 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Update Day Five - Monday 08 August We really are sad today, we woke up late all geared up to go see some other indie band or 10 and then realised that it was all over and the only thing left for us was the party on the beach. There is a strange smell in the air of Benicassim, not of course, in our apartment, but outside, in the queues of Mercadona we Thanked God we had donned our headscarves as we ended up wrapping them round our noses and mouths to avoid the smell of Fibers that hadn't showered for 4 days. Not sexy. Off I went for lunch with The Beau and Anita stayed at home catching up on some sleep. After some calamari and patatas bravas I came back for a siesta and then we got ready to go out. Tonight no effort was made in the outfits, combat trousers, white tees and havaiainas were thrown on, beach hair was covered with scarves and down we walked to the Torreon. On arriving we noticed the stage wasn?t as big or impressive as it was last year and the music wasn't as loud as it should have been. We got there just in time to catch the end of Alex Under's set, which was a little too hardcore for us, moved our feet a bit and then on impulse we decided to get piddled, so we could relax and forget the fact that it was all over for another year, we downed a couple of vodkatinis and the result was not too great. Oh it was hot!! Too hot to handle! We were sticky and tired, and for some reason (and we're sure it wasn't the alcohol,) the amount of sweaty and smelly people annoyed us and made us irritable. But then, Layo and Bushwacka! saved the night once again. Mixing a few Depeche Modes, a bit of Fast Eddie and some Orbital they really got the crowd moving and made us relax finally. Suddenly we spotted the French press guys Anita had had her eyes on for the past couple of days and made our way over to them, had a little boogie with them, just as Anita and one of them were getting a little too close, OH! HO! OH! Guess who appeared from nowhere The Hunk. Oh woopy doo daa. Anita's smile dropped, the French press disappeared within seconds. That was our cue to pretend we were leaving for Bedfordshire. Off we went, trying to lose The Hunk who was trying to convince us that it 'just wasn?t safe for us to walk home alone' (this is Benicassim for christ?s sake, not the ghetto), and we went off to have a butcher?s at the people and feel the ambience for the last time. We bought a few things from the hippy market that we really didn't need, and then we took ourselves off, climbing over bodies asleep on the grass and dodging between more sweaty smelly people. Arriving home after what felt like a hike over the Himalayas we climbed into bed and were asleep within seconds. It was a great ending to a fantastic week. Farewell, fellow Fibers. Until next year. Update Lolita can't decide if she's sad or not that FIB is drawing to a close, on the one hand, she will be a few days close to seeing The Beau again, but on the other, who?s she gonna dance with now? News Day Four - Sunday 07 August We get to the festival site way before the acts on the Green Stage even think about makeup and hair before their sets, yet the Oasis fans are already out in full force. You wouldn't believe a couple of lary brothers from yesteryear would create such a fuss and hullabaloo but it seems the reason behind the sheer amount of Brits here this year may just be them. Trying to get down the front to catch Hot Hot Heat is almost impossible, they have already staked out their spots and they're almost three hours early! We manage to enjoy Canadian cuties Hot Hot Heat regardless, but try as hard as we might, we couldn't get our hair as big as Steve Bays?. What a fantastic ginger Afro! This fab band was literally explosive with energy, and a great live act, playing songs from their new album, Elevator. What a great way to start the last night on the main stage. We caught the beginning of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, but agreed with many in the audience that he was, indeed an acquired taste, and we rather disapproved of his swearing (he may a be a vintage rocker but it's no excuse), not to mention his excessive spitting all over the stage. And we mean spitting on purpose, phlegm flying all over the show. Nice. We were probably the only non-fans of Nick and his Seeds, so we scooted out of there sharpish, and headed over to Roisin Murphy. Keeping in with her new album, Ruby Blue, there was no end to the weird and wonderful sounds accompanying her up there, there was a bicycle bell ringing for at least 5 minutes before she came out, but eccentricity is the way to go at FIB, and Ms. Murphy has never been one to hold back from that. The ex Moloko vocalist declared she was a very different person to the woman that last stood before the audience at Benicassim, on that very same stage. She was wearing a gorgeous navy blue backless trouser suit but proceeded to bring out a sparkly cloak and feather headdress among other things throughout the set, as she played songs from the new record, including Ruby Blue, first single If We're In Love, and Holding On. We fought through the Mylo crowds with their super cool DESTROY ROCK&ROLL t-shirts ( we want one!) who all looked distinctly