Beachdown Festival 2008

Beachdown is brand spanking new 4 day festival up on the Sussex Downs. The line up consisted of a lot of brighton bands, lots of obscure bands no-one had ever heard of, some shitty "Big Names" and De La Soul. I arrived on friday evening due to having worked at a One Night Only gig the night before (lets not even go there..). Spent the first night drinking red wine in the dance tent watching in no particular order, Utah Saints, Krafty Kuts, and A-Skillz. It was enjoyable enough. Woke up on saturday and pissed around for a few hours until The Kleptones came on and did their mash-up ting, which had a nice festival viiiibe. Caught the last half of RestlessList which was nothing new then headed over to see The Maccabees. They were dope as usual, and the new songs sound better every time i hear them which is good news! Had to miss Kissy Sell Out after this because De La Soul were coming on. For some spastic reason, they'd been put on the second stage even though they blatantly pulled the biggest crowd of the weekend, so it was a bit squashed. They fuckin killed it though, well good show. EVEN THOUGH they didnt play "3 Is the Magic Number". wankers. Walked past the Magic Numbers and shouted general abuse, then headed to the dance tent to see Pat Mahoney from LCD Soundsystem. Id been looking forward to this for a while, but was so fuckin disappointed it was untrue. It was just the most monotomous house music ive ever heard in my life and some wanker with dreadlocks (not newton faulkner unfortunately) was bloody BREAKDANCING in front of me. If i hadnt been gurning out, i wouldve slapped the cunt.
Sunday consisted of a horrible feeling in my head for most of the day. Saw the last half of Heels Catch Fire who i think are one of brightons best live bands. Pissed around for quite a few hours until Bonobo, which i really enjoyed. Was perfect "lets roll an afghan zoot" music. So after that chill sesh, went to go and drink tequila slush-puppies (yes really) and wait for The Beat to come on. The Beat were also pretty disappointing. Well i say pretty disappointing, i thought they were shit, so we fucked off and saw some of Maths Class who ive seen far too many times to really comment on, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it. After this we went to see Fun Lovin' Criminals who are basically just a fuckin easy listening band with swearing and references to cocaine and weed. So after they'd played Scooby Snacks, we fucked off. Caught a bit of Mr Scruff but i wasnt really in the mood so only stayed for about half an hour.
Monday i got up and felt so shit i had to go see some music to try and cure my hangover. Saw Left Hand Red on the brighton stage who despite their terrible name, were actually alright. After that it was Horace Andy which was good without being great. Fuckin legend though that bloke. Fucked off seeing Jose Gonzalez 'cos im not a fanny, and waited for Nouvelle Vague who were really fuckin fit and a lot better than i thought they'd be, cos i really dont like them on record that much. Gogol Bordello finished the festival but my days intake of ketamine started to creep up on me, and all i remember is i kept forgetting i was watching a band. Music finished at 9 on monday so after that, got the 15 minute bus ride home (what a fuckin luxury that is) and passed the fuck out.
In conclusion ladies and jellyspoons, Beachdown has the potential to be a good inclusion into Brightons summer line up, but as of yet isnt really there. The line up was pretty shoddy and the location has plenty of room for a much bigger capacity, but seeing as it was the first year, i hope this will all be sorted out in time for next year. BRAP.


Picture by Kenny Street