If you’re wondering what to do with yourself this summer and every time you pick up the now handily miniaturised Argos catalogue it falls open at the camping page, perhaps you should embrace nature and follow your instincts. You could of course head off to the south of France, where the weather’s fine, the wine’s cheap and the tents are already put up for you by spotty youths on gap years. But where’s the adventure in that? No, what you really want to do is buy a tent and pitch it erratically in the middle of the night, only to wake up and find that your new home is right next to an enormous toilet block, under an electricity pylon and has early-rising neighbours who like to chant. Welcome to the festival season…
One thing that all the bigger festival headliners have in common this year is that they’re male and favour guitars. The one slight deviation from that (he’s still a bloke after all) is Jay-Z - and didn’t all the boys and guitars get a bit pouty about that? However, if boys and guitars are your bag, then the festivals have it covered: The Verve, Kings Of Leon, Vampire Weekend, Young Knives, Foals, Kaiser Chiefs, The Police, R.E.M., Stereophonics- the list goes on.
Luckily though, festivals aren’t all about the headliners. Rather, they’re about a whole host of acts, the vibe, how effective wet wipes really are and how many pints of cider you can drink without falling over. They’re about making friends with your neighbouring tent at 3am under the stars, about sitting in Glastonbury’s green fields talking existentialism, about dancing in a tent to random German techno, about realising you have no loo paper only after you’ve done a poo. RealMusic Blog was at Glastonbury last year to witness mud and gore. Our advice - take wellies.
But it’s not all about Glastonbury. Choose from Reading, Leeds, Oxegen, V Festival and T in the Park, The Big Chill, Creamfields and Bestival as well as oodles of smaller festivals, European festivals and London gigs including LoveBox Weekender and Hyde Park’s Wireless Festival. Have tent will travel? Here are some dates for your diary…
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Glastonbury: June 27-29, Worthy Farm, Glastonbury, Somerset
Music: Sprawling site with myriad stages and literally hundreds of acts under every different music umbrella. So if headliners like The Verve, Kings Of Leon and Jay-Z don’t float your boat, there’s plenty else that will - including Leonard Cohen, Sinead O’Connor, Manu Chao and Shakin’ Stevens…
For more: www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk
Wakestock: July 27-29, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire
Music: Groove Armada, Pendulum, Mark Ronson, Estelle, Calvin Harris, Happy Mondays, Funeral For A Friend, The Streets, Supergrass, The Futureheads and DJs Pete Tong, Brandon Block and Norman Jay line up alongside Europe’s premiere wakeboarders for a wet and wild weekend.
For more: www.wakestock.co.uk/blenheim
Wireless Festival: July 3-6, Hyde Park, London
Music: Counting Crows, Morrissey, Jay-Z and Fatboy Slim headline four nights in the capital.
For more: www.o2wirelessfestival.co.uk
T In The Park: July 11-13, Balado, Kinross-shire, Scotland
Music: Eight stages are set to offer up the likes of R.E.M., Kings Of Leon, The Verve and Rage Against The Machine as headliners, along with Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Hot Chip, Ian Brown and bags more.
For more: www.tinthepark.com
Oxegen: July 11-13, Punchestown Racecourse, Naas, Co Kildare
Music: Six arenas with all the usual suspects present and correct: Kings Of Leon, Interpol, Editors, Groove Armada, The Verve, R.E.M., Kaiser Chiefs, Rage Against The Machine and so many more.
For more: www.oxegen.ie/2008
Lovebox Weekender: July 19-20, Victoria Park, London
Music: Groove Armada’s weekend in the Big Smoke is set to feature pop acts like Alphabeat, stalwarts like The Flaming Lips, along with Roni Size, Goldfrapp, Jack Penate and The Human League.
For more: www.lovebox.net
The Big Chill: August 1-3, Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Malvern Hills, Herefordshire
Music: The clubbing tent features DJ Krush and Roots Manuva, and expect acts like Hot Chip, Roisin Murphy, Alabama 3, Lykke Li, Beth Orton, Mr Scruff and Martha Wainwright.
For more: www.bigchill.net
V Festival: August 16-17, Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire
Music: Six stages where Girls Aloud, The Feeling, Sugababes, Alanis Morissette and OneRepublic rub shoulders with Muse, Kings Of Leon, The Verve, Stereophonics and Amy Winehouse.
For more: www.vfestival.com
Reading: August 22-24, Richfield Avenue, Reading
Leeds: August 22-24, & Bramham Park, near Leeds
Music: Reading and Leeds share the same line-ups, just on different days. Now in its 20th year, Reading’s history is steeped in rawk and that’s reflected in the headliners who include Metallica, The Killers and Rage Against The Machine, as well as Dizzee Rascal, Manic Street Preachers and The Cribs.
For more: www.readingfestival.com/home or www.leedsfestival.com/home
Creamfields: August 23-24, Daresbury in Halton, near Liverpool
Music: The tenth anniversary of the dance festival sees headliners including Fatboy Slim, Paul Van Dyk, Erick Morillo, Underworld, Judge Jules, Tiesto and umpteen others.
For more: www.creamfields.com
Bestival: September 5-7, Robin Hill Country Park, Isle Of Wight
Music: The now-traditional curtain-downer on the festival season is already sold out, with Amy Winehouse, Underworld and Hot Chip signed up, along with a slew of 80s acts, Santogold, Will Young and RealMusic Blog favourite Chromeo.
For more: www.bestival.net
(Clare Lydon)