Scottish and very trendy indeed, and got carried by the current all the way back to where Oasis were just about to strike up their first chords. They played all their greatest hits, Don't Look Back In Anger, Wonderwall, What's the Story (Morning Glory)?, Champagne Supernova, but we couldn't understand a word Liam mumbled. He disappeared off the stage for many tracks, leaving Noel to his own devices, which we were quite pleased about really. He was nicer and chattier to the crowds, (What are you English all f*ing doing here? Haven't you got your own f*ing festivals to go to? Be nice to the f*ing locals while you're here.), and in general got a better response from the audience, and a better performance out of the band. He also said thank you (or Gracia?!) after every song, which was nice. All in all we were a bit perplexed as to what exactly Oasis were doing at the FIB, as they had no new material to present us with, nor did they actually make anyone dance. All we could see were mouths shouting along to the words. A bit confusing to be honest. However they closed with a cover of Talkin' Bout My Generation which has to be said was brilliant and a perfect close to a slightly dull set. Next up were Leicester bred new guys Kasabian, who even if you weren't a fan of in the beginning or didn't even know who they were, you would have ended up loving with a passion, without a doubt, after their live performance on Sunday night. They obviously are on of those bands who excel on stage, playing one for the brits, and then one for the Spanish, dedicating songs to Oasis and god knows who else left right and centre. They would be such a goodlooking bunch if it weren't for the facial hair, but they were so nice! not one song went by without a 'Thanks and God bless!', and we were proud to shout no! to the question, How many of ya are f*ing high?. Highlights of the set were Processed Beats and the impossible to stay still to Club Foot, with which they closed the set. A f*ing amazing night, apparently! Closing the Green Stage were LCD Soundsystem, the crazy New Yorkers who have made crazy rock and punk-funk their trademark. They were on top form, James Murphy amazing us all with his voice ? how does he not wake up hoarse the next day? ? and the groovy beats and electro pop rhythms got us both out of our seats and crazy on our feet for the whole set, to tracks like Daft Punk is Playing At My House and Losing My Edge. After a fantastic few days we had very nearly lost our edge, so we trundled off home to bed, huge smiles on our faces. We just don't know what we?ll do with ourselves until next year! Signing off Eternally yours Anita Darling and Lolita Devine Don't forget to check the site tomorrow for an up date on the party on the beach where Slippy DJ, Layo and Bushwacka! and a few more djs will be spinning to a very tired and almost definitely very smelly crowd to close the fib with an official boom! FIB Rumour!!! Update Lolita has been spending her days at the beach, desperate to look gorgey for her reencuentro with The Beau. She has been texting him photos of herself at every band, and misses him terribly. Oh well. Day Three - Saturday 06 August 16:30 Winter Camp Escenario Fiberfib.com It's Saturday night at FIB, day two, one day to go, whatever way you look at it, we are halfway through the festival. With 1000 less attendees than yesterday, there are still over 31,000 people wandering around the site, and the atmosphere is buzzing more and more with every second that passes. Everyone seems to feel more and more at home, with cultures languages and customs intermingling way beyond anybody's expectations. The English still seem to be outnumbering everybody else, but the French and of course the Spanish are rapidly gaining on them! No misbehaviour spotted on anybody?s part yet. It is a scene of perfect harmony. The Kaiser Chiefs were our first stop for Saturday Night, and though we didn't stop for long we did manage to mosh a bit. Everybody knew the words and were jumping and screaming all over the place. At one point Lolita got grabbed by the waist and lifted into the air, much to my amusement, and yelled 'put me down put me down!', hitting the poor sod over the head with her (huge) handbag until he set her back on the floor. We shimmied on over to the Green Stage again to see The Raveonettes, Ronnie Spector looking ravishing in a Dorothy of Oz dress and high heels, her platinum hair illuminating the crowd. Lolita and I have decided that to open the evening on this stage must be perfect, maybe a little warmer than other times in the evening, but a perfect setting as it takes up the period of time where the sun sets over the hills in the background. They added to the atmosphere with a smoke machine, and what with the tambourine and the multiple guitars they had us all moving around in time to the music. The highlights of the set were Return and Sleepwalking, and the crowds began to gather for the night. Keane were next up, looking slightly less hot and bothered than they did in the Press Conference, but taking very little time to get all pink in the face again! Before the music began, Tom Chaplin said most dearly, "We're a band called Keane and we're very pleased to meet you". He was exceptionally thankful