Music
Festival No.6: Ending the festival season in style
Before the curtain falls on this year’s festival season, I’m taking one last trip out of London and heading to the serene Portmeirion for Festival No.6. The festival is only in its second year and to be honest I have no idea what to expect.
On the surface it appears to be a festival that is just as dependent on its stunning setting – a ‘fantasy’ village on the Welsh Coast that was used for TV show The Prisoner – as the music and literary acts booked to play.
With that in mind, I’ll just stick to talking about the music – below are just some of the acts I can’t wait to see:
Chic Feat. Nile Rodgers
Probably the most sampled man in pop, Nile Rodgers has been the highlight – well, so my friends tell me – of every festival he’s played at this year and this weekend I’ll finally get to see the man himself and his band Chic.
Mount Kimbie
I don’t know how these guys didn’t get a nod in the Mercury Prize 2013 shortlist. The South London duo’s second album Cold Spring Fault Less Youth is easily one of my favourites of 2013, and with their sound now pushing beyond their early sparse dubstep I can’t wait to see what their new live show is like.
My Bloody Valentine
Whether it was due the sound engineer having a bad night, the crosswinds emanating from the sea or Kevin Shields just not being in the right mood, their set at Primavera Sound earlier in the year was a bit of a let down. Hopefully, the shoegaze legends will feel more at home in Portmeirion and the sound engineer will let Kevin turn his guitar up loud enough to create his famous ear-bleeding wall of sound.
John Cooper Clarke
OK, so he’s not strictly a musician – although he did have some record releases in the late 70s and early 80s – but John Cooper Clarke has to be one of the most influential poets of modern times. His visceral delivery earned him the adoration of punks back in the 70s and after decades spent on the road, his energy, delivery and sardonic sense of humour hasn’t wavered.
Frankie Knuckles
Festival No.6 is hosting some of the biggest legends in dance music this weekend, including Carl Craig, Norman Jay and Andrew Weatherall – but the biggest of them all has to be Frankie Nuckles, aka The Godfather of House Music.
Check out our Festival No.6 playist below:
