Hop Farm Festival - Part Three

SUNDAY

The last day of the festival and the pickings are a little thin today. Obviously Prince is the one to watch, but other than that there isn’t much to get me excited. It’s a hot sunny day though so we made our way to the Hop Farm with enough time to catch a few smaller bands.

When we got there Imelda May was on the main stage but I’m not a fan so we headed to the smaller tent to catch Young Rebel Set. I’d not heard of them before and though it took me a little while to get into them by the time they finished I was converted to their brand of folk rock, a more rough and ready Mumford and Sons.

Next up Fenech Soler, an electronic pop/dance outfit. I’m not a huge fan of dance music but I’d heard one of their singles a year or so ago and vaguely recalled liking it so we stayed in the tent to check them out, and we made a good choice. Mixing synths with guitars and drums they were full of energy and had some really great songs that crossed the indie/dance divide extremely well.

As the set went on the tent got fuller and fuller, and by the time we left to make our way to the main stage it was full of people dancing, quite impressive for a Sunday afternoon!

Listening to mainly 6music as I do, Tinie Tempah is someone who has managed to completely pass me by so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I assumed it would all be backing tapes so it was nice to see his band playing guitars and drums but his particular brand of rap didn’t really do it for me, though from the reaction of the crowd I was very much in the minority!

So to the headliner for tonight, and arguably the entire festival, Prince. Or at least it should have been. The little fella was 35 minutes late on stage, allegedly to diva like demands but when he did arrive on stage his presence was massive. Whatever that elusive X factor is, Prince has it.

Playing for a total of 2 ¼ hours Prince rocked the Hop Farm with hit after hit as ‘1999’, ‘Cream’, ‘Purple Rain’ and ‘U Got The Look’ all thrilled a crowd that was dancing from start to finish.

There were some nice surprises too, his version of Sinead O’Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, which he had great delight in telling the crowd paid for his first house, and a cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til you Get Enough’ were fantastic but not as good as the incredible ‘Play That Funky Music’ for which he was joined by legendary bass player Larry Graham.

Funky is the word that sums up Prince’s performance perfectly: watching him dance was one thing, but watching him dance and play guitar at the same time was incredible. Clearly enjoying himself, he established quite a rapport with the audience, including taking pot shots at some of the other bands as he constantly reminded us that him and his band were playing ‘real instruments’.

He wasn’t in a rush to leave the stage either, playing a total of three encores, including an Ohio Brothers cover, ‘Dance’ which to be honest went on a little too long, he would have played all night if they’d have let him. The only disappointment was that he didn’t play ‘When Doves Cry’ or ‘Sign O’ The Times’ but I think I can let that slide!