and appreciative of their (pretty amazing) welcome, and got all teary eyed about how Benicassim was one of the most spectacular places they had ever played at. What sweeties. He then went on to say that it must be "fucking brilliant" and "a great life to sit on the beach all day, and then spend the night listening to music". Couldn't agree more! Although of course, we are here to work and have not been to the beach ONCE...ehem Towards the end of the set, during Somewhere Only We Know,he asked everyone to get out their mobile phones and hold them in the air. Goosebump moment!!! (Though according to one fellow journalist a bit too Operacion Triunfo/Bisbalish). They reduced us to tears at one point by singing She Has No Time. Had to get out the hankies! It was a well rounded set, including Bend and Break, Snow Cap, the B-side to Somewhere Only We Know, Everybody's Changing, and This Is the Last Time. Seeing Keane meant we had to skip on !!! (Chk Chk Chk), which was a huge shame, but we hear they were absolutely fab and failed to disappoint, supposedly the best band so far at fib. Following Keane were Lemonheads, who according to our sweet Lolita, should have been called The Cousin Its, in the true words of Basement Jaxx, Oh My Gosh, what a lot of hair was flying uncontrollably around the stage! Not attractive. We have never been great fans of the long hair look, as far as we are concerned hair products were made for girls. They were a bit hardcore for us girlies, and we took ourselves off for a late omelette baguette and a beer or 3 (true fib style) and then ran into the Hellomoto tent when we heard Push me, and then just touch me until I can get my, my satisfaction, booooooming outta the speakers. It was an extremely funky DJ called Larry Tee, he then went on to spin a few more of our fave tunes and we had a little boogie bounce. (Have any of you tried the bounce dance yet?) By this time we were doing a Keane, bit hot and rather red in the face and we decided to go back to the press tent and have a drinkie and a donut. I left Lolita in the press tent chatting to the truly sexy security guards who we have not mentioned yet, to go for wander around and check a few more bands and DJs out and came across Jeans team, 4 extremely funky and extremely german guys jamming to their hearts content. Just as I was getting to like the dancing sola thing, I felt someone cover my eyes from behind. Quelle surprise! My Favourite Ex, The Hunk. With one of my not so favourite exes, The Jammy Dodger, (don't even go there on the nickname), I never even knew they knew each other, cue extremely awkward moment in which I try to escape without getting into an uncomfortable - for me - discussion, but The Hunk wanted to talk as always, he never DID know when to keep his mouth shut. Aren't they great, he said, don't you love them? Let me make you a copy of the cd blaaa blaaa blaaa. In the end I got rather aggressive and said that Lolita was waiting for me, and that we could speak another time in another place (in another world!). Ha ha ha. And off I went. Left him alone. He was trying his hardest to ruin my night. Lolita and I completely pushed all thoughts of exes out of our brains and let our hair down to shake it out to Radio 4 and Dinosaur Jr. Rock On! Well my follow fibers, that's it for tonight but we will be back with oasis, kasabian, hot hot heat, nick cave and the bad seeds, Roisin Murphy, LCD soundsystem and mylo. Ciao for now fibers. Update Lolita is also a little tired, and a little grouchy (and she DOES admit it!), she is also missing The Beau incredibly, and is annoying everyone with phone calls and texts every 3 seconds. All this aside, they left our phones at the apartment, downed a couple of Red Bulls, ate a bit too much chocolate and got dressed in true FIB Fashion. (Keep your eyes out for the FIBfashion Feature we are working on!) Day Two - Friday 05 August 16:30 Standard Escenario Fiberfib.com Once there, we were happy and high (because, just in case no one had ever told you, red bull gives you wings!!) and - because The Kills were on! Yeah! They were better than expected and played No Wow, which Anita was ecstatic about, who then grabbed my hand and we skipped back over to the Escenario Verde. We found a perfect spot on the press stand - out of the way of those sitting down so as not to disturb the journalists who would rather stay motionless and tap their knees (ooooh what jolly good fun!) to watch Athlete, one of our fave bands at the mo. They did not fail to impress. Joel Pott, lead vocals, was a vision in white. The whole crowd jumped around madly, singing along at the top of their voices to San Salvador, and once the chords strung up for Wires, Anita and I were on our feet bouncing and waving our arms around in heaven, on the verge of tears. Once they were done and dusted (a little saying I?ve picked up from the UK), we took ourselves off for a stroll round the other tents, popping into the Telefonica tent where they were organizing free wi-fi access all over the site, plus a free text messaging service and many other useful things. Suddenly we found ourselves in front of a small stage set up just outside the Hellomoto tent. A girl (or maybe a guy in drag???), wearing boxer shorts, tranny