As promised, a word about one of the most inspiring, overwhelming, and profoundly weird shows I’ve ever had the privilege to attend.

Rob da Bank and the folks at Sunday Best were kind enough to invite me to be a part of this year’s Bestival, and I was so struck by the experience I feel the need to write a few words about the whole thing.

First, the obvious:  the top of the bill was almost impossibly eclectic and spectacular.  Public Enemy, Bjork, PJ Harvey, DJ Shadow, The Cure, Mogwai, Crystal Castles…  The list goes on and on forever.

Where Bestival truly separated itself and won me over was in it’s non-mainstage attractions and considerations though…

It’s amazing to me that you can see a high quality, intimate show with 100 people at the same festival where you can see a world class set in front of 9,000; that you can be blown away by a spoken word poet you’ve never heard of 100 yards from where you see Bjork, and both venues are somehow fantastic.  It’s an incredible testament to the organizers of this show that the details have not been lost in the mix of the massive things going on everywhere.

Just to top it off and make it even more incredible… if there was a massively visibly corporate presence anywhere in the goddamn festival, I didn’t see it in a whole day of walking around.

I’m sure Bestival has got corporate sponsors, but my point is I didn’t feel assaulted by them like I have at other festivals.  In fact, I couldn’t even find them.  While buying my reasonably priced lunch from a kiosk, I suddenly took a second look at the menu and the people running the place and realized that I was dealing with an independent business!  In fact, all the kiosks AROUND him were independent businesses!  Maybe UK readers are rolling their eyes and thinking “of course they were,” but this shit blew my mind.

I kept looking for the PEPSICO stage, or the STARBUCKS PRESENTS booth… Instead, I found a fancy dress parade, and concert goers being encouraged to get performative and spectacular themselves… a roller disco in the middle of everything… a wall of death motorcycle exhibit… an attentive, packed, audience who allowed me to deliver an intimate, fun spoken word set in the middle of a forest… A small audience of 40 or so folks who listened to me and Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip rock a spontaneous performance in a tiny booth, a few hours after Dan and Pip played for 9,000 in the Big Top… All day I saw kids and pets roaming around the grounds seeming relaxed and unhurried… mellow, happy people being treated like unique human beings instead of cattle with wristbands.

The whole thing could not be more opposite the experiences I’ve had with Festivals in the past…  I’m sure I’m not doing a good job of communicating how truly ill this shit is, so just watch this video recap of the day we performed (be sure to keep watching up to the lightning act around 2:53):

To cap things off, myself, Buddy Peace and Dan le Sac ended the night by premiering our set together in the Polka Tent… an honest to god circus tent.  With hay on the floor.  The place was packed, and the crowd was jumping.  I invited a number of friends to share the specialness of the occasion, including Beth Mburu-Bowie who premiered a new song w/ myself and Dan, and the Horndog Brass Band, who joined me for the first ever performance of “Border Crossing” on this side of the pond.   Some crowd footage of that below:

Sincere thanks and respect to the organizers of Bestival, to all the fans that came out,  and also to Dan le sac, Scroobius Pip, Becca Lewis, Beth Mburu-Bowie, Buddy Peace, and Sarah & James for their help with our numerous Bestival performances.

Next up is the UK tour blog.

Til next time, Bestival.

<3,

B