The Social Student team headed to the Brown family’s ninth annual music festival at Morris Farm, Chelmsford, ready to take in the overgrown house party atmosphere – this year headlined by DJ Yoda, Professor Green and The Fratellis. The festival, which started when the family opened their gates to just 100 friends, has since grown year-on-year – this year selling out its 6,000 allocation of tickets.
Arriving on Friday afternoon with a twelve-can crate of beer each, we had soon received our media passes and VIP wristbands, ready to pass through the rigorous security checks. In no time at all, the tent was pitched and Social Student was the sole occupier of the press tent, preparing to interview DJ Yoda (which can be read here!). With the first interview complete, we took to the VIP area to enjoy DJ Yoda’s Friday night headline set and meet fellow festival-goers, whilst enjoying a pint of local cider. A great conclusion to a great first day of entertainment.
Moving onto Saturday and a day of very untypically British festival season weather – sunshine, blue skies and not a cloud it sight! The weather was the perfect start to the lunchtime Brownstock Press Party, complete with free alcohol, free Brownstock t-shirts and an opportunity to network with other media members. The Saturday line-up proved to be a great showcase for local Essex musical talent, with a special mention for electro pop band, F.O.X, who really got the Main Stage crowd going. Social Student was lucky enough to grab them for a quick interview afterwards! Once 7pm arrived, the crowds were treated to a feast of big name artists, with something for everyone in Devlin, Tom Odell and Professor Green – who stole the show in his hour set and left everybody talking about it for the rest of the night!
As Sunday arrived, the basking sunshine had been replaced with overcast skies and gusty winds cutting across the Essex countryside, but that could not dampen the ever-building enthusiasm for live performances from the likes of Hadouken, Pigeon Detectives and The Fratellis. Before that however, there was work for Social Student to do, starting with an interview with alternative rock band, Ellekaye, and then meeting up with Fratellis lead singer, Jon Fratelli, on the band’s tour bus for an exclusive interview! Once the interviews were all complete, all that was left to do was enjoy the final night’s entertainment, arguably topped with the Pigeon Detectives rendition of the hit, Take Her Back, fronted by (lead singer) Matt Bowman’s incredible energy on stage! The Fratellis took over from there, rocking out an hour of tunes and closing Brownstock 2013 with the incredibly popular, Chelsea Dagger.
The food at Brownstock 2013 did not disappoint either, with a vast array of outlets serving everything from local produce at Chelmsford Catering to sushi wraps from MAKIMATCHA. Over the weekend, the Social Student team got a taste of springbok burger from Tucker’s Exotic Meats, sweet chilli chicken and fresh coriander pizza from Pizza to the People, a spicy BBQ chicken wrap from the Burrito Boys and a hog roll with stuffing, cracking, chutney and a portion of cheesy chips, from Sutton & Sons! A far cry from the stereotypical festival food of Pot Noodle and the occasional burger & chips!
A huge thank you to the Brownstock team from Social Student for putting on a great weekend! Great weather (luckily!), loads of talent on show and big names, whilst maintaining that friendly, family-festival feel. We’re already counting down to #MeetAtTheFarm next year… are you?
Want to read more about Brownstock Festival 2013? Why not read our day-by-day festival reviews via the links below?