Beach Break Live 2012 - Review
For someone who had never been to any type of music festival before, or indeed camping of any kind whatsoever, I had no idea what to expect from Beach Break Live. It sounded like the perfect combination though - brilliant music, with a healthy mixture of indie type along with dubstep and drum and bass, along with the setting of the beach and my best friends. Obviously though, I knew not to be hopeful for brilliant weather or sunshine, and to expect a whole lot of rain and rank showers.
Well the first night definitely proved this correct (on the rain count anyway). No-one could be bothered to go to the arena because it was just torrential, and we were all quite fed up. However, at about 12 the rain subsided slightly and we ventured out. The first night had been marketed as being the "Opening Ceremony", tying in with the Olympics, so everyone was encouraged to fancy dress in togas. That did not happen. I think I saw maybe 2 or 3 groups of people in total wearing togas. From what I remember there was hardly anything on. We went to this white tent that belonged to the charity ActionAid, and was being dj-ed by Propaganda DJs - it saved our night. The music was brilliant - so thank you ActionAid!
On Friday, the rain was still determined, but Ellie, Lizzie and I manned it and went to check out the eponymous beach. Even through the rain it was very lovely. There were jellyfish chilling in the sand. Never seen one not in a sealife centre before; odd. We went back to the ActionAid tent where they were trying to get people to go for their "Bollocks to Poverty" campain. Clever, as they were barbecuing bollocks of sheep for people to eat. You pay £5 to eat a bollock for charity. I'm all for charity and helping people out, but eating a bollock was a bit too far for me. Liz and Ellie I think were considering it, but didn't go through with it.
On the way back to the tent, we passed the main stage, and caught about 5 minutes of a local band called Cut Ribbons. 5 minutes wasn't enough to be honest, they sounded really really good, and I'm definitely gonna check out some of their tracks. We all came back later on in the evening and saw the last 20 minutes of Maverick Sabre, who in all honesty I wasn't that fussed about seeing. To be fair to him, he was really good, I enjoyed listening to him and I'm glad we saw him, but it wasn't like life changing or anything. Sorry Mav.
Then onto the headline act of the evening: Chase and Status. They were brilliant, but as I was right at the front and am a bit too flimsy for being at the front of a crazy gig, I just had to get out, leaving James and James skanking their brains out. Luckily for me, Ellie and Liz had left a bit before and were chilling at the back, so after about 10 minutes of aimlessly wandering around like a lost child, I found them and we loved the last half hour skanking our own brains out in the safety of the back, thank you very much. After Chase and Status were Nero in the mystical stage of Merlin's Forest, by far my favourite stage. It was this massive tent, with plenty of UV light for everybody, and man-sized butterflies and flowers hanging from the ceiling (ceiling? Tent roof? WHAT?!) You know how I said Maverick Sabre wasn't life changing? This DEFINITELY was, hands down. When you listen to Nero (if you're a fan, ofc), it's good, but live it's electrifying! (yeah, I said it.) Like literally, the sounds just go straight through your body! It was literally amazing, and I am DEFINITELY looking forward to seeing them again.
On Saturday, it was still raining, but the wind wasn't QUITE so heavy. We had disappointing paninis for lunch, and then headed over to another tent stage, Chai Wallahs. I think this was aimed at fans of more folky music, but when we were there, a band called Born In A Barn were getting ready to go on. They started rapping, and there was clearly one guy and two what you might call backing rappers, quite unnecessary and not really adding anything to it. The main guy was holding his own quite well. But fair play to them for giving it a go or whatever.
Later on in the evening, we came back for Labrinth, but, stupid us, didn't realise that almost EVERYONE else at the place would be doing the same. It was alright though, because we didn't miss any songs that we didn't know. He was good actually, as he showed off his musical talent by playing guitar and piano; not just a music producer! Dizzee Rascal was surprisingly good. I say "surprisingly" because, although I like his music to dance to in a club or wherever, I didn't think I'd enjoy it live. HOW WRONG I WAS. He got the crowd going really well, and the music was brilliant and really good to dance to; just generally really enjoyable! Fair play to ya Dizzee. Skream later on in Merlin's forest was also awesome, would definitely recommend him! However, had to miss out on most of Benga due to my aforementioned flimsiness.
