As the curtains come down on another great festival those who went to Benicassim in 2010 were not disappointed! Here we take a quick look at a small selection of the acts. Make sure you add your memories by using the comment form below.
The festival got off to a roaring start with Magnetic Man members Skream and Benga having their DJ set invaded by more than 200 fans during their early morning DJ set on the first day of the festival (August 15).
The invasion took place around 7am on August 16 just as the show was coming to a finish, having being on stage for four-hours. One man began the invasion and was soon followed by many more revellers as security lost control. Eventually Skream and Benga were told to stop playing and the crowd dissipated without trouble.
During day three of the festival John Lydon had an argument with his Public Image Ltd. bandmates while onstage (July 18 2010). The incident happended as the band approached the end of ‘Religion’, Lydon suggested that they should carry on playing the song. However, his band mates seemed not to notice his request and brought the track to a close as usual. Lydon responded in the only way he knows how, by shouting: “Keep on fucking playing!” into his microphone several times.
The rest of the band seemed confused as to why Lydon was getting so wound up and eventually repeated the songs finale before walking offstage without the frontman. Lydon stood on stage by himself continued to berate his bandmates – “Public Image Runaway Ltd,” he called the band, before adding: “It looks like I’m all alone, as per fucking usual.”
Klaxons showcased their new album ‘Surfing The Void’ during a their Verde stage performance. With just over half of the band’s hour-long set dedicated to showcasing new songs the crowd seemed to really take to them.
One of our personal favourites at this year’s festival was The Cribs, they even declared their love for Benicassim Festival, with Ryan Jarman exclaiming: “What a beautiful festival this is”. The response from the crowd was full of approval! Drummer Ross Jarman is obviously used to playing festivals in the heat when playing ‘Cheat On Me’, he stood on his kit while continuing to play, the frontman added: “I know it’s been hot today, but the sun is going down now so its time to go a bit mental.”
Ian Brown did the British proud as he spoke in fluent Spanish throughout his Verde stage set. Despite the increasing number of English speaking festival fans acts who can speak the local lingo really do seem to be loved by the still massive Spanish support that this festival receives.
The Prodigy’s set saw arguably the wildest crowd of the third evening, with hits like ‘Breathe’ and ‘Firestarter’ sending festival goers into a dance frenzie!
Unfortunately the final day presented Lily Allen fans with disappointing news as the star was forced to pull out from the festival due to health issues. This represents the second year running that Lily has had to cancel her performance leading many to speculate that she just can’t hack what is ultimately one of the best festivals in Europe! Allen did say sorry for her no-show via her Twitter account, saying “My deepest apologies. I really am truly sorry. I was so excited but the doc wouldn’t allow it.” Benicassim wasn’t the only performance affected as Allen pulled out of several other pre-booked promotional appearances.
The disappointment from news of Lilly Allen’s withdrawal from the festival didn’t last long as Ellie Goulding stepped up to replace her and the final days headliners, Gorillaz, ripped the place apart with Damon Albarn bringing out a number of special guests throughout the set.
Albarn interacted enthusiastically with the crowd throughout, frequently showering them with water, which was much appreciated by many in the blazing Spanish heat. Albarn was backed by his traditional Gorillaz bandmates – including The Clash’s Paul Simonon and Mick Jones. The iconic Gorillaz cartoon images were displayed throughout the performance on a giant overhead screen.
De La Soul, Bobby Womack, the Syrian National Orchestra and Bootie Brown also joined Albarn onstage, while the likes of Shaun Ryder, Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys and Mark E Smith were represented by videos and samples.
Dizzee Rascal fired out his set on the Verde stage, encouraging the crowd to dance, with ‘Bonkers’ going down an absolute storm.
What were your highlights from Benicassim 2010? Tell us who you like and who you weren’t so keen on using the comments form below.
Highlight would have to be Vampire Weekend. What a great set and the atmosphere was amazing, more then usual infact!
the F I B reps at valencia got 5 friends and myself a taxi to oropesa it cost 200 euros , we came back 2 weeks later in the same taxi and it cost 125 euros , now who skanked me , the reps , who i paid the 200 to , or the taxi driver , i know who i think the cheating skanking robdogs were , thanks for the help F I B
I loved every minute of Beni this year. My high lights would have to be Gorrilaz, Dizzie, Kasabian and Ellie Goulding. The only down side was having stuff robbed on the last day, But I cant wait for next year.