Although summer may be drawing to a close, here at Truants we’re still finding time for one last festival adventure. Since beginning in 2004, Bestival’s continued commitment to booking both the best live acts and the best DJs has seen the festival grow from small beginnings to become the recipient of several of the UK’s most prestigious festival awards. Not only do the Bestival crew make sure the programming is on point but they also go the extra mile in ensuring the Bestival experience is unlike any other. This year we’ve been promised the world’s largest disco ball while the widely embraced dress up day adopts a desert island disco theme. Bestival returns to Robin Hill Country Park on the Isle of Wight between the 4th and 7th September with a lineup so stacked that selection dilemmas are inevitable. To try and ease the decision headaches you’re likely to be confronted with we’ve produced our own festival guide. Read on to find out where you can catch us – see you at the front!
THURSDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER
Although Bestival truly gets in to full swing on the Friday, the arrival of Glaswegian party crew Numbers to the Red Bull Music Academy stage means that the party really commences on Thursday. A special back-to-back Can U Dance performance from Numbers boss Jackmaster and Oneman will be the main draw for many here. The party starting pair have gone back-to-back with each other numerous times over the years but this summers Can U Dance project has seen them take things up a few notches with an unrehearsed, four deck show that affords absolutely no time to chin strokers. Having witnessed the riot these two caused at Parklife earlier this year, this is definitely the perfect way to kick off the weekend.
Thursday’s back-to-back business continues with a special set featuring Numbers co-founder Spencer and Optimo – a duo that have been a cornerstone of Glaswegian club culture for over fifteen years. Since they started running the famed Optimo (Espacio) parties at Sub Club back in 1997, JD Twitch and JG Wilkes have been instrumental in making Glasgow one of the party capitals of the world. Their Sunday night residency at Sub Club may have concluded back in 2010 but the eclectic and open-minded musical spirit which made the parties so renowned is still alive and well in the duo’s DJ sets. It’s an ethos which suits someone like Spencer perfectly. Like his Glaswegian brethren, Spencer is a skilled selector who made his name running the one of the city’s most popular parties and labels. The prospect of these three going at it is mouthwatering.
Joining them on the bill is Numbers mainstay Redinho who has been working with the label since 2010. His long-awaited debut album is finally set for release in late September and will mark Numbers first full length release making it a must-see for fans of the label. Expect a wealth of new material awash with 80’s-referencing synths, electro-flavoured funk and distorted R&B vocals.
FRIDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER
Friday sees all the remaining stages opening and the festival properly kick off. Equal parts DJ and rockstar, DJ Harvey will be bringing his travelling Harvey’s Discotheque party to the Red Bull Music Academy stage. Harvey enjoys a cult following that most DJs could only dream of. Fortunately it’s a following which is perfectly justifiable. Whereas many DJs seek to cram multiple bookings into one night, Harvey has always made a point of arriving at whichever club or festival he is playing at early in order to adjust to his surroundings, make any necessary sound changes and prepare for his set that night. His performances are always highly varied and tend to oscillate between obscure disco cuts, psychedelica and his own exclusive edits seamlessly. Also present for Harvey’s Discotheque will be Daniel Avery. With ‘Drone Logic’ Avery delivered one of the best albums of last year with his tracks becoming firm fixtures in the arsenals of several tastemaking DJs. Thankfully he’s as talented behind the decks as he is in the production studio. It’s this talent that’s seen Avery become a resident at London’s Fabric nightclub and allowed him to participate in back-to-back marathons with the likes of Andrew Weatherall and Erol Alkan. His melodic yet mechanical big room sound is a festival must-see.
Thanks to the considerable effort put in by festival organisers, Bestival is as much about the surroundings as it is the music. Key to the Bestival experience is the Bollywood stage with its grand temple entrance and hand-stitched tent. This will play host to Brian Shimkovitz AKA Awesome Tapes From Africa. Shimkovitz’s story is an interesting one. The New Yorker became fascinated with Ghana’s rich cassette culture having moved there as part of a scholarship. This fascination lead Shimkovitz to set up a blog – Awesome Tapes From Africa – upon his return and years later sees Shimkovitz play (entirely on tape) an eclectic blend of highlife, African disco and other sounds.
SATURDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER
Also playing at the Bollywood stage over the weekend are Belfast boys Bicep who proved to be the highlight for many Truants at Dekmantel earlier this summer. Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar initially came to prominence through the excellent Feel My Bicep blog and their irresistibly infectious early releases. Recent tunes on labels such as Aus have seen the pair ditch the tag of 90s house revivalists by adopting a tougher techno-founded approach. This progression is tangible in the pair’s DJ efforts with heavy synths, pounding kicks and monstrous basslines aplenty. Furthermore Bicep possess the necessary dexterity to work elements of disco, italo and garage into their sets which should ensure that this is one of the weekend’s highlights. Hivern Discs boss John Talabot will also be present for the Feel My Bicep takeover. Last year the Barcelona resident’s contribution to the DJ-Kicks series displayed fully why he has secured a reputation as one of Europe’s best. Moving from ambient and downtempo to lush Balearic infused house music, Talabot is a master at building and maintaining atmospherics yet he also knows just when to bring it.
Elsewhere, the Red Bull Music Academy has a distinctly grime feel. The personal highlight for us is a performance from none other than Slimzee. The Godfather of Grime is a man you’re now doubt aware of already. Having co-founded Rinse FM twenty years ago, Slimzee grew up earning his stripes in the pirate radio era. Through his membership in crews such as Pay As U Go Cartel and his work with a young Dizzee Rascal, he played a vital role in the advent of grime music. Today Slimzee remains as vital as ever. With unrivalled access to grime’s rarest dubplates, an arsenal of new tunes and his trademark quickfire mixing, Slimzee remains one of the best in the business. If that wasn’t enough to tempt you then perhaps the knowledge that Riko Dan will be MC’ing his set will.
Another man schooled in the days of pirate radio is special guest DJ EZ. The UK garage god is a master at CDJ manipulation – just check out either of his riotous Boiler Rooms for proof. Such proficiency allows EZ to deliver familiar tracks in a strikingly singular way. He may play the same tunes as several other DJ’s but the manner in which he mixes them renders each one of his sets novel and exciting. If you’re after a pure peak time party, this is your best bet.
SUNDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER
With the festival drawing to a close, Sunday represents the last opportunity to fully explore the Bestival site. With a comedy tent, lots of first-rate food stalls and a Mr. Motivator class there should be plenty for people to take in. For those after one last musical fix then where better to head than the Port? One of last year’s highlights, the Port area features a landlocked harbour, the festival’s very own HMS Bestival and an array of Funktion One powered cannons. It’s the perfect location to catch Dense & Pika. Comprised of Glimpse and Hypercolour head honcho Alex Jones, Dense & Pika have been responsible for some of techno’s biggest anthems in recent times. These two often perform live together meaning that DJ sets are few and far between. However – as those who have listened to the duo’s Resident Advisor podcast will attest to – they are equally competent on the turntables. Further afield, there will be an Âme DJ set in the Bollywood tent. Alongside Dixon, the German duo (Kristian Beyer & Frank Wiedemann) run the distinguished Innervisions label and are regular guests at clubs such as Panorama Bar, Trouw and DC-10. With a rich back catalogue behind them Âme are as highly sought after for live performances as they are for DJ sets. As a result the pair split responsibilities; Frank handles live duties while it is Kristian’s mandate to take care of proceedings behind the decks. His sets draw on the same seemingly disparate influences as the duo’s productions, while his willingness to depart from the formula ensures excitement levels never diminish.
Perhaps the standout moment of the whole weekend will be a headline performance from Chic Featuring Nile Rodgers. This performance is key to the weekend’s ‘Desert Island Disco’ theme and is probably the one thing all weekend you want to make sure you don’t miss. We won’t bore you by reciting all the classics – you all know them by now – but catching the disco dons really does seem like the best way to wrap up a heady weekend.
Bestival takes place in Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight from September 4-7. For additional information and tickets head to the festival’s website.