Monday, September 06, 2010

Dark Mills Festival - Post Mortem

Enjoyed a fantastic time at the Dark Mills Festival on Saturday, my thanks to the organisers and the many wonderful filmmakers, performers and creatures of the night I had the pleasure of meeting there.

Saw some great bands including a hilarious, irreverent set from Joe Black. Was fun to get a band's eye view of the crowd, and if you look carefully, you just might spot crazed serial killer Jason Voorhees. He was no doubt waiting for some horny teens to start making out in the portaloos so he could get busy with his machete...

The movie tent had a few technical difficulties (bright sunlight being a particular problem early on) but these were soon worked out and the short film line-up ran on into the night, including the UK Premiere (indeed, the European Premiere!) of Simone, and screenings of On Edge and Red Lines. Great to see them in pride of place among stilt-walking goth chicks and fire-eating acrobats.

A real treat was seeing the exhibition in the crypt (sadly hidden away beneath a sprawling retail park - local councillors, sort some funding out for this historical site already!) including fanboy-shiver-inducing Excalibur armour by Terry English and gorgeous artworks by Chris Achilleos, Graham Humphreys and Bonnie Baker.

The night was topped off by a surprise appearance, and impromptu gig at Electric Dreams, by ADAM ANT. I've been an avid Ant fan since the ripe old age of 10, and it was lovely to meet him at long last. His brief set included a fabulous rendition of Car Trouble - and a cool bubblegum popping percussion technique.

So you could say he's still very much a 'pop' star.

I know, I know. I'll get my coat...

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