red hot chilli peppers

T in the Park 2016 Review

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T IN THE PARK kicked off on the Friday with an absolute belter. The sun was shining, The Stone Roses were headlining and un characteristically there wasn’t a mud puddle in sight – of course that didn’t last. Of course it wouldn’t be T without its trademark mud and after dodging it on the Friday the patchy rain hit hard throughout the next couple of days – festival goers brushed it off as nothing and cracked on. Situated at Strathallan Castle close to Perth, it was the festivals second attempt in its new location and 26th year overall. The festival bill was a strong one, a splutter of genres merging together throughout the three days. Blending together the new, the old and the loved by all, every age group was covered with a stella line up. 

With other headlining performances coming from Calvin Harris & Red Hot Chilli Peppers plus support acts including Major Lazer, LCD SoundSystem, Disclosure, Chase & Status, The 1975 and more, it was bound to be a good weekend of music.

The Stone Roses hit the main stage on the Friday. The bands merch floated around the festival site like nothing else and as the day progressed it began to get difficult to be difficult to spot anyone NOT in a signature bowl hat. The bands ‘second coming’ was surely seen as the whole weekends highlight. Performances by the Manchester group aren’t quite as sparse as they have been in the past with their reform back in 2011, but its impossible to ignore the effect the bands presence has on its crowds. The Stone Roses were bred for the festival set up – it is surely the definitive way to see the cult band. The band played a full set of tracks from their self titled debut album, favourites from the much under-rated second album ‘Second coming’ alongside a few new tracks including the new single ‘All for one’. The crowd followed every word of every song sung by Ian Brown, tambourine in hand, who finished the act by waving on the Scottish flag to applaud a fan base at T that he has become very accustomed to.

Disclosure opened up for The Stone Roses – a difficult transition however they easily held their own and as soon as the opening track ‘White noise’ was belted out, they had the audience in the palm of their hands. Disclosure are always capable of surprising people wherever they sit on the bill and if this set was anything to go by their headline act at Reading/Leeds festival could prove to be something huge.

Elsewhere on Friday, festival favourite whereever she goes, Annie Mac packed out the Radio 1 Dance stage with a typical fun and bouncing set.  In contrast Rodrigo y Gabriela performed at the same time in the King Tuts Tent with a smaller crowd who enjoyed the spanish infused heavy guitar riff style of music they are most famous for.  

Huge crowds swamped over to the main stage to watch Calvin Harris headline the Saturday. Quite the regular at T, Calvin is just behind Biffy Clyro for most appearances at the Scottish festival. Quite the transformation from the geeky looking artist of 2007 to the huge international DJ and producer that he is today. Its been a undeniably huge rise from the Scot who is now considered to be the face of modern dance music. He played a typically impressive set, reminding everyone just how many huge tracks he has notched up under his belt. Track after track of number one hits alongside new song Hype which included an appearance of fan favourite Dizzee Rascal.

 

Saturday's lineup also showcases Bastille, Jess Glynne, Tinie Tempah, Kaiser Chiefs and more.  With health issues in the past year, Jess Glynne is one that I was very much looking forward to seeing.  Her amazing soulful and powerful voice fills the main stage with hits like 'Dont Be So Hard on Yourself', 'Not Letting Go' & 'Right Here'.  She sounds just as good live as she does on the radio, its a great performance to head into the evening.  Prior to Jess Glynne, Tinie Tempah fresh off his new album knows how to get a crowd going.  His music is perfect for the festival atmosphere and having seen him numerous times before, I know exactly what to expect.  Hits like 'Mamacita', 'Pass Out', 'Written in the Stars' have the crowd singing throughout the entire performance.

 

Over on the Radio 1 stage, The 1975 close out the day as the rain dies down and the sun sets over Strathallan Castle.  There is nothing fancy about this performance, just a great selection of tunes which have a die hard crowd singing along to almost every track they belt out whist competing with the echoes of Calvin Harris on the main stage.  This isnt an energetic performance by all means, but its worthy of the headlining spot for this stage.

 

Red Hot Chilli Peppers topped off a superb weekend with a headline act reminiscent of their last 2006 headline appearance. Even strangely leaving hits, Californication and Dani California off the set list didn’t make for a disappointing show. The Chilli’s in full form played a huge set filled with crowd pleasers, new singles, Chad Smith solos and the occasional handstand back onto stage from Flea. The strong set was played with swagger from frontman Anthony Kiedis backed up by plenty of energy and gratitude towards the crowd from the rest of the band.

