Ripping up the Riptons
Graham Coxon moves one place left as full and righteous master of his own domain.
Secret Garden Party 2006
by Rumsfeld Gummit
For 2006 the Secret Garden expanded to include more than double the entertainment that punters experienced last year. And so they should’ve. This little known festival, located on the outskirts of Huntingdon near Kings Ripton, provided the backdrop to one of the most enjoyable events of this year. None of that merchant banker commercial bullocks that oozes from the other better known festivals, oh no.
Riot girls Robots In Disguise excite and delight, yeah yeah yeah!
The main stage played host to the likes of queen electro punk-rock rioters Robots In Disguise (only they could have warmed up the crowd with such panache), ex-Blur songsmith Graham Coxon (who screamed through his set with alarming ferocity only to be cut short by a far-too-early curfew), and this year’s current trendy scenesters, The Automatic (they OWNED the stage!).
The Automatic put our euphoria on auto-pilot.
As the usual festival weather blackened the skies on the Saturday we enjoyed several stand-out performances. Local ska-punk-hip-hopsters, Babyhead, stirred the crowd into a heady frenzy worthy of the main stage at Glastonbury. Larrikin Love delivered an unnervingly smooth set that got the crowd pulling out their souls to sign them away to the little darlings. Shortly afterwards, OK GO charmed them into throwing their hearts, kidneys, livers and minds into the deal too. OK GO were on superb form with their somewhat predictable, but incredibly energetic, blend of rock n’ roll – Tesco’s Finest scraps from the dinner tables of The Hives, The Delta 72 and Mooney Suzuki.
OK GO charm the crowd and take time to serenade a fair maiden.
Overall, the organisers of Secret Garden deserve a firm handshake from Loose Lips for pulling off a sweet event. Despite the dodgy weather a good time was had by all. And, with any luck, next year will pull in bigger names and bigger crowds to boot. But do the organisers want it to? It is the Secret Garden after all!
