Brighton Beach, 10th August 2008

For those of you not in the know, Vodafone have been putting on gigs all over the country for a while now, bringing some of the biggest names in pop to an army of privileged competition winners. So, let’s set the scene. It’s a Sunday morning on Brighton beach, the stage is set and Channel 4’s cameras are at the ready. T4 presenter Dave Berry is getting the crowd juiced up with promises of what’s in store, when he’s interrupted by a thunderous drum beat.“Oi!

It’s not even lunchtime, and we are partying!” exclaims a cocky Mike Skinner of The Streets, whilst receiving an orgasmic applause. The Mercury Award winner turned the UK garage scene on its head with his debut album back in 2002 and has since had hits coming out of his ears, with a fourth album soon to be released. Banging tunes such as ‘Fit But You Know It’ and ‘Don’t Mug Yourself’ have the fans bouncing around like bunnies, while downbeat ballad ‘Dry Your Eyes’ induces a forest of swaying limbs. The show’s awesome, but that’s not the half of it.

As the sun beats down on the bustling mob there’s a distinct atmosphere that something big is about to happen. Today, that can mean only one thing. N*E*R*D are coming. The American hip-hop stars are no strangers to the festival scene and within minutes Pharrell Williams, the group’s infamous frontman, has the fans eating out of the palm of his hand. “Brighton beach, are you ready to lose your minds, or what?” As if he had to ask. People are screaming their heads off, singing along to club classics such as ‘Rock Star’, ‘Brain’ and ‘She Wants To Move’. There’s just one problem, the band don’t have any dancers. So Pharell hand-picks a gaggle of girls who transform the stage into a huge mass of gyrating sexiness. The perfect end to a fantastic gig which will surely be the highlight of the summer for all concerned.

 

Words by James Watts
Photographs by David Stock