- Aah, the smell of patchouli and incense in the morning. It can mean only one thing. Yes, the quaint country village of Athboy has been invaded by fun-loving freeloaders again – it’s festival time!
I arrived at the Garden Party after lunch, just in time to catch the tail of Fat Freddy's Drop. Their jazzy dub reggae was meeting with cheers of approval from the semi-naked audience – the country was in the middle of a rare mini-heatwave, a welcome addition to any festival. Sundays in Ireland don't get much better than this.
The surroundings were idyllic. I checked the lay of the land and was soon enveloped by the sights and the aromas wafting in particular from an Indian food stall nearby - poppadom preach! And free love vibes were taking over. Booming, slow rhythms from the phat speaker rigs shook the ground as everybody hurried to ingest fluids and carbs in preparation for some serious dancing. I made some hurried notes: top of my list of acts to see were Alexander Robotnick, The Orb and Carl Craig.
The Scratch Perverts finished a stormin' set in the Greenhouse with some tuff, tech-jungle bizness before handing over to Alexander Robotnick. Robotnick’s acid house grooves got people moving early in the evening, spinning also Italo disco, electro and an edited pounding of Martinez' 'Shadowboxing'. Picture this: beachballs whizzing past your head, party-people jumpin' and top-notch electronic music. Robotnick was definitely more frenetic than his recent Irish appearance at Electric Shock (perhaps because his slot was only an hour long?) but he ended his set looking happy, grabbing the mic and rapping before finishing on a big thank you to the appreciative crowd. He wrecked the place.
Marky arrived next to slam some drum’n’bass, but for me it sort of killed the vibe. Taking a peep over in the Pogo Tent, I noted Superdiscount were winning friends with their tough electrohouse and filtered French funk, but alas, it was time for a real treat on the main stage.
Sub-bass booms and atmospheric build-ups prefaced the set from The Orb. Telepathically, their loyal fans had received the communication, flocking into the arena to stake out valuable dancing space.
They began with a bit of mockery, spinning Aqua's 'Barbieworld' before a rhythm rose from the netherworld, skankin' dub beats rolling out of the bins with so much boompty you could explode dancing to them. Party antics from Paterson and Fehlmann (who can bust some serious dance moves) proved they still know how to be serious while keeping their tongues in cheeks: what sounded like a technical glitch was met with them both walking away and doing little jigs. Minnie Riperton’s now infamous vocals and slices of 'Little Fluffy Clouds' delighted the audience before the mothership inevitably returned to earth. There was a lull, but they had a final trick up their sleeve – a sped-up Eminem ‘two trailerpark girls’ vocal over the bassline from 'Toxygene' poking us in the eye. With roots in the psychedelia and the outdoor party scenes, The Orb were a perfect festie outfit. After their recent rejuvenation courtesy of Kompakt, The Orb sounded as good as ever, and even managed to top their appearance at the SFX last year. As it was finishing, a young Dubliner next to me noted in profound tones that this was "a bleedin' deadly gig" and that he hoped the Orb would "be up next"??
Many had by now got used to dancing barefoot on the green, green grass of home. The sunset was shrouding us in a half-blind haze – time for a change of T-shirt and some water. I caught the finale of Booka Shade’s oh-so-popular 'Body Language' and 'Mandarine Girl', which met with a huge reaction from the packed Pogo Tent, but I needed a breather, and it wasn't too hard to find a place to chill. The tranquil gardens, friendly fairies and the wacky, giant, furry gombeens running around provided light-hearted relief from the groovy goings-on (as if anyone needed it!)
Later, Tony Humphries delivered good 'ol NYC house and garage. Party queenies, house boys, glamour girls and even the odd stray hippychick got their groove on to Tony’s classy, smooth set. We were told "tonight we're gonna party like it's 2099, or do I have to give you a hundred years to get your shit together?" Pretty good advice for the would-be layabouts.
Finally, Carl Craig took the stage, fading out Humphries housey-doings into 'Experimento' before going still into tunnel techno, the looped disco of Soundstreams' '3rd Movement', Moroder basslines and modulating synths. With the clatter of hi hats, Craig led into Paperclip People's 'Throw', making the older heads whoop in recognition, before pulling out of his laptop groove with tinkling jazz-piano keys. With a bow and a smile, he finished on his remix of Theo Parrish 'Falling Up', showing us why the track has been turning heads. It was the perfect end to the event. Carl Craig opted for a different kind of set than what I’d heard from him at Waterford last year. Never one to stay in the same place musically, tonight he played very avant-garde, very futuristic and very out there.
What a day. What an event. Massages, seventy-five percent naked people, great music and food, and to top it all off, the best weather in as long as I can remember. Toots and the Maytals may have cancelled but The Orb were worth the ticket price alone. And with acts I never got to see, Ewan Pearson, Spank Rock and Asian Dub Foundation, we were spoilt for choice.
The clever organisers had pulled out all the stops and the result was a touch of elegance on the festival circuit. But sadly, there’s always a hard lesson to learn from a day like this. Heartfelt commiserations go out to those who took dodgy directions from misguided locals and ended up at the nearby Blue Jeans Country Music Festival. I feel your pain, guys. I really do!
Special thanks to Siobhan@POD, all the staff at the Garden Party and also to Maurizio and Kitty for their help. Slainte!