Offset 2010
Saturday 4th to Sunday 5th September 2010Hainault Forest Country Park, Redbridge, Essex, England MAP
£55 plus £10 for camping, or £29 for either day
The traditional London weather was overcast and unfortunately stayed that way all day as I made my way into Offset Festival with the cool Brick Lane kids and vintage fashionistas.
It felt quite odd because although we were in a 'world within a world' situation of a festival, the location of Hainault Forest meant that our fenced in area was surrounded by families and general London folk going about their business.
Just as I thought not much was happening, my friend and I stumbled into a pit of people thrashing about and going slightly mental in front of the main stage. We could hear music but there was nothing onstage. By following the crowds' attention I soon realised that the performers were in the middle of the audience.
I was taking part in the Monotonix experience a screeching, Israeli, thrash metal band. They were only wearing underpants and had messy beards and wild hair.
For most of the performance I couldn't see the other two band members as they were engulfed by the mass of over-excited fans. However the lead singer was held high by the crowd for most of the gig.
Because of my short stature I was only able to identify the other two scantily clad band members when Ami Shalev came to the front of the stage and clambered over the barrier to perform standing on amps and speakers.
He then made the crowd sit down as he went on a mad, slightly intelligible rant, which started off with him throwing insults at Paul Weller I can only imagine this was prompted by Weller's Mercury Prize nomination but who knows? He finished the Paul Weller attack, exclaiming 'I prefer Mr Noel Gallagher' before embarking on a speech about the 'lovely' Queen in this country.
It was all very confusing but the more hardcore members of the crowd were absolutely wrapped up in his enthusiasm, even though security was pressuring him to finish his set.
We came out a many few pounds later and grabbed a bite to eat. Although the festival did not have much in the way of non-music based entertainment the choice of refreshments was great with everything you could possibly want and more.
John & Jehn quietly begun performing on the main stage they blended in so much that I didn't even realise the music had changed from recorded music to a live band. As they continued their set became bouncier but unfortunately there was nothing about them that stood out.
It was quite generic 'band' music where people were playing instruments to an OK standard and the feeling amongst the tiny crowd was very much of a 'graveyard shift'.
Pulled Apart By Horses were next and the lead singer introduced themselves as "a bunch of cunts from Leeds", prompting another band member to quip "speak for yourself!"
They threw themselves into performing, jumping down from the stage and craning over fans, and one of the guitarists climbed on top of speakers at the side of the stage at one point.
The lead singer commanded the audience to create a hurricane in the middle of the crowd and obediently the over-excited male fans moshed about in a circle rapidly.
In the White Heat Tent La Shark were up next - they're a quirky 5 piece with a lead singer who had red paint rubbed on his face, wore a silk dressing gown, and spent most of the gig teetering on the railing separating him and the audience.
Esben and the Witch were the last act I saw before retreating home; they played in a small tent with the lead female having angelic, wispy vocals backed by the loudest drumming I have heard in a long time. The music was quite enchanting albeit a bit slow at times but it was a nice contrast to the heavy metal that I had been hearing across the festival site.
I wasn't the only one who had ringing ears from the over gusto drumming though when we left the tent.
As I left, there was a lot of buzz around Caribou's impending performance but unfortunately I couldn't stay.
review by: Fiona Madden
photos by: Fiona Madden
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