Festival Internacional de Benicassim 2010: Rated!

Benicassim, Spain - 15-18 July

21 July 2010

Overall – 9/10

Benicassim is a beautiful Spanish holiday destination for most, but once a year festival lovers from all over the globe invade the picturesque port town, looking for something that other festivals can’t offer… beach life!

The days are spent on the golden sands of the Costa Azahar but at 6pm the festival gates open and the real fun begins. And this year has once again proved to be a festival like no other boasting some of the industries biggest and best artist as well as a perfect mix of the up and coming. With an amazing line-up, a perfect location and with festival organisation that ran like clock work it’s hard not for the event to score highly.

Getting there and Back- 9/10

There are plenty of choices for travel to Benicassim, you can fly to Valencia, Reus, Barcelona, Alicante, Gerona and Madrid, and there are great bus services to get you from all the airports to the town. There are also reliable bus and train services which run frequently.

Once there you’ll find it easy to get in and around Benicassim, as the Municipal transportation company and the festival organisers have created a new route to cover all areas whilst the festival is on, with single trip tickets at 1.25euros.

All the services seemed to be organised well and there were plenty of buses throughout the day and night to cater for all.

The Site- 7/10

The festival grounds are typical of all festival sites with plenty of eateries and bars, the queues always seemed to be in constant flow so this had been well organised and catered for.

The beauty of this festival site is the Mediterranean coastline to the right of the main stage and Spanish mountains to the left. A downside, however is a lack of grass to laze on with most of the site planted onto concrete.

Another disappointment was with the acoustics around the main stage. With the larger crowds people around the sides of the stage suffered from a loss of sound quality, something that needs to be addressed for next year’s festival.

The Atmosphere- 9/10

The whole vibe around the place was very chilled but electric at the same time, long days on the beach chilling had definitely put everyone in a relaxed party mood and it was fantastic to see so many different nationalities from all over the world that had cherry-picked the festival as a “must do” whilst on their travelling adventures. The festival appeared to be trouble free and you really got the feeling that everyone was just over the moon to be there and be part of such an amazing festival.

Music - 9/10

Many artists made the festival one to remember with the likes of Vampire Weekend, Ash, The Specials, Julian Casablancas, Ian Brown, Calvin Harris, Echo and The Bunnymen, The Cribs, Ryan Sheridan and Charlotte Gainsburg all on form. East London’s finest, Dizzee Rascal, seemed to give the performance of his life with great stage energy and dance tunes that set the crowd on fire. There was also a weird and wonderful set from Leftfield. But to top the bill for the most energetic, most eccentric and most electrifying performance of the whole festival was without doubt, The Prodigy.

It was fantastic to be part of an all round fulfilling festival, which delivered what it said on the label. There were no gimmicks and no disappointments, just wholehearted, mind-blowing performances - a festival to be remembered.

Uppers

This year’s line up was full of quality and variety. It was a fantastic bill of acts with some of the music industries finest headlining the four nights. Kasabian (10/10) were the first night’s headliner and what a way to start the festival, the lads never fail to deliver an unbelievable show, giving their all every time. The crowd loved them and you completely felt like you were living 21st century rock n roll. The festival wouldn’t have been the same without them.

Mumford & Sons (10/10) exploded onto the stage with their country rhythmic sounds in front of a massive crowd. With smiles all round they brought fun to their show and it was very obvious to all that they love what they do and this spread like wildfire throughout the crowd. The lads put on an amazing show and the crowd were in awe of them.

As dusk was falling on Benicasim fans began to soak up another fantastic performance from The Courteeners (9/10), they lit the place up with their hearty performance. The crowd loved them and it was clear to see they had a massive following from their hometown Manchester. You felt like the band were taking you on an emotional rollercoaster and there were occasions when their songs would cover you with goose bumps. They definitely left the crowd wanting more.

It has definitely been a festival to remember for Ellie Goulding (9/10), she was set to play on the Eastpak Fib Club Stage but was soon moved to the main stage to take over once there was the unfortunate news that Lilly Allen had cancelled due to illness. And what a replacement she was, the crowd were expecting such an amazing show but she was unbelievably good. The passion in her performance was breathtaking as she truly gave it her all with her vocals, guitar playing and even an energetic performance on the drums. There was no way she was leaving that stage until she gave everything she possibly could.

The last night of the festival definitely hit an amazing high when it was topped off perfectly with one of the best performances of the whole weekend from Gorillaz (10/10). You felt like you were part of a Chinese theatre. Damian Albarn and the Gorillaz stage presence was fascinating and the energy bounced from the crowd.

Written and photographed by Luanna Francis and Craig Carty.

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