Right…now how do I start this shit? It’s probably best to start with an apology for the fact that this review has taken 2 weeks to write! It’s all been a bit fuzzy, and very busy here at Blunt Manor, what with gigs, festivals, birthdays, illness, hangovers and a general lack of sleep, so sorry it’s taken so long to get this review done.

Urban Picnic Sounds - 2 days - all the Blunt Beats Residents and special guests. A Victorian bandstand in a park with a soundsystem and sunshine (allegedly)….that’s the deal.

FRIDAY

In real terms, the weekend started on Friday, with Agent M and The Erbalist undertaking some Laurel and Hardy work ethics along with stage manager The Afghan in order to get the stage and the soundsystem prepared for the event. - Ladders and ropes ahoy!

Aside form getting wound up by ginger people who shall remain nameless, this all went swimmingly, and the next task was for the Erbalists Dial-a-Ride to zoom over to Stevenage to pick up guest Dj Prolifik, who had just made the journey down from Scotland, and was standing on a windswept railway platform.

However, all did not go according to plan (it never does…)…..whilst driving along (and obeying the highway code), our Blunted team arrived at a Road Traffic Accident involving Blunt Buddy Mr D. Not good. After dealing with the Paramedics, and the best looking Policewoman I’ve seen in a while (save for the undercover one in a bikini I had a run-in with last year), the Blunted Ambulance Service took their patient back to Blunt HQ for medicinal Red Stripe and smokeage.

The rest of the evening was spent in a musical bubble. All the crew adjourned to the attic studio here at Blunt Manor in order to finalise tunes, cut and pack flyers, fiddle with cables, and enjoy XO cognac Blunts and more Red Stripe. A smoky, hazy, but satisfying end to Friday….Bring on the weekend!!!

SATURDAY

This was always gonna hurt….as reliable as the speaking clock, Marcus Hurley turned up at Blunt Towers at 8.45, ready to load the troops and equipment and set off to the festival. Although eyes were somewhat bleary, we managed to get all the gear and the DJs on site at the right time (wow!) - The Erbalist and Agent M’s Friday afternoon-fannying-around paid off… All the crew agreed that this was the easiest stage build for UPS in the last 5 years. - Personally, I think it was because the Ras Pizzler is tall enough to attach backdrops without the need of a ladder!

All that was left to do was to let the guys from Rosco put the soundsystem together. - As professional (and loud!) as ever. Quality work, gentlemen. As the assembled crew smoked heavily and ate a multitude of E numbers for breakfast, the Ras Pizzler took care of the audio recording setup, to ensure that all the music played over the weekend would be available for you good people. - Nice one Mr Pizzler.

Soon enough, it was time to get into the swing of things…..The Erbalist opened up proceedings with a sweeping cinematic set, letting the crowd settle, open the beers, and kick back. Next up was guest Dj Adam Williams, with a slick selection of lo-fi beats which were a pleasure to hear, and brought a smile to the faces of the (now hundreds) people who had settled into the vibe. Following on was some reggae for the sunshine. Guest Dj Swainy Roots Souljah, from Solution Sounds, threw down a glorious roots selection, accompanied by Sirota toasting on the mic. - Good stuff!!

Next up was a slick and truly worldwide set from Blunt Resident Doug. - Heavy funk and hip hop on a truly international tip. Top notch as always amigo, and pleasure to hear. By this point in the day, the parkland area in front of the stage was rammed wit hundreds of people. All ages, colours, shapes and sizes, getting into the groove. The UPS vibe was in effect!

Agent M stepped up next, putting down some funk and hip hop classics, hyping the crowd for Prolifik, who showed us all what the art of turntabilism means. Spot on… ’nuff said! - All that was left was for Marcus Hurley to play and exquisite funk and breaks set to keep the crowd dancing and cheering, which he did to the letter. As we switched off the soundsystem, the crowd were still screaming for more. Job done.

But Saturday didn’t end there….Oh no….The Family Blunt arranged the quickest stage de-rig in history, but with ulterior motives. The Erbalist and Swainy were all up for going over to the main festival stage to catch the Easy Star All Stars performance. Some of the crew had other ideas, namely going to the finest chicken and rib establishment there is: Chicken George. Whilst the Erbalist and Swainy wobbled of to the main stage with big grins, the rest of the Blunt contingent sped back to town as fast as (il)legally possible to ensure gettin’ Soul Food from The Man.

On arrival at Blunt Towers, chilling in the gardens was in order. The smoked out and sedate atmosphere was soon altered by the arrival of a somewhat sideways Swainy and Erbalist. Accompanying them was Eyez, Bushdoctor, and Roots, and Dogg- G from Ascenzion, who had passed by on an apres-festival visit.

Suddenly, it was midnight, I was in the garden with a blunt, and a big, big smile. - A successful Saturday!

