Snowbombing 2015 review: Rudimental fall flat but still many peaks atop the mountains

Fatboy Slim and 2manydjs among the other acts at the ski festival held in Austria

Fatboy Slim plays at The Racket Club (Gobinder Jhitta/Snowbombing) (Gobinder Jhitta/Snowbombing)

The music...

When Fatboy Slim opens with Right Here, Right Now, it's difficult to imagine wanting to be anywhere else at that moment in time and it bodes well for what is a populist set ahead from Norman Cook. Uptown Funk, Block Rockin' Beats and Eat Sleep Rave Repeat are amongst some of the stand-out tunes dropped inside The Racket Club, the set of tennis courts that for a week become the main arena at Snowbombing. Having hit many aces, he served out with Praise You to ensure a winning performance.

The same could not be said for Rudimental, the main headliners at this year's festival in the mountains. For all the action on stage generated by the musicians, knob-twiddlers and backing singers, The Forest stage set fell somewhat flat. There was time for their biggest hits including Feel the Love and Waiting All Night to be well received, but the slower numbers felt like fillers rather than contributing to any sort of tapestry they might have woven had they played a longer set. The fireworks that accompanied the close of the set at least brought some sense of occasion on the final night, but Rudimental's failure to sparkle was a disappointment.

Rudimental play their headline slot (Danny North/Snowbombing)

Faring better on the same stage the night before were 2manydjs. Their brand of mash-up music made room for tunes by The Human League, Django Django and The Stone Roses, keeping people on their toes as much as it kept them dancing throughout. Set closer Alright by Supergrass brought perhaps the biggest reaction of the whole week, rounding off a great set whilst also suggesting that the move this year to an almost entirely DJ-filled bill lacking any real musical diversity deserves a rethink going forward.

2ManyDJs play The Forest (Gobinder Jhitta/Snowbombing)

The atmosphere...

In the words of the event's organiser Gareth Cooper, speaking to this paper prior to the festival, 'Snowbombers' are bonkers and he's right. Staying up late is a must, whilst getting up at a decent hour to hit the stunning slopes surrounding the resort is impossible to resist, making for an exhausting endurance test of a week that fosters a collective Jagermeister soaked mindset. Whilst occasionally veering into overt laddiness that meant dodging sweaty topless men in one of the various venues dotted around Mayhrofen and weaving through boisterous groups of beer guzzlers when navigating through town, the vast majority are hell-bent on making the most of their week with an attitude made all the more positive thanks to some glorious weather as the week progressed.

A view of the crowds (Danny North/Snowbombing)

What I saw...

When Mr Motivator asked you to "move ya bady" as he led his daily warm-down at the end of each afternoon at the high end of the ski-lift it was difficult to resist. However the leopard-leotard clad fitness instructor wasn't the only site on the mountain tops, with many festival goers donning fancy dress as well as skis - including a pair in full tuxedos and a couple of gorillas speeding down the mountain. The less said about the individual in a mankini and the couple who blacked up to complete their 'Cool Runnings' inspired fancy dress the better.

Mr Motivator leads his daily warm-down (Andrew Whitton/Snowbombing)

Snowbombing also boasts arguably the most unique venues that will be found at any festival this year, from a club inside an igloo to a pounding shack accessible only by foot up a winding snow-covered candle-lit path. Then there are the mountains that are the backdrop to all of it, stunning snow covered peaks that arguably upstage everything else happening across the week.

A view from the party-venue filled mountain tops (Danny North / Snowbombing)

The funniest thing I saw was...

Eddie the Eagle, the plucky winter Olympian and soon to be subject of underdog tale movie starring Hugh Jackman, being asked to take a photo of a group of friends rather than pose for the right-of-passage selfie nearly all Snowbombers leave with. Perhaps it was a mean snub or they failed to recognise the pre-booked celeb and Snowbombing regular, but either way he obligingly took the snap in the good humour the permeated throughout this full-on festival.