The End of the Road

I got some photos developed from the summer, including a couple of pictures from the End of the Road festival.  I think that half of the joy of film cameras is having to wait to see the photos.  By the time that you get them back you’ve almost forgotten and when you look through them you see all of the things you did and it’s like living them all over again.

 

End of the Road is a small festival in north Dorset and was honestly such a good weekend that I almost don’t want to ruin it by making it bigger by telling people how great it was.  Not only was there a fantastic line up of dreamy, folky music, the festival had a cinema tent, comedy, stalls of vintage clothes, books and jewellery and some of the best food I have eaten this year.  Above everything was the care that had been taken on even the smallest things.  There was a trail through the woods covered in fairy lights and plaster fairy children which was just so magical, sculptures where you least expected  them and even live peacocks.  Almost every band commented on how beautiful and well done the festival was.

 

The music was a combination of bands I love and bands that I now love having seen them.  Alabama Shakes played an awesome set as the sun set on the Saturday night, and I’m pretty sure that Brittany Howard is the only person in the world that can say things like ‘The sun’s gone down, it’s time to rock and roll!’ whilst sounding genuinely awesome and not clichéd.  A very receptive but slightly sweaty crowd greeted Mercury Prize nominees Alt-J in the Big Top Tent, where they played from their successful debut album.  Cold Specks and Grizzly Bear both played really good sets and First Aid Kit’s cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s America was so beautiful (listen to it here).  Although Dirty Beaches synth blew half way through a song they recovered well and I spent a happy hour lying in the sun listening to the Deep Dark Woods.

Beach House played on the Woods Stage on the Friday night and they were incredible.  It was fully dark and they were backlit for most of the set with the whitest of light – all you could see was their glowing silhouettes.  Their music, so dreamy and moving, mixed with the darkness and all those people (and possibly the gin I’d been drinking) created this amazing atmosphere.  I didn’t want them to ever stop playing.

Another clear highlight was Patti Smith, who played on the Sunday night. She has such a talent for performance, I honestly think that she’s the coolest person in the world. She stormed through her set urged on by cheers from an adoring crowd, leaving with the words ‘Have a good festival, have a good night, and have a good fucking life. Live life, work hard, be free.’