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With quality headline acts such as Kanye West, Rodrigo Y Gabriella and The Chemical Brothers, the grounds of Eastnor Castle were crammed with festival goers. With 8 stages to choose from they were spoilt for choice.
The set from Tom Middleton who is regularly booked for the Big Chill had the whole field up and dancing as did Janelle Monae and her vivacious band – the energy was contagious! None of the acts disappointed and some real gems were found on the smaller stages. Look out for the amazing 9 piece Wara from London - they have a hot Cuban sound and amazingly talented musicians.
Kanye West’s performance was mind blowing. Even if you don’t like hip hop, it was worth watching just for the class of performance, the stage set up and the 20 backing dancers, opera singers and ballerinas. Despite keeping everyone waiting for half an hour and going in to a bit of a speech halfway through about how the media treat artists and how he’s been perceived, it stood out from the rest by a mile.
Opening for Kanye was the delightful Jessie J who’s warm personality shone through as she talked with the crowd and cracked some jokes about her broken leg. Despite being confined to her chair, she belted out tunes from her album ‘Who you are’ to the delight of her screaming fans.
Dionne Bromfield gave an emotional performance as her last song was in tribute to her Godmother Amy Winehouse. The crowds absolutely loved her and her voice is incredible for someone so young.
Other highlights were Robert Plant and his pre Led Zepplin band ‘The Band of Joy’, The absolute genius Chris Cunningham who’s known for Directing the terrifying Aphex Twin videos and the alien/girl from the Playstation video, Neneh Cherry, Zola Jesus and Calvin Harris.
Published on 08 August 2011 by Ben Robinson
