Bestival 2011 - A retrospective - Day 3

On Sunday I started with Joy Orbison, followed by Kode9 at the Roller Disco, really enjoyed both sets. The left to go to the main stage to see Bjork, who was the last before the closing ceremony. She played really well, again you could really feel the dynamic in the crowd, everyone was dancing and singing. She looked amazing on stage and had a chorus with her. After the ceremony with the fireworks, balloons and these weird massive balloon men walking around the crowd and with some strange choices for music to go with the whole thing, I went back to the Roller Disco, where I briefly saw Joker and then moved on to Bollywood, where Tensnake was playing. I didn't like his set much, it a bit too funky for my taste, so I left to go for a walk in the Ambient Forest, it was magical! Loved it in there! I then rushed to the Big Top to see Derrick May, but to my dissappointment had changed times with DJ Shadow. I think I saw him playing 3 maybe 4 tracks, it was actually quite good, almost drum and bass, and the visuals pretty impressive! Then back to Bollywood to see Paul Kalkbrenner. This was exactly what I needed at that moment! Kalkbrenner played like always most of Berlin Calling which I love and the lights were super cool! And finally Derrick Carter, which for me was pretty dissappointing. We then left and were hoping to find somewhere else with good muysic to go, but we failed. It would have been great if they had organised a little after partty somewhere hidden for those of us still wanting a little bit more techno!.. Finishing at 2am is just too early... Hightligh for Sunday Bjork and Paul Kalkbrenner!

Joy Orbison at Black Atlantic

Saturday 28 May... A warehouse in Hackney... Black Atlantic presenting... Moodymann and Joy Orbison.

I got there just after 2am, no queue outside, we literally just walked in and inside it wasn't packed either. Moodymann played until about 3.30am and then Joy Orbison until the end, about 5.30am. Moodymann was good, some tracks I liked some I didn't, but overall it was ok; he was full of energy mixing tracks you would never think of mixing and the crowd seemed to enjoy the set quite a lot. I can never really say for sure whether I actually like him or not... He played at times more funky, then more jazzy... At times there seemed to be some issues with the sound... and from what I was told, before I arrived there were massive issues with the sound... Far from ideal situation...

There were also some issues at the bar, which didn't help... I think one of the bar staff decided to quit on the night leaving the bar short staffed and there was soon a big crowd gathering around the bar area. And then... they run out of beer!... Pretty frustrating situation, though in reality I couldn't care less! I didn't really want anything from the bar and Joy Orbison was on! Really nice set, we were dancing non stop! He also played a few of his 'hits'... like Hyph Mngo, which I quite like. Wasn't crazy about the track he chose to close his set, though I can't remember which one it was. I do remember though it was really slow and atmospheric, I'm sure others really liked it, but personally to close the party I would prefer something louder, more dynamic.

East London Observatory Video