This small scale event was a great way for the 2012 festival season to start in the UK (well it was kind of the first festival – I’m, sure the more pedantic of you will highlight examples such as ATP, which have already happened, but it was certainly the first proper outdoors-in-a-field, in the middle of the countryside kind of festival, so we’ll leave it at that). The intimate setting, in the rolling Wiltshire hills, played host to no more than a couple of thousand attendees. I was actually taken aback at just how tiny Onefest was, seeming almost dwarfed by the open countryside and cold April sky (see below). Everyone wrapped up warm though, apart from those two insane people I saw wearing shorts. The bar tent also provided a great selection of ales, ciders and other drinks to warm the cockles.
There were two stages, with Damon Albarn and Dry The River being the two biggest names on the bill for the main stage. The smaller Tumuli Stage, co-run by BBC Introducing, showcased emerging talent from the South West. Young Blood were a personal highlight. Their catchy indie rock, full of infectious hooks and sing-along choruses, quickly won the crowd over. Over on the main stage, India based Raghu Dixit braced the British weather to pull out a fun set, complete with some tongue in cheek audience participation. Less impressive was folk performer Nick Harper, who I was expecting a stronger performance from. His discordant cover of Blur’s ‘Out Of Time’ was a low point. Back over at the Tumuli Stage, Jodie Marie, a young newcomer from Wales displayed an impressive singing voice. The folk/pop singer signed to Decca last year, after being discovered performing at a small B&B in Wales.
However, the highlight of the day for me were Dry The River (see below), who’s soaring folk-rock epics, filled with rich vocal harmonies (plus impressive facial hair) seemed to perfectly encapsulate the atmosphere of the proceedings, as the evening began to draw in. They released their debut album ‘Shallow Bed’, a few months ago, though it is in a live setting where they are at their strongest and most rugged. It was an intersting mix of elements too: a London based band, playing American Deep South influenced music, in a very English setting in the countryside, after just returning from of tour of the US. It all came together seamlessly too.
The main attraction on the bill was Damon Albarn, who played music from his recent opera, Dr Dee. Despite being a fan of his work, I had some concerns about whether this would really be something special, or whether it would turn out to be self-indulgence on the part of Albarn. Unfortunately it fell into the latter camp. Even by Damon Albarn’s own standards this was fucking pretentious; and that’s really saying something. Now, I know that Albarn fans who read this might want to accuse me of only being a fan of his more commercial material, such as Blur and Gorillaz. Well that is not the case – despite the occasional detour into crapness, he has maintained an impressive output across a number of musical projects over the years (as far as I am concerned), including film scores, collaborations with African musicians, The Good The Bad & The Queen and more recently Rocket Juice & The Moon. This performance was dire however. Half of the time, it sounded like all the musicians were engaged in an extended tuning up session, with Damon and the choir singers carelessly spilling vocals over the top of it all. It was a shame as the array of bizarre and exotic instruments brought out at the start suggested something a little more special. The bit that involved Damon hitting some bells for about ten minutes was particularly painful.
The only one reprieve was a genuinely enchanting song (called ‘The Marvellous Dream’) about half way through, where everything suddenly came together; Damon’s melancholy singing was perfectly framed by all the instrumentation, with the backing singers providing the icing on the cake. Then it all seemed to fall apart again. In fairness, I have not seen the opera itself, so perhaps these songs would work better in the context of the actual performance. But if that is the case, then why perform the songs on their own, without the story/visual element to complete the picture? Over the course of the hour long set, the crowd gradually thinned out, until it was about a third of its original size. Most people seemed to head back in the direction of the bar. Of the people that stayed, a lot of them seemed a bit bewildered, scratching their heads in a bemused fashion, although there was a hardcore grouping that genuinely seemed to love it (maybe that had been to see the opera). I just laughed, finding the whole situation a little comical. I actually stuck it out to the bitter end too, hoping for some kind of spectacular finale – a prize for my endurance. Eventually the finale did arrive. What did it consist of? The music petered out. Damon Albarn set up a gramophone at the front of the stage and left it playing some crackling music through a mic, as the musicians wandered off stage. I just stood there and scratched my head, in a bemused fashion. Then I found comforting refuge in the bar.
Regardless of my rant about Damon, I just want to set the record straight, as there were a lot of great acts over the course of the day. The organisers managed to give it a magical feel, making it a unique experience. This was a top quality little festival.
So… thank you Onefest for providing a special start to festival season 2012.
http://onefestuk.com/
-Larginy Larginy Larginy (for Music Junkie UK)
