REVIEW: Rise Festival [Festival Fever]

REVIEW: Rise Festival

Posted on July 15, 2008 4:53 PM
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Rise Festival
Finsbury Park, London
13th July 2008

Review by Katie Spain

You’ll have to excuse the vantage point from which I’m forced to deliver my Rise Festival review. You see, I’m small. Very small. It makes gigs difficult to see, especially when the crowd is a big one. If I’m going to be truthful (and I plan to), it’s also because I didn’t move much during the day long 'rise against racism' day of entertainment at Finsbury Park.

Laziness wasn’t to blame; a body weak from food poisoning was. When you’ve spent the last two days heaving up your vital organs, the last thing you want to do is clomp around a festival ground and risk a jerk-chicken portaloo explosion. So, it was with reservations (not many), I plonked down on a picnic rug and didn’t move for the rest of the day. Unlike 2007, the sun beat down on us and the view to the main Rise stage was dotted with happy, smiling faces.

The half-hearted bag searches on the way in targeted weapons more than anything else, and after London’s recent burst of knife crime, you can hardly blame them. The booze and weed however, seemed to make the cut and the punters guzzled and puffed as they released some inner city stress. Events like these highlight the cultural mecca of sights, sounds and people that make London so unique. Hey, it’s what kept me here.

On to the music.

Over 100,000 Londoners found themselves treated with music from around the world. Indie, hip-hop, soul, rock and world music hugged our eardrums and the likes of Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, Jimmy Cliff, The Aliens, Ty, Trojan Sound System and Bassekou Kouyate reminded us that music really does soothe the soul. It was however, the beatboxing that stole the outdoor show. When Beardyman did his own version of internal organ regurgitation he blew the crowd away. The masses stopped talking and watched in awe as he burst forth with beats, lyrics, sound effects and cover versions of tunes by Amy Winehouse, Kanye and even Ken Livingstone. Screw DJs, God was a beatboxer.

CSS were much anticipated and although Lovefoxx looked sparkly and sported her trademark jumpsuit, poor sound let them down. Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings were high up on our list but the sound died before it hit us and we didn’t feel the impact of Sharon Jones’ amazing voice.

For most, it wasn’t an issue; the background beats made it easier to talk to new friends. Getting home was harder than scaling Everest and a few extremely rude local women squashed our positive, people loving feeling. Later, as we sat in a highly pretentious, Indie-poser-packed Camden Lock Tavern, we couldn’t help but wish we were back on the grass with the diverse crowd at Rise. Since when do Indie people scorn you for dressing differently? Somewhere along the line, things have gone horribly wrong. For the rest of us, there’s always Rise.