hi,
ned here >
wow, i've just found this thread and its really made me smile reading through everyone's comments.
as you all well know it was a hell of a rollacoaster that the core crew, myself & Ed & bang face posse are just recovering from.
there really is no way to describe the feeling when you hear the rain starting to come down in the middle of the night at a festival and it just doesnt stop.
Its like all those dellusions you gave yourself about "maybe we'll miss the rain", or "maybe we'll just get a shower" are cancelled out and you just have this impending feeling.... THE MUD IS COMING.
when we had our production meeting at 10am on friday morning, sheltering from the downpour myself and the Overkill crew knew we were in a bad situation, basically our tent is at the bottom of the bottom.. its in the lowest point of the puddle.. and it was soo flooded that the electrics, amps, kit etc were all starting to get wet.. which bascially means the tent is dangerous and has to be closed. We were told that we had to cancel the Friday, then we'd see what would happen on Saturday. I can honestly say at this point i wept... im not proud and it was only for a moment!
.. but the thought of all the work, all the flgihts getting acts over from the States, all the details.. Bang Face.. urg.. what a horrible feeling. So we started calling everyone and cancelling them,, was really intense.. everyone was gutted, all the artists were so sad, all the crew were deflatted, me & ed could hardly talk to each other.. anyway.. around 4pm the officals at glade (the tent master, and some of the directors) came over to our tent and suddenly started to say things like "we could get it open, if we can get rid of the water".. perhaps the amount of questions the info tents were getting about whether Overkill would be open or not made it a real priority.?
We had another meeting at 5:30pm and it was all positive, the amazing individulas making up the core glade crew are so experienced at all this shit, it was utterly inspiring seeing them go into action.. little diggers turned up, water pumps were suddenly sucking all the shit out of our dancefloor, and the soundcrew rebuilt their PA on the stage. We had to call all the artists and tell them to get their asses on site.. which was easier said than done as the entire area around the site was flooded.. nearly all roads into Glade were impassable.. another logistical nightmare.. we were intouch with Ceephax, Luke Vibert, Ragga Twins, Sharkey, Tim Exile, Mike Dred and many more all at the same time trying to direct them around the flooding onto the site and we were rewriting the running order on the fly.
when we opened the Overkill tent doors at 8:30pm on friday, i couldnt believe it.. it was full instantly.. and suddenly you coulnt see the mud on the floor and it just looked like a proper rave. i still cant believe it.
I want to send out a massive thank you and buckets (:-) full of respect to:
Ed Sibert - my stage manager extrodinaire - no one works harder than he.. and he has great taste in music.. he's the Bristol connection!
the Overkill Crew - best yet.. and all for freee.. you rock! (rob, sofie, carley, nicole, Alex) (shit, im sure i've forgotten someone...
Sound system guys - remaining sane & clam while working 16 hours days and sleeping in a store cupboard.. thank you
The VJS - Jonnie & co from paris.. all the feedback on your visuals is awsome .. people dug it, thanks!
Bang Face Posse - always a pleasure working with you, james is a dude - overkill is the only place they have made BF outside of their residency, im proud!
Glade Team - the best indiependent festival organisers in the world.. seriously.. Nick, Mark, Ans, Jo, Becky, Biff, Luke .. Respect! -
i will add here that for anyone who has real experience of managing festivals you know how hella hard it is at the best of times, a normal glade festival stretches the teams abilities to the max.. you have 16,000 people in a field... The core glade crew are responsible for EVERYTHING...they are managing all the secutiry, transport, tent build, sound system crews, catering, health n saftey.. council breathing down their neck.. its insane to see how it works.
and i know for a fact that faced with the worst rain downpour in history in that area most festival organisers would have buckled and cancelled the whole thing.. respect where respect is due i'd say.
artists that didnt play:
Luke Vibert - he was almost out the door, then we had to cancel friday, so he cancelled the hire car etc & didnt come - fair enough! Ragga Twins played with their own DJ who came at the last minute.
Assault - i'd flown him over from USA, but told him to stay in London when the shit was hitting the fan.
Luke's Anger / Michael Forshaw / Mode48 / Andrea Parker / voltexile - came to Glade but the Overkill tent was cancelled during when they were supposed to play
Mike Dred (aka Universal Indicator) - couldnt make cos of the flooding .. he was on the road for around 12 hours trying to get there!
Everyone else made it and Played.. 7 acts out of 5o ish total .. that aint bad eh!
In response to some of the issues raised:
Overkill soundlevel - i agree.. i think we missed having the Function systems that the other tents had, at times i think we were quieter, but its not stress, im sure with all the comments that have been made the Glade cheifs will get it in there next year,. actually they were trying to install the function 1 for 2007, but our tent isnt big enough, it would eat too much capacity,, and its not simple getting a bigger tent cos we would have to move the location of Overkill.. cant fit a bigger tent in that spot.. but roll on 2008.. ace.
Snares - hmmm,, i think i wont say too much on this.. some artists are up tight about certain things.. snares thing is sound levels.. he knows he shouldnt have got so pissed off,, maybe i should have had him play before 12, before the soundl imitation really kicked in.. he was just being Snares really.. i love his music.
2008: if there is one thing a muddy festival leaves you feeling (apart from tired) is that you want a sunny one.. thats what im looking forward to.. a baking hot Glade 2008 with a upgraded function 1 system & a bigger tent... we'll be back with an even better line up of mutants from all over the world.
thanks to all the positive feedback, it really is top to hear that people enjoyed Overkill so much, means alot to us and i think its important people have spoken your mind about all the issues bugging you, notes have been made!
bring it on.
ned
