Summer of Love

A characteristic of the British summer is the variety and choice of music festivals, catering to all tastes and tribes, with the redoubtable "Glasto" as the main event. The idea of exposure to climatic vagaries, muddy fields, crowds, inadequate sanitation...all in the name of live music, has held limited appeal. These comments from an individual who back in the day, chose a weekend's waterskiing over attending Woodstock....

This year an opportunity was presented to cast aside prejudices and enjoy at first hand the festival experience, but without the shortcomings. I'm referring to the Vintage at Goodwood Festival (http://tinyurl.com/y92u7hl) - a celebration of music, arts, and fashion, held last weekend. This event had all the components of a traditional festival - multiple sound stages, sideshows, rain, crowds, and a variety of acts, but with a difference. Efficient organisation, flushing toilets, good behaviour, and incredibly slick marketing.

For us there were 2 firsts in attending Vintage at Goodwood - the festival experience, and camping. Choosing the easy option we arrived at the site to find our tent pitched and equipped with airbeds and (new) sleeping bags - technical term is "Glamping". This ensured things got off to a good start without the humiliation and frustration of struggling with ropes, pegs, canvas and canes. Quickly I was enjoying the retro roots rockers sounds of (a reinvented) Aswad.

Reinvention was a necessity at an event focusing on retro sounds, yet whilst performances were enjoyable, tribute bands or reformed groups around one surviving member of the original line-up, failed to be really memorable. There were exceptions - The Faces (Mick Hucknall as Rod Stewart, with a return of Ronnie Wood), Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Earth Wind & Fire, and the Noisettes, all put on great shows.

Many Vintage attendees helped create the retro atmosphere. There was a plethora of red lips and coiffured hair to complement new look and retro fashions. Flappers mixed effortlessly with hippies, spivs, teddy boys, glam rockers, punks and dreads. Nostalgia surged as the mods and rockers rode in on immaculately restored Lambrettas and Triumphs.

Whilst marketing may have trumped music at Vintage, it wasn't too overt. Big-name brands were largely absent, yet the event itself and the atmosphere / experience created became the brand that attendees bought into.

So as I depart my fifth decade, I can now include going to a festival in my almanac. I look forward to repeating the experience as I enter my sixth decade.

Boogied out by the Boomers!