REVIEW: Belladrum 13

REVIEW: Belladrum Festival 13

PICTURES: Gair Fraser and Alison White

WORDS: Margaret Chrystall

SO did Belladrum get safely through year 13?

Not two minutes into the site on Thursday, you stumbled over your first black cat – well, a man dressed with the ears of a black cat, enjoying Pigman’s Mojo Working at the new Ice House Jazz Bar.

It was a stylishly understated go at this year’s superstitious theme.

But luck held out for the three-day festival’s first test, the traffic. And by mid-afternoon on debut day it was clear the horrors of last year’s gridlock meltdown with long tailbacks had been seen off by a bit of common sense and early gate opening at 8am, rather than relying on crossed fingers by organisers and Belladrummers.

By the time THE DARKNESS’s frontman Justin Hawkins borrowed a traffic cone hat from the crowd on Thursday night, what could have been the story of the opening day was a distant memory.

Elsewhere, it was good to catch both THE HUNNA and CIRCA WAVES in the Hothouse, both setting alight warm feelings in their teen and early twentysomething crowds.

And though on a mission to hear the new, rather than max out on hearing familiar local talents, it was good to catch ASTRID in a full Hothouse tent, DUNCAN CHISHOLM opening his set in the Grassroots on Friday with Big Archie and delighted to see many from Kiltarlity in front of him, laughing: "I’m related to half of you!"

Surprise – maybe not – tent-packers at the Hothouse: veteran Scottish rockers GUN, sucking a crowd out of the site like ants round a spoon of sugar with their version of Cameo’s Word Up. And the word is definitely out on perfect festival funsters COLONEL MUSTARD AND THE DIJON FIVE.

Battle of the headliners – who won? Were they even competing? If you had to choose one etc? MADNESS reveled in their superwide appeal, hit-heavy veterans with a generation of crowd-pleasing behind them, though maybe not stepping up the party vibe as they might, though keeping a weary crowd queuing in the damp for a final trip on The Night Boat To Cairo.

TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB reminded how many songs they have that live in your head, not least This Is The Life, used in a Debenhams and a few years back and now happy to lodge in your head playing in circles for hours if you let it.

THE DARKNESS and Justin Hawkins’ antics head-standing, leg-clapping, made light-hearted banter and seriously singalongable rock classics a great opening night prospect – though down the front, Justin’s voice was barely audible, though seemed find on BBC ALBA later.

Of course there is always the powerful mystery of the road not travelled - all the bands and voices friends and acquaintances tell you were brilliant, even more so if you intedned to hear them yourself but somehow got your timing wrong. Or just missed them. The Chuck Hawthornes, Blackbeard's Tea Party, Spring Break and dancers, This Machine, , Case Hardin, Was "Jess Rae" the magnificent jesse really? And then there were your sinderins, Gavin James ("He was BRILLIANT!") and Son Of Dave.

Best moments from the three days for me were SUPER FURRY ANIMALS’ bonkers and brilliant set of tunes, too short, but packing a stageful of yetis on guitar. Not something you see every day.

RACHEL SERMANNI’s secret set at the Free Range Folk Stage on Saturday. As she commented a lovely place to watch, and, for her, to play.

What Belladrum is complete without a main stage update from FATHERSON, or, as we’ll soon have to rename them, Secret Gig?

And down at the otherworldly Burke & Hair stage, SILVERMAN, covering small children’s arms in squirty cream, packing them up in suitcases and not getting arrested, spraying people’s wellies silver and doing the best Michael Jackson impression seen in ages – and giving his crowd some proper belly laughs. Also a contender for Best Sign Of The Festival with his glum-faced presentation of "I’ve got 14 children" up against SFAnimals’ "Resist phony encores".

But by then you were into the final fling, packing in everything from adding your message to Birchwood Highland’s giant heart, the energetic bagpiping tartan-clad Loch Dress models in the Venus Flytrap, to KESTON COBBLERS’ parping brass and COCO & THE BUTTERFIELDS’ mellow Feeling Good in the Hothouse tent.

In the countdown to headliners MADNESS, everybody’s favourite ska band (if you don’t count the high-kicking UK’s best part-time band winners BOMBSKARE), there was still time to tap into the retro indie power of TURIN BRAKES packing out the Grassroots tent.

With rain positively persisting it down on Saturday, it was still worth risking slippy mud to watch the young and the beautiful make their way from Madness and Mother’s Ruin to the Hothouse for CIRCA WAVES who borrowed a trick from ‘80s movie Apocalypse Now to get their crowd roused for battle with intro music Wagner’s Ride Of The Valkyries, straight into their own 2013 single Get Away.

After Friday’s triumph of TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB packing out the front of the stage on Friday with the younger slice of the Belladrum massive, Madness had everybody-appeal from the numbers flooding into the Garden arena. Literally there wasn’t a glimpse to be had of the band round the edges, usual nooks and crannies, walkways down onto the field or wall seats.

With a guest slot from veteran Dr Feelgood survivor Wilko and a set that went from The Prince right up to new song Mr Apples, they played out their past, hinted at the future – and even gave the only truly supernatural sighting of the whole superstitiously aware 13th festival – Suggs briefly disguised as a ghost under a white sheet.

If you don’t count David Bowie back from the dead, of course, possibly as he’d have wanted, surveying all in giant puppet form.

Let's not pretend the rain wasn't a bit of a downer, though no bother for Belladrummers, right? More covered seating at the gorgeous Roman forum bar stage was handy and maybe a couple more dotted about would be great if the weather forecasters hint at many rains next time.

Contenders are Edinburgh's INDIGO VELVET and as the rain gushed a puddle at the Seedlings' door, Darren Barclay grinned: "We're Indigo Velvet and we brought the sunshine..." Or was it better from the Drop n Roll MC, warming up the crowd to greet street trials riders Skye's Danny MacAskill, Duncan Shaw from Inverness and team colleague Ali Clarkson? He claimed: "See what happens when you cheer, the sun comes out?" (... and you know, it did!)

But if you had one wish for Belladrum 13 to scratch into your love lock on the big lacy-wire structure of the Belladrum Birchwood Highland heart for the Year Of Superstition, shouldn't it have been the chance to hear the familiar voice of Stevie Wonder in a guest slot on the main stage launching into Superstitious?

Well, you can dream.

Or Belladream, as Justin Hawkins said, coining the word during Friday's Darkness set. And in his email interview for Invernessgigs, Darkness bassist Frankie Poullain came up with the sort of festival tagline marketeers dream of - "The tartan heart beats the loudest."

Just maybe, but definitely time to get those fingers uncrossed. Year 13 survived, pulse strong.

Belladream 2017.

Favourite Bella sets? Coming soon.