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Friday
It’s ten to 1, we’ve been on-site for nearly 2 hours and we’ve only just got our tent up. Already the atmosphere is buzzing as both tents and well-deserved cans of various beverages open up around us after a good half-hour trek from the car park. Neither Struan nor I had ever had to erect a tent single-handedly without the help of camping-enthusiastic family members or friends before, and though the end result may have been a little bit lopsided, it was one we were proud of none the less! Booming sound checks can already be heard from the main arena as we eat our cheese sandwiches, fuelling us for the day ahead.
“Fish and Chips”. “Hog Roast”. “The Mexican Food Co.” Not exactly stalls you’d expect to see nestled beneath the turrets of Inveraray Castle, but stranger still is the fact that they don’t look entirely out of place as we explore the Circuses and Breads Field. The site is noticeably busier now as campers continue to pour through the entrance, staff in hi-vis vests roam the grounds, and every picnic-bench is host to festival-goers eating their fill, eagerly anticipating the weekend’s impressive line-up. And it is impressive; with four main stages and a steady flow of lesser-known artists in the Sunday Herald sponsored “Speakeasy Café”, it’s hardly surprising Hydro Connect 2008 has attracted such mainstream and international acts as Kasabian’s, Bloc Party, Gossip, Goldfrapp, Franz Ferdinand and Duffy, to name but a few.
A massive factor of the festival is the environmentally friendliness of the event, and the amount of effort put into “keeping it green” was obvious. Revellers are actively encouraged to REDUCE, RE-USE AND RECYCLE, with friendly notices situated all over the grounds, and the opportunity to win 2 free tickets to next year’s festival for the most innovative way of re-using the rain ponchos being handed out all over the site. Pedal-powered rickshaws offer free rides to the town, the toilets and the stages, and water re-fills from the Hydro Stations ensure carrying only one bottle is necessary and everyone is well hydrated. Something I had never encountered before attending the festival is the eco-friendly Power Shower; if you fancy a bit of a freshening up, you just hop in to one of showers that are heated by solar power and activated by a generous mate, pedalling on one of the fixed bikes outside the booth.
To say that Struan’s musical taste is an acquired one is an understatement, and as it was his first music festival I wanted him to have a good experience, so I didn’t begrudge him having a few drinks, especially when he unexpectedly bumped into one of his old friends, who was particularly keen to introduce him to the Fyne Ales tent. After sampling the offers there we headed on down to the Guitars and Other Machines Field, hosting the stage of the same name, to catch The Breeders’ set. Both band and crowd were brilliant, and with a twenty year career behind them they certainly had plenty of material to work with, and still managed to squeeze in a cover, with singer Kim Deal claiming “we’re classy, ‘cause we know The Beatles!”
I wanted to head down to the Oyster Stage and catch some of Kasabian’s set, but not before a detour to the food stalls as due to my tolerance of the free-flowing drink it had come to the point where I couldn’t understand a word coming out of Struan’s mouth, and felt it was about time to force-feed him some chips. Kasabian’s audience were electric, and with such crowd-friendly between-song banter it’s little wonder they won Best Live Act Award at last year’s NME Awards. Walking up the hill, we noticed a face at an open window of the castle, watching the rest of the set. Was it the Duke of Argyll? Who knows, but we toasted the anonymous head anyway, and even got a wave! My highlight of Friday night though, was Sparks’ set in the Unknown Pleasures tent. A band I have loved since my dad introduced them to me as a kid, Sparks have a career spanning from the 1970’s, and 20 studio albums to date. Their set was brilliant, but despite my best efforts they were damn near impossible to get a clear picture of, with singer Russell Mael’s trademark on-stage hyperactivity establishing him more energetic than the bands half his age on the larger stages! Luckily I managed to snap a few pictures, and then it was time to head back to the tent after a day of many new sights, sounds and smells to prepare ourselves for Saturday’s events.
Saturday
The first thing I noticed upon waking on Saturday morning was my aching back; our tent pitch may have been dry, but it certainly wasn’t even! Early morning was spent on the campsite, chatting to our neighbours and planning the day ahead. A few tents to the south of us were a group of lads from Leicestershire, who had travelled 8 hours up by mini-bus and were dressed as astronauts. For a few of them it was their first festival, but one who has been frequenting the V Festival and Glastonbury for the last 6 years was mightily impressed with Hydro Connect. “It’s my first time up here but it beats the other two hands down.” Our surprise must have been evident, as he continued. “Well first off you’ve got the setting, it’s just fantastic, and you still manage to attract the big bands, the line-up’s great. It’s also a lot smaller than the other festivals; it’s got a completely different vibe. I was getting bored of V festival anyway, it’s just full of Brummie’s and Scousers!”
