August 22, 2024 |
Few places compare to We Out Here. The Gilles Peterson-founded festival delivers a cacophony of immaculately curated music, standing firm as one of the best boutique festivals in the UK, with the past weekend marking its fifth year.
Despite its relatively new status, it draws an impressive crowd. After relocating from Abbots Ripton in Cambridgeshire to St Giles in Dorset last year, the change in location hasn’t deterred its dedicated punters who flock to its colourful fields in droves. Decked out in their flounciest tutus, Toad-esque mushroom hats and sequinned budgie smugglers, We Out Here is a visual feast, stirred up by people not afraid to express themselves. Meanwhile markets brimming with vintage jewels, fluffy hats and technicoloured Afghan coats, fabulous enough to make Joseph quake in his boots, are all ready to browse for those who want to join in on the fun.
If you belong to a particularly competitive friendship group like mine, you can pay a fiver and channel your inner Vin Diesel on the bumper cars – Fast and Furious, festival mode. Bars quench thirst with seltzers and spiced rum and cokes, while stages like Studio Monkey Shoulder fuel the ever-pulsing crowd with malt whiskey cocktails. When nature calls, “those who squat to pee” enjoy quite the treat, thanks to eco-conscious organisation Peequal, which provides urinals for womxn that give a whole new meaning to going to the toilet together. Everywhere you look, We Out Here extends its arms and embraces ticket-holders with a warmth stoked by community, joy and having all-around great fucking time. Would you believe we haven’t even started to talk about the music?
We Out Here’s line-up shines in its diversity, from grassroots acts to big hitters at the top of the bill. Every stage offers something different yet unrestricted and despite its small size, there’s something for everyone. South London-born soundsystem Lemon Lounge returned for the fifth year in a row, drawing in fans of heavy basslines threaded with grime and hip-hop. The haybale-bordered Rhythm Corner transformed from a relaxed daytime stage for house legend Laurent Garnier to a packed-out space for sought-after selectors like Joy Orbison and Mala. The Grove provided the perfect alternative for a forest stage, housing everything from Sherelle’s amped-up sprinters to Danilo Plessow’s (formerly Motor City Drum Ensemble) love-doused house samples. A gaping valley, aptly named The Bowl, became the backdrop for a sunlight-drenched roots and reggae set from soundsystem veterans Channel One as well as Peterson’s closing set that saw the weekend out by spinning Luther Vandross’ ‘Never Too Much’ into a beaming crowd peppered with flags, fairy lights and friends atop shoulders.
With a schedule this stuffed to the brim, narrowing down the five best sets has been a next-to impossible task and although I have tried my absolute hardest, it’s guaranteed there will be ones I’ve missed. Team We Out Here, invite me back next year so I can give it another stab?
Asha Puthli, Main Stage
When I grow up, I want to be Asha Puthli. Almost 80 years old, the Indian-American singer rose to prominence in the 1970s and sustained a 50-year career with her dulcet tones and jazzy melodies, sweeping up headlines at Studio 54 and collaborations with The Notorious B.I.G. as she went. Proving once and for all that age is just a number, Puthli, who was dressed in a huge floating kaftan and fuck-off massive star necklace, crooned her biggest hits like ‘Space Talk’ and ‘The Devil Is Loose’, stopping only to gargle her beer into the mic, flirt with guys in the crowd or tell us one of her many stories about Andy Warhol, obviously. “I saw him walking around one time with a mic that was very phallic,” she giggled. When Warhol turned his attention to Puthli, pushing the mic in her face like he had done with others, the artist simply replied a simple line that reaffirmed her status amongst the crowd as a bonafide it-girl. “Honey,” she purred. “I’m not that type of girl.”
Mia Koden b2b Re:ni, The Grove
“This is a proper knees up, this,” a friend shouted as Mia Koden and Re:ni drilled another crowdpleaser straight down the centre of the scarlett-lit, tree-topped late night stage, The Grove. A knees up, yes. A masterclass, most definitely. From beginning to end, the two up-and-comers whipped their adoring crowd into a fist-chucking frenzy, paying the sweetest homage to their bass and dubstep laced homestead of South London. Every track was a hit, seamlessly blended into each other to create a set that was a nose-to-tail fun-filled festival feast. Chef’s kiss.
Ebo Taylor, Main Stage
A clear sky warmed by beaming, orange sunlight stretched above the Main Stage as a pivotal figure in Ghanaian music, Ebo Taylor, kicked off his early Friday evening performance. Standing behind him was a family tree of Taylors, with each family member manning a trumpet or drum or guitar to contribute to the energetic hum of highlife that danced out of the speakers. Listening was a form of education, with Taylor’s career leading two of Ghana’s biggest bands – Stargazers and Broadway Dance Band – establishing him as one of West Africa’s most prolific and influential musicians. The crowd, which ranged from rusk-munching toddlers to silver-haired stool perchers, swayed to Taylor’s mix of Ghanaian folk, Afrobeats, jazz, soul and funk, mirroring the warm, family-centric energy floating off the stage. When you thought it couldn’t get much more wholesome, Taylor brought his old pa’ on stage for the last few songs – hearts warmed along with the beating sun.
MC Chunky, Lemon Lounge
A hot and sweaty Lemon Lounge was the scene of the crime for the Friday edition of Manchester-bred MC Chunky’s multiple sets across the festival weekend. Known for his charisma and bouncy blend of grime, dubstep and house, the DJ brought his committed crowd along for the ride as he spun spitting lyricism into contagious bumpers that were met with unmitigated glee. Establishing himself as a staple of Manchester’s underground music scene, Chunky left his set with a piece of well-deserved advice to the earnest Southerners amongst us should they try to integrate into the Northern scene. “If you meet anyone with this accent, yeah, don’t ask ‘Are you from Birmingham?’ – just ask ‘Where are you from?’”
Sampha, Main Stage
There wasn’t a dry eyeball in sight as Sampha waved goodbye and walked off the Main Stage after his Friday evening performance. The singer-songwriter, who hails from South London, occupied one of the festival’s headline slots alongside hip-hop legend turned flute player, André 3000. Known for his emotive lyricism and resonant melodies, Sampha’s set was laced with personal stories about losing both his parents to cancer, landing an extra gut punch onto his attentive audience. Swaying from tracks like ‘Spirit 2.0’ to ‘Only’, Sampha’s enigmatic and engaging presence charged the atmosphere with palpable emotion that left nobody untouched.
Photography by Jake Davis, Rob Jones, Sienna Lorraine Gray, Sahil Kotwani and Lauren Luxenberg.
