SGP is a really weird place because it's got so many different things going on. There's kind of an undercurrent of the standard music that goes on all weekend - indie rock, ska, and a little bit of dance - as well as less well-known acts, and things that just pop up, like the dress-up parade in the Artful Badger forest, the dog show, and dance-off contests in the arena. There are also a few weirdly large Hello Kitty tents with a lot of people and smells coming from inside.
The Living Room is a really calm stage where you can sit down on comfy sofas and chairs to watch the acts, and it's a great place to nap while still hearing live music. One of the few full sets I caught at the Living Room were Meadowlark, a band from Bristol who switch their instruments around and play songs with really raw, truthful lyrics.
The Main Stage is where the paint fight happens on Sunday every year at SGP, and it's also a great place to watch the fireworks and the big burn of whatever art installation / stage has been made and put in the middle of the lake to go with the year's festival theme.
The first act I saw at the festival was Kyla La Grange at the main stage. She kind of reminded me of Lana Del Ray but a lot more likeable and a little more energetic - also a tiny bit Grimes. Even though some of her songs are pretty slow (one guy in the audience kept asking everyone if they were "ready to sway" and looking round to check), all of her music worked really well and the band filled the stage with their presence.
King Charles were another band who played the main stage in the daytime, they were really energetic and seemed like they'd be friends with Vampire Weekend. (Plus, the frontman has amazingly big hair.) We also caught a little of Clean Bandit - from what they were playing, it sounded like they'd changed their sound to appeal more to the crowd they'd drawn - no prizes for guessing that they played Rather Be. It was still a really fun set, but pretty different from the Clean Bandit they started out as.
Seeing Public Enemy play the main stage was like a mix of a set, a politics class, and a therapy session all in one, and even though that was pretty confusing, it was really good. Fat Freddy's Drop were the headliners for Sunday night, and the last real act I saw, and although I really liked their sound, it never really went anywhere; it just kind of stayed on the same level. They were really good to see, but I was expecting to hear some of their more well-known songs seeing as they were the last act on the Main Stage.
Where the Wild Things Are is pretty close to the Main Stage and plays mostly indie and alternative acts. Superfood and Mispers were two acts I'd wanted to see before but hadn't got the chance to, but I wasn't disappointed. The Ramona Flowers had a kind of weirdly timed set, at about 11AM, but they still had a lot of energy. My friend Abbie told me that Beans on Toast plays the same stage at the same time every year - we saw him in 2013 and went there a little early to get his set, which was lucky because he started 10 minutes early and played in front of the stage for a while. He's really easy to watch, and you can tell that even when he forgets a verse, everyone's on his side.
Jagwar Ma were the best people that I saw playing at Wild Things. They're kind of like a newer Primal Scream, and some of their songs echo Tame Impala and Temples, but without stepping on their toes. Both the band and the crowd had a really good energy, and they stretched their songs out for just long enough.
I'm pretty sure every set I went to was a new one for me; I either hadn't seen the act live before, had missed them, or hadn't heard of them. Going to the Living Room and Where The Wild Things Are stages meant I could catch up on some of the bands I'd missed at Dot to Dot festival, or hadn't heard of until after it was over. Going back to SGP was really fun, even though I didn't do much besides seeing bands and swimming in the lake in the day, and sleeping & going to the secret sunflower garden at nght, but I'd still recommend it, no matter whether you know the bands you're going to see or where you're going to end up. Just try and wake up in time to get home on Monday.
- Alice
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