Out on the south western coast of England, a small surf town has played host to 29 years of surf skate and music and was now welcoming the party loving crowd for a 30th time. Relentless Energy Drink Boardmasters Festival in association with Vans was up and running again.
What immediately struck me on the packed 2 carriage train from Par to Newquay – the only train route in or out – were the amount of relatively local young teens heading to the festival and it proved to be a fair indication of the age group of most of the attendees. We arrived at 11am and hopped on a bus from the town centre to the festival site paying £2 for the ride - a cost that can and does easily build up whilst shuffling through the venues, Fistral Beach Surf, Skate and BMX sessions and the Watergate Arena and the Campsite,
I headed straight for the medium arena after setting up my tent and slowly discovered the many stages and hidden gems dotted around. There was excitement in the air and a day could easily be spent discovering new acts on the smaller stages, sampling the vast array of cuisine or engaging in a healthy dose of funfair rides and attractions.
Eliza Doolittle was the first main act on, bringing her trademark summery vibe with her despite the changeable Cornish weather. Bombay Bicycle Club didn’t disappoint as they had the young and mostly female crowd singing along to every song in their melodic set. The Klaxons brought the main stage to a close with an energetic performance as the heavens opened on the undeterred crowd.
Over in the more intimate Relentless Energy session dome, ska band The Skints played a host of rearranged classics pulling in and pleasing more than their fair share of a captivated audience. Skindred were as crazy as expected with frontman Benji in rapid fire form and never shying away from calling the audience out with some foul language. The crowd were left in awe as it seemed they could do no wrong.
A trip to Fistral Beach was long overdue and I made the 30minute journey on Saturday afternoon after witnessing a rather lacklustre performance from Maverick Sabre, which left me wondering what all the hype around him was about. The sun was finally out albeit fleetingly and it seemed appropriate for what was a very scenic and enjoyable time on the sandy beach, watching waves of surfers competing in a sport I knew nothing of before later venturing to the huge skate ramp to marvel at the pro skaters pulling off incredible moves.
Back at Watergate Bay, Sub Focus live produced a credible hour of good dance tunes but left me wondering if they would have been better suited to a smaller stage as they had little to offer visually apart from Nick Douwma running around a very big stage. This was a worry that was quickly blown out of my mind as Fat Boy Slim closed the main stage on Saturday night with a reminder of why he is so renowned as an artist and DJ, with a set that was a perfect marriage between great dance music, visual and lights. The genius of the set however was a moment when proceeding where brought to a halt as the giant stage screen displayed what appeared to be Norman Jay’s inactive Macbook projection as he walked off stage. We quickly realised this was all part of show as the “processing” icon gradually got bigger and the headline act walked back on to continue his stunning set.
Lethal B was next on my list and the little I saw didn’t disappoint, I had to make a haste exit from the high energy show in the appropriately named Energy Sessions dome to watch The King Blues, fresh from their interview with me, playing a set made up mostly of material from their new album Punk & Poetry to an appreciative crowd that heartily sang along and cheered every call for action from frontman Itch, although ‘What if punk never happened’ was conspicuous in its absence from the set list.
Some of the other acts that proved very popular over the weekend include Gay for Johnny Depp, Wolf Gang, Jaguar Skills, Scratch Perverts, Twin Atlantic and Gentleman’s Dub Club. I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and met some lovely people at the campsite, which was weirdly reserved and free of incidents. The food was great and there was just about enough to discover both at Fistral Beach and Watergate Bay to keep the 5 days exciting if you can handle staying that long!
Published on 16 August 2011 by Jesse.Olu
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