Unlike the usual festival traumas of trench foot, the lack of being able to find your tent among thousands, it then being submerged by rain, not eating for three days, fighting for that last pair of wellies and the sheer stench of toilets, Beached has none of these problems. So if you鈥檙e into cleanliness, it鈥檚 the festival for you. Personally, not a problem, but it鈥檚 nice not to have to find that elusive tent in pitch black. Big Names What makes this festival, now in its sixth year, so striking, is the time and effort that goes into the free event. First there鈥檚 trying to attract the big names, something they seem to achieve year in year out, whether it be the Libertines, Thunder or the Bluetones. This year managing to grab the Fratellis and Rick Witter formerly of Shed 7 amongst others can only help matters further. Second of all, is actually getting them to turn up, which they were successful in most parts. And finally there鈥檚 the matter of the roof that鈥檚 just bursting to leak. It survived... just. There was a common theme running through Saturday鈥檚 musical feast and that was change. It was impossible to predict weather, beer prices, high tides and who exactly was playing when, as some bands scheduled for the morning arrived on stage early evening. But that鈥檚 what makes Beached great; you just never know what鈥檚 going to happen next. Saturday
 | | Rick Witter struts his stuff |
Saturday鈥檚 bill just shows how eclectic this festival is. With indie, pop, rock, rap, metal, dance amongst a few of the differing genres, enough to whet the earnest of music fans appetite. Scarborough鈥檚 Fuzzgun Sniper is a fine example of this diversity. | ""It鈥檚 a head turning performance and one which is reflective of the interest that鈥檚 surrounding the band." " | |
Their mix of electro punk funk is a sonic assault of great choruses and profound bass lines. There鈥檚 the electro beats of 鈥楽hoot You Down鈥, the fantastic punk rock of 鈥楯esus Christ and Rock and Roll鈥 and the fusion of dance ability and trancy quite hypnotic sounds of 鈥楥hicken Ranch鈥. All this makes them one of the highlights of the day sounding like an angst Clash fighting with Primal Scream beats. And best of all they鈥檙e local. The showcase of local talent continues with Hull four-piece the Bonnitts, with their epic soaring rock, reminiscent of Coldplay. It鈥檚 a head turning performance and one which is reflective of the interest that鈥檚 surrounding the band at present from the likes of Steve Lamacq and company.
 | | The Fratellis beach their car at Beached |
After Scarborough bands Six foot daze, The Variants and Puritain all excel it is time for another Hull band to take to the stage. The Johnsons clearly take their influences from the Beatles, Strokes and Libertines epitomising a bit of dirty rock n roll. It鈥檚 a highly engaging set that鈥檚 energetic, fiery and all-round encouraging. At times their music even harks back to the good old days of Britpop. Someone should really tell them it鈥檚 been ten years now. But the likely lads from Hull go down a storm with the crowd and are refreshing in their approach. Eclectic Mix As the night draws in and the sand castles are fading away with the tides threatening presence becoming ever closer, it鈥檚 time for something a little different. The arrival of Gompa is quite extraordinary and they probably have the weirdest background ever. These guys are from everywhere. Jake is the lead singer from Scarborough and then the rest just confuses bystanders. One from Denmark, the other from Sweden, one born in Switzerland, let鈥檚 just say their music represents their geographical diversity. They are unbelievably catchy and even with one member not turning up, put on a mind-bending display. Their music flirts between grunge, pop and metal which clearly represents their influences from Nirvana to the Beach Boys and why not throw Jeff Buckley in there too. On the evidence of current single 鈥楶lanet Blue鈥, 鈥楯ack Knife鈥 and 鈥楾ranquil Mind鈥 they have a knack of mixing strong melodies with catchy hooks and a grunge edge.
 | | Rapping the night away |
The night just seems to get better with rappers Dyzo impressing. Then it all turns ugly, as foul-mouthed, Frank Skinner look-alike Devvo is booed, bottled and finally thrown off stage. Thankfully, I shall say no more and luckily The Enemy from Coventry were very talented and up for a good night. Their attitude and swagger on stage lead nicely into headliners the Fratellis, who happened to have got their vehicle stuck in the middle of the beach. Glam Rock There was one hell of a crowd and a rapturous applause greeted their arrival onstage. For a band that has sold-out London venues in minutes, it was great to see them embracing the Scarborough audience. They have come from nowhere and risen so rapidly. The Glasgow three-piece, all of whom are brothers, jump straight into second single 鈥楬enrietta鈥. The foot-stomping glam rock nugget is the sign of a band confident enough to throw away arguably their best song within minutes.
