Love Supreme Festival 2014

After the glorious weather of last year's event, Love Supreme had to endure a rather less savoury climatic experience with plenty of rain and overcast conditions throughout the weekend, before the sun finally put its hat on, late Sunday afternoon. Not that this deterred the thousands who came (although it probably stopped many others from coming, particularly on the Saturday), helped along by the accommodatingly porous chalk of the Sussex Downs. Mud just doesn't happen in these parts…

Once again featuring an eclectic line up of music, with jazz as a very loose theme, Love Supreme is first and foremost a festival for grown-up music lovers, although this year it was noticeable how many children were present – it's not a festival that caters much for them, but the large, flat and green play areas, the friendly and secure atmosphere, and the the generally clean facilities all helped to make this a vast playground for the young at heart…

But Love Supreme is really a festival for those who don't do festivals; it's a kind of musical Goodwood for the well-heeled. There were hundreds of folding chairs to be seen, but concurrently no shortage of drinks in hand, enjoying the atmosphere, come rain or shine.

There is, it seems, a debate to be had about what sort of festival this is or should be – the jazzers, many of whom can be irritatingly purist about their music, sometimes don't get hip hop and soul, and wonder why there is all this varied stuff on offer, the inclusion of hip hoppers De la Soul in particular animating many. At the end of the day good music is good music, and jazz is but just a part of a family tree that features hip hop and soul amongst its many branches. For instance, De La Soul's embrace of jazz and funk within their primarily hip hop palette is the reason they are here. How the festival can overcome people's musical prejudices may not be such a problem, but to call it a 'jazz' festival is perhaps a little misleading…

And jazzers are sometimes guilty of over-indulging…. Saturday night headliner Jamie Cullum was certainly a populist choice, and while undoubtedly a very talented pianist and appealing showman, he couldn't resist talking too much about how happy he was to be here, and to indulge in some long winded, and rather vapid instrumental passages, further obscuring the fact that he is really a pop man who can play jazz piano. Courtney Pine on the Sunday was similar; in-between his almost invariably speed-sax soloing and some excellent Caribbean and South African focussed repertoire, there was too much uninspired 'jazz' jamming and show-off parping. These musicians have tonnes of great material to draw upon, and as the old adage goes, less is usually more…

Pine (OBE) did bring on to the stage Omar (MBE), for a rendition of his one big hit 'There's Nothing Like This', a song with the apt, considering the upmarket environment, opening couplet: 'Sip a glass of cold champagne wine/ the rug we lie on feels divine'. Omar had performed the previous night, in the small Arena tent, turning in a beautifully paced set, that showcased his natural vocal ability; the man can still sing like an angel, and he easily demonstrated that he is more than a one-trick pony; his album of last year, The Man, was a stunning return to form, and is well worth checking out.

With Love Supreme looking to replicate last year's hit act Chic, the Earth, Wind & Fire Experience – with only one surviving member of the original band on board – just about did the job, the obvious crowd pleasers helping, of course. But the realisation that this is actually a 'show' called The Earth, Wind & Fire Experience' by the band The Al McKay Allstars was very obscured by the programming notes.

Of course, the big names sell the festival and it's to their credit that it provides a platform for many lesser names on the soul and jazz scenes that rare opportunity to play to beyond their normal audiences and natural habitats. Here was the chance to catch some up and coming acts including the rather earnest Slowly Rolling Camera, the driving instrumental piano/double bass/drums outfit Mammal Hands and the similar three piece Phroneses, the latter two both inspired by cult favourites Esbjorn Svensson Trio. Older hands such as Dave Holland and his Prism band, along with John Schofield's Uberjam, turned on the noodling taps, with Holland's surprising recent departure into the realms of heavy prog jazz-rock, something of a revelation.

Meanwhile, soul singer Laura Mvula has come from almost nowhere to being nominated for awards galore for her original take on orchestral pop and soul. But her declared problem with stage fright has inhibited her live potential somewhat, never quite catching the energetic and adventurous sounds of her debut album Sing to The Moon.

Brighton was well represented here; the small Bandstand Stage featured a line up that is almost exclusively local, while local label Tru Thoughts held their 15th birthday celebration with a late night clubbing and live music extravaganza, albeit with the sound turned right down as the clock ticked past midnight. And the wonderful Alice Russell made a rare appearance following the recent birth of her child, but still produced the goods – a no frills, vintage funk and soul set that is light on the indulgence, but heavy on the good times. It is as it should be.

Jeff Hemmings

After recovering from what turned out to be a truly wonderful weekend at Love Supreme Festival, I have finally been able to sit down and reflect on all the fun and festivities.

Having already seen the full, star-studded line up (at least within the jazz and soul world) I was surprised to find that the festival itself was rather small, however, after getting used to a mere 5 minute gentle stroll from one side of Love Supreme to the other, I set aside my initial reservations and began to enjoy the very cosy and extraordinarily friendly atmosphere that Love Supreme oozed from all corners.

Unlike my co-reviewer Jeff Hemmings (who visited all the stages), I seemed to find myself mainly hopping between the main stage and the woodland engulfed Bandstand which was the hot spot for Brighton bands. I managed to catch Kalakuta Millionaires who not only suited the vibe of Love Supreme perfectly but gave a blinding performance with the help of their excellent front lady Siggy Mwasote who got the crowd dancing and singing along. Normanton Street, another local band who I hadn’t seen live in almost 3 years, and was surprised to find an almost completely new line up now featured female singer Pheobe Freya which really added something new and special to the dynamic performance. I also managed to catch The Swing Ninjas who had teamed up with Brighton swing dance company Lindy Hoppers who performed traditional swing dancing whilst the band played along and really added to the atmosphere, ending up with the whole audience joining in the swinging fun!

Personally, I felt that Love Supreme could have done a lot more with the woodland area where Bandstand was located. Perhaps another small bar, campfire, seating area or something else just to add another element to the festival, whilst the rest of Love Supreme was abundant with music tents and stages, grass and eateries there was not much in the way of additional areas for relaxing and exploring.

However, saying that, it was a brilliantly orchestrated line up at Love Supreme – and so there wasn’t that much time for lazing about in the sun as there always seemed to be an artist performing that you just ‘didn’t want to miss’ – including performances on the main stage from the Earth Wind & Fire (Experience) whose dance moves and incredible voices were just outstanding and, whilst the only original member was guitarist Al McKay, the rest of the band still managed to capture the essence of Earth Wind & Fire and get the audience entering boogie wonderland.

Others I managed to catch at the main stage included; Alice Russell, Courtney Pine, De La Soul and the very handsome Jose James who I’d never heard of prior to Love Supreme but whose soulful and seductive voice put him on my top list of people to check out post festival. My highlight of the weekend though had to be De La Soul – who are absolute masters at commanding the stage and had an excellent rapport with the audience. De La Soul happen to be playing at the Concorde 2 on the 5th of August – but tickets aren’t that far off selling out so get em’ quick and we promise you won’t be disappointed!

Overall, I found Love Supreme a great little festival which radiated good vibes and had a lovely atmosphere about it. Not only were all the security and stewards at the festival the nicest ones I have ever met, but Love Supreme’s loos were by far the flashiest and poshest I’ve ever seen at a festival! The site was always kept clean and tidy and you always felt very safe and looked after. However, with ticket prices going up to £125 (standard/weekend camping) I do think that Love Supreme is a little overpriced – but nonetheless, this is truly an excellent little festival and would highly recommend any one who is soul & jazz inclined to get tickets for next year, but get em’ soon as the super early birds (£95) have nearly run out!