Mojo - The Music Magazine

We hear great things about the fjordside freakout that is Hove, but we were NFI, so this year we asked our old pal from Krautfunk funsters Fujiya & Miyagi, David Best, to write it up. How could he argue with papier mâché flamingos and plenty of "backstage cheese"?

25th June, 2009. On our arrival at the Hove festival site we immediately ate dinner, which is one of our main reasons for touring. It was delicious. I had chicken and potatoes. There were strawberries and cream for pudding, which instantly made us think that this was the best festival we had ever played.

Our tummies full, we went down to the beach and enjoyed great views of the lake and surrounding greenery. There were two papier mâché flamingoes slightly wilting in the midday sun. Lee, being a keen twitcher, spied a variation of a pied wagtail. We then did a few interviews, which meant I missed watching Micachu & The Shapes who were the only group I really wanted to see.

We feigned interest in a couple of boats on the lake and had our picture taken. Steve was straddling the bow of one and got stuck. Due to being a proud non-swimmer I declined to join in and decided to look awkward instead, swaying with Matthew and Lee on the wooden jetty.

Considering it was the fourth and final day of the festival the site was remarkably clean. The stages and tents were scattered around although I didn't get a chance to wander about, mainly because I was still a bit full from the dinner. It was then time for us to play.

The festival-goers in general seemed quite young, which is a nice change from most festivals, which are made up of men with beards and women showing off their Chinese tattoos at the bottom of their backs. I'm not a big fan of those tattoos. I think they'll regret having them done when they're pensioners.

When we play tents at festivals, or any time we play for that matter, I always keep an eye out for people leaving at the back. Our audience started off really sparsely, then it swelled to sparse before petering out towards the end. The people who did watch were very enthusiastic and I hope they enjoyed themselves. I think we clashed with the french group M83 who, by the size of our crowd, must be very popular in Norway. I thought we played quite well, which pleased us, as it's harder to play well to a small crowd.

After our triumphant return to a Norwegian stage we went to our dressing room behind the main stage. There were crisps, cheese and bread in our portakabin, which were most welcome after a strenuous performance. From where we sat we could hear the muffled sound of Faith No More. I meant to go and watch them but when it came to the crunch I couldn't be bothered. I think I like crisps more than live music. They did do a Burt Bacharach tune, though, and also a famous theme tune to something I couldn't quite place. It sounded alright, but I wasn't really in the best place to judge. The crowd seemed happy.

We then found out through our soundman Ben's phone that Michael Jackson had died. That was a bit weird. While Steve donned a pair of metaphorical white gloves and a whistle to watch the Prodigy (the imaginary white gloves a tribute to ravers not the king of pop), Matthew, Lee and I went back to the hotel in nearby Hove. I was sharing a room with Lee who had really painful tooth problems. To ease his throbbing gnashers we watched BBC World's coverage of Michael Jackson's death. After watching that on a loop for about an hour we channel hopped and managed to find the film Rising Sun starring Wesley Snipes, Sean Connery and Harvey Keitel . It was quite an engaging, taut thriller but as we missed the first 45 minutes or so, it made little sense.

In the morning Steve told us that he really enjoyed the Prodigy but he did say they were swearing a lot on stage, which is a bit of a shame. It was then time to go home, which we did.

David Best

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And here's what Hove looks like...