An urban fairytale: Bestival's Bandstand

United Kingdom | by Daniel Fahey | 06 May 2008

Because the Sunday Best affiliated Bandstand tour has rolled into Old Billingsgate, London, providing a pre-Bestival whetter for those who can't quite wait for the full-blown bash in September.

The venue itself opens up like a massive car showroom, which is apt for this evening's sponsor – Vauxhaull Corsa. At times the advertising is as discreet as a '92 Caviller creeping onto a golf course, with the downstairs White Bar plastered with their latest "Come on!" campaign. But luckily Rob Da Bank's mobile eccentricity machine has littered the hall with glowing tipis, crooked signposts and a full-blown Mad Hatter's Tea Party hidden in the downstairs vaults.

Go down another level, to a room that loops beneath the brick arches, and a Mark Ronson DJ set is creating a queue which weaves back from the stairwell, past a giant game of chess to a gentleman who is rolling an inflatable dice like a confused Luke Rhinehart deciding whether to stick with Ronson downstairs or twist on Annie Mac spinning tunes above him.

Ronson's peppering the decks with cheesy '60s tunes, the type of tracks you think you know (but really you don't) that make you dance like a stringed puppet anyway. Bestival's fancy dress bug has made it up to the capital as well, with a stack of playing cards sharing the dance floor with a larval caterpillar, who will show you her pending new look from a little red book if you ask nicely enough. 

Bestival favourites The Cuban Brothers are on the main stage by the time we resurface from Dante's downstairs disco, already down to their white Y-fronts, spinning, cheering and jeering the crowds with their faux Cuban accents. "Please welcome Signor Rob Da Bank," Mike Cuban shouts as the Radio 1 DJ takes to the decks to drop a remix of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' to enthusiastic acclaim.

After a short set from the tastemaker, the backdrop slides to a side to reveal Mark Ronson and his Version Players gleaming from the peacocking lightshow that flutters like a Las Vegas casino. Tonight his chunky covers boast bigger breaks than Ronnie O'Sullivan and a brass selection that would've given Jack The Ripper a run for his money. Lily Allen's 'Oh My God' proves popular before the irritating Sam Sparro, who has donned specs for his best Brains impression, to murder 'Stop Me' by The Smiths as well as his own annoying hit 'Black And Gold'. Saving Sparro's blushes The Charlatans' Tim Burgess, complete with a new Monkees haircut, jumps on stage to sing on his band’s 'Only One I Know' before the Version Players bring the night to a predictable, but no less irresistible, climax with a performance of The Zutons 'Valerie' exciting the ecstatic hoards.

September may be five months away and the Bestival a further 80 miles down south, but this urban sidekick is the perfect aural aperitif for the impending boutique bash.