In an already saturated festival market, you can’t help but think that the organisers of Somersault Festival are a little bit mad. Not only do they decide to launch a brand new festival in Devon of all places– they decide to host it on the same weekend as Latitude. It’s one hell of a risky strategy. Though within five minutes on stepping out onto the grounds of the Castle Hill gardens, it strikes me that perhaps it’s not so much mad, mad but a mad genius we’re witnessing here… As there is no denying that despite it being its’ inaugural outing, Somersault Festival has stumbled on to a winning formulation.
It’s so much of a winning formula that it has my family– first time festival goers— already planning their return.
The day begins with a bit of ‘Dizzy High-Jump‘ at the Bearded Kitten Arena. Throughout the weekend this proves to be the spot to return for community-fête-gone-wrong entertainment, with events such as the mysteriously titled ‘Face-off/Face-on‘ and an eating competition all billed for the duration of the weekend. For us the ‘Dizzy High-Jump‘ is exactly what we need to start the weekend off with jovial spirits as we watch individuals in drunk goggles attempt to compete in a high-jump competition that sees most of them meeting the floor at one point or another.
Over the way in the Variety Tent, beatboxer Shlomo is doing his part in teaching the younger festival contingent how to drive their parents mad for the rest of the day with his ‘Beatboxing Adventure: For Kids‘ (the adult and raunchier version is saved for later in the day). By turning his beatboxing show into an interactive lesson and, at the same time, a bit of a hip-hop history class he makes something that could’ve proved tedious after about 10 minutes into a 40 minute lesson that keeps everyone firmly in their seats– even the adults.
As we wander further through the Somersault site, it becomes very clear that this is no ordinary festival. The surfing ethos is embedded in to every single thing about it. The Surfers Against Sewage tent hosts film screenings and acoustic sets hosted by the Indie Kitchen whilst also bringing some of the UK’s surfing names in to talk– including a talk from Britain’s most famous surfing plumber, Andrew Cotton. Over the other side of the river where people are paddleboarding lies the O’Neill Surf Bus which also boasts an array of acoustic sets and surf film screenings alongside surfing photography lessons and lessons on how to carve your own surfboard (which they need more of next year). Even the Wellbeing field boasts ‘Yoga for Surfers‘ and massages designed for loosening of surfing muscles…
Oh and absolutely every stall has Indo-Boards. Like every. single. one.
The first artist of our day is Nick Mulvey over on the Main Stage— and it seems like almost everyone on site has decided to do the same. His acoustic melodies come to life in the sunshine, spreading and sprawling over the rolling green backdrop of the gardens. His voice glides just as high, lingering with a spark of colour that his recorded material has thus far failed to capture.
Tucked around the corner, the rodeo-influenced Communion Stage has people sprawled all over their hay bale seating as Amber States make a lasting impression with their indie-pop with a cool twist of folk. Their melodies are crisp and shimmering, tinted with a euphoric-summertime edge that means you can’t help but get caught up with them. Heck, even my Mum finds herself declaring them her favourite discovery of the weekend by the time they break out the jewel in their crown: ‘Saratoga’.
As my Dad and brother head over to hear the talk on big wave surfing by Andrew Cotton, back to the Main Stage we go for Bombino. It’s pretty short-lived though as we get stung for the first time by Somersault’s eclectic musical line-up and realise pretty fast that his Tamashek-vocals and acoustic combination wasn’t to our taste. It only seemed right then to head to the most colourful stage of the festival (Jack Wills Tent) to see Golden Fable once more. The Welsh trio still find themselves wrapped up in a cinematic, experimental world that is entrancing though they’ve not hit the powerful heights of Embers just yet– as they still have a softness and unease that leaves their tracks lacking the punch that they need.
After one of the worst storms I’ve seen at a festival (and I survived Glastonbury this year), Josh Record is lucky to have the sun come out for his set as you can’t imagine half the people would’ve ventured out to see his Radio 2 friendly set otherwise. The problem is, whilst Josh Record has a spectacularly rich, soulful vocal– the music just feels too run-of-the-mill, too toned down to really do his voice justice. Whilst ‘Bones‘ should steal all of the air from your lungs, it only brings about a hitch in your breathing and the fact that Record doesn’t really have the stage magnetism doesn’t really help. Don’t get me wrong, he’s decent, but it’s the sort of thing saturating radio playlists and somewhat feels weirdly out of place here.
