Review: Highest Point Festival

SCAN had a blast reviewing Highest Point Festival recently, which took place in Lancaster’s very own Williamson Park! Check out our review of the weekend:

FRIDAY

When we walked onto the site of the first ever Highest Point Festival, an hour before the gates were opened, there was an excited hush. The setting had everything, the sun, the view; all that was missing was the people. And as the soundchecks began on the stage at the foot of the glowing Ashton Memorial, the Bailrigg team knew we were in for something special.

Cut to an hour later: the bass was loud and the vibe electric. In between bouts of going wild in the crowd for Hospital Records, festival goers would sit on the grassy bank by the main stage, cooling off with their cocktails.

Some stood dancing here for every single set, while those who went to explore would have found The Dell stage hidden away under the trees. Like going through a secret portal, this stage provided a platform for slightly more experimental house artists such as Wilson Phoenix, who we saw flawlessly integrate ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ into his beats. Magical moments like this came so often that it was impossible to catch them all. As Wilson Phoenix was shaking up the woods, house legend Sasha was creating waves up at the Chris Glaba Memorial Stage.

The festival wasn’t just about music, however. When the time came for us all to recharge our batteries (metaphorically and literally; our camera was dead), there was a variety of excellent food and real ales on offer, including a vegan paella whose smell had captivated us from the moment we arrived. A token system was implemented for buying alcoholic beverages, which was essentially a fun way of making you forget that you were spending roughly £4 a pint, but for a festival delivering such a good atmosphere, it didn’t seem as if anybody cared.

As the sun was beginning to blissfully set below the peaks across Morecambe Bay, we enjoyed a ludicrous rendition of Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet Dreams’ by Lancaster’s own Atomic Brass outside the butterfly sanctuary, before racing to the main stage to witness Fred V & Grafix deliver drum and bass euphoria.

DJs Danny Byrd and High Contrast closed Hospitality’s impressive bill, under the glow of the Ashton monument, in what was the record label’s first trip to the North West of England. They projected energy into the crowd, and the crowd gave as much back. I suppose they’ll have to come back next year!

(Words by Alex George and Dan Power)

SATURDAY

Following the release of their debut EP, ‘Leaves’, Ruby Beach hit the BBC Introducing Stage to perform an upbeat half an hour set of all original songs. Having been to nearly every Ruby Beach gig, from their humble beginnings at Pendle Live to their first festival gig at Highest Point, it is an understatement that their evolution has been impressive and consistently professional. The gig came off the back of their sold out EP launch earlier in the year at Yorkshire House, and subsequent features on BBC Lancashire Radio with Sean McGinty. Impressing Sean was a key factor in their rise to the BBC Introducing Stage on this fine Saturday morning, and they did not disappoint. Despite a significant clash with the screening of the Royal Wedding, the band drew a solid crowd of families, students and established fans. Emerging with their debut song, ’24’, frontman Chris Brown introduced the band as ‘being thankful to be there’ before launching into the set. There was something quietly confident about the elegance with which the band moved from song-to-song, only growing more self-assured as the crowd began to dance and sway to their music. Ruby Beach are becoming well-known on campus now, and they’re confirmed to play 3 Extravs this year, so keep your ears open for more sounds to come!

(Words by Becky Scott)

SUNDAY