The debut of Connect Festival on an already crowded summer music festival scene has prompted a lot of people to ask just how many are required in one season. But, judging by the queues of people at the bus stance waiting to travel to Inveraray Castle, Connect Festival won’t have to worry about the punters dismissing it as “just another festival”.
It seems as though this could be the last chance to enjoy a day out before the summer that never really happened packs its bags and clears off for good. Everyone piles on to the bus to enjoy the scenic views of the journey to Argyll, arriving on site only an hour and a half after we left Glasgow.
Unexpectedly, mud to rival Glastonbury is apparent everywhere, so the faithful wellies are dug out before we even make it past the festival entrance. Once inside, a quick wander (okay, a long, drawn out trudge through six inch deep mud) around the site shows a great amount of promise. The staples of any festival are apparent (over priced merchandise, £6 burgers) but so are some more original ideas. The ‘Rest and Be Thankful Spa’ offers relaxing massages whilst the ‘Speak Easy Café’ provides acoustic sets, poetry and giant Connect Four. The festival is organised by DF Concerts, the same people behind T in the Park, and the similarities are apparent. Over the day it becomes clear that Connect is a bit like a smaller version of T, just with the omission of thousands of drunkards, litter and a headline act from Snow Patrol. It seems as though Connect could be the festival for the true music fan that fell out of love with T in the Park along the way.
And so, on to the music. Facing the castle is the Oyster Stage, the largest one at the festival and hosting the biggest acts. First on is Patrick Wolf, fresh from the Oxygen Festival in Ireland on the back of four hours sleep. In spite of this his performance is far from lacklustre and he has the early revellers at the front of the stage dancing in no time. Patrick Wolf’s distinctive voice seems to reach up into the mountains that surround the stage, all the while carried by the cello backing that begins an elated day. For a set so full of rich imagery and language to be the opener for today shows that the crowd are going to be treated by some truly amazing acts.
This theory seems to be correct as next on the Oyster Stage is Seasick Steve, a blues musician armed with a three stringed guitar, a slide instrument (apparently called a ‘one stringed diddy-bo’) and a simple percussion machine. It really is hard to describe in words just how basic these instruments are, which makes it all the more amazing to hear the noises produced by Steve Wold on stage. Most of the guitar riffs would appeal to a White Stripes fan, and certainly anyone with even a passing interest in blues music will be captivated by him also. His thick American drawl of his accent is an absolute delight to hear, especially when he engages in banter with the crowd, even if it is cut short due to his miss-understanding of the phrase “guan yersel’!”. Seasick Steve is obviously delighted to be at the festival, the joy in his voice shining through every time he thanks the crowd and as he leaves the stage he has obviously increased his fan base.
Now, this being a Scottish music website we have been championing Beerjacket for quite some time now. His music is always a joy to hear but especially when it soothes the folk that have been camping all weekend are currently slumped over coffee tables and lying on sofas. With gentle, thoughtful and inspiring lyrics sung with an enchanting voice, Beerjacket songs are the ones you would put on a mixtape when you were a young teenager trying to win over a girl’s heart. The set ends all too quickly but the few songs we manage to hear do not disappoint, with Please Be Kind grabbing the attention of everyone in the tent. An exhibition of true talent.
After Beerjacket we catch the last few songs from the El Padre set, appearing on the Your Sound Bandstand. They batter out their own brand of rave tinged indie with such pace that they seem to fear that the bandstand will sink into the quagmire that surrounds them before they get a chance to finish. A die-hard fan base dance and roll around in the mud, only stopping to chase and punish a passer-by who throws a pint of water/cider/urine at El Padre disapprovingly. For the crowd watching they fall into two very different categories, the older people who don’t get it or who are too embarrassed to dance remain at the back, whilst a group of 16-19 year olds go radio rental down the front, begging for an encore.
The amazing M.I.A takes to the Oyster Stage now, showcasing the tracks from her new album Kala. With bass lines that rumble the foundations of the entire festival and draw fresh punters down the hill to investigate what all the fuss is about. She showcases many strong tracks from both her albums and manages to captivate the crowd for her entire set, despite arriving on stage with a set of decks and a backing singer. The set concludes with M.I.A. asking for the best dancers in the crowd to get up on stage and join her. Seconds later around 150 people have clambered over the barrier and stormed the main stage, bringing this set to an abrupt but exciting ending.
As people climb down to the main stage and back into their usual grass flattened spot by the beer tent, there is a lot of buzz about the imminent arrival of Bjork Rumour has it that she knocked herself down from the headline slot because she doesn’t like the pressure of being the top act at a festival. Whatever the reason she takes to the stage as the penultimate performer of the evening. Arriving behind a parade of marching women armed with trumpets, Bjork explodes on stage to greet a delirious crowd. Riding on a wave of machine produced sounds the set begins with promise as her ballads set the mood as darkness falls around the castle. Her performance of ‘Hyperballad’ sends the thousands of onlookers into meltdown and it seems as though Bjork has peaked too soon. Not so, because when she returns to the stage for a triumphant encore she whispers into the microphone “This next song speak to you Scotland”. Before anyone has a moment to consider how such a strong sound can emit from such a small woman, she bursts into ‘Declare Independence’ and everything in a 20 mile radius hits meltdown. Bjork cries “Raise your flag” and the dancing thousands reply “Higher! Higher!”. The song climbs and climbs as everyone hits the type of feeling you would imagine an out of body experience to feel like. Green laser shoot out across the sky and in the final verse, two cannons shoot confetti over everyone in presence. A perfect performance and one that cannot be topped, surely?
Perhaps LCD Soundsystem are regretting accepting that top spot now, even they must be nervous about following Bjork’s performance. They appear on stage to wild cheers and as James Murphy and his band begin there is a slight sadness that this weekend is coming to an end. However, LCD Soundsystem quickly turn that feeling around into a celebration. Every member of LCD present on stage works in perfect unison, creating a majestic sound that enchants the crowd. The majority of who are dancing in the mud possessed by some spirit of bad dancing. ‘All My Friends’ seems to last forever, much to the delight of everyone. An indescribable and amazing set, the only crime being that those of us that need to catch the last bus to Glasgow have to leave at 11.00, missing about 40 minutes of this unbelievable performance.