A UK exclusive from Jack Johnson closes the Main Stage for Saturday night and its’ indicative of how different a festival Somersault is that one man and his guitar gets as huge a reaction as RHCP‘s at Isle of Wight or Arcade Fire at Glastonbury. The set is a romp through the highlights of his career thus far– with the likes of the upbeat and bubbly ‘Bubbly Toes‘ falling along with my favourite from the latest album ‘Shot Reverse Shot‘. Early deployment of ‘Taylor’ guarantees a crowd-wide anthemic sing-a-long to start the set and its’ continued throughout, especially upon the keyboardist donning a banana costume for ‘Banana Pancakes‘. For two hours he charms the Devon crowd with his charming anecdotes about life and love and stepping on weaverfish (which is an experience that many here in this crowd probably sympathise with) accompanied with his laid-back, acoustic narrative that could bring a smile to even the frostiest of faces. It’s the perfect way to end the first day.
One of the things that makes Somersault even more of an attractive proposition is their activity excursion packages. Whilst most festivals drag you in to the site and make it excruciatingly difficult to leave– Somersault advocate a bit of outside exploring, especially to embrace the surfing ethos that the festival seems to be born from. Okay, so we didn’t officially go on one of the Somersault Festival excursions (mainly because we were staying at my parents house only a few miles from the site) on Sunday morning, but we took ourselves down to Woolacombe for a spot of surfing. Now that’s something you’re unlikely to get at many other festivals.
On route back across the site to catch Catfish and the Bottlemen, the Jack Wills tent lures us in with what sounds like bedroom electronics and lo, it is. Roscius is a one man electronic soundboard who uses loop-peddling of both sounds and vocals to construct his distinctive DJ style. It’s seems completely at odds to the rest of the musical line-up, but it’s made all the more memorable for it. Catfish and the Bottlemen however, don’t quite fall in to that unique or distinctive bracket, though it doesn’t mean they are any less entertaining. The set is a fast-paced, furious frenzy that barrels through their raucous sounds in which there isn’t a single dull moment. You can already tell that they’re going to produce one of the defining debut albums of the year.
Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars follow on on the Main Stage to produce a set that can only be labelled as gloriously happy. Their reggae infused African music has previously been described as being all about ‘spreading peace, love and positivity’ and it certainly does that. Even though it’s not exactly to our taste, we can’t help but find ourselves caught up in the spirit of the set; where groups of people around us happily dance along with a carefree abandon. Canadian pop-folksters, Half Moon Run, aren’t quite as high spirited or energetic– but there is something cleansing about their set. Their melodies are a soothing salve to the soul and feel almost best accompanied by watching the clouds roll past overhead. It’s just nice; which feels strange to say about any festival act– let alone a subheadliner on the Main Stage on the final night.
As we hadn’t caught the Gorilla Circus yet, we decided to skip the end of Half Moon Run to see what the giant climbing frame at the front of the site had been assembled for. Although glad we saw it, I’d hesitate to recommend paying to see them. With rather nerve-wracking tightrope walking to start– which was impressive– the trapeze work was a little more sloth-like than you’d want from a circus. With several falls and a sluggish set, it seemed as though we certainly picked the wrong day to watch them.
It’s up to somewhat local lad Ben Howard to draw the first Somersault Festival to a triumphant close– and he absolutely nails it. Once again, it enforces how different Somersault is that an acoustic set is the right note to end on. Though not quite as naturally charismatic or with the same intense stage presence as Jack Johnson, his impressive backing visuals and lighting make sure eyes are firmly affixed for the duration. The set gives us a taste of past and present Howard with tracks from the forthcoming, as-of-yet-untitled album showing a far more complex, electric edge to his singer-songwriter label. Though far more vivid and loud, they still evoke the same intense emotions which makes for a fantastic combination. Of course, it is familiar material like ‘Only Love‘ and ‘The Wolves‘ that get the biggest reactions with the crowd almost drowning Ben Howard out at points. The simplistic and sweet melodies silence the crowd when needed and still coax out the euphoria and crowd mentality when needed. It really is impressive to behold.
As people filter back to their various corners of the world and leave the greenery of Devon behind, you can’t help but admire how such a small, new festival has pulled off such an impressive start. Aside from a few teething problems that can only be expected (more toilets, a bigger bridge between the two halves of the site ect); Somersault Festival has captured the hearts of many with its’ relaxed mentality and feeling of being so much more than just a festival. Bring on 2015.
Our gallery from the weekend can be found here. Stay tuned for our on-site video of the weekend.
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