Saturday 12/08/06 Fort Rox @ Newhaven Fort, Brighton

No one is quite sure what to expect at this festival. No one really knows where it is either - streams of people just off of the Newhaven train follow the person in front of them hoping that they know where they’re going. A mile long trek along side the ghost town of Newhaven Harbour- no really, there is not a soul to be seen except for the seagulls- and a little more walking up a hill before Gigwise and the hoards arrive at, oh my God! A World War 2 fort. A working museum World War 2 fort.

Fort Rox (officially known as Newhaven Fort) is the venue showing today’s musical event as hosted by British Sea Power who will later headline. As the place fills up, Gigwise takes a look around; the stage is set up in the centre of the fort with each of the storage rooms and café providing various services throughout the day, and the fort staff; all female and all in period costume- it’s like daytime burlesque! Especially the soldier girls perched coquettishly upon a fold up table spread with leaflets. Suddenly the 1940’s music cuts and the show begins.

First up is The Honeycuts, a band with an average age of about fifteen and a sound like the Artic Monkeys. Bless! And Jacob’s Stories follows. Jacob’s Stories couldn’t be a more depressing band; much like Radiohead in style it’s a bit of a downer to start a festival on, so nothing more than polite claps is bestowed upon them by the crowd sitting on the floor.

Things liven up a little with the scremo coming courtesy of Charlottefield, but then again when a band plays facing each other throughout the whole set as though looking for cues and making no eye contact whatsoever with the hundreds of people stood in front of them, you see that this isn’t that much better than Jacob’s Stories - hell at least they looked at the kids! Thank God rescue comes in the form of The Research. This heavenly slice of bubble gum pop provided by the Wakefield three piece it’s no wonder that everyone appears to have cheered up. But the crowing moment…wait for it…comes when they play a cover of ‘Karma Chameleon’. So the question now is can My Latest Novel top that? No is the answer. Like a more upbeat version of Jacob’s Stories not a hell of a lot can be said for My Latest Novel other than they’re quite frankly, boring.

Now, The Duke Spirit - that’s another story! They bring everything that every other band lacked- panache and style to the stage. Hard and fast tunes just blast out one after another from the speakers as the crowd is caressed by powerhouse frontwoman Leila Moss’s husky voice. The whole crowd is now pressing right up to the barrier, leaning in to try and get a better glimpse of the stage- now this is what festivals are about! From one number to another they entertain and please their admirers but all too soon The Duke’s set is over. This band was by far the best of the day.

And now, ladies and gentlemen - time for the headline act… British Sea Power. Their experimental style of music is in perhaps the perfect setting; particularly with regards to the number the starts with an air raid siren, and the multitude seems to agree - swaying, dancing and singing (when they can) along. It is cool to see and hear something like this in an old fort, but after a while it all starts to sound the same and gets a little tedious. At one point they start shouting the famous Ramones chant "Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!" which is strange, even for British Sea Power because it is poles from their music. The set is better and fuller than that of their Tin Pan Alley appearance it is somehow less depressing, but whatever way you look at it - their songs do go on for far longer than is necessary.

Fort Rox is definitely a festival for those with an open mind and an eclectic music taste. Unfortunately though it doesn’t cut the mustard because with such an odd choice of bands, the cohesion that a small festival needs is completely lost and when that happens it turns into a barrage of different styles which tends to be for the ears hard to take in.