heels, and a huge head piece covered in feathers that flew off whilst she jiggled around on the stage, was putting on a mini set of her own, shouting ?peep show peep show aaah aah aah?, faking an orgasm and shouting vulgar things in Spanish. I wont even bother translating them because I will blush too much typing them. She was quite hilarious but we are yet to find out her name. Nobody seemed too impressed around us, in fact that looked more disgusted than happy. Heading back into the press tent we spotted Peaches being interviewed by a radio station, in thigh high silver leather boots and hotpants, thank goodness ? we would have been shocked if we?d seen her in jeans, God forbid! Off we went to get a falafel wrap for our dinner (or falflel as the dear people that served us called them!) and grabbed a spot in the grass, gawping at people all around us, before jumping up in a flash to catch a bit of Four Tet. The wild haired cutie tried to keep his straight concentrated face but couldn?t keep for long when his captive audience burst into applause, whoop whooping him up in the true manner he deserved. I tried to hide behind Anita as the cameraman zoomed in on us, our faces filling the big screens that flanked the stage, but my big hair was too much for her to cover up, and I had to sneak back out, my sheepish grin glaring out for all the world to see. We stomped our feet (Anita forgetting until that moment that her sprained foot isn?t entirely better per se ? cue screams of agony, she?s such a drama queen) with the best of them to the grooves and beats of Four Tet, then snuck out the side door to go and get a space to see Peaches. Out she came to screams and howls, flanked by two girls in strap-ons, beards, aviator shades and trucker caps. Nice. Shake your titties! So we did. Well I did, Anita doesn?t have much to shake. (She doesn?t mind me saying so, she?ll tell anyone who?ll listen how under-endowed she is. It?s the bane of her life.) The girls disappeared; they turned out to be on a screen anyway, and Peaches was left to her own devices. Will you be my piano? She screeched, sucking her finger in a very suggestive manner and pointing out into the people. She had ditched the thigh highs for a hotpant jump suit open to the waist, and sky scraper heels. Alas, it was time to leave Peaches for The Cure, though we did get to see her try to climb up onto a speaker, and fail hilariously. The Cure, who rocked aggressively all over the stage in a v.cool vintage rocker manner, just as expected, must have generated the biggest FIB audience yet this weekend. We couldn?t get near them at their press conference, and everyone just sat there in awe. Such big fans of The Cure over here, it?s fantastic they still have such a following. They declared they were recording more material towards the end of this year for an album to be released in 2006 on Robert Smith?s birthday. His huge presence filled the press tent and we decided it must be very cool to create such an atmosphere by just walking into a room, though he did say he tries to keep everything private ? he is not a fan of being famous, but rather simply wants to get up in the mornings and play songs he could be proud of. The Cure gave up their coveted space on the green stage to a hyperactive Basement Jaxx, who have just released a greatest hits album, so naturally played, er, their greatest hits! Much to our delight. Anita and I bounced all over the press stand, along with a few other journalists who kept stepping on our toes! Ouch! One costume change per song was the average, as the 3 mad as hatters female vocalists boogied all over the stage dressed in silver bridal gowns, gorilla suits, cheerleader outfits (including multicoloured pom-poms), and a leopard print catsuit, to mention a few. The energy was incredible and they got everyone singing along to Jaxx classics like Good Luck, Do Your Thing, Where?s Your Head At?, and Red Alert plus their fab new singles You Don?t Know Me and Oh My Gosh. That?s it for today, we are completely exhausted from all that dancing, cant wait for tomorrow ? Keane, Lemonheads, Ladytron and !!! will all be rocking our FIBworld. Guten Nacht Bon Nuit Buenas Noches Goodnight Day One - Thursday 04 August FIBstart Update: Lolita has also been away for 10 days, taking The Beau back to England to introduce him to La Famille. They all adored him, naturally. They also Did London for a while; she stocked up on all sorts of goodies at Portobello, Camden, and Covent Garden, and came back laden with goodies for Anita and the thisisValencia.com crew. This is their account of their experiences at FIB. We arrived in Benicassim on the Thursday morning in a mad hurry, driving like the clappers down the motorway to get the keys to the apartment before 2, when the estate agents closed for the day. I nearly killed Lolita on the way up here, she insisted on playing Mariah Carey's We Belong Together on repeat all the bloody way, ignoring my pleas to at least act like a 'Fiber' (Person Who Frequents the FIB) and please put something more trendy on. But it's The Beau and I's song! She exclaimed. I won't see him for a week! She finally gave in and we put Kasabian's Club Foot on full blast, only to turn it down again when the Estate Agent Lady phoned