 

One of the most unfortunate festival appearances would have come from LCD Soundsystem who barley drew a crowd to the Radio 1 stage.  Major Lazer however drew a huge crowd to the Radio 1 stage with their mix of dubstep, reggae and house music.  With Diplo flying all over the stage mic in hand hyping the crowd up at every opportunity, its an entertaining set bringing all sorts of dance moves and hands in the air reactions.  Comeback king of 2016 is surely Craig David, armed with a DJ Booth and mic in hand, this is a talented performance as he single handedly mixes the music and sings.  Singing over tunes like Justin Bieber's 'Love Yourself' and mixing it with his skillful rapping, his set ensures the crowd is bouncing for the entirety.

 

Its fair to say that this years T in the Park was a marked improvement on last year.  Most of the issues that were encountered have been resolved and the event is well oiled engine that ran smooth over the entire weekend.  Regardless of the wet weather and the muddy grounds, the performances across the weekend leave us feeling satsified & happy.   We look forward to another year at the castle in 2017!

 
Photos by Kristian Lissimore

T IN THE PARK 2016

Isle of Wight Festival 2014 Review

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First up on the elite list of larger festivals this summer was the Isle of Wight Festival. It was a rousing success all around, promising a vast array of acts to be seen, with what happened to be bright & consistent weather to make it that bit better. It was an event where as the adverts promoting the festival said, you simply had to ‘be there’. 50,000 festival-goers agreed & took the advice, making their way across the Solent on whatever method of boat travel they could find, camping gear at the ready. The festival is one of the few in the UK that has the most varied mix of musicians performing, from Red Hot Chilli Peppers & Kings of Leon to Cher Lloyd & Dappy, with Boy George in between. You get the picture.

On Day 1, it was the Thursday performance of the ever-exuberant & flamboyant Boy George whose soulful-sing-alongs propelled the early festival-goers into a flashback to the 80’s with hits such as his old band Culture Club’s ‘Karma Chameleon’ & ‘Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?’. The crowd most definitely didn’t want to cause any harm to the hit-maker, they loved his cheerful disposition & playful interaction with the clearly pleased audience.

On the Friday, it was up to the Scottish folk of Biffy Clyro & Calvin Harris to step up to the act of being headliners, & each did it spectacularly. Over the years we have gradually seen Biffy Clyro head further up the festival posters with their name getting bigger & bolder each time. In an explosive 90 minute set that clearly included a very talented technical team, the stage at times became a pyrotechnical dream- ablaze with fireworks & glitter, raging riffs and hard-hitting sentimental lyrics- something of a rarity some might say in rock music. Coming on stage at 9pm, it would have been better to see the visual impact of the display had they not performed in the daylight.

London based quartet Rudimental have had phenomenal success in the UK for a band with just the one album under their belts, but so it seems, they prove one album is all it takes. 2012’s album release ‘Home’ certainly brought home the goods for the audience who were treated to a mix of drum’n’bass, soul, & funk with added backing vocalists, rousing drums & a trumpet thrown in for good measure to add to the party. Hits like ‘Feel The Love’ really brought the crowd together, & with excellent crowd interaction from the band it was a magical moment for the audience, who made their hands into a heart sign throughout the feel-good song, drunk festival-goers included, some attempts looking more blob shaped than heart shaped.

Hit-maker Calvin Harris closed Friday night in the coveted final slot of the main stage. Mr Harris has ploughed up to immeasurable amounts of success with the record-breaking album ’18 months’, & his large spectrum of collaborations has been the real ingredient to his popularity with dance fans around the world. During his DJ set, robust vocals from Rihanna to Florence Welch could be heard to name a few, with smoke machines & laser lights beaming out onto the euphoric crowd. A remix of last year’s headliners The Killers- ‘When You Were Young’ was played to add an element of surprise to the set, otherwise it may have been abit too predictable, he has been very busy performing over the past few years & a lot of his sets have been televised after all. All in all, a spectacular set from the Scottish DJ.

Away from the main stage there was talent to be seen in the Big Top stage, in the form of uber-cool Katy B. Belting out hits into the humid Isle of Wight air from acclaimed album ‘Little Red’ with striking synths throughout, Katy reminded us why she’s a sell-out in both gigs & album sales with a brilliant mix of stage presence, crowd interaction & electronic-infused songs that made a brilliant set list.

Saturday’s at festivals are always the big ones. Halfway through so you sort of feel disappointed it’s half over already, & then you remember the great bill ahead of you on Saturday morning & don’t feel so bad after all. The weather was a lot cooler, which some might say is a good thing, but those clear blue skies had diminished. Non-the-less, the vibe of the festival was still upbeat, with festival-goers saying they were enjoying themselves. The Waterboys made an appearance to fill in the unusually seen genre of Irish folk at the festival, & merrily played uplifting songs such as ‘Fisherman’s Blues’ & ‘Whole Of The Moon’, using less commonly seen instruments such as fiddles, violins & harmonicas, it was a refreshing change. I’d liked to have seen more interaction, but it may have been they were not used to main stage slots at large festivals & felt slightly overwhelmed.

