WildLife 2016

Hi everyone!

I've been contemplating what to upload lately, because I'm not really 100% sure what I want to write, not like a 'oh gosh what am I doing with my life I can't write anything' type of uncertainty, more of a 'I have too many ideas brain please sthap' kind of mentality. This one's gonna be all about something new, and something that was equally underwhelming but brilliant - I went to a festival for the first time.

I had glitter on my face, my Bowie shirt on, shorts that made me feel so self-conscious it hurts and a bag round my front - -basic festival go-er in all her glory feat. Matthew looks RAD here.

Rudimental and Disclosure hosted a two day festival at Brighton City Airport in Shoreham (Shoreham, not Brighton) and that's literally a 15-20 minute drive from my house, so it only made sense to go along and see what all the hype was about. This year was the second year of the festival, and it had promised to be better than the first, with better standards of cleanliness and even more vigilant rules enforced regarding drugs and alcohol (disclaimer: I saw people there who clearly weren't searched and intoxicated with all sorts), but it's a festival by definition so I was kinda expecting both to find their way inside. There was a pretty decent line-up on the Saturday, so me and my gig-buddy turned festival friend decided to go along for the first day. 

Saturday's line-up was actually pretty good - far better than the year before!

The general plan was to get there not long after 2 when they began admitting entrance to the area, and then just go and check out different acts before the ones we knew we wanted to see. We originally planned to see the following:

Rag'n'Bone Man

RatBoy

Flume

Busta Rhymes

Skepta

Annie Mac

Disclosure

DJ EZ

Our plans changed however when we discovered the ridiculously priced beverages (£5 for a Koppaberg is ridiculous!) and we were suddenly nursing our drinks until they became too warm for us to stand. I knew the drinks would be pricey, but I can get a pitcher in Spoons for £6, or a BeeSting for £3 back in Bath (if you've never had a BeeSting get on it!) so I was a tad disheartened.

The view of the sun setting over Lancing College in the distance was really nice, the photo (much like the rest of these awful phone-quality images) don't do it any justice whatsoever

The first act we saw was Rag'n'Bone Man, which was nice and relaxed and was just good live music you could get down to, there's no other way of describing it really. We ventured out of the Big Top (where we spent most of our time) and bumped into people we both knew from high school (the whole festival was full of people I knew from high school and the local Worthing/Brighton area) and it was really nice because I hadn't seen them in ages)

It was incredible to see this live, check out RATBOY on Spotify good stuff indeed! 

We went back to the Big Top and saw RatBoy later on, I was very excited to see RatBoy because although there are very few songs on Spotify or singles, the music produced is just so good, it's catchy but it isn't annoying and you could easily mosh or dance along (mosh pits, mosh pits all around) and I managed to get the set list as well which was great, even if I did have to jump for it and annoy a group of 14 year old girls in my way to get it.

The set-up for this was really nice, visually pleasing as well as it being a nice experience for the ears too!

Next up was De La Soul, which we weren't too familiar with, but we went off and grabbed some food (Matt got a hot dog that smelt amazing and I got chips #veganprobz) but we went along for the end and the music was good, I even recognised bits and bobs which was good because I wasn't totally clueless. It was nearly over when we went and it was soon over with many leaving straight away to go to other stage. People had left the tent before this, so we got very near the front for Flume, much to Matt's delight.

Flume live was incredible - Tennis Court was played and shit was well and truly lost

I had listened to snippets of Flume's music before at gatherings and parties and generally liked what I had heard, so I had no issue seeing it all live with one of my fave humans ever. It was incredible - everyone was just having a great time and enjoying the music, there were no mosh pits, just good vibes all round. This was the kind of music I would listen to whilst revising or just chilling out, but it felt so much more energetic live and in a tent with loads of other people and made me very happy indeed. This atmosphere was very different to gigs that me and Matt had usually gone to together, but it was so good and I would happily go again!

Anne Mac's set got a lot of attention and love from the crowd, but some enjoyed it away from the stage and chilled out with their friends

After Flume, we went to check out the main stage where Annie Mac was, we got halfway from the front, and by this point we had found two pals and hung out as a four which was nice, but we weren't feeling the set as much as we had hoped and hunger may have played a part in this, so we set out and got more food (I had only had chips so I was feeling extra hungry!) I got this veggie bean burger and plantain dish which was cool, and it came with a salad too (let's be honest though, I'm not a huge salad fan, especially not when I'm at somewhere that smells of burgers and chicken and other wonderfully scented unhealthy foods) and we went back for Disclosure who were headlining that day as well as co-hosting with Rudimental.

I loved the projections and the light work, it was cleverly done and was very aesthetically pleasing

Awful quality once more, but it was a really nice vibe - totally different to what I'm used to

Disclosure were pretty good, but they've never really been my thing - but I knew a few songs and I could easily learn the words to sing along and have a good time, and having friends there made it much much better, it was just a shame some people there were acting like idiots (you get idiots at basically every gig ever though, so I am really really used to it). We sat down for a while after and I got trampled over by this really odd guy (he may have been drunk idk) but he kinda caused bruising the next day on my face and legs, but it's never a good music event if I don't get bruises! We called it a day soon after, but I really enjoyed the whole atmosphere of the festival if I'm honest, and we definitely had the best weather for the day! I had a good day with some lovely people and my gig buddy and got to listen to music I wouldn't usually pick, but it was all rather brilliant.

This festival was to get me used to the idea and concept of festivals, and it exceeded expectations, so I am super excited to go to Reading this year with Matt and a few other pals! If anyone has any good tips for festivals and festival-going in general (anything involving anxiety would also be amazing!) then please let me know

It's been real

B x