Boom Town Fair - Matterley Bowl, Hampshire - 9th-12th August 2012 (Live Review)
Thursday, 23 August 2012
Written by Adam Holden
There aren’t many festivals in the country that can say they finish with a boom - however Boom Town Fair literally does.
Incomparable to almost every festival in the country, Boom Town sets the tone of the weekend with its meticulous attention to it's chosen theme of ‘outer space’ before accumulating its firework show that portrays a greater resemblance with the mushroom cloud bombs of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
With aliens and post-apocalyptic landscapes and vehicles wandering the festival, it is easy to see why the revellers who attend Boom Town all spread the word of its greatness like a juicy gossip story on Wayne Rooney; as for the last few years, Boom Town seriously is booming.
With the organisers behind the festival exclusively securing a deal with Arcadia Spectacular (the guys entrusted with making Trash City and Shangri-La at Glastonbury) to provide the artistic wizardry to the festival, this was always going to be special.
The site itself is one giant bowl and from afar, it strikes a similarity with the geology of Glastonbury. Like Glasto though, once you obtain your wristband, there are no more checks throughout the festival – meaning you are welcome to carry your ale or choice of poison around Boom Town without having to smuggle the cans through arena security like a drug mule in an airport. A fantastic touch to a festival that more should indulge in.
Arcadia Spectacular do go all out though. Once tents are pitched and you walk into Boom Town, it is quite a surreal feeling. With bars, clubs, restaurants, casinos, hotels, town squares and even memorials; Boom Town literally is a town. Taking a left off Mayfair Avenue brings you to Oldtown, where every bar, club or saloon has the aesthetic realistic look of a bar, club or saloon.
As the sun sets and the night time dawns upon Boom Town, you really begin to feel that inner city town centre vibe – especially with the rowdy-drunken people walking the streets, but then you retire to your humble abode which is a tent on a hillside.
Every club and pub is themed to precision that keeps in with the post-apocalyptic outer-space fantasy theme that Boom Town decided upon this year. On entry to Charlie Brown’s Casino, you must answer questions on Mr Brown before entering. The pubs and clubs appear scarily realistic from the outside and everyone is unique with different genres of music, including ska, dub step, electro, techno, punk, hip hop, reggae and rhythm and blues, which is where some of the best fun can be found.
In the streets, men ride bio-mechanical looking creatures that walk and breathe fire like something from Mad Max. However, the festival’s main attraction wasn’t the headline acts of Beenie Man (who failed to turn up), it was the Arcadia stage, imaginatively named after the guys who created the stage – Arcadia Spectacular. The buzz around town was to go see this stage, and on Friday and Sunday night, they performed epic shows to the delight of the punters so much so, no one even cared that Beenie Man hadn’t turned up. Nonetheless, this was seriously one of the most bonkers and mental stages ever witnessed.
Keeping in touch with the space theme, the Arcadia stage is a four-legged arachnid-like creature that stands two or three stories high. On the Friday and Sunday night, epic shows were displayed from this industrial-robotic like monster that completely dazzled the revellers and was easily the talk of the town. The DJ booth is suspended below the spider-like creature, and above the crowd, allowing the fans to create a 360degree dance floor that got destroyed by the likes of the Ratpack and the Stanton Warriors. As the creature comes to life, acrobatics swing two and fro whilst lasers penetrate the night sky and enormous blasts of fire light up the festival with the crowd feeling the intense heat. It really is something that has to be seen to believe, but full credit goes to the organisers and Arcadia Spectacular for creating something so distinctive and incomparable.
If the town has become too much, a peaceful sanctuary can be found just outside Boom in the hidden woods, where a fabricated beach and cocktail bar can provide some relaxation or further skanking. There is a lot of skanking going on in Boom Town, especially with the likes of Reel Big Fish and Sonic Boom Six on show.
All year long I have heard tales of Boom Town, and the things that go on there. What happens next year will be a mystery, but I’m sure during the next ten months, it will be my turn to tell the legends, myths and fairy tales that is Boom Town.
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In the streets, men ride bio-mechanical looking creatures that walk and breathe fire like something from Mad Max. However, the festival’s main attraction wasn’t the headline acts of Beenie Man (who failed to turn up), it was the Arcadia stage, imaginatively named after the guys who created the stage – Arcadia Spectacular. The buzz around town was to go see this stage, and on Friday and Sunday night, they performed epic shows to the delight of the punters so much so, no one even cared that Beenie Man hadn’t turned up. Nonetheless, this was seriously one of the most bonkers and mental stages ever witnessed.
