11 Aug 2011, Posted by admin in Thoughts, No Comments. Tagged competition, london, music, rave

Standon Calling

Words by Chris

We now find ourselves in the middle of the glorious English summer. For a good proportion of the population, weekends now involve turning their backs on the home comforts, camping in a muddy field, not showering for a good three days, and wandering around in a slightly hazy and altered state of mind….yes, festival season is in full swing!

So far the Cloak & Swagger crew have had a pretty good run hitting up the likes of Block, Glade and Secret Garden Party, all with great success and all managing to dodge the monsoon like rains of the British summer. Now comes the turn of one of the smaller and less known festivals, Standon Calling.

Situated a short train ride outside of London, this relatively unknown festival was started with just 25 friends, a swimming pool, a set of decks and a birthday BBQ. The next year they got a stage (which collapsed apparently!), the year after that the stage stayed up, until through word of mouth, what was a small BBQ party turned into a full blown festival.

One of the core ethos of Standon Calling is committed to championing new artists. Back in 2008, an up and coming artist played there who would go onto win a Brit in 2010, they claimed they paid her in magic beans, not sure of the truth behind this story, but watching Florence and the Machine at a smaller intimate gig would have been an awesome experience.

This year Lamb are headlining on the Saturday night, I saw them at Glastonbury in 2009 and no doubt they will put on an amazing performance. Other artists include Battles Africa Express Sound System, Hercules and Love Affair, John Grant and various DJ’s, Julio Bashmore, Bok Bok and Zinc to name a few.

I think Standon Calling is probably one of the only festivals to have a full blown swimming pool in, perfect to cool down in on a hot summer’s day, or wash off the mud that seems to inhabit most UK festivals. And for those more hardcore party goers, who aren’t content with hitting the sack when the sun goes down but more like when the sun comes up, there is a full blown club, The Cowshed, which apparently doesn’t stop. This year it will be taken over by the Havana Club Paladar on the Sunday, expect rum, antics and fun!

To be honest, I don’t know most the people who are playing at this festival. But that is one of the reasons I am most looking forward to it. The festival market has been saturated in recent years and you can pick any number to go and see your favourite artists. For me these days it is more about the experience, maybe I am just getting old, but with the theme this year being ‘Gods and Monsters’ you know it is going to be an interesting one. Either way, festivals are a great place to go and see some music that you would not necessarily listen to and meet some interesting people, I am sure Standon Calling won’t disappoint.

We’ll be at Standon Calling this weekend, thanks to the kind people at Havana Club. If you see us, holla and we’ll snap you for the site! Drinks in the Cowshed!