Another dodgy-weather-weekend, another festival in London! This week the cool cats all bombed down to our beloved Viccy P for Timeout’s Lovebox Weekender. Early shines were grim as the Hackney clouds amassed but the sun came out, the cheers went round and the Junior Boys continued their cracking set on the main stage like Hot Chip’s slightly dirty electro-bitch younger brother. Finally the scene was set, the punters were prepped with tinnies, tartiflette, falafel and another shits and giggles scenario began to unfold….
Beat boxing champion Beardy Man was our first host on Saturday keeping us entertained with vocal chord gymnastics through the classics. Patrick Wolf in all his beautiful insanity donned the stage; the skinny disco- violin- wielding- genius packed a rough, ready, steaming hot punch, wailing and screaming through a performance that set the bar very high very early on. With pre-song blurb relating his tracks to being held at knifepoint at Hackney Wick tube, East London’s favorite son forged a theme that lasted all weekend. This was a family affair; this was the Londoner’s festival.
Bringing in some Spanish flavour Ojos de Brujos had the Timeout stage in uproar in the early evening; we stumbled into the drunken mal-coordinated impromptu salsa class. They induced what was a truly seminal moment.
By the way… a few ciders on and nature takes its course so here’s a note for all the ladies out there who can’t wee standing and struggle to crouch in porta-loos! Lovebox provided the cleanest toilets I have seen all summer and with the boys and girls segregated you didn’t have to deal with the aftermath of the messier male contingent.
Cut-a-Shine had us pulling off a good old ho-down. Oh how we laughed, this lot sure know how to get the crowds moving...
Saturday night brought us Blondie, and thank God for it. Debbie’s legendary rock goddess status will always be safe as houses but on that fateful night she took herself to another level. The hottest person eligible for an OAP bus pass on the planet I fell in love with her all over again as she shimmied in a black and white striped number with rave Sunnies. The crowd was electric and I can say hand on heart I have never heard a rabble of people unified so perfectly in one voice as I did through Blondie’s show stopping rendition of Heart of Glass. I was kicked over by a giant Italian bunny rabbit and scooping me up we embraced and sang with all our might!
Sunday was rammed and the proverbial belt of rules was tightened with booze being confiscated on the gates and police were making their presence felt around the Trojan stage. But we rocked on in our after-affects-of-the-night-before haze. Again an early performance in the day from Hot Chip deserved another cream-of-the-crop, hands-down-we’re-not-worthy award. Similarly The Rapture offered up some afternoon goods in the blistering sunshine.
One of my personal faves of the day was Mr. Hudson and the Library banging out some bouncy ska in the Bassline Circus Tent. Sounding like a cross between The Police and what we could assume Jamie T would sound like if he could actually sing the beats - being strung out by some great keys and a steel drum. Later Toots and the Maytals took their sweet time getting onto the Timeout stage but I didn’t hear anyone grumble. Sadly it was so good I had to leave after being mildly damaged in a reggae mosh.
But onwards ever onwards to the last act of the festival…Groove Armada. Not a cloud in the sky, dusk falling about our ears GA put on a stonking show more then worthy of their ultimate position in the line up. The goose-bump inducing At the River got everyone into the flow before we were all eaten by funk shaking our asses and boogieing like we meant business.
When I finally got into bed my feet ached from dancing and my mouth ached from laughing. Small, intimate with a perfectly crafted line-up, the highlight of my summer so far. The Lovebox is a little ol’ place where we can get together, so for the love of everything sacred, next year go!
