With the line-ups slowly being announced for this year and having been to 3 very different types of festivals myself, I thought I'd share with you my experiences (the good, bad and just down right disgusting!)
1. The first 'festival' I ever went to was Hard Rock Calling on Saturday 27th June 2009 in Hyde Park, London. Although it is a festival, its not what most people would consider a 'proper' festival, it extends over a full weekend but there's no camping involved so you don't get the true festival experience. I went to this because my mum bought my dad 2 tickets for their anniversary present as the headliner was Neil Young, one of my dad's all time favourite artists. However, old rock not being my mum's cup of tea (and one of the acts being the Fleet Foxes) I offered to take her ticket, it's a tough life, I know. Yes, I know what you must be thinking, "you went to a festival with your Dad?!" But for a 14 year old who was dying to experience any type of festival, I didn't care. That's something I love about festivals, there are so many different acts they can appeal to such a wide age range. I think there's actually something quite cool about teenagers and middle aged people jumping up and down in a field, singing along to the same music.
After a sunny, June morning on Oxford Street, we made our way to Hyde Park. I vaguely remember first walking into the festival site through the queuing lanes. That massive stage in the middle, the vast area of clear grass (a slightly different image to 11pm that night trying to leave through a swarm of plastic beer bottles) and tents lining the outside. Having picked our spot just off centre about 1/3 of the way back, we settled down on the grass for the long awaited start. That wait was painful, not due to the anticipation but the weather, it was a heat wave that day and being fair skinned, I was craving some shade. However, once the music started, and thanks to countless ice cold Red Bulls, the excitement soon kicked in. We saw The Original Sinners, Rudy Vaughn, The Pretenders, Seasick Steve, Ben Harper, Fleet Foxes and Neil Young. I had never heard of Rudy Vaughn but I distinctly remember his performance because he did an incredible cover of Michael Jackson’s Beat It as it was just 2 days after his death. Seasick Steve was also new to me but he was so cool. He’s such a chilled yet enthusiastic musician and clearly loved performing. I remember his weird, personalised guitars and just think its pretty inspiring for someone to be touring the world in his 70’s. Considering I was most looking forward to seeing Fleet Foxes, they were totally overshadowed by the oldies in my opinion. Researching the line-up again now, I’ve just found out Mumford and Sons performed on the smaller stage that day. Having seen them live since, I bet it would have been so good to see them before they became so huge. That’s another thing I love about festivals, the majority of the unknown acts become famous in the future and there is just something about seeing these acts before other people hear about them, when you’re part of this small fan-base watching their popularity grow.
I’m going to be honest, before going I didn’t really have a clue who Neil Young was. Most teenagers don’t. When he came on stage, I hadn’t a clue what to expect. Granted, he’s not everyone’s cup of tea and I understand why my Mum didn’t go but he was brilliant! The weather had completely changed during the day and while the stage was being set up, everyone was wearing their waterproof ponchos and huddled under umbrellas but when he came on stage, the crowd just kind of woke up! I only recognised a few songs from listening to my dad’s albums in his car but I really enjoyed it. He was so energetic and has an awesome voice, a true rocker. Seeing my dad get so into the music was hilarious, I can vouch that dad festival dancing is just as bad as dad wedding dancing *cringe*.
When Paul McCartney came out to join him at the end, everyone was just in a state of shock, they just jammed for ages and was so cool to watch. His set overran by a good half hour but nobody left early. I've been to see Neil Young on tour with my Dad since but it was a let down compared to Hard Rock Calling, it really was a great day.
I learnt some valuable lessons regarding festivals at Hard Rock including:- Massive handbags are the WORST idea at festivals.
- Those portaloos were delightful compared to the ones you’d experience in the future, seriously running water and flushing…luxury!
- Wearing jeans on what turned out to be a scorcher of an afternoon was such a bad idea, feeling like you're about to pass out from the heat is not a good look, ever.
- Not knowing some of the artists isn’t necessarily a bad thing, you may come away surprised at how much you enjoyed it and become a fan of some artists you’d never heard of before.
- Being in a crowd with your dad and drunk men throwing plastic beer bottles is not dangerous or shocking, just wait!
Have you been to any festivals? What was the first festival you ever went to? Do you have any recommendations of which festivals to go to? Let me know in the comments below!
I hope you enjoyed part one of this mini blog series, next week will be my experience of Wireless Festival.
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