BESTIVAL 2010 aka the return of Snap!

by Joanna Orland & Marko Domazet

As we type these words, Bestival 2010 has come to an end and boy, what a festival it was! This year saw the Bestival crowd interpreting the socks out of the Fantastical fancy dress theme – there were David Bowies, unicorns, Marios and Luigis, He-Men and a bunch of other wonderful creatures as far as the eye could see. 2010 being the year one of us lost our Bestival virginity, it’s safe to say that as far as first time attempts go, it was a painless and wonderful experience. The friendly crowd really went all out costume-wise, the event was well organised without the staff being rude and bossy and even the weather was on our side (well, most of the time anyway).

To start from the beginning, these two Loose Lippers chose to go as Jem (of the Holograms Fame) and David Bowie crossed with Tina Yothers (she of Family Ties fame). In addition to exposing the Bestival folks to the reunion of these iconic 80’s characters, we also managed to check out the site, catch a few gigs and have a drink or dozen. As far as the music is concerned, there is plenty of it and with stages ranging from a gazebo in the woods to a huge main stage; there will no doubt be something on the programme for everyone.

Perhaps not an obvious mainstream lineup, Bestival fills their lineup with a few quirky chart toppers (Hot Chip, Fever Ray, Jonsi…) and old classics that you may not know by name, but you certainly know all of their songs (Chic, Snap!…)! We decided to sample it all and have listed our adventures for you to read below…

HURTS
We started off our journey by having a listen to Hurts, a band consisting of some very handsome guys playing rather menstrual music. In all fairness, this being the first gig for us and all, we were both too distracted looking at all the fancy dress to pay the poor man some proper attention so the band might actually be really good. We just felt it was moody.
1 snap! out of 5 snap!s

KING SALAMI AND THE CUMBERLAND
With a pork-based name like that, you just can’t go wrong! A very cool dude, playing dancy-swing-type of music. At one point he also invited the crowd to come and join him on stage which is always fun and scores you bonus points with reviewers. Fun!
3 snap!s out of 5 (the 3rd one mostly to do with the choice of band name)

SISTERS OF TRANSISTORS
Damn girls! You punk’d us! Picture it. Bestival 2010. Jem and Tina Y have had too much vodka. It’s been raining on and off throughout the afternoon and all the girls want to do is dance… dance like it’s 1989.

They trek through the mud and the crowds, expecting the Sisters to deliver a fun, upbeat and dance-friendly set. Instead, they are greeted by four very cool looking girls who are trying to set up their transistors… and they keep on trying… and then they try some more… and more… and more… we think you see where this is going.

Eventually everything seems to be ready to go until a fat bloke takes a seat behind the drums and announces that they (!) are Sisters of Transistors. WTF? He wasn’t wearing a gold lame gown, he didn’t have a transistor and he definitely wasn’t a sister. Very confusing, very disappointing and very false advertising! Tsk-tsk.
No snap!s!

JONSI
Single-handedly the best thing we’ve ever seen at a festival ever (besides the return of SNAP! of course). The Sigur Ros frontman delivered an emotionally stunning, vocally etheral, visually mesmerising life-changing set. I will never be able to like any other gig in the world as much as I liked Jonsi.
All the snap!s in Iceland!

FLAMING LIPS
I was told this gig would involve a Hamster Wheel of Death so needless to say the levels of excitement were pretty high. Alas, this was not to be, but instead the crowd was treated to a myriad of confetti, huge balloons, very nice video projections and some great tunes.

Their tunes are fun, some are moving, Yoshimi acoustic is always beautiful. It’s not the best I’ve seen them play, but The Flaming Lips can do no wrong (except arrive on stage 5 minutes early sans Hamster Wheel).
4 snap!s

SNAP!
Snap!, one of the most underrated groups of all time, decided to grace the Bestival crowd with their presence. Kicking off the show at the fashionable time of 14.15, the lady singer entered the stage singing ‘The Power’. The crowd went wild, started dancing and all of the press covering the festival stopped what they were doing and decided to join in this extravaganza of unparalleled fabulousness and music.

Just as the whole crowd was about to climax (and this was only after one song), a leather-clad ‘Vin Diesel’ entered the stage and kicked off some of the most impressive rapping the world has ever heard. It had profanity, rhythm, rhymes and was so pure and to the point that all of us who heard it will never be able to forget it. At this point we were all in ecstasy!

The amazing set was finished off with not one, but two, renditions of Rhythm is a Dancer. “We love you guys so much, we’re gonna play it again!”.

Some would call that lazy and a bad excuse for not having any more material, but Loose Lips call it pure genious. Snap! 4 president!
10 snap!s out of 5 because they were out-of-this-world-good.
Vin Diesel, you should stop making movies!!!

MARC ALMOND
Marc Almond seems very sweet, but there is something very sad about him…. despite the happy music. But the most important thing is that the crowd really seem to like him and there was a lot of dancing going on during his set. Well done, old chap!
2 snap!s out of 5 (1 for like, 1 for pity)

COCKNBULLKID
A fun girl-fronted indie band with catchy tunes and soul-filled vocs. I like, but I want to hear on album before I fully judge.
3 snap!s

As we were drawing to the end of our adventures and hiking up a muddy hill with our tent; sounds of Chic playing in the background, we both thought to ourselves that Bestival is a hell of a place to spend a couple of days. In addition to listening to some great music, we got to eat some good food, meet some friendly folks, hang out with some drag queens, make an Elton John outfit out of nothing but some scraps of paper and best of all, we got to do it in fancy dress.

Well done Bestival and we’ll see you next year!
Infinite snap!s

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