Inverary Castle, Argyll, 29-31 August 2008

Nick Cave of Grinderman

The ‘Boutique Festival’ is the new breed of festival sweeping the country. These smaller, more intimate, non-corporate gatherings have an emphasis as much on atmosphere, alternative entertainment, good food and quirky style as they do on the musical line up.

Oh, and there’s the obligatory nod in the direction of the environment and all things green and ethical. It appears that if you don’t cycle to your local festival and spend it in a pre-erected Yurt, you just aren’t cool anymore.

And so to my first boutique festival, Hydro Connect 2008. Now granted the name doesn’t sound overly unique, exclusive or grounded in saving the planet, but I was willing to let this slide. I’m pretty sure the perfect festival doesn’t come cheap.

Unable to make Friday’s festivities, I set off armed with my trusty dome tent (Yurt rental is surprisingly expensive this time of year) and equally trusty wellies (I’m Scottish; the word summer can’t trick me). Situated in the grounds of Inverary Castle on the banks of Loch Fyne, the setting is stunning. The mist shrouded mountains and lush green surroundings certainly made the journey through the Argyll countryside a memorable one. So far, so good.

Now the trek into the festival from the car park is pretty long by most festival standards, but I had been pre-warned, so I packed light and didn’t find the 20 minute, predominantly uphill, walk through the trees too bad. The sprawling campsite was already beginning to resemble a rather large swamp, but a most helpful security guard pointed us to a dry patch and we set up our temporary home.

With the drizzle already starting to fall, I donned my waterproofs and headed into the main arena. This was another good 20 minute walk, but the majestic castle poking through the trees in the distance seemed to somehow signify that it would all be worth it.

The natural amphitheatre of the main stage made an ideal setting for watching bands, my first of the day being Conor Oberst and his Mystic Valley Band. Better known under his other alias Bright Eyes, he worked his way through the songs on his new, self-titled album. Often compared to Dylan for his story telling through his songs, his upbeat country style was a great start to the day.

To make sure I didn’t miss any of the bands I wanted to see, and to find out where all the stages were nestled on the vast castle grounds, I headed off in search of a timetable. Unfortunately all we could find were lanyards for sale at £8 a pop.

Festival organisers of the world, listen up. We, the people, are not happy. We are prepared to fork out the vast amounts of money to come to your festivals and listen to our favourite bands, but why oh why won’t you tell us where and when these bands are actually playing, unless we give you MORE money.

On behalf of all festival goers across the land, please, no more lanyards – just tell us the running order! Write it on a piece of paper, project it on screens across the festival, text it to our mobile phones, write it across the sky in stars, I don’t care. Just don’t make us pay for it!

Although there weren’t a lot of bands I wanted to see on the Saturday, what I did see was fantastic. The production, sound and lighting on all the stages was exceptional. Glasvegas put in a strong performance in front of a huge crowd at the Guitars and other Machines stage. With their debut album not out till next week, I think we will be seeing much more of this Glasgow act.

Then it was over to the main stage for a spine tingling set from Nick Cave’s Grinderman, a new venture for Cave and some of his Bad Seeds. Possibly my favourite act of the weekend, this loud, raw, bluesy sound visibly leapt off the stage and made a beeline for the unsuspecting crowd.

One of the best front men in the business Cave kicked, strutted and crooned his way through a set of songs from their self-titled album. Prize for the best dressed person at the festival also fell to the Grinderman drummer Jim Sclvunos for his truly inspired pink suit and matching drum-kit!

I enjoyed wandering through the main site (and mud) at Connect, ducking through trees and picnic tables and listening to the varied sounds drifting from the bars and chillout areas dotted around. However, my understanding of a boutique festival was that of one distancing itself from the corporate world, offering us independent alternatives to the bog standard bars and burger joints that every other festival seems to offer up, and presenting us with a heady mix of new ideas and new adventures on offer.

While I expected my experience to be dancing to the beat of a very different drum this weekend, I didn’t see anything much different to what I had seen at various other festivals this year. Yes, there were small independent food stalls and a local Fyne Ales Brewery tent, but these were far out-numbered by the chip stands and noodle bars that looked all too familiar.

The highly branded Red Bull Forest Party and Koppaberg One Big Tree provided a little festival chic with their twinkly lights and impressive interiors. But they were small and busy and could only cater for a very limited number of the large crowds looking for that added extra from their festival experience.

Back to the music. I caught a couple of songs from Gomez, who were playing their Mercury Prize winning Album Bring It On to celebrate 10 years since its release. I then headed off to watch headline indie rockers Bloc Party close the day’s proceedings. Front man Kele Okereke was sporting a kilt for the occasion, but they failed to excite me in the way that Grinderman had earlier in the day.

