- Tue, 2012-08-21 16:10
BOOM. What a mind-melting, eye-opening, sparkle-inducing, dirty-dancing, hands-in-the-air-in-a-completely-non-clichéd-way MEGA STORMER Boomtown Fair 2012 was. So exuberant am I after one weekend of utter life-affirming madness, I DO NOT want to tell you about it.
But I'm going to.
It looked like: A twisted town centre moulded into the undulating cocoon of Winchester's Matterley Bowl. Shop windows were piled with entrails, sewage splurged from pipes, steam-punk monsters grew from rooftops, siiiiick graffiti laced the walls, poles, ceilings and trucks. A forest cove in the top corner of the site sheltered dub reggae with leaves, the floor covered with sand surrounding a wonky cocktail shack looking out towards the stage. Giant butterflies swayed among the highest branches. Fluffly human hearts waddled across the grass, a lego man adjusted his head, a red-rubber-stilt walking troupe of decorated aliens descended upon the crowd. The Police Rave Unit arrived, blasted techno from the roof of their van and arrested you for sitting down. The lights came on at night, fire errupted from the breathtaking mechanical monster-stage Arcadia. 24 hour bass-led debauchery caked the entire site in a wobble mound of colour and carnage...
It sounded like: Reggae, ska, jungle, breaks, drum n bass, techno, gabba, ragga. Stacks of rinsing Funktion-Ones. The best illegal rave you've never been to. WAKEY WAKEY BOOMTOWN blaring across the campsite on Saturday morning. Smooth reggae vibes floating through the Hidden Woods. Pounding gabba from The DJ Producer. Slick cuts of human beatbox hiding round the corner. Gypsy punk 'n' bass. A sing-a-long with Reel Big Fish. Mainstage perfection from Asian Dub Foundation. My Boy Lollipop courtesy of The Skatalites. Secret raves in secret rooms...
It WAS like: Meeting everyone you know but have never met in a field. Forgetting all the admin. Festival strength cider. Even the tunes at the food stalls were good. The secret, late-night areas of Glastonbury transformed into their very own event. Getting royally sozzled along with everybody else. Relaxing into a line-up curated by those in the know. Ticking all the right festival boxes and then some...
And therefore, I recommend: Telling nobody that you've been / want to go again / read this article / had the time of your life / listened to our 20 track BoomTown Fair 2012 playlist below.
This one's a secret worth keeping... Boomtown 2013?! Shhhhhhhhhhh!
Mega BIG UP to HTC for providing us with an HTC One S to take all our festival pics on. If it wasn't for the super fast continuous shot mode, I wouldn't have taken such a HOT picture of weird rubber alien lady...
