Big Chill @ Eastnor Castle 2010
Thursday 5th to Sunday 8th August 2010Eastnor Castle, Ledbury, Herefordshire HR8 1RL, England MAP
£155 for the weekend
Daily capacity: 30,000
The festival's 'Leave No Trace' campaign was visible as ever this year, with added help from the beer cup returns scheme, which earned those who bothered 10p for every paper beer cup they took back. I felt this kept the event cleaner than in previous years, as everywhere you looked small children and skint students were gathering their towers of discarded cups in a bid to earn some pocket money.
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Our first proper musical encounter of the day was a double helping of mid-afternoon Craig Charles' Funk and Soul, first as a live recording for his 6 Music radio show in the Paradiso tent, and later with the The Fantasy Funk Band in the Revellers tent. The Fantasy Funk Band was assembled in 2009 following two years of The Fantasy Funk Band feature on Charles' show. Every week a listener would send in their fantasy funk band, listing the musicians they considered to be the very best currently working in UK funk and soul. For two years Charles kept the scores, monitoring the players cited most regularly, and in 2009 the 6 Music presenter decided to try to put the top-rated players together as a group for a one-off performance to celebrate 75 years of Maida Vale studios.
Although originally never intended to be more than a feature on the radio show, a year later the funk super group (made up of James Taylor on keys, John Turrell and Dionne Charles on vocals, Eddie Roberts on guitar, Snowboy on percussion, Mike Bandoni on drums, Ernie McKone on bass, and The Haggis Horns on brass) are now playing soul classics to festival audiences across the country. This is exactly the kind of thing The Big Chill likes to get excited about, and the tent was packed with smiley people clapping and dancing to the obviously excited musicians on stage. "This is amazing," said singer John Turrell, "I normally play to 15 people in a tiny bar!" This set was a highlight of my weekend, as I'm sure it was for many others too.
Into the evening, Roots Manuva arrived on the Deer Park stage dressed for the country in jodhpurs, shiny black riding boots, waistcoat and barber jacket. The UK hiphop star mixed new and old material, but it was still tracks from 2001's Run Come Save Me that got the crowd on side, with 'Witness (1 Hope)' and 'Dreamy Days' getting some of the warmest receptions I saw all weekend.
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If reports are to be believed, more than 200 people jumped the security barriers to get up and onto the stage, causing a dangerous crush at the crash barrier, in the photo pit, and on the stage. However, watching from our perspective, it seemed to take security staff an unnecessarily long time to actually do anything about the situation, and it was at least 3 minutes before some bright spark finally cut the music, stopping the gig short and finally allowing security a chance to deal with the mess that had developed, herding excitable fans off-stage with characteristic heavy-handed charm.
On Sunday festival organisers released a short apology from an M.I.A. spokesperson via Twitter, which thanked "the wonderful audience at the Big Chill for the fantastic reception [M.I.A.] received and apologised for having to cut the set short due to overwhelming demand for fans to come on stage when only a few were expected." However today (Tuesday 10th August 2010) that last bastion of truth, The Daily Star reported that The Big Chill could legally refuse to pay M.I.A. for her set because she broke the terms of her contract by inviting fans onstage and putting people in danger. The paper also reported that at least two security staff were hurt during the incident.
review by: Lynsey Haire
photos by: Phil Bull