be there, from disclosure, to Julio Bashmore, to SBTRKT, to the horrors, to my own personal favourites Clean Bandit.

The picturesque town of Rovinj, an unsuspecting coastal jewel of less than 15,000 people is set to be overrun by European party types from the 10th to the 14th of September.

Now, festival previews invariably tend to refer to those pitching up as “revellers”, something which I for some reason find rather irritating. So… attendees will have the choice of either camping out under the stars, in what is expected to be 25 degree weather or they may, like me, stay in an air conditioned apartment complete with bathroom, kitchen, terrace and beautiful people.

The music will be split across 4 stages: the main; the pool; the forest; and mad ferret’s mirror world (think lasers, vortexes and illuminated trees). Given the line-up these should all be pretty spectacular, but what I’m really looking forward to are the 18 or so boat parties. these will feature some of the world’s biggest djs playing intimate sets to 200 lucky… people present in blazing sunshine on the Adriatic Sea. Gonna be a shit time. Most of these are sold out now, but if you’re willing to try your luck there are usually a few struggling souls (for whom the idea of 3 hours on water has become about as appealing as a gooseberry and acid smoothie) who are looking to sell their tickets.

If all the sea, sun and sand gets a bit much, the forest stage, open from 4pm till 6am, promises an ethereal, sun-filtering backdrop to some delightfully deep house. Think Cyril Hahn, Jamie xx and Henrik Schwarz.

Incidentally, if you fancy getting a bit closer to nature (that is, stripping to your wristwatch and going for a hazardous walk in the woods) then you might be interested to know that there’s nowhere better than Croatia – it is world famous for its naturist resorts and about apparently about 15% of the country’s 10 million visitors pack little more than sun cream and a suspicious looking raincoat (n.b. unknown is not a naturist festival).

Otherwise, we recommend short shorts, blinding neon vests and patent leather jazz shoes. Or flip flops.

We hope to see you there. If you see someone wearing patent leather jazz shoes it will probably be me. Come say hi.

You can buy tickets for unknown at http://www.unknowncroatia.com/#tickets17

Arty partying in the Secret Garden

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An artist's impression of one of the spectacular art installations gracing this year's Secret Garden Party

Luz, by Les Mechants – An artist’s impression of one of Secret Garden Party’s spectacular art installations

Assuming you haven’t been driven mad by Glastonbury envy by now, you will probably be looking for another festival which has managed to bottle a little of that Glasto magic to see you through what’s turning out to be a rather glorious British Summer. Here at Frost, the festival that provided a glint of hope as we unkindly hoped for torrential downpour to rain on the parades of the 180,000 people who hadn’t inexplicably slept through multiple 9am ticket-buying wake-up calls is Secret Garden Party.

It doesn’t boast the monster stadium rock acts of its bigger rival (though headliners Bastille aren’t exactly the My Little Pony of the NME stable) but it does have the same unfakable, unidentifiable, unexplainable vibe that makes Glastonbury quite simply the greatest show on our fair isle.

One of the key parts of that ‘vibe’, beyond the music, the theatre, the lake, and the pyrotechnics, is the art. Huge, ambitious works scatter Secret Garden Party like giants’ toys, some to be interacted with, some gawped at, and some shat on by. Yes.

Lucky Shit by Hungry Castle, is described as “A giant pimped out yellow bird sculpture which, at some undisclosed stage of the festival, will ‘shit’ yellow goo on Gardeners who dare to pass beneath it.”

Luz by Les Mechants, is a giant sculpture cum architectural installation that comprises a glowing purple, pyramidal structure with a collection of carefully arranged mirrors inside. Festival goers are invited to creep inside and lend their (probably beautiful) visages to the sculpture, creating a kaleidoscopic extravaganza of headbands, flower necklaces and good looking humans which would stop Michael Eavis dead in his tracks.

There are nine of these extraordinary works at this year’s festival. They’re funded by commissioned grants via Secret Productions, the team behind Secret Garden Party and the Secret Arts Foundation, with the aim to encourage and support young artists whose work is interactive, thought provoking and suitable for a non-gallery location.

Each year the biggest and most spectacular sculpture is planted right in the middle of the lake. This year’s, somewhat unimaginatively code-named the ‘Middle of the Lake’ sculpture, will remain a closely guarded secret until the Garden opens on the 24th July. However we can offer readers of Frost one enigmatic clue from the conceivers and makers of this year’s sculpture, Pirate Technics:

“About his shadowy sides; above him swell
Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
And far away into the sickly light,
From many a wondrous grot and secret cell”

So it’ll be something about Eric Pickles taking a bath in a poorly lit motel then. Let us know if you have a better idea!

If you want to join us at Secret Garden Party you can buy tickets here: http://tinyurl.com/at5tgug