Music review: ROCKNESS

Published on Monday 9 June 2008 22:28

DORES, INVERNESS-SHIRE ****

WHILE the tragic death of an 18-year-old man, who collapsed in front of the main stage on Saturday afternoon, was a cloud that blighted Rockness, for the most part this year's festival was a vibrant mix of good music and personable charm.

Buckfast-swigging punters mingled cheerfully with police officers, while jilted lovers tried to prevent former partners from getting hitched to former best-friends inside an inflatable church. Upcoming bands promised liaisons with members of the opposite sex in the VIP toilet cabins, while those wandering on-site with a placard promising Free Hugs looked happiest of all.

There was also some music going on. On Saturday, Mylo was in lazy mood, the majority of his tunes seemingly stuck on a three-second loop. The Twang, meanwhile, were simply getting stuck into the beer, a boozy set about as loose as it was energetic. Thank God, then, for the Cuban Brothers. Seeing flabby, middle-aged men spin (almost entirely naked) on their heads to the strains of Lionel Ritchie was highly entertaining, if slightly nauseating. It was enough to give Calvin Harris the jitters, and the Dumfries disco-boy required some Dutch courage to ease his visibly nervous performance.

No such worries for The View, though – over-confidence being their particular weakness. As the sun went down, out popped the moon – and the midges – and headliner Fatboy Slim closed the first day's proceedings with sub-sonic frequencies that tickled the bare, sunburnt legs of many before frazzling a few more minds with a 100,000 laser show.

Sunday being a day of rest, most people spent the better part of it sitting down. Cross-country skis would have been handy for getting around, so disgusting was the level of litter, but it was worth the effort to see Roisin Murphy raid Tina Turner's wardrobe and stage a mock fight with her backing singers, before using an Irish tricolour as a cape and flying off the Clash tent stage.

Brazilian brats CSS, meanwhile, filled their stage with helium balloons and inflatable surfboards, but like cheap bubblegum they quickly lost their flavour, as fans of Underworld (who were on next) patiently waited for them to buzz off.

Back on the Main Stage, the most Joy Division-sounding band of the day, Editors, were in fine fettle before Razorlight closed the two-day festival, name emblazoned in big neon lights above the stage.

By the time Johnny Borrell arrived onstage – sporting a necklace of flowers and John Lennon-style sunglasses – it was hard to decide if more people were watching Underworld than Razorlight.

Which all poses the question: what kind of a festival is Rockness? A dance festival? A guitar-rock festival?

The answer is it doesn't really matter. Given its spectacular location and inventiveness, Rockness has all the qualities to become Scotland's premier music festival. T in the Park might want to take note of the big beastie in its rear-view mirror.