Struan and I headed into the Circuses and Bread field at about 11, which seemed to be recovering from the previous night’s festivities. Picnic-benches were dotted with festival-goers and their cups of coffee, nursing their pounding heads back to normal in time for the first act of the day. One of said acts and first of the weekend to grace the Your Sound Bandstand was Emily Scott, who I had the good fortune to run into before her set and ask her a few questions.
Me: Are you looking forward to playing today? You’re on the Your Sound stage?
Emily Scott: I’m really looking forward to it, I’m excited. And yes, on the Your Sound stage; the baby stage!
Me: So is it your first time here in Inveraray?
Emily Scott: I’ve been up this way before but it’s my first time in Inveraray. It’s a really beautiful area.
Me: There’s lots of tents and attractions, are you planning on sampling any of the fine foods today?
Emily Scott: I plan on sampling many of the fine foods!
Me: And is there anyone here you’d like to see in particular?
Emily Scott: I’d like to see Joan as Policewoman, and Grinderman.
Me: Thanks very much!
Pictures of Emily Scott before and during her set can be found in the photo gallery.
If there is one thing in abundance at Hydro Connect alongside the music, its food, and one tent in particular really takes the biscuit. Struan and I both decided that today would be the day that we too would sample the offerings from the Foods from Argyll tent. Well, with Argyll and Pure’s sign outside boasting “Probably the best Burgers & Macaroni Cheese you’ll ever taste!”, who wouldn’t? Never one to pass up a challenge, Struan purchased said burger and proclaimed that yes, actually, it probably was the best burger he’d ever tasted, but he had to get one of Kintyre’s Ifferdale Farm lamb burgers from the neighbouring stall later on to decide. True to both his stomach and his word, he did just that, but couldn’t decide between them. Having the sweeter tooth of the two of us, I opted for a sticky toffee pudding with custard from Lochgilphead’s Bumble stall, which was delicious, and Cambeltown’s Inverloch Cheddar cheese on toast on Sunday morning, served by none other than my lovely friend Rosie, which was just what I needed, and very enjoyable! Alas, unlike a lot of people over the three day festival I wasn’t brave enough to try the Loch Fyne Oysters. Maybe next time! But they didn’t miss my custom; nestled between the family-run business of Fyne Ales tent and the Loch Fyne Whiskies Bar, the Food from Argyll tent was packed the whole weekend, which I think is a good indication of the standard of the truly fantastic range of foods available there.
One big feature that particularly appealed to me, and enhanced my personal festival experience, was the facilities onsite. The hand sanitizers attached to the barriers were a gods send – with a 15000 strong attendance things are bound to get messy, which brings me onto the subject of the Portaloos. Let’s face it, no-one likes using festival toilets, and obviously to say they weren’t sparkling the entire weekend is an understatement, but credit where its due to those appointed to the upkeep of the toilets, as due to regular cleaning and stocking up of toilet roll they surpassed my expectations, and I doubt I speak for myself in this statement. A lot of fellow campers said they were better than those at T in the Park, and I found it wasn’t the toilets themselves that were the problem, but rather the quagmire you had to endure the short distance from the walkway to the portaloo door to use them.
Wellies gathered in all sizes, colours and patterns for Paolo Nutini’s highly anticipated set, and being native he was well received, particularly by the Paisley dwelling members of the throng whom he toasted. I really like Paolo; I think he’s just great, and his sound is different than everyone else out there right now. And it was during his set that I realised there was one factor that really struck a chord (if you’ll excuse the pun) regarding all the acts on every stage over the weekend; the measure of the sound quality and the lighting. It was spot-on, and catered for any atmosphere, in every song. I can’t praise the engineers, technicians and anyone else involved in that dept. enough because as any concert-goer knows, it really can make or break a show.
There was an extra surprise on Saturday night regarding lightshows, however, as a green strobe reached high into the sky and down onto the crowd from the Watch Tower on Dun Na Cuiache. Twirling white Celtic
knot-esque symbols were also beamed onto the castle by a strobe elsewhere, which was spectacular.
