Osfest 2011 Saturday Daytime Review
Osfest took place on the bank holiday weekend of May 28th 29th and 30th. Check out our full review from the Friday Pre Show show! right through to Monday, so get ready for Part One Friday pm – Saturday am ie Saturday Daytime
OsFest 2011, where do I start……? Well, now in its 2nd year and with a fantastic turnout of over 4,500 people over the course of the weekend- it has definitely grown over the past twelve months.
The weekend kicked off on Friday night with the “Ninja” himself- Jaguar Skills (http://jaguarskills.com/), who pulled off an awesome 2hr set. He got the crowd well and truly going with his quirky mash ups of chart hits and cult songs from “You got the love” to the Only Fools and Horses theme tune….just pure genius! The only downside with Friday was that by the time everyone had got into the mood, after setting their tents up and getting festi-ready the music stopped and we were ushered back to our tents! But, Hey! Probably a good thing really, as Saturday was always going to be a heavy day!
After a (surprisingly) good night’s sleep on the Friday, we awoke on Saturday feeling really refreshed. We sensibly decided to check out the food stalls before opening the cider, so- off we went!
Now, let me explain, last year there were so many food choices available from Chinese food to beautiful barbeque burgers. So, it is safe to say that I was more than a little disappointed this year with what was on offer- a few burger, pizza and fish and chip vans, a curry van and a crepes stall. Don’t get me wrong, the food was good, but a little bit “samey”. Especially disappointing was that the only thing on offer for the 4,500+ people to have before midday was two burger vans. The pizza stall was in fact open, but they were only offering tea and coffee….! However, after wondering around from stall to stall we finally managed to line our stomachs, just in time for the first act to come on stage at 12pm.
The first band to hit the main stage on Saturday was “String the Marionette”( http://www.facebook.com/pages/String-The-Marionette) – a local band who had won a battle of the bands competition to open the festival. And fair play to them, they did a brilliant job! They opened their set with an old favourite- Foo Fighters’ Times like these, which certainly got the crowd’s attention. The set continued with a mix of original tracks and awesome covers, and they most definitely earnt their place on stage!
While the sun was shining and the bands were playing, we thought we would go and explore the site before the masses emerged from their tents. We discovered a fun fair, a bouncy castle and slide, penalty shootout, a miniature Zorbing game and none other than a Pimms bus!
Tinchy Strider (http://tinchystryderonline.com/) was originally expected to be on stage on Saturday night, bit after a personal request by a certain Rio Ferdinand to play at the Champions League cup final, his set was bought forward to 2.30pm. At this point, the sun was beaming and that definitely bought the crowd out in full force. He played (with a live band and fantastic backing singer) a collection of his hits including “Let it rain” and of course “Number 1“. He certainly had the crowd on side, and the atmosphere was brilliant, with people of all ages, from all different walks of live enjoying the music.
That is one of the main things I like about OsFest- the fact that it really does cater for everyone. In terms of music, activities and most importantly- price. It’s affordable for families to be able to take the kids to enjoy themselves too.
The only downside to that is, is that due to there being a great deal of under 18’s (unsupervised) the security does need to be improved around the campsite, just so that everyone can enjoy the atmosphere without there being any issues (particularly at night).
Following Tinchy, on the second stage was the fantastic (local) band “Colour Sunday”( http://www.coloursunday.co.uk/), who drew in a fantastic crowd. They gave out free promo cd’s after the set, and having listened to it a couple of times since I can honestly say, they are a really tight, extremely talented group and definitely worth looking out for.
The next act I saw on Saturday afternoon was “The Fillers” (http://www.myspace.com/thefillersrock) – the biggest Killers cover band. To tell you the truth, they were equally as good as the real thing, and the crowd went nuts! Particularly when then played “Mr Brightside” and “When we were young” – just absolutely awesome tunes to hear played live, especially in a festival atmosphere.
Next onto the second stage were “Major Major” (http://www.myspace.com/majormajor), a four piece from Liverpool, who seriously blew me away. There stage presence was incredible with front man Conor Clarke really engaging with the crowd and getting them involved from the outset. The band were so tight, and so exciting the small crowd that was there to watch them initially multiplied until it was 30-40 deep within minutes. Having grabbed a couple of their promo cd’s afterwards and listened to it a couple of times since, they are my new favourite band of the moment and I cannot wait to see them again.
Up next on the main stage was “Aggro Santos” (http://www.aggrosantos.com/home) who appeared to initially draw in a large crowd, however, after the first couple of songs it dwindled somewhat. I personally think that because the standard of acts had been so high throughout the afternoon, both on the main and second stage, he may have been a slight letdown. Coupled with the fact that his backing singer was quite obviously miming it did not go down too well with the music loving crowd. Also, at this time, the Champions League Cup Final was being shown elsewhere in the grounds, so many people were watching that.
Swiftly following “Aggro Santos”, on the second stage was “Suzuki Method”( http://suzuki-method.co.uk)- a Salford based band of 5 very talented lads who really know their stuff. They have successfully managed to merge hard rock, indie and 80’s hard dance to create this incredibly funky rock vibe that you cannot help but move along with. Unfortunately their set was cut short due to timings, but they were definitely one of the highlights for me. It was just a shame that so many people missed them due to watching the footy.
Immediately after “Suzuki Method” was a surprise new addition to the OsFest line up- Mobo award winning “Lethal Bizzle” (http://www.myspace.com/lethalbizzlemusic) – who managed to get the crowd moving within his first song! He played some fantastic remixes of old classics like “House of Pain- Jump around” which, as you can imagine went down brilliantly, as well as his biggest hit- “POW!”
Next up on the second stage was “The Trinity Band” (http://www.thetrinityband.com/), a totally unique and talented five piece who describe themselves as : “More Than a band, They Play More than ‘Just’ Music. They are about creating a musical experience like no other. They play as one yet each section of the band stands out in their own right!”- I could not have described them any better myself, apart from being incredibly talented musicians and singers they had that extra “stage presence” that you don’t see very often, particularly with up and coming bands. They performed some fantastic covers including Usher’s OMG, Estelle American boy- cheekily changed to OsFest girl, and really managed to get the crowd involved, by dancing, stamping their feet and ultimately by being really talented!
Rest of Osfest 2011 Reviews