I have always rather fancied a bit of snowboarding! I like a bit of a daydream about a snowboarding holiday, sun, snow and après ski, followed by nights of clubbing and adventure, fun and friends, music and mayhem etc etc. But being rather a liability on even a bicycle and never really having quite enough cash to fund such a lavish holiday experience this little daydream has remained just that - a day dream - until last Saturday! Being asked to review the music for Freeze Festival in Battersea and having been warned to dress as though I was ready to hit the slopes I turned up to experience a little bit of alpine adventure. Log cabins, Christmas trees and Battersea Power Station could almost be Mont Blanc out of the corner of your eye.... well maybe after a few beers (quite a few beers) and if you have been squinting in the sun while staring at the snow slope put up just for the occasion!
I could see the slope from a mile away glinting in the sun, it looked a bit precarious as we got closer and incredibly steep and all afternoon the boarders were somersaulting, almost flying down the slope to amazed crowds. The World Cup was taking place and to someone who does not know a lot about the subject it seemed tough that after jumping and managing a double somersault the whole thing is judged on the landing. I think I will stick to music- I know a little bit more about that!
This was a chance to catch some of the best of current British dance music with some great indie bands thrown in for good measure. The first band we managed to catch was Yes Cadets, they were a good start, an emphatic performance, great musicians I would like to see them again and The Energy Sessions Stage had the best sound I think at the festival. The sets were so short though barely a few songs in and we were onto the next band. Clement Marfo and the Frontline also from South West London definitely put in the most energetic performance of the day. These guys are full of it and its gooood! They seemed to have quite a few of their fans there to see them who were also young and full of energy and throwing themselves around as much as possible - music and mayhem!
I caught a couple of songs from Fixers, Spector, Baskerville and Summer Camp while pottering around with beers and they were all worth a watch but I wanted to see Modestep particularly so we got in early and it was brilliant! Absolutely rammed but well worth the crush they were the highlight of the day for me. I wanted buy an electric guitar and make grimy noises with it after seeing them. What a great band, worthy if their meteoric rise and a breath of fresh dubstep air! The set seemed too short again however it did not feel like forty five minutes.
It was difficult to leave after Modestep so we didn’t and stayed to see Dirtyphonics, the music was very dirty electro but missing something in the performance after watching Modestep. Dirtyphonics are so in tune with each other, every beat precise, they stand together in a line and twiddle their knobs for all they are worth and the sound they make is something else but not as memorable as other bands I saw. Does it offend you Yeah? followed and this was an interesting set, not quite what I was expecting, dubstep with a twang of metal, brilliantly executed and passionately played. I did like them but it was not quite hitting the spot so we left to see the last London performance of The Streets.
I wish I had stayed where I was, what a disappointment! The feeling was so flat by the Main Stage and the sound was dreadful. Earlier in the day we had been right up by the stage to watch the bands performing there so hadn’t realised that there are no speakers for the back of this massive tent. The sound couldn’t possibly carry that far with thousands of people filling the huge space. The vibe was one of music lovers paying their last respects to The Streets rather than one of fans really enjoying themselves. I could not bear to watch and I could not really hear anything so that was that and by this time -10pm everything was shutting down, it seemed really early!
I had a great day though all in all, people travel from all over the country to this festival both for the snow sports and the music and it’s worth it! If you like either of those things, even if you don’t know much about snowboarding no one will know and you can easily pretend you are halfway up a mountain and you know all about it- it’s all in the attitude! Or should that be altitude?
Published on 01 November 2011 by Cathi Moore
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