Before we went to catch some of The Roots in the Unknown Pleasures tent, I stopped by the Silent Disco. A truly surreal experience if ever there was one, every clubber is presented with a pair of wireless headphones, and involves two duelling DJ’s only a flick of a switch away from each other, as the dance floor sways, pounds and bounces in apparent silence.
The Roots put on a lively and well choreographed set of modern R&B music and pulled a large crowd, and then it was off to the Speakeasy Café for me and Struan as we caught up with the first comedic act of the night, Daniel Sloss, at the tender age of 17. I wouldn’t have had the guts to get up and do what he did, and he got more than just a few laughs with his personal anecdotes and self-mockery, but the real star of the tent was Canadian Phil Nicol. What his intended act was going to be we’ll never know, as less than 30 seconds into his routine he was heckled. This turned into a good-natured slanging match that saw Phil drag his heckler onstage with him to teach him a lesson. This progressed to a shameless “I’ll do it if you do” removal of clothing encouraged by the cheering audience and resulted, ultimately, in both comedian and heckler standing stark naked in front of a tent full to bursting with an appreciative audience laughing uncontrollably. It was the perfect - if a little less subtle - show prior to the burlesque dancing and fetish acts of Club Noir at midnight, which was, in a word, mesmerizing. It’s highly entertaining, nothing like I’d ever seen in advance, nothing like I expected it to be and something I would definitely like to see more of in the future!
Sunday
Up until this point the weather had been more than forgiving, going by Scotland’s conditions of August thus far. I hardly think anyone arrived expecting a scorcher, but the worst we’d had was drizzle and threatening grey clouds which certainly didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits. But the first thing to greet me come Sunday morning was a hail of watery bullets against our tent. It wasn’t the rain I was worried about so much as the veritable marsh that was awaiting us beyond the tent flap, but in the name of dunoonpeeps.com I knew it was a calamity that must be overcome, so we ventured out into the swamp. It was noon, but no-one was about, and I don’t think it was the rain and mud so much as one too many in the Kopparberg tent the night before for most of our fellow campers! Most tents in the Circuses and Bread field were completely void of audience and entertainers, and the food stalls weren’t yet open for business vis-à-vis the chips and cheese situation. (Only a Scot would go looking for chips and cheese for breakfast!) Struan and I knew exactly where we were headed, though. I think I speak for the both of us when I say The Speakeasy Café was our favourite tent of the weekend. With its hanging rugs, home-made treats, comfortable couches and perpetual laid-back atmosphere it seemed a world away from the fluorescent socks, hats and silly sunglasses of the main arena. If it’s a comfy seat, a cuppa and a cheeky read of The Herald you’re pining for over the weekend, an intimate set with a little-known local band, or even just a place to chill-out after some of the more energetic attractions onsite, The Speakeasy Café gets 10/10!
One question I did want to answer for dunoonpeeps.com as I’m aware it spans the whole community – young, old and in-between! - is whether or not Hydro Connect Festival is a family friendly event. There were several families wandering around the site, and of those I managed to speak to it seems the general consensus is it is family-friendly, if you stick to the right areas. With stalls offering everything from finger-puppets to masks, glow sticks and whistles to keep kids amused, plenty of seating and food stands, and from my experience an accommodating crowd, they didn’t seem in the least bit troubled. One thing I was told is the three days may be too long for the younger ones, especially regarding the weather conditions. I think the Hydro Connect crowd of 2008 were lucky to experience fairly good weather conditions, and the lack of midges was a big plus in everyone’s book!
I would recommend the Hydro Connect Festival to anyone of any age, but you have to come prepared. Wellies are a must, as Scotland’s weather is extremely unpredictable. It is also a bit of a trek from the car park (and alternative entrance from the town) so only take the bare essentials with you, as that distance would be even less fun weighed down in the pouring rain. I am aware a lot of complaints have been made about the further £8 fee for a festival programme on top of the ticket price, (I did make a lot of use of both the flip program worn round the neck and the brochure version, and will keep them as souvenirs, but at £8 they were considerably overpriced) and paying for this was the only way of knowing who was on when, so hopefully the organisers will accommodate for this next year. I think that Hydro Connect has the potential to become one of Scotland’s best loved festivals, due to the stunning location and mainstream bands willing to continue to support and attend, and will grow and improve with every year. Long may it continue!
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