onionbagblog
Making a Splash
Now entering it's third summer, Splash is moving on from the DIY ethos of extension leads coming out of bedsits along Electric Avenue to power up the Brixton sound systems. Sponsors are on board, and Splash even has a media partner (urgh!) in the good 'ol SLP. Shame one of the shitty sponsors is McDonald's.
'I am delighted that McDonald's can contribute to Brixton Splash through our hospitality training programme,' so spoke Terry Eagle, the SW9 Franchisee (ooh - get you!)
Ah, just what Splash is all about: hope, inspiration, and positivity. Just don't mention the minimum wage, burger flipping and a fat heavy saturated diet.
Splash this year attempted to showcase the cultural explosion led by the local community. Not sure about the inclusion of the Nation of Islam and how they fit in with the inclusive Brixton message that Splash is trying to put across.
Gospel, blues and even Scottish bagpipes were promised, no doubt bussed in from the bizarre Brixton Hootenanny boozer along Effra Road (bagpipes and Thai takeaways seven nights a week - only in Brixton...)
The reality of course was dub and dancehall. Which is no bad thing, although you struggle to recreate that Kingston sunshine appeal as it pisses it down along CHL.
Blacka Dread took control of probably the best sound system. It was certainly the most powerful, shaking all the way from halfway down Railton Road to outside, um, McDonald's.
I'm lovin' it, etc.
The Mighty Wanderer / Rasta Santa / Whippersnapper Patrick Hinds had the audience in his hands with his wonderful gymnastics display outside The Ritzy. Patrick is a genuine Brixton legend. Having coached the Guyana national acrobatics team in 1970, the granddad is doing it all over again in Brixton.
Closer to home and the onionbagblog HQ II Booze Crew boys had made the short stagger down Brixton Road to... drink more booze. Nice guys, and we had a brief catch up at the Acre Lane junction, before I made my excuses to finish off my Sunday afternoon with some glorious South London Lover's Rock on the main stage at Windrush Square.
And so Splash came close to being rained off (again,) but the Brixton spirit of don't give a shit saw it through. For Splash to survive and grow, it needs more than just a decent weather forecast. The appeal is the very DIY Brixton ethos that somehow holds all the madness together. Bring in the burger boys and their like, and Splash is just a second rate Notting Hill Carnival. And no one wants to celebrate West London, do they?
I finished off Splash with my own... splash, down Railton Road at the lovely lido. I would love for it to have been inclusive, but with the pool all to myself, this was a rather exclusive affair.
And it rained.
technorati: brixton splash
| Monday 4 August, 2008 |
Now entering it's third summer, Splash is moving on from the DIY ethos of extension leads coming out of bedsits along Electric Avenue to power up the Brixton sound systems. Sponsors are on board, and Splash even has a media partner (urgh!) in the good 'ol SLP. Shame one of the shitty sponsors is McDonald's.
'I am delighted that McDonald's can contribute to Brixton Splash through our hospitality training programme,' so spoke Terry Eagle, the SW9 Franchisee (ooh - get you!)
Ah, just what Splash is all about: hope, inspiration, and positivity. Just don't mention the minimum wage, burger flipping and a fat heavy saturated diet.
Splash this year attempted to showcase the cultural explosion led by the local community. Not sure about the inclusion of the Nation of Islam and how they fit in with the inclusive Brixton message that Splash is trying to put across.
Gospel, blues and even Scottish bagpipes were promised, no doubt bussed in from the bizarre Brixton Hootenanny boozer along Effra Road (bagpipes and Thai takeaways seven nights a week - only in Brixton...)
The reality of course was dub and dancehall. Which is no bad thing, although you struggle to recreate that Kingston sunshine appeal as it pisses it down along CHL.
Blacka Dread took control of probably the best sound system. It was certainly the most powerful, shaking all the way from halfway down Railton Road to outside, um, McDonald's.
I'm lovin' it, etc.
The Mighty Wanderer / Rasta Santa / Whippersnapper Patrick Hinds had the audience in his hands with his wonderful gymnastics display outside The Ritzy. Patrick is a genuine Brixton legend. Having coached the Guyana national acrobatics team in 1970, the granddad is doing it all over again in Brixton.
Closer to home and the onionbagblog HQ II Booze Crew boys had made the short stagger down Brixton Road to... drink more booze. Nice guys, and we had a brief catch up at the Acre Lane junction, before I made my excuses to finish off my Sunday afternoon with some glorious South London Lover's Rock on the main stage at Windrush Square.
And so Splash came close to being rained off (again,) but the Brixton spirit of don't give a shit saw it through. For Splash to survive and grow, it needs more than just a decent weather forecast. The appeal is the very DIY Brixton ethos that somehow holds all