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| Notting Hill
Carnival
Vs V Festival Hylands Park |
Notting Hill
Carnival London
Date: Monday 26th August 2002
Occurrence:
Yearly
Hours:
10am - 10pm
Ticket Price:
FREE |
V Festival Hylands
Park, Chelmsford, Essex
Date: Sunday 18th August 2002
Occurrence:
Yearly
Hours:
12am - 11pm
Ticket Price:
£35 for the day |
If you think that a
comparison of Notting Hill to the V festival is
a little odd then who am I to disagree. But with
the idea of comparing two music celebrations against
each other being a little different I can't help
but write on.
The V festival is the brainchild of the Virgin Music
Empire. It runs in two locations (Chelmsford &
Stafford) at the same time, with the majority of
the artists playing at both venues. I checked out
Sunday at the Chelmsford site and with a line up
consisting of Basement Jaxx, Groove Armada, David
Holmes, Kosheen and the likes it looked like being
an unbeatable day.
Notting Hill Carnival has been taking place in London
since 1964. It was created to bring together all
the black immigrants from the Caribbean that resided
in London. Today it's seen more as a celebration
of the music that's graced our shores via the Caribbean
and especially Trinidad. With an estimated 1 million
carnival goers hitting the streets of West London
on the bank holiday Monday the expectations were
high.
When you enter the V camp the first thing that hits
you is the amount of brand names scattered round
the tents, bars and attractions. Many people frown
upon the commercial aspects of festivals, but let's
be honest, you don't see many illegal raves giving
you the opportunity to catch your favorite artist
live. On the flipside, Notting Hill this year saw
the organiser's decision to withdraw the usual attendance
of commercial floats such as that of Radio 1. With
carnival goers, and potential customers all passing
through it was refreshing to see a lack of names
trying to sell themselves. The commercial money
wasn't really needed so much for the carnival because
the big name artists that demand the big fat wages
weren't required for the day's activities.
The V festival sounds on the Sunday were largely
dance orientated. Most people were there to see
the Jaxx's and Armada's, but other talent on show
was there to be recognised. After getting a bit
of funked up James Brown and Billie Jean classics
in the cleverly designed Bud House Party tent it
was off to check out one of the Wiseguys. DJ Touché
served up a selection of funky, tech house, but
the real crowd appreciation came when he dropped
a couple of early 90's dance hits. Another act which
impressed were the trio from Norway, Royskopp. With
their electro leftfield style grooves they not only
sounded good but performed like they wanted to entertain
the crowd. Keep an eye out for these boys.
What wasn't surprising about V was the number of
bootlegs catching the ears. With a popular status
at the moment, bootlegs seem to be taking over the
World. But when you hear Nirvana mixed with Destiny
Child, or AC DC chopped up with Missy Elliott you
can't help but smile and admire this fad.
Notting Hill carnival actually has five main disciplines,
1. Costumes/ Masquerade, 2. Steelbands, 3. Calypso
sounds, 4. Soca music, 5. Static Sound systems.
The floats, that mainly covered the first 4, were
an amazing display of colours, sounds and beats.
Walking behind or next to them as they crawled up
the streets meant you had to join in and dance/
strut, as the music was both uplifting and catchy
it was impossible not to feel the music carry you
along. The static sound systems scattered round
the carnival route were virtually all dance music
based. The main two sound systems, which attracted
the crowds, were the Good Times bus and the Sancho
Panza stage. The Good Times was hosted by local
Notting Hill boy and legendary DJ Norman Jay, and
as expected his selection of funky/ soulful house
certainly created good times for everyone dancing
in that street. The highlight of the Sancho Panza
stage was the closing set from the man himself,
Sasha.
Over the years Notting Hill has had a bad press
concerning violence and crime. This makes it even
sweeter when I state that I didn't witness any sort
of trouble what so ever. The huge number of police
might have something to do with it, but frankly,
if you weren't out to stab someone or knock out
100's of disco biscuits then the boys in blue were
nothing more than fluorescent, walking sign posts.
Apart from the usual drug related arrests, V, like
most festivals, aren't known for any trouble. This
was still the case until late afternoon, when a
30 man brawl forced the Barcadi tent to shut down
for a brief period. Excluding that minor hiccup,
both sets of crowds at the two events were an uplifting,
happy, Inspirational bunch, and it really was good
to be part of the crowd for a change.
The overall organisation of both V and Notting Hill
was good, and with a new successful route for this
years London carnival the organisers must have been
happy.
Bad points about either event were few and far between.
V did shut down earlier than expected which bewildered
a few punters, and Notting Hill's only negative
aspect was that it finished at all.
Keeping with the festival versus carnival contest
I suppose there has to be an eventual winner. This
is made slightly harder when the judge, not Judy
or Jules but myself, was originally from V's location,
Chelmsford, but now lives in London down the road
from Notting Hill.
At the end of the day there can
only be 1 winner. So for pure enjoyment, satisfaction
and over all appreciation the gold cup goes to Europe's
biggest street party, Notting Hill. Viva las Notting
Hill! |
Notting
Hill Carnival
Venue: 9
Music: 10
Crowd: 9
Sound System: 8
Total: 36 / 40
Rating:
Gold Award |
V2002
Chelmsford
Venue: 9
Music: 8
Crowd: 8
Sound System: 8
Total: 33 / 40
Rating:
Silver Award |
| Review written by: Marc
Miller marc@uk-cl.co.uk |
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