REVIEW: Secret Garden Party 2013

Thursday 25th to Sunday 28th July – Secret Garden Party 2013, Abbots Ripton, Cambridgeshire Do you remember those parties at school that you were never cool enough to be invited to? Well fear no more - anyone can get a ticket to SECRET GARDEN PARTY, possibly the hippest, zaniest garden bash you’ll ever attend. With pool parties, hay bale fortresses, mud slides, paint fights, secret passageways and glitter by the bucket-load, SGP is the ultimate playground for the young at heart. But music lovers beware – the line-up may not set you alight as much as the dramatic setting. With aspirations of being the UK’s answer to Nevada’s legendary Burning Man festival - inhibitions are banned and the inventive participation of attendees is strongly encouraged. Five minutes into arriving at SGP, one naked man bounces from a trampoline and another is spotted hula hooping. It raises a few laughs, but it seems the festival goers (or “Gardeners” as they are known here) are already used to the lack of clothing. The festival grounds surround a huge lake, which has attracted many sun-seekers to take a skinny dip. It’s not the only spectacle – in the centre of the lake, a colossal shipwreck rises from the deep, wrapped in the tentacles of a giant octopus. Punts ferry Gardeners onto the pirate ship, which never empties of willing ravers clambering the rigging and stomping to house music on the decks. The ‘Labyrinth’ is an Alice-in-Wonderland style trip through the woodlands, and auditoriums built of hay bales spring up around the site, with fans scrambling to the top and jumping around relentlessly. Moving around – I spot a second swimming “pond,” a Chinese pagoda stage, a fire-breathing truck, willowy lakeside passageways reminiscent of Florida’s Everglades, and stunning art installations at every turn. So, first impressions? This is a landscape bursting with imagination, spectacle and creativity – with setting and atmosphere clearly trumping music as the festival’s priority. But will pleasing aesthetics fill the weekend with enough entertainment? ! THURSDAY On Thursday evening, the Mystery Jets failed to materialise at the Artful Badger stage, hidden away in the woodlands, to the disappointment of many. But the Secret Forum provided some excellent comedy, particularly from sketch troupe LATE NIGHT GIMP FIGHT who prided themselves on creating a “sock opera” to Aerosmith, and singing songs about bestiality – crude but hilarious. FRIDAY Friday got off to much more exciting, blisteringly hot start though, with fun, frolics, and yet again – nudity. At the Dance Off crowds gathered to watch two willing Gardeners writhing competitively onstage, and at the Collo-silly-um, a number of SGP virgins were egged on into the mud pit - which ultimately resulted in clothing being ripped off and swung around, to the delight of the audience. Up the hill, guests in fancy dress played Giant Guess Who, and bathers flocked to the swimming pond, which eventually had to be closed off due to the sheer volume of swimmers. It didn’t stop a hardy few jumping the gate and dive-bombing into the drink though, to the dismay of the security guards, and the amusement of the Gardeners. One guitar duo which caught particular attention were the SHOWHAWK DUO, who performed a crowd-pleasing medley of dance tracks (Insomnia, Sandstorm, etc) on Spanish guitars. For an acoustic set – it went down a storm, with masses of people forcing their way into the tent to sing along to a classical rendition of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ It was much later however before the music really got started, giving festival-goers almost the entire day to enjoy the fun of the fair. Despite being bizarrely placed third down the bill, BASTILLE were the band most Gardeners wanted to see, given their recent domination of the charts. The band were joined onstage by a string quartet, as well as a few added voices to max out their signature rallying cries. ‘Rhythm of the Night’ proved a popular cover, but in all honesty cover tracks were superfluous – the infectious hit-laden set which included ‘Things We Lost in the Fire,’ ‘Pompeii,’ ‘Bad Blood’ and ‘Flaws,’ kept the audience completely gripped and singing at the top of their lungs – which regardless of taste, is impressive for a band with only one album. Next to grace the stage were sixties-inspired teens THE STRYPES, who managed to claw back a decent amount of the diminishing audience after Bastille. Although they won’t win any prizes for originality – it was a solid performance laced with vintage fun and energy. It was all pheromones and theramins for psychedelic electro-indie outfit DJANGO DJANGO, who headlined Friday. With bizarre electronics to make any 80s synth fan jealous, and harmonies to rival the Beach Boys, they provided a experimental yet captivating set, opening with ‘Hail Bop’ and hammering out hits including ‘Waveforms’ and ‘Default’ from their eponymous debut album. Although I initially felt a headline seemed premature, I was proved totally wrong. Django Django were superb and are certainly a band to watch. Late on into the night, house