Next up was the fabulous John Newman, a man with motown, retro RnB & soul in his (very) dancing feet. A brilliant blend of upbeat tap-your-toes songs combined with melancholy-filled ballads about heartbreak, he packed a lot in to the 40 minute slot that brought the audience almost on an emotional journey, some feeling the obvious meanings of the songs to Newman. When he left the stage you couldn’t help but want an encore, but like the band that made him famous, Rudimental, he too has one album to his name, but in a few years’ time I can see him doing longer & more varied sets with big-name collaborator’s perhaps joining him on stage. The crowd pleasing summer anthem from last year ‘Love Me Again’ was the right song to choose to end an excellent & energy-filled set.

Later on was the band thousands had travelled high, low & far away for. After a seven year hiatus from performing at a festival in the UK, Californian based Red Hot Chili Peppers made a triumphant return. Eccentrically bounding around the stage playing universally-known hits such as ‘Can’t Stop’ & ‘By The Way’, their energised performance made the crowd go wild at times, exactly what a classic rock band who headlines should do. From lead singer Kiedis’s rap-singing in parts to the funk-infused riffs, it was a you had to be there set, & those who were torn between the headliners & the world cup England match made the right choice if they avoided the later. (A match they lost anyway!). Perhaps what made this set so enjoyable clearly by both the band & crowd was the fact that it was something of a rarity & they aren’t regulars. That’s what made it so anticipated, & overall, the Chili’s certainly didn’t disappoint. Although arriving 15 minutes late & not playing ‘Under The Bridge’ may have put a downer on some, perhaps some will wonder if that lateness contributed to them not playing the iconic song, but speculate or not, it was a superb set, & one can hope they can start planning a UK tour soon.

On the final day of the festival, we were all treated to a performance from the red arrows. Causing a load of colourful synchronized smoke to grace the skies, it was a few moments where you saw more necks than faces from people looking up in wonderment, only to then get back to the hustle & bustle of the festival deciding on where & what to see next. The final headline performance was from festival regulars Kings of Leon, clearly an expert in this field, quite literally, from their vast experience of festival performances. Playing hits from their six studio albums to date, from up-tempo songs like ‘Supersoaker’ & ‘Fans’ to the obvious major hits like ‘Sex on fire’ & ‘Use Somebody.’ Caleb Followill’s yowl gave raw intensity to the set, with an added genius moment of guitarist Matthew Followill playing the opening riff of more mid-paced track ‘Closer’ with his teeth. As the final song of the festival came to an end, arms were put around each other, & appreciation was obvious for Kings of Leon with cheering & clapping echoing around the stage & beyond. Now it was time to get back to tents, & our ones.

After a long weekend of music, rides, balloons, bubbles being blown, alcohol, a surprisingly good selection of food, & seeing people dressed up in odd unusual costumes, it was time to pack up & go. The Isle of Wight Festival is so worth the travel from afar if you live miles away like I do, it’s one of the very few festivals where you really feel like it’s worth every penny with the high amount of quality bandssingers your seeing. After this year’s success, Isle of Wight Festival 2015 will have a lot of living up to do, organisers best get planning!

Photos by James Bridle

Red Hot Chilli Peppers to headline Isle of Wight Festival

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The Isle of Wight Festival 2014, are extremely excited to announce a UK & Ireland exclusive performance from the award winning Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Road Trippin’ to the Otherside of the Solent to headline our Main Stage on Saturday 14th June, this will be their ONLY show of 2014 on our shores. What’s more, it’s the first UK festival appearance from the critically acclaimed quartet since 2007, yes 2007!

Red Hot Chili Peppers said: “To headline the Isle of Wight Festival is a once in a lifetime opportunity, following in the footsteps of Jimi Hendrix and The Doors. When we were offered the slot, we jumped at the chance…it will be our only show in the UK/Ireland this year…so we intend to make it really special.”

John Giddings, the Festival’s promoter said: “Finally- we’ve got them! One of the most exciting rock bands of the modern era come to visit…and judging by the performances I have seen previously, will be a highlight in the music history of the festival…Rock the Wight!”

Having released a staggering 10 studio albums, Red HotChili Peppers have won over a generation of music fans from coast to coast. Since forming in 1983, their definitive sound has propelled the LA four-piece to become one of the most diverse and successful bands performing today. Now, they’re ready to take the Isle of Wight Festival by storm on Saturday 14th June…Bring it on.

Red Hot Chili Peppers will be joining an already scorching line up, which features an English festival exclusive from Friday Main Stage headliners Biffy Clyro, plus superstar Calvin Harris who closes the night; there’s even a special guest set from electronic outfit Rudimental. With more performances from Passenger, The 1975 and The Waterboys, 2014 is shaping up to be one of the biggest yet. We can’t wait to see you all in Seaclose Park from 12th – 15th June.