Gig Reviews

Having attended the rather chilled-out Opera in the Park on Saturday evening, I woke up rather hazily, early Sunday morning and was suddenly filled with dread. Nothing on earth could have prepared me for the next eight hours of utter mayhem. I arrived early at Temple Newsam in an attempt to beat the traffic that 70,000 ticket holders would generate.

As I walked into the main arena, which at this point was empty, things were tense. Some security guards were patrolling the gates in a military fashion, while others swept the area for potential missiles - stones, coins, bottles. According to one security guard, the crowd like to throw things at the acts they don't like, which ultimately meant that as I was at the front of the stage taking photos I was a target too - now why didn't I think to bring a crash helmet!?

I went in search of a well needed cup of tea. About 20 minutes later, after I had attempted to politely introduce myself to a couple of floating paparazzi, I ventured back out to the main stage. The security guards were starting to twitch now, things must have been about to kick off.

Party In The Park is the UK's biggest free outdoor music concert. Much-anticipated, fans queued for hours to get their hands on a ticket. This year the organisers have done well, clearly giving young fans the artists they want to see including chart-toppers JLS as well as at least another twenty or so lesser known acts.

As I looked up the hill from the main stage, I saw masses of people all pressed up against the gates like battery hens. They were all jostling for position as security opened the gates, like marathon runners. They were off, running down the hill, all screaming like banshees in the hope to gain the all important spot at the front of the stage - as close to their idols as they could get.

Shakinouts - blimey, they liked us!!

First up are lovely Leeds boys, Shakinouts, who bring their very own brand of indie pop to the party.The band won a competition to play today and are one of the very few guitar-based bands on the line up today. They go down surprisingly well with the home crowd, even throwing in musical homages to Dizzee Rascal and JLS in a couple of their tunes. I caught up with the boys backstage for a quick chat and they were pleasantly surprised at their reception: "Our fan base is mostly made up of people that are really into indie music, so to play to a mostly R&B crowd was a bit scary, but I think it went down well. Basically, we play pop music on guitars, good pop music is good pop music."

I head back to the main stage to take some pictures of the Dolly Rockers. They have fantastic hair and make-up, nicely choreographed but not too polished. They have been described as Primark Pop and have been all over the internet recently with their single 'Je Suis Un Dolly'. One of the three girls, Sophie King, is from Moortown. I managed to have a brief chat with them after the show and they clearly want stardom more than anything having got through to the semi-finals of the X Factor, a while back. The Dolly Rockers are not really my cup of tea, but I admire their determination to succeed.

The Dolly Rockers

I spoke to a few of the girls (and boys) in the front row, and it was clear that most people were here to see JLS. Even some of the mums and dads who had come as chauffeurs for the day, were caught up in it all. Safely inside, after a mass paparazzi scrum I asked the boys how it felt that so many people were here to see them: "Really excited! Although I'm sure they are here to see lots of other artists too - Dizzee Rascal is here and N-Dubz as well, it's great to be on this bill, it's the cream of UK acts. If you want to make it in this business you just need to keep pressing on, work hard and never give up. You can never practice enough - you can never be too good."

Although they were clearly well coached by their management, they seemed like nice lads. As they went on stage you could barely hear the music over the screaming but watching them was fun. Although it was a shame that they were miming as they can clearly sing in tune.

Next on was Calvin Harris, again not really my thing, but he certainly got the party atmosphere going, despite the now torrential rain. It's a rare sight to see 70,000 people with umbrellas all jumping up and down in unison. The energy levels were maintained by Dizzee Rascal with his catchy tunes and dazzling wordplay. His lyrics are clever yet accessible and everyone there went into overdrive once he went 'Bonkers'.

Dizzee Rascal - makes the crowd bonkers!

So, it was all over. I missed some of the acts, mainly due to the logistical problems of weaving through 70,000 people, but also seemed to spend a lot of time waiting for acts to turn up. Other highlights included were Little Boots, (she really does have small feet by the way). Agnes surprised me actually, she has an amazing voice which is more gospel than pop. VV Brown blew me away, she writes and produces her own material as well as her own comic book! Alesha Dixon was great - her back up dancers were super slick, and she really got everyone moving.

The acts as a whole were well rehearsed, well oiled machines. Whether you agree with the management techniques behind them or not, they are undeniably professional, and clearly passionate about fame. This was definitely a new experience for me, if only to watch the crowd - it's the kind of hysteria that has to be seen to be believed.

Party In The Park took place at Temple Newsam Park on Sunday 26 July 2009.