Hello. Is it me you’re looking for? It’s hard to miss a huge inflatable Lionel Ritchie head so this landmark proved to be a crucial geographical locater at this year’s Bestival. It was also great to sidle up to after 10 Tuborgs and just stare at in a weird way.
A Love from Outer Space
A Love from Outer Space has got much love from us on here but the Friday night in the Bollywood tent showed again why they are titans of the slo-mo house tech vibe. We arrived after getting hyped via Disclosure and Jon Hopkins and were really beginning to feel it. Like really feel it. We spent the entire set down the front shouting, whooping and smoking, then invited Sean Johnston out for a pint afterwarsds. He, unsurprisingly, declined the invitation.
HMS Bestival
Rob Da Bank and his missus were celebrating ten years of Bestival this year. And to mark the occasion they’d insisted on a nautical theme for the fancy dress antics. Not only that, but in one side of the festival there was the side of a ship where DJs played from. And fire was belched out of the turrents. It was fucking nuts and made for a gnarly vibe once dark had fallen. There were also scantily clad fire breathing dancers – bit Manumission like but the guy in the boat being dangled over the crowd was definitely a vibe.
Elton John
The original rocket man came to play. Play the hits. He’s got loads of them and made for a fine Sunday evening headliner before the rain came to play and piss on our parade. His enthusiasm for his back catalogue, outlandish garms and constant fist pumping was infectious. Plus he played everything you’d like to hear and a few new ones that you wouldn’t want to.
Crab and chips
It rained. Oh at times it rained. It was muddy. And sometimes the sustenance vibe was the one thing that bucked a brother or a sister up when struggling through the third can of Tuborg and yet another tropical shower. The crab and chips stood out as good ballast material. Big up the crab.
The kids
Some of the kids were just really annoying. The ones on horse tranqs in particular. In fact much of the vibe seemed to be made up of people who’d be dipping into their vet’s stash and 'having a lovely time' as a result. But other kids were great. Some of them were there just to massage the ego. (‘You don’t look over 30 – no way are you 30 plus?!). Others were just vibes to sit a while with. Funny vibes. Bryan on the campsite who’d skived work to come and we’d tempted into having a morning bifta with us was particularly charming, even as he unravelled into a paranoid mess over missing work.
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| Boat vibes |
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| Boaty vibes |
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| Bleurgh vibes |
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| The calm before the storm |
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| The Dubai of the UK's south coast |
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| Boating |
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| More boating |
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| A hedge on the Isle of Wight |
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| Another hedge |
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| Weeeey |
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| Our destination |
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| Rhino play |
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| Tweet twoo |
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| If massaging a granny is wrong, then I never want to be right |
