Get Loaded in the Park 2011 Preview

Think music and south London; what pops into your head? Jamie T, Brixton Academy, the early happenings of Mystery Jets and not a whole lot else really. As someone who’s lived in the region all my 19 years of life, I can say it with some authority that we really don’t have that much to boast about.

But every year since 2004 (minus the random sabbatical of 2010), the urban green space of Clapham Common has seen thousands of people come south of the river to experience London’s “biggest indie showcase” (according to its website), Get Loaded in the Park.

To proclaim itself as an “indie showcase” will work as something of a deterrent for many, but it needn’t, as it is simply isn’t the case. Previous headliners such as The Streets and Orbital could probably walk unmobbed and barely recognized through the alternative culture hives of Camden and Shoreditch (both, incidentally, north of the river), whilst his year’s headliners, Razorlight, would undoubtedly find it a challenge not get spat at.

Having said all that, there are nonetheless some brilliant acts of the indie/alt. persuasion completing the line-up this year. Towards the bottom of the bill there’s quirky singer-songwriter Beans on Toast, synthesising post-punks O. Children and blues-rock trio The Joker & The Thief. Meanwhile, one can expect the biggest crowds of the day to be pulled in by previous Mercury Prize nominees British Sea Power, “the biggest cult band in Britain” (in the words of Q magazine) The Cribs and the flamboyant spectacle that is Patrick Wolf.

To see the full line-up, ticket prices and various other info, visit www.getloadedinthepark.com/