Review: Get Loaded in the Park 2008

Despite often being overshadowed by the major summer festivals, Get Loaded in the Park on Clapham Common held its own this year, not even allowing the cider drought halfway through the day dampen, or rather, dry out spirits.

True to form, Iggy bared his chest to a welcoming and excitable crowd, and Beth Ditto kept the atmosphere electric in spite of, or perhaps even because of the underlying trepidation that she might bare hers. She got involved with fans joining them in the mosh pit and ended the lively performance with “Standing in the way of control” which was unsurprisingly the real highlight of their act with the majority singing along throughout. Unfortunately, The Gossip and other big acts were tucked away in small tents which meant not all fans could watch, but sufficient gaps in between acts allowed people to changeover so as long as you got there early it wasn’t a problem.

Those who did arrive early to see Kate Nash were likely to form the angrier part of her crowd in the end as she arrived late and started to get booed, but she managed to turn it around asking for support as it was her last London gig for this album. In spite of losing a sizable chunk of the crowd to Iggy, Nash got the remaining bunch moving with her animated piano playing and skeleton dancers. Meanwhile Iggy’s energy defied his age but maybe not his body as he was injured on stage whilst climbing a speaker stack. Nonetheless he invited audience members up on stage during “No Fun” and jumped into the front row for “I want to be your dog”.

Wiley fans that missed the small signs at the entrance, waited for him only to be disappointed when told that due to unforeseen circumstances he wouldn’t be making it, which was a shame as this music taste wasn’t particularly catered for elsewhere.

Though their hit “5 Years Time” went down well, Noah and the Whale didn’t really manage to arouse an abundance of enthusiasm in the audience as not many really knew what to expect from their other songs which had a much more folky feel.

The Maccabees indulged the packed audience in the XFM tent with a dynamic performance which went down a treat and similarly, The Hives and The Holloways gave it their all on the main stage during the sunny part of the day.

All in all the most eclectic of tastes were suitably satisfied and well, if you can’t afford a holiday, don’t enjoy tents, muddy fields and three-day-old reeking toilets that bigger festivals offer, then what better way could there be to spend your August bank holiday?