Bloom Festival 2008

United Kingdom | | 13 August 2008

Overall 6/10

A hypothetical questions: if an event you have a ticket for fails to sell well enough, would you prefer it was cancelled or went ahead as normal? Bloom opted for a third way, a kind of semi-cancellation, with acts dropping like flies over the weekend, although programmes, which were little more than a work of fiction as running orders were reshuffled, remained on sale. Coupled with severe problems regarding security guards, and even worse ones regarding reduced sound levels, it sometimes felt as if you were enjoying yourself despite the festival and not because of it. On the plus side, the punters were well up for it and the acts that did play made it a case of quality over quantity.
 
The site 3/10

A common complaint on site was: why was it moved from last year’s location (Dyrham Park between Bristol and Bath)? Located on the top of a hill, the new site was basically one massive wind tunnel, and this, coupled with the rocky ground which made it nigh on impossible to push your tent pegs in properly, meant the campsite was littered with dead tents and gazeebos. Also, the main stage was located at the top of a hill, flying 180 degrees in the face of conventional logic. Even at 6ft tall, it was hard to see anything during the headline acts.
 
Atmosphere 6/10

Reviewing last year’s event, we concluded: “You can’t buy a good atmosphere at a festival, but the organisers certainly helped to engender one”. Unfortunately this year was completely the opposite, due to the heavy-handed security who patrolled the main arena, pouring away any alcohol that had been taken in. They made the place something of a ghost town in the day time, with many acts playing to one man and his proverbial pooch. Even worse, after midnight the volume levels were set to a level little louder than a mobile phone, so most punters kept their spirits up by chatting away while bobbing along to the completely bassless background noise. On the plus side, a surprising number of punters braved Saturday’s rain and wind in fancy dress.
 
Uppers
 
Stereo MCs - Despite numerous rumours that they’d cancelled, the Stereos turned up and provided the highlight of the weekend. You possibly have to be of a certain age to enjoy their baggy era hip hop, but ‘Connected’ is so familiar, even after all these years, that it was almost like listening to one massive chorus. New tune ‘Get On It’ displayed a tougher, housier edge, while ‘Deep Down And Dirty’ and ‘Step It Up’ scored big on the nostalgia front. They may be getting on, but they worked the crowd more effectively than anyone else over the weekend, with vocalist Rob constantly freestyling, and pretty much every tune stripped down then built up again for maximum “yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay“ factor.
 
Danny and the Champions of the World - Looking slightly incongruous alongside the more dancey fare, this indie/folk super group, made up of members of the Magic Numbers, Grand Drive and Electric Soft Parade, among others - had the time of their lives, despite there being almost as many people on the stage as in the audience. Clearly doing it purely for the love of the music, their beautiful, sub-Neil Young harmonies were so uplifting that even the sun popped out for five minutes.
 
Beardyman - The beatbox champion drew a huge crowd to the Beat Bubble on Sunday night, and the hirsute one man band didn’t disappoint with an unassisted performance that was nevertheless akin to an MC, a comedian and a live PA all rolled into one. His truly eclectic performance took in ‘covers’ of everything from Faithless to Rick Astley, though the highlights were a mass sing-a-long to Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ and a self-penned epic odyssey about cheese. You kind of had to be there…
 
Downers (or were they?)
 
Roisin Murphy - Having been slightly ambivalent about the former Moloko frontwoman’s solo output, it’s fair to say that Roisin Murphy really comes alive in the flesh. ‘Overpowered’ revealed itself to be a lost pop gem, while ‘Ruby Blue’ was like Alison Goldfrapp ranked up to full power, before the whole set climaxed with a cacophony of 303 inspired mayhem. So why the downer? It’s hard to truly enjoy any act’s hardest efforts when the PA is repeatedly being cut mid-song throughout their set.
 
Florence and the Machine - I’ve no idea whether or not she actually played, but when I went to see her, The Bays were on stage instead. Unfortunately, even the crew behind the sound desk had no idea of who was coming up later…

by Henry Norman