seemed to be the main music of choice on offer for revellers, who partied on until the early hours. However the hidden gem of Friday evening was the atmospheric set from PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING, who performed on the Where the Wild Things Are stage, which is beautifully entwined in branches. With their trademark trance infused with 1930s British propaganda samples and clad in Doctor Who style tweed jackets and bowties, they complimented the sound with archive footage and vintage television sets to great effect. Innovative and nostalgic, it was the surprise highlight of what had been an incredible evening. ! SATURDAY There were less big music name acts on Saturday, but it began as a chilled out, US country-folk laden afternoon, which was well received by the bleary-eyed and weary. ‘Strong’ singer WILLY MASON echoed the late Johnny Cash with his brand of American folk and LISSIE’s catchy drivetime tones turned heads. But the outstanding performance of the day was undoubtedly by Danish act MØ, who blew the small but captivated crowd away at the Where the Wild Things Are stage. Not caring for appearances, singer Karen Marie Ørsted writhed fearsomely around onstage, dripping with sweat. With Lykke Li style vocals with electronic and dub bass, each song had a distinctive, synthetic style but a clear-cut, snappy melody. A word of advice - listen out for tracks ‘Glass’ and ‘Pilgrim.’ This girl is going to be big. Topping the afternoon’s music bill were dub/reggae veterans DREADZONE, enticing the audience to break out into hardcore skanking. The weekend’s climax however was to come early. The spectacular light show featured fire dancers, laser tricks and breathtaking fireworks accompanied by a soundtrack encompassing everything from Rage Against the Machine to Elgar. There was a synchronised cry of anger from Gardeners who had not yet boarded the pirate ship as it was blown dramatically to smithereens, but that anger turned quickly to awe - we Brits love a good bonfire. The light show was so impressive in fact, that “headliners” FAITHLESS were surprisingly disappointing. With a PA/DJ set rather than a live band, it kept the revellers excited but left music fans bemused, particularly as singer Maxi Jazz took to wandering on and off stage, was difficult to hear, and cut hit ‘Insomnia’ annoyingly short. At this point, the weather had deteriorated into torrential rain, quickly turning the main stage into a mud slide. After being refused entry to the secret CHASE AND STATUS gig, and persevering for an hour to watch flamboyant Bollywood pop act BOMBAY ROYALE, who kept morale up despite the storm, I, like many other campers, had to cut the party short and trudge back to the campsite. ! SUNDAY By Sunday, it definitely felt like the party had peaked. Many campers were packing up and leaving, and musical entertainment was sparser than previous days. But almost everyone managed to drag themselves out of bed for the infamous paint fight – inspired by the Hindu festival Holi. As SGP veterans and SGP virgins bombarded each other with paint bombs, white t-shirts quickly became rainbows and paint dust clouds immersed anyone and everyone. Keeping the world culture theme going, there were some well put together ska/reggae and soul acts to follow, which kept a small throng of now multi-coloured dancing Gardeners grooving away. There were other delights around too– a miniature zoo by the Guerrilla Science stage featured lizards, snakes, tarantulas and scorpions, and cutesy New Zealand acoustic act FRENCH FOR RABBITS whisked listeners away with dreamy shoegaze. But what music fans were really waiting for was quirky Russian-American redhead REGINA SPEKTOR, who provided an ambitious yet delicate headline set – a welcome antidote to the night before. Despite halting play to protect a “bug with a deathwish” and a number of technical hitches, Regina captured the imagination of an unlikely crowd, particularly with bouncy tracks ‘Ne Me Quitte Pas’ and ‘Fidelity.’ However, it was ‘Us’ and closing track ‘Samson’ which truly sent shivers down the spine. For a crowd that had spent all weekend indulged in thumping noise, they sung along so softly and hauntingly; it was beautiful. It proved to me one thing – the audience by this time were craving for some quality music – and I think this is where Secret Garden Party needs to continue its work. At its best, SGP has bravely picked some of the most exciting and innovative new bands seen in recent years, but they were few and far between, with the music overwhelmingly consisting of dance. That is not to say that the weekend has been any less fun – this is the ultimate party, contained in a fantastical setting oozing magic, otherworldliness and ingenuity. I must be clear - SGP has never made any claim to be a music festival, focusing firmly on atmosphere, arts and whimsy, an aim which it more than achieves. But in order to become one of the UK’s best festivals – which I feel it certainly can be – a few more of the same musical gems are needed. ! Words: Natasha Johansson Photos: Andrew Whitton / Jenna Foxton / Sebastian Baros / Danny North