More about: Ride

In recent weeks, debate has been rife about the future and quality of UK festivals and the over-saturated market they now inhabit. It’s no secret that uninspired line-ups, unpredictable weather and shonky organisation have all considerably lowered expectations for some summer festival goers.

In my own search for new music and experiences, I often take a chance on something in Europe if the bank-balance and work-load allows. I’ve notched up Pohoda, Transmusicales, Iceland Airwaves, Paleo, Slottsfjell, Reeperbahn and others in recent years. Unbelievably, it’s often cheaper to take a European jaunt with accommodation thrown in, than to stump up the king’s ransom that some home-grown festivals now demand.

Mentioning on social media that I was off to Ypsigrock in Sicily, my post was met with universal love for the event from previous attendees. Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite simply replied ‘It’s the best’. He should know having performed there twice with the aforementioned ‘Gwai and side-project Minor Victories. But all other musicians, crew, journalists and punters served up similar superlatives.

With no disrespect to this beautiful, historic country, Italy isn’t necessarily known for being at the forefront of music today. So how does a 2,500 capacity event in hard-to-reach, rural Sicily possibly compete with the plethora of similar ‘boutique’ events across the continent? Unselfishly, I was willing take up the challenge to find out… Having never been to Sicily I arrived in Palermo to 38 degree heat. With its chaos and culture, piss and perfume, passion and poverty; it was certainly a shock to the system. What a city! I do love the heat, but acclimatising to this from the windy streets of Edinburgh took it out of me. Ypsigrock itself however is set in the cooler hill-town of Castelbuono, an hour and half from the capital.

OK, let’s talk location. Between the Madonie Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, Castelbuono (formerly known as Ypsigro – to which they cunningly added the ck) is a picturesque, medieval jewel of a town with a mixture of Norman, Byzantine and Arab architecture, winding cobbled streets and a splendid castle that takes centre stage. The perfect backdrop to proceedings, it’s hard to beat with a cloudless sky by day, or a rooftop canopy of stars by night.

Celebrating their 21st year, you can tell the Ypsigrock bookers are serious music nerds. Like all good small festivals, it feels as if every act has been lovingly hand-picked. They don’t want mass-produced, mass marketed bands, rather their own personal selection. What’s more, there are no stage clashes. Not one. The stress that goes with that old conundrum vanishes, and everyone sees the same acts. In a world of limitless choices and evaporating attention spans, that may sound like a nightmare to some. Not me. Previous artists who’ve played include Belle & Sebastian, Primal Scream, Mudhoney, Django Django, Alt J, Savages, Caribou, Fat White Family, Metronomy and Future Islands, as well as a cross-section of Italian newcomers.

Due to the oppressive daytime heat, aside from local parades and art exhibitions, each day the audience begins their musical adventure around 5pm in the cloistered confines of the ‘Ypsi & Love’ stage (Chiostro di San Francesco). Both open-air and strangely intimate I enjoyed sets by Dutch indie-kids Klangstof, Colombian-Italian dub-soul singer Estel Luz, and Sicilian Yorkshireman Sergio Beercock (yes, that’s his surname) who skillfully managed to channel Tim Buckley, jazz and prog using his voice, a Spanish guitar and loop station.

At 7pm the throng moves to the ‘Mr Y’ stage, an indoor de-sanctified church (Chiesa del Crocifisso) lovingly restored with stunning acoustics. 4AD records’ alt-folk it-girl Aldous Harding performed here to a capacity crowd, but it was the uncompromising electronic attack of Berlin duo Amnesia Scanner that really blew me away - imagine Amon Tobin, Squarepusher and Death Grips going head to head. The juxtaposition of that with the amiable Sicilian families and local pack-mules wandering the town certainly wasn’t lost on me.

The main attraction is the ‘Ypsi Once’ stage (Piazza Castello) that starts around 8pm in the relative cool of the Castle courtyard, and sees the townsfolk come out to play. With sterling support each night from the likes of Oldham wild-men Cabbage, hip-hop soul-boy Rejjie Snow, Canadian post-punks Preoccupations, grunge-popsters Car Seat Headrest, slow-core darlings Cigarettes After Sex and Geoff Barrow’s superb, groove-laden krautrock trio BEAK; it’s actually the headliners who steal the show.

Who would have thought RIDE’s comeback would be so celebrated? Both on record and onstage they’ve grown into a tight, muscular rock band albeit with their Oxford indie roots still showing, especially when dusting down shoegaze classics such as ‘Drive Blind’ and ‘Leave Them All Behind’. Hamburg duo Digitalism do filtered stadium-house on a truly epic scale with monster subs and trademark euphoric build-ups. The crowd is in the palm of their hands throughout, with prime cuts from 2007’s ‘Idealism’ album kicking off. Sunday night’s Beach House are the perfect way to close the mainstage however. Victoria Legrande and Alex Scally’s witchy, psychedelic, dream-pop vignettes are drenched in reverb and utterly grandiose, yet private and otherworldly. David Lynch would definitely approve, as do the spaced-out and mellow Ypsigrock Sunday school.

Want more? Resident DJ’s Fabio & Roberto play until the break of dawn at the ‘Cuzzocrea’ stage within the gorgeous, forested campsite each night - 5am on the Saturday/Sunday and a positively eye-watering, job-stopping 8am on Monday to be precise. Sadly, your trusty scribe flew back on Monday so didn’t last the duration. But my heart and soul were with the faithful to the end.

Weather aside, there are lessons to learn from Ypsigrock. As you might imagine, the food was on a different level with local pasta, pizza and gelato to die for. But it’s the sense of community that’s so special. It makes you feel you’re a guest at a friend’s party, rather than some faceless, corporate event. When asked to DJ on the mainstage before RIDE I gladly accepted on Friday, whilst on Saturday I ended up drinking delicious local wine and singing Eddie Cochran songs(!) on an acoustic guitar at a local ristorante until 3am. Sicily, Castelbuono, the people I met and the music I heard were all exceptional – Ciao e grazie Ypsigrock!

More about: Ride