As I pluck the last strand of straw out of my hair, now seems the perfect time to start reminiscing about the past weekend. I know that music festivals aren't everyone's cup of tea; the idea of spending multiple days stranded in a lumpy field, your phone battery slowly giving up the ghost and surrounded by people arguing as to whether someone is in the tent without checking at 4am isn't particularly appealing, but the faithful british institution finds itself beckoning punters back year after year, with over 250 individual festivals taking place annually. The Glastonbury institution may have taken a well-deserved rest while London 2012 used its portaloos, but I headed back to Brownstock festival for the third year in a row, to see what exactly was going down in Brown town...
Arriving a little later than my friends due to the event coinciding with the last day of my internship, I found my tent pegged in place (thanks Amy!), guitar being passed round, and generally an environment as far removed from the Tottenham Court Road office I'd left three hours previously as possible. As twilight encroached, we headed into the arena for dodgems and fairground rides, followed by a trip to the silent disco (well documented by my camera, but never will these be published online, for the greater good!). The two main days of the festival were spent between the Piano DJ tent - sets by Devon Mayson, Calico Ghost Town and the opportunity to sing Wonderwall incredibly out of tune - the Noise Kitten Treehouse for friends' DJ sets, the Good Shed for Grand Master Flash, Zane Lowe and Nero, and the Main Stage for Labrinth, the Futureheads, the Milk, et al. The music, without doubt, is the basis of a festival, but it's the DJ playing Jay-Z and Kanye that persuades you to stay at the silent disco, heading to the aptly named Stumble Inn for dubstep when everything else has closed, or, if all else fails, huddling round a piano for a singsong in your pyjamas when you decide you're not ready for bed quite yet that makes it slightly different to sitting in your back garden with the subwoofer pumping out album tracks.