But not a successful weekend (yet, though I’ll bet my rarest 3-Stripes that it will be!) - Time to hit the attic studio and finalise and pack the tunes for tomorrows fun and games.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning wasn’t too bad for me, as I cut out before all the nonsense began. Whilst I was tucked up in bed, dreaming of fried chicken, old-skool Adidas, and Russian Supermodels (not necessarily in that order!) the Erbalist was entertaining The Afghan and The Bearded Wonder who tunred up around 2am….hmmmn…naughty boys…They finally got to sleep sometime around 5am, and I was woken by The Afghan leaving to get back on-site for 7…Ouch. Still, I dint have to get up for at least another hour….(put that chicken wing down and come here my Babooshka)….zzzzz

On getting up, I felt pretty smug after looking at the Erbalist…it was going to be a long day. After sharing a cherry blunt with the Ras Pizzler and Prolifik, and choosing my Adidas for the day, I was ready to roll…

Again, the people were ready for the days events, and were eager to hear more music. (Big ups to the blonde twins who had a picnic which was basically an industrial sized bottle of Pimms, and a load of strawberries!) Agent M started the day off with some ambient, spaced out beats and mellow hip hop, ending up with the crowd singing along to Massive Attack. - Just what you want for a Sunday lunchtime!

Erbalist was up next, with a selection of big, classic tunes. I took it upon myself to wander out into the park, and pitch up with DJ Herb. The sun had come out again, there were hundreds of people, and the Erbalist dropped “A Little Help From My Friends”. The whole crowd started singing, and I got a lump in my throat (as I’m a soppy sod) - Blunt Beats built this shit, and we’re very, very proud of it!

Following on was DJ Hughes, with a selection of dub cuts to entice the sun gods, and to keep the rain gods at bay (which it did for a while). Doug then took to the stage with more afro-funk and broken beat business…and then the rain came. And, boy, did it come! - Still, the crowd didn’t care, and just danced even harder regardless of the rain.

Marcus Hurley finished up the weekend with a party set of funk, breaks, and blues. Yet again, leaving the crowd screaming for more by the time he’d finished. After spending a lot of time generally back-slapping, and talking to members of the crowd, it was time to take the stage apart. And surprisingly quick it was too.

Another chicken order on the way back to Blunt Towers (but no Russian Supermodels, unfortunately), some Red Stripe, Jack Daniels, bongs, blunts, and the crew is done. Top weekend!

AFTERWORD

We had an absolute ball, and there are so, so many people that we have to thank. Firstly are my fellow Blunt Beats Resident DJs, and our Guests Adam Willaims, Swainy Roots Souljah, Sirota, and Prolifik for ensuring the tunes were on-point.

Our thanks also goes out to Ross, John, and all the crew at Rosco for taking care of the sound (good to see you guys having a boogie on the Sunday too!) - Our major thanks also goes to Zak and Nil for all their hard work filming and photographing the whole event (watch this space for gallery updates!)

Big up also to the Twins of Trouble, Kazza and Kim, for taking care of our flyering. Good work ladies.

We’ve got to give a special big hello to the youngest member of the Blunt Beats crew, lil’ baby Lucy (not even a year old….and what great musical taste!), who came along with Mummy and Daddy to check out the UPS vibe. Hopefully, Lucy will grow up with this summer party every year, as we’re not intending to stop just yet. (Oh yeah, Jo…I’m gonna have to get some Baby Adidas to you!)

Talking of ladies (!), as always, our major thanks go to our stage manager The Afghan, basically for being on the ball all weekend and making sure everything went off without a hitch. Nice one bro. Also, major props to the Ras Pizzler for taking care of the marathon audio recording session, rain or shine. Good work my man, I know that shit isn’t as easy as it looks!

Big ups to all the extended Blunt family who came down to represent. SdZ, The Fury, Feinan, Herb, Mary, Alice, Craig, Zoe, Spon, Hughie, Ella, Caz, Operata M and ‘Lil Ras, Floyd, Stevie G and the Ascenzion Crew, The Bearded Wonder, Kirsty, Jolene, Eddie and the crew from Bowfinger, Gusto, Rob, Mark D, and anyone else I’ve forgotten. (I’m sure there’s loads!)

Thanks to “The Management”, Bob, and Paul, for having us and looking after us, and supporting us with the UPS project. It’s both an honour and a pleasure to be part of the Rhythms Of The World Festival, and we’re gald you appreciate what we do. Nice one gentlemen. Also to our nicely-vibed security crew, all the stewards and first aid staff, Stig and Dinah (part of the furniture at UPS - good to see you both!), and especially to the dog-handling security firm that turned up on site so late that the Afghan had to come to Blunt Towers and lose a few brain cells and negate any thoughts of sensible sleep. Oops!

Finally, our heartfelt thanks goes out to the hundreds (if not thousands) of you who came along and enjoyed the music, the vibe, and the jerk chicken. You guys are the reason we do this, and we love the fact that you love it too!

Rest assured, we’ll be back to do it all again next year!