Seemingly situated inside a cloud, Rockness festival takes place on the banks of Loch Ness. Aside from the weather, the area appears to be designed for a festival with a gradual hill forming a natural amphitheatre providing great views wherever you are.
Friday saw a lot of the crowd switching between the main stage and the adjacent Goldenvoice tent, but the main stage was where the majority of the action was. Following the Mystery Jet’s great opening, The Drums took to the stage and got the crowd dancing with their catchy surf pop, the obvious highlight being ‘let’s go surfing’.
Alongside at the Goldenvoice tent, Wretch 32 got an easy crowd pleaser by bring the night’s headliner Ed Sheeran, to the stage to perform ‘Hush Little Baby’ for the very young audience. By this time Noah and the Whale were on the main stage giving another of the day’s strong pop sets, peaking with ‘Five Years Time’ and the sing along ‘L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N’.
Friday’s headliner in the Goldenvoice tent was Ed Sheeran but, in their first ever headline slot, Mumford and Sons stole the show and were the highlight of the weekend. The set was the perfect mix of old and new and really got the crowd going. They played what could be determined as their classics early on, getting the crowd warmed up from the chilly breeze. Later crowd pleasers included ‘Dustbowl Dance’ and new track, ‘Lover of the Light’, with the crowd stomping their feet in unison throughout the night. If their set was anything to go by their new album is going to be even better than the first.
Moving into Saturday the ‘festival feeling’ begins to kick in, but with the biggest dance acts playing that night the grogginess would have to wear off. And what better way to cheer up than Tim Minchin, who took to the Godenvoice tent early afternoon making comedy look like rock and roll, getting the crowd clapping and singing, as well as laughing along. Following Tim Minchin, a little jaunt over to the Clash tent was in order to see the delightful Lucy Rose who has gained a large and loyal following this year supporting Bombay Bicycle Club. She entranced the crowd and, no doubt pleased with her work, even came out to meet people afterwards.
After a fairly relaxing day the night’s headliners were almost a surprise with Justice and Deadmau5 providing an onslaught of dance and electro, although not for everyone. Justice took to the Goldenvoice stage a little earlier than scheduled so as not to conflict with Deadmau5’s headline set on the main stage. Their set was enjoyed for the most part but could really have done with being a bit louder, even so it was a nice warm up for the mass commute to the main stage. Aside from the dilemma of a possessive apostrophe after a number five in his name, Deadmau5’s set was very strong and managed to keep the crowd perked up for the two and a half hours it was on. After donning his trademark head gear the set began fairly tamely but as it passed the hour mark a wave of dubstep was unleashed into the crowd and never let up after that, with a brilliant light show keeping all entertained.
As the weekend grew to a close the rain was still refusing to shift, despite a few gaps that conveniently seemed to fall when the headliners were on. Nevertheless the crowd were in high spirits for the final day, which in the early afternoon saw a few welcome surprises. The walk to the main stage was greeted with The Cuban Brothers offering up their Sunday Service. As well as catching Miguel Mantovani the lead singer warming up in a thong backstage, the set was very entertaining and culminated with a brilliant dance off between the dancers, Archerio and Kenny the Bastard.
An act that really showcased the festival’s diversity was Ash’s headline set in the Clash tent. Initially having a rather old crowd, by the end the tent was filled with people of all ages dancing along together. Playing 20 years after their first rehearsal, the band showcased all the songs that made them as big as they were, ending with ‘Burn Baby Burn’. Following this was an incredible set on the main stage by 70s pop band Chic, getting everybody lucky enough to see them dancing along. They closed their set with ‘Good Times’, which Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’ takes its bass line from, even doing a bit of the rap at the end.
Bringing the festival to a close on the main stage were Biffy Clyro, a worthy headline choice for the home crowd. Their set was another good example of getting just the right balance between old and new, showing their loyal fans a great time. As a band who gained their fan base through relentless gigging they were obviously very tight and, as an aside, their performance of ‘Many of Horror’ showed that The X Factor has done nothing at all to damage them. The show ‘ended’ with a blistering sing along to ‘Bubbles’, and on their return to the stage for the encore they were met with overwhelming cheers. The set eventually did end with ‘Captain’ and an entertaining firework show to bring the festival to a close for another year, leaving all quite content.
Published on 13 June 2012 by ahartley
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