Sunday (couldn't have been more appropriate), we awoke, pulled the zips down from the tent and tried hard to believe that what we were seeing was real. The... sun...?! OHO YES MATE. Couldn't have rounded off the weekend any better. We headed out to the beach and chilled for a good 4/5 hours. Nice, chilled backing music on a beach stage as well; nothing memorable, but was just nice in the background. Right, I'm normally one of these people who takes EVERYTHING "just in case". This time, for whatever reason, I was wholly unprepared. I forgot to take enough clothes, my bloody coat of all things, even my gloves. Muh. One thing I didn't forget by accident was sun cream though. I looked at it before I went and thought "nah. Defo won't need this". Again, I was SO wrong. I woke up the next day with a bright red nose, sunglasses lines and a peeling forehead. Brilliant.
Back to Sunday. The evening's first act was Ben Howard. You're reading this, so you can clearly see I've written about him before. OH WOW. Maybe I'm a tiny bit biased, but he was definitely up there with the title of "One Of The Highlights Of My Weekend". I love his album, and hearing it live was just absolutely magnificent. Like I said in the Coldplay review, there was this massive sense of unity, because you knew everyone else is feeling the same. He managed to get the whole crowd going, which is good considering most of his songs are chilled. I could ramble on about him for much longer but I think I've said enough for you to get the gist. Saw the start of The Maccabees, who were good, but I missed the only two songs I knew on account of getting DELICIOUS PAELLA (fellow beach breakers, you know exactly what I'm talking about). The rest of their stuff is cool, but a bit samey; nothing really stood out, but again it was nice in the background whilst nomming on paella.
We went back to the tent for a bit more chillin, and came back for the last ten minutes of Friendly Fires. I'm actually really gutted about this, because, whilst I only know like three of their songs, when we got there it was BRILLIANT. The energy they were putting out was amazing, and everyone was going crazy, including the frontman. Chapman led the hipscotching (hipskotching? James I need your clarification) like the pied piper; strangers were joining in confusedly but loving it. For those of you who are unaware of what it is... I can't explain it. It has to be seen and done to be understood. These tiny ten minutes were enough to make me want to see them again live, so I'll be looking out for that. Headed back over to Merlin's Forest for the end of the night to see Netsky, and in all honesty I can't remember it hardly at all. Apparently it was brilliant though, and I believe it.
So yeah, all in all I had an AMAZING time and only a hugely disappointing line-up could possibly deter me from returning next year. THANK YOU BEACH BREAK!
Well the first night definitely proved this correct (on the rain count anyway). No-one could be bothered to go to the arena because it was just torrential, and we were all quite fed up. However, at about 12 the rain subsided slightly and we ventured out. The first night had been marketed as being the "Opening Ceremony", tying in with the Olympics, so everyone was encouraged to fancy dress in togas. That did not happen. I think I saw maybe 2 or 3 groups of people in total wearing togas. From what I remember there was hardly anything on. We went to this white tent that belonged to the charity ActionAid, and was being dj-ed by Propaganda DJs - it saved our night. The music was brilliant - so thank you ActionAid!
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| Me and my mates at BBL - James, James, Ellie, Lizzie, me |
On Friday, the rain was still determined, but Ellie, Lizzie and I manned it and went to check out the eponymous beach. Even through the rain it was very lovely. There were jellyfish chilling in the sand. Never seen one not in a sealife centre before; odd. We went back to the ActionAid tent where they were trying to get people to go for their "Bollocks to Poverty" campain. Clever, as they were barbecuing bollocks of sheep for people to eat. You pay £5 to eat a bollock for charity. I'm all for charity and helping people out, but eating a bollock was a bit too far for me. Liz and Ellie I think were considering it, but didn't go through with it.
On the way back to the tent, we passed the main stage, and caught about 5 minutes of a local band called Cut Ribbons. 5 minutes wasn't enough to be honest, they sounded really really good, and I'm definitely gonna check out some of their tracks. We all came back later on in the evening and saw the last 20 minutes of Maverick Sabre, who in all honesty I wasn't that fussed about seeing. To be fair to him, he was really good, I enjoyed listening to him and I'm glad we saw him, but it wasn't like life changing or anything. Sorry Mav.