 | | Follow my lead Henrietta.... |
Their set is unbelievably tight, raucous and at times riveting. They play their forthcoming debut album in full, performing fans favourites 鈥榯he Gutterati鈥 and new single 鈥楥helsea Dagger鈥 a song that will stick in your head forever. 鈥楥reeping Up the Backstairs鈥 follows with its banjo-wielding big dumb chorus that sends the crowd into a frenzy. It鈥檚 just great fun. I further thought my ears deceived me, as they came back after the encore rip-roaring through Goldfrapp鈥檚 鈥極oh La La鈥. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined this ever being covered, let alone by the Fratellis. Yet it鈥檚 refreshingly good. The silent disco follows in pitch black as Alan Raw, the presenter of Raw Talent spins the discs. Sunday Sunday arrives quicker than ever, so for the hardened aficionado it was time to don the mac, cleanse the head and prepare for another day of live music and epic rain. The bill included an array of talent and even featured the Beached Academy in action. However one of the highlights of the day was Ripon鈥檚 The Call. A band that seems to be causing a fuss everywhere it goes, receiving vast amounts of radio airplay and poster-friendly taglines. One for the pop-pickers out there who loved every minute of their engaging power-pop set that shows they have real potential. It鈥檚 straight forward sprightly music of the highest order that seems to work well on the day. Kava Kava is another mixed bag not afraid to experiment in what they do. They are a concoction of electric soul, funk, blues and rock. On this evidence you can tell why they鈥檝e been round Europe, played Glastonbury and been praised by DJ magazines worldwide. The Huddersfield group are the most eclectic band of the weekend for me, which is why I liked them so much. The fact one minute they would dabble in bleeps, big beats and even horns and the next brass and strings were apparent, left the audience guessing all day long. Each song has about a zillion different phases in and these rare oddities do sound like nothing I鈥檝e heard before. Disco Down
 | | The rain comes down at Beached |
With the festival drawing to a close on a starry night, what better man than Rick Witter and his band, the Dukes, to step in and create a finale to remember? Rick formerly lead singer of 鈥楤ritpop鈥 legends Shed 7, showed why he was still in the business, with a fantastic piece of showmanship. His voice will never change and the new songs all present on their upcoming album sound familiar to that of his former band. But that鈥檚 a good thing to the majority, as the Shed fans have turned up in force to cheer on their hero. New songs 鈥楾he other way around鈥 and 鈥楽ky falls down鈥 are all good additions to his back-catalogue which he uses to his advantage sometimes as we take a great look down memory lane. The performance starts with one of Shed 7s best ever songs, 鈥楪etting Better鈥 sounding re-vitalised and fresh, as the distortion and drums kick like the sound of 1996 all over again. Other songs that feature include the fabulously mellow 鈥極n Standby鈥 and 鈥榃here have you been tonight?鈥 However the most spine-tingling moment is when Rick dedicates the last song of the night to a friend. The song being the epic 鈥楥hasing Rainbows鈥. It gets the biggest cheer of the day with its stunning chorus and strong verse. Showmanship What is so special about the performance is Rick鈥檚 ability to interact with the audience. He is good natured saying 鈥淲here we all off after this? Why not let鈥檚 all go back to Stew鈥檚?鈥 He then persisted to jabber with the crowd about X-Factor and get singing impressions from the crowd, with one young man singing the chipmunk song. God forbid! The best thing is you can see how much he not only cares for his music and audience, but he does all this with such charisma. Until next time
So what have we learnt after another year of Beached? Well for one, the weather will never dampen the carnival spirit on the beach. There will always be an inflatable doll in close proximity. The tents will be pitched in the most stupid places and we shall overcome the tide with strong will power. All this has made for another great and unique year at Beached. Alex Jackson | 
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