Time to call it a day. As I waded back to my tent (conditions underfoot were worsening by the second), I was happy with my day, though still slightly confused as to what exactly was different about Hydro Connect compared to any other festival.

Sunday morning brought the all too familiar pitter patter of rain on canvas, and it was clear that the weather had given up trying to be kind to us. A couple of soggy bacon rolls under a brolly, I waterproofed myself and made a dash for the Sunday Herald-sponsored Speak Easy Café to enjoy some of the alternative entertainment and escape from the downpours and mud.

The Yellow Bentines were just finishing their set as I arrived, so I grabbed a cuppa and a paper (can you guess which one?) and made myself comfortable. The afternoon passed gently, as any Sunday should, with a perfect mix of words and music. A chapter from novelist Kirstin Innes’s book on the joys of those dreaded Scottish country dancing classes we used to get in school had us all laughing as we cast our mind back to our adolescence.

The Herald’s Rob Edwards then read us one of his articles on the changing planet, which gave us something to ponder for the rest of the day. Music from some younger talent in the form of Cambridge lads Cut Cut Shape and gravel voiced Alan McKim, before my favourites Frightened Rabbit took us through a few acoustic numbers.

Brothers Grant and Scott Hutchison had the crowd singing and clapping with their catchy tunes. This wee tent certainly saved my sanity, with very few places inside, and the mud thickening by the second, I was pleased to find somewhere to slip off my wellies and stay warm and dry for a few hours.

With the rain finally starting to ease outside, I headed over to the main stage for the rest of the day to enjoy some more bands. First up Elbow, veterans of the alternative rock scene. Their chilled out acoustic tunes and Garvey’s soft yet searing vocals, floated off stage and wrapped itself around the crowd like a comforting blanket. A definite highlight.

Next up Alison Goldfrapp struts on stage, her bat winged pink outfit billowing in the wind, to get the crowds dancing in their slightly squidy surroundings. Something of a greatest hits set followed, with ‘Oh La, La’ following ‘Happiness’ running straight into ‘Strict Machine’. As she left the stage Alison exclaimed that she was just getting starting and seemed genuinely sad to be finishing her set.

Next up, Iceland’s second biggest musical export after Bjork, Sigur Rós. Famous for their ethereal sound and lead singer Jónsi Birgisson’s distinctive falsetto voice, they took my breath away. Slightly wary of how they would translate to a festival audience, I was soon proved wrong. I spent the next hour absolutely mesmerised by them.

Opening with their biggest commercial hit, ‘Svefn-G-Englar’, it just got better and better, playing many of their new songs from their fifth album, Flood. It is surprising how little it mattered that all songs were in Icelandic. Simply one of the most magnificent, passionate and warm festival performances I’ve ever seen. From the brass section all in white with their ‘See-you-Jimmy’ hats, to the confetti raining down on captivated crowd, they couldn’t have been any better.

After a quick shimmy to the Vegas DJ’s in the Unknown Pleasures tent, a hop skip and a jump over to the Kopparberg One Big Tree for one last cider and a swift burger from one of the remaining food vans to energize us for the homeward hike, my festival was over.

Wading through the quagmire towards my tent, people remained in good spirits despite the decidedly adverse conditions. I chatted happily to those wading through beside us and decided to set up a ‘Swamp Support Group’ in case we got stuck in the mud! This was a real possibility; it was hard going to say the least!

Now, it wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy Connect, I did. Sure the weather could have been better, but that’s nobody’s fault. The music was fantastic and well organised, with the lights and sound some of the best around. However, the campsite was unacceptable and the toilets no where near able to cope with the numbers of people. From what I’ve heard they seemed to have learned nothing from the same problems they experienced last year. Would it really cost that much more to have 300 meters of walkway along the campsite to avoid this situation again?

As for it’s status as a ’boutique’ festival, I remain skeptical. It certainly wasn’t small, in geographical area or capacity. I saw nothing new, exciting or original that I hadn’t seen at many other festivals. Aside from drink, dance, cycle-power-a-shower or visit the odd information stall, there was little else on offer. I also wasn’t convinced that the sea of plastic ponchos that were being handed out round every corner, were all that environmentally friendly.

Yes, the trees looked pretty at night, and yes if it hadn’t been the wettest weekend for weeks the picnic tables would have been perfect for lunch and dinner and yes there were a few bars you could sit in that also looked lovely, but I’m afraid they are going to have to go a bit further than that to impress me next year or convince me of this boutique status they claim to have.

© Fiona Carr, 2008

Links

• Hydro Connect Festival