Big Chill highs and lows (From Hereford Times)

Big Chill highs and lows

10:57pm Sunday 9th August 2009

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THE weather gods once again worked their magic for the Big Chill as Herefordshire's biggest festival was bathed in sunshine.

Around 30,000 people enjoyed one of the hottest weekends of the year in the grounds of Eastnor Castle.

Orbital and Basement Jaxx gave the headline sets a distinctly electronic feel while Max Romeo provided the perfect reggae sounds to enjoy a summer's sunday afternoon.

There was also plenty of top class stand up from Russell Howard and Dylan Moran.

Howard, of Mock the Week fame, was his brilliant best berating the paranoid nature of the Daily Express and exploring the ambiguities of atheists.

He put a smile on many a face inside the Coop tent, but most Big Chillers were happy anyway - lapping up the rays on a boiling weekend in what has otherwise been a thoroughly miserable summer.

The best bits.

Mr Hudson got the festival off to the perfect start with his hit Supernova.

Red Dwarf actor Craig Charles showed the superstar DJs the art of crowd participation.

DJ Sandrinho somehow mixed Brazilian baile funk with Nirvana and the Rolling Stones. He said afterwards that it was his gift to the British crowd.

Bonobo the band really adds another dimension to Simon Green's music. The illuminated festival site provided the perfect setting and really showed the Big Chill at its best as the clock ticked past midnight.

And the worst...

Noel Fielding had a lot to live up to following Russell Howard and fell flat on his face. Only those aged under 15 seemed to appreciate his vague ramblings about nothing in particular.

Why was DJ Derek playing his reggae records in a tiny rum bar? The Bristol veteran is a Big Chill favourite and many were left out as there was simply not enough space for eveyone to appreciate the retired accountant's personal guide to Jamaican music.

The Guardian, the only newspaper on sale at the festival, placed the Big Chill within its Welsh section on its listings page. This followed last week's mistake when Bromyard's Nozstock festival was also placed in the section reserved for events in the principality.

See next Thursday's Hereford Times for a full review and pictures from the Big Chill.

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