Forbidden Fruit 2012 has more of a village fete than commercial festival feel, thanks to its relatively small perimeter which can be circled in around ten minutes, making all of the attractions easily accessible. This setup allows revelers to see more of the bands they want to see and take a chance on bands they have never seen before, as the next stage is only two minutes away The selection of stalls is less mystical than your average festival, though you can still purchase the obligatory silly hat with ease.
There is a wide variety of food on offer with an emphasis on upmarket fast food such as Eddie Rockets and gourmet coffee rather than Bimbo’s Burgers. There are also picnic tables dotted around the site, so you can enjoy your food without struggling to hold three things at the same time. An old style wooden swing carousel adds to feel, while a pint bottle of Bulmers housed in an old style oddity box pays homage to the main sponsor of the event in a quirky way. And many revellers could been seen getting their photo taken at the shrine to cider throughout the day.
Over at the Chuckleberry Lounge, Danny Dowling did a stellar job as MC and was better than many of the acts. Carol Tobin was notably less than impressive. However this stage is a nice addition and well worth checking when the music becomes to much for you. The church pew seating is novel and perhaps even apt as many of the jokes centred on paedophile priests.
The opening day was very much an Electro themed day, with dance dinosaurs Leftfield headlining The Original Stage and Bloody Beetroots headlining The Undergrowth stage. However, in a lineup of internationally renowned dance acts, Irish musicians more than held their own with The Shit Robot Show and LeGalaxie giving top class performances during the day. The early highlight on The Original Stage was Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, a funk family whose father Kelan Phil Cohran is a legendary jazz musician who played with the likes of Miles Davis and Sun Ra. His children have certainly inherited his musical ability and they pumped up the crowd of early birds in some style for the day ahead with their infectious brass groves.
Dubliner Marcus Limbkin’s The Shit Robot Show Show had The Undergrowth Stage pumping with his brand throwback feelgood electro. He even had the queue for the nearby toilets dancing. Bear in Heaven and Factory Floor ensured that this stage was the place to be for the next couple of hours.
Even the allure of Holy Fuck couldn’t keep us away from the ’80s goodness that is LeGalaxie and they didn’t disappoint taking to the stage dressed as The Dead Presidents from Point Break. The Lighthouse Stage was far to small to accomodate the amount of people who wanted to see LeGalaxie so you can probably expect to see them on the main stage next year. Their performance level certainly merits it.
Friendly Fires offered a welcome respite from the electro heavy first day of Forbidden Fruit. Front man Ed Macfarlane certainly has the moves like Jagger bouncing around the stage like a madman. Hit singles such as Jump in the Pool and Paris particularly resonated with the largest main stage crowd of the day so far. Bizarrely headline act Leftfield were rather disappointing. For one, the sound was terrible and secondly it had the feel of an average DJ set rather than a headline festival performance, mind you the rain didn’t help. Bloody Beetroots on the other hand completely smashed it in the undergrowth tent with the crowd reacting in the manner you would have expected to see at Leftfield. Bloody Beetroots delivered a relentless set and even though it was only a DJ set it was a much more enjoyable close to day one.
Forbidden Fruit 2012 – Saturday Photo Gallery
Photos: Owen Humphreys
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