Then onto the headline act of the evening: Chase and Status. They were brilliant, but as I was right at the front and am a bit too flimsy for being at the front of a crazy gig, I just had to get out, leaving James and James skanking their brains out. Luckily for me, Ellie and Liz had left a bit before and were chilling at the back, so after about 10 minutes of aimlessly wandering around like a lost child, I found them and we loved the last half hour skanking our own brains out in the safety of the back, thank you very much. After Chase and Status were Nero in the mystical stage of Merlin's Forest, by far my favourite stage. It was this massive tent, with plenty of UV light for everybody, and man-sized butterflies and flowers hanging from the ceiling (ceiling? Tent roof? WHAT?!) You know how I said Maverick Sabre wasn't life changing? This DEFINITELY was, hands down. When you listen to Nero (if you're a fan, ofc), it's good, but live it's electrifying! (yeah, I said it.) Like literally, the sounds just go straight through your body! It was literally amazing, and I am DEFINITELY looking forward to seeing them again.
On Saturday, it was still raining, but the wind wasn't QUITE so heavy. We had disappointing paninis for lunch, and then headed over to another tent stage, Chai Wallahs. I think this was aimed at fans of more folky music, but when we were there, a band called Born In A Barn were getting ready to go on. They started rapping, and there was clearly one guy and two what you might call backing rappers, quite unnecessary and not really adding anything to it. The main guy was holding his own quite well. But fair play to them for giving it a go or whatever.
Later on in the evening, we came back for Labrinth, but, stupid us, didn't realise that almost EVERYONE else at the place would be doing the same. It was alright though, because we didn't miss any songs that we didn't know. He was good actually, as he showed off his musical talent by playing guitar and piano; not just a music producer! Dizzee Rascal was surprisingly good. I say "surprisingly" because, although I like his music to dance to in a club or wherever, I didn't think I'd enjoy it live. HOW WRONG I WAS. He got the crowd going really well, and the music was brilliant and really good to dance to; just generally really enjoyable! Fair play to ya Dizzee. Skream later on in Merlin's forest was also awesome, would definitely recommend him! However, had to miss out on most of Benga due to my aforementioned flimsiness.
Sunday (couldn't have been more appropriate), we awoke, pulled the zips down from the tent and tried hard to believe that what we were seeing was real. The... sun...?! OHO YES MATE. Couldn't have rounded off the weekend any better. We headed out to the beach and chilled for a good 4/5 hours. Nice, chilled backing music on a beach stage as well; nothing memorable, but was just nice in the background. Right, I'm normally one of these people who takes EVERYTHING "just in case". This time, for whatever reason, I was wholly unprepared. I forgot to take enough clothes, my bloody coat of all things, even my gloves. Muh. One thing I didn't forget by accident was sun cream though. I looked at it before I went and thought "nah. Defo won't need this". Again, I was SO wrong. I woke up the next day with a bright red nose, sunglasses lines and a peeling forehead. Brilliant.
Back to Sunday. The evening's first act was Ben Howard. You're reading this, so you can clearly see I've written about him before. OH WOW. Maybe I'm a tiny bit biased, but he was definitely up there with the title of "One Of The Highlights Of My Weekend". I love his album, and hearing it live was just absolutely magnificent. Like I said in the Coldplay review, there was this massive sense of unity, because you knew everyone else is feeling the same. He managed to get the whole crowd going, which is good considering most of his songs are chilled. I could ramble on about him for much longer but I think I've said enough for you to get the gist. Saw the start of The Maccabees, who were good, but I missed the only two songs I knew on account of getting DELICIOUS PAELLA (fellow beach breakers, you know exactly what I'm talking about). The rest of their stuff is cool, but a bit samey; nothing really stood out, but again it was nice in the background whilst nomming on paella.
We went back to the tent for a bit more chillin, and came back for the last ten minutes of Friendly Fires. I'm actually really gutted about this, because, whilst I only know like three of their songs, when we got there it was BRILLIANT. The energy they were putting out was amazing, and everyone was going crazy, including the frontman. Chapman led the hipscotching (hipskotching? James I need your clarification) like the pied piper; strangers were joining in confusedly but loving it. For those of you who are unaware of what it is... I can't explain it. It has to be seen and done to be understood. These tiny ten minutes were enough to make me want to see them again live, so I'll be looking out for that. Headed back over to Merlin's Forest for the end of the night to see Netsky, and in all honesty I can't remember it hardly at all. Apparently it was brilliant though, and I believe it.
So yeah, all in all I had an AMAZING time and only a hugely disappointing line-up could possibly deter me from returning next year. THANK YOU BEACH BREAK!
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