to say she'd leave the keys in the café next door, which she didn't, so we had to phone, she had to come down, she couldn't remember the number of the building, did we think we could remember? Etc etc. We finally made it into the apartment at about 5pm, dumped bags and things and scooted down to the press office sharpish, where we proceeded to get our photos done for the press passes. Could we look any uglier? I hate having my photo taken, as you may have noticed from my rather obvious anonymity on the site. I now have to walk around for the next four days with a Mrs Potato Face photo to show to all the security guards, and Lolita looks like she's ready to kill and has no neck. So, good start. You probably can guess we didn't make the first act at FIBStart, Aldo Linares, which was a real shame as we saw him last year and he was great, and also Dorian, but we did catch the end of Deluxe, who really reeled the crowds in for the rest of the evening. The FIBStart party, not included in the price of the normal festival ticket, used to be held in the Benicassim sports velodrome, but since a few years back now takes pride of place on the main stage, the Escenario Verde. It is a great way to begin the festival, and gives you a real taste for what's to come over the weekend:- the sort of people who?ll be around, the kind of vibes, the fashion 'both faux pas and fabulousness' and is more relaxed than the other days. We hung around for The Posies, who were new to us, and despite starting off their set with rather some rather hard rock, made us into huge fans when they broke into their ballads. are the one! We sang euphorically, only to be brought right back down again by One Day You Are Gonna Die, Who Did You Love? But it had a beautiful yet catchy melody so it wasn't too bad! They said it was great to be back again, and we were pleased they had come, so it was smiles all round. The Polyphonic Spree were next on the list. We tried to count all 23 of them, in their brilliant pale blue smock dresses with bright red lightning strike motifs, but they were moving around too much! They were obviously just too excited about their first time in Spain and couldn't keep their energy in, bursting all over the stage like fireworks on the 5th November. A harp, a keyboard, a flute, several saxes, drums, and at least a million voices came together in perfect harmony for an amazing performance. The backing singers in the middle of the stage were the most impressive, dancing more than us! Tom DeLaughter, the lead singer of this exciting and relatively new band (they have two albums under their belts), and his amazing voice got the whole crowd moving and gyrating and singing along to lyrics they'd probably never even heard before. We certainly loved it, and although we do love to dance it takes us a while to get going, but we got right into this lot, and felt uplifted and spiritual about everything. All the other stages were blocked off, so most people were congregating on the grass in the centre of the festival site. Lolita and I grabbed a brown sugar and lemon crepe and a couple of cokes ? we needed to get our You energy levels back up after rockin' out to The Tears, and found a clear spot to perch on. We giggled as a crazy girl with fairy wings flapped her arms and drunkenly flew through the crowds, and stared in wonder at three English girls looking for a high, they approached one poor guy who didn't look particularly worse for wear, sitting innocently munching on a sarnie, where did you get your pills? They screeched at him in desperation, as he tried through a mouthful to tell them he wasn?t on anything. Getting back to our crepes, we were flattered as one French froggie mistook us for someone famous! We just looked so fabulous, he had to ask the question. Who are you? He said anxiously. Me? We said. Yes, who are you? Who are you? We glanced at each other, unsure of what to say, when he said, I'm fine, Who are you? Aaah! I see. HOW are we!! We blushed. But by that time he'd given up on us anyway. To the tune of an English crowd singing Happy Birthday we got up and danced back over the stage. We did notice more than anything that the English sector of the crowd is just so much bigger this year, the Spanish seem to just fade into the background, completely upstaged by peeps from good old Blighty. So far so good as they keep to themselves however, and don't seem to be too raucous or rowdy. Keep it going guys! Your reputation as hooligans can be wiped out with your behaviour this one weekend! It was time for us to join the Underworld and dance our Havaianas off. Yes, sir, we can boogie. We bounced around (new trend from the UK Lolita has kindly brought back with her) for a while until Born Slippy came blasting out over the crowds and our bounces turned into huge leaps and bounds as our excitement got the better of us. Yeeaaah! Mega mega white thing! It was a fantastic end to the start of FIB, and we're sure Optimo Djs also rocked the house, but it was time we got our little heads some rest. The weekend awaits. More tomorrow as we give you the goss on Athlete, Basement Jaxx, Doves, Peaches and more. Are you here? Drop us a line and let us know what youre enjoying. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|