For as long as memory serves (which in this case only seems to span back to 2007 – a result of too many long weekends in the warm embrace of London’s many festivals perhaps), Lovebox have made a habit of inviting resurgent 80’s bands to their Victoria Park main stage, with varying degrees of success. In 2007, a combination of two heavy-hitters Sly and the Family Stone and Blondie more than held the attention of Saturday’s crowd, while those with Sunday tickets who saw The B52’s were left pondering the merit of booking a band known only for one song. Then in 2008, The Human League rocked their synth-laden set with considerable enthusiasm. However, if the 2009 event should be remembered for a single band, group or act; none are more deserving than the epic hour-and-a-half-or-so that Duran Duran treated us to last weekend.
Saturday began in trademark lackadaisical festival style; wandering from arena to arena and tent to tent, absorbing as much as possible without lingering too long in a single place. Notable changes from previous years include the addition of a second stage – sponsored by Gaymers – the site of which makes me wince at the memory of wandering fruitlessly round Lovebox 2007 in search of a cup of cold cider, all to no avail. The Gaymers stage this year standing as a tribute to the power and now widespread acceptance of the Westcountry’s favourite tipple. This additional stage extended the size of the festival considerably, and on the whole the entire day felt busier than it had done on previous occasions. Also new was an All-Star Bowling lane; an inspired innovation, although sadly on Saturday only one of the four lanes was functioning, meaning it was booked out for the day pretty much immediately. The DJs were spinning ace, 80’s electro, party house and funk tunes though, so all in all a pretty chic place to hang out and dance – even if the promised ‘milkshake cocktails’ amounted to little more than a half-hearted White Russian in a flimsy plastic cup.
With a lethal combination of calcium and Kahlua coursing through my veins, I headed off to take the continued meteoric rise of Florence and the Machine. Dressed in burnished forest green for the occasion and sporting shoes and shoulder pads that Icarus could have made a more successful shot at the sun with, she belted out songs with a voice that ranged from operatically powerful to beautifully fragile. Being a relative newcomer to Florence did nothing to dilute my enjoyment of her set; she held the stage extremely well, and even though her spontaneous foray into the crowd felt anything but, the enthusiasm with which she bounced along will have won her plenty of new admirers. ‘Dog Days’, ‘Kiss With a Fist’ and ‘Rabbit Heart’ all went down as you’d expect them to and set-ender – a cover of ‘You Got the Love’ got – somewhat sadly, but utterly unsurprisingly – the biggest reaction of all.
Next up on the main stage N.E.R.D who, to be brutally honest, struggled. Arguably, this wasn’t their crowd, the Lovebox faithful much more up for listening to rising homegrown stars, glitchy house, and kitch 80’s acts than they are semi-tongue-in-cheek hip-rock. They perhaps didn’t do themselves any favours by mashing together 3 of their best known tracks – ‘Bobby James’, ‘Am I High’, ‘Provider’ – in a mid-set medley, but in fairness to them got the crowd on side with renditions of their bigger numbers; ‘Rock Star’ and the ever-present ‘Lapdance’ generating some late enthusiasm from the relatively indifferent crowd. Finally, with an ‘if you can’t beat them, invite them up on stage’ mentality, they crowded the main stage out ever increasing numbers of gyrating, exclusively female festival goers, that must have neared the hundred mark by the time their set ended. Subtle? Perhaps not, but effective nonetheless.
Make no mistake; Duran Duran were epic. Their set included mainstays like ‘Notorious’, ‘Hold Back the Rain’ and ‘Girls on Film’, but there was really only one track the crowd were waiting for, with calls of “Rio! Rio!” echoing round the park from about 20 minutes into proceedings. They delivered this killer blow in their encore, which included a slightly subdued Mark Ronson appearing with the boys to play the last chords of Saturday, while ‘View to a Kill’ and ‘Ordinary World’ were delivered like the stadium anthems they are. “We are Duran Duran from England, designed to make you party!” screamed Le Bon towards the end of their set, and while you could question the credibility of such as statement, in a field surrounded by 30,000 fans all singing their hearts out, you’d have to be a far more cynical man than I to do so.
Sunday by comparison was an extremely relaxed affair. Suffering from the excesses of the previous night, it was a testament to the energy of the emphatic Datarock that I was soon jumping around the Gaymers field as if I’d had more than my 8 hours. Giant cider apple that twatted me in the back of my head when I wasn’t paying attention aside, it was thoroughly uplifting stuff; the impressive instrument-switching of the band members alone a thoroughly engaging routine to behold.
Next, it was off to the always busy Rizla area to catch some of Annie Nightingale mixing (although playing would probably be a fairer assessment) some extremely well-received aggressive pop-techno. Credit due to the arena for the being the only place in the festival in which one couldn’t hold a normal conversation up to 6 feet away from the speakers; Lovebox, like every London festival it seems has had its volume catastrophically reduced due to over-aggressive sound level laws.
It was my fear before coming that the festival would be littered with MJ tributes; not so much paying tribute to the great man, but trying to get a fairly effortless cheer or fill a semi-empty floor or field. Happily, this couldn’t have been further from the truth; the only one I did have the misfortune of catching (although I sure there must have been others) was a truly awful D&B remix of ‘Beat It’ that Annie played towards the end of her set; exit stage left.
The rest of the day was spent catching parts of sets from Gary Numan (eyeliner and ‘Cars’), Doves (rousingly brilliant, despite the rain) and an unexpected star turn from iPhone advocates Chairlift. Occupying a small (but busy) tent just off the main area, their beautiful melodies and floating vocals were an absolute highlight. They finished just as Groove Armada took to the main stage to deliver the closing set of the weekend. Personally, I think it was a strange decision to play Sunday rather than Saturday – for the past few years the inimitable beats of Tom Findlay and Andy Cato have become a Saturday mainstay and to have them close to what must have struggled to come close to a ten thousand strong crowd (Saturday felt at least 4 times busier than Sunday) seemed like a bit of a waste. Still, they unarguably rocked it; from set starter ‘The Girls Say’ through to chart botherer ‘Song For Mutya’ (the songs eponymous hero sadly absence) to massive festival and dancefloor anthem ‘Superstyling’ they and their seemingly endless stage entourage hit the ground running, stayed at a steady pace throughout and sent everyone home smiling.
Another successful year… and certainly no ordinary festival.
Words: Greg Sawyer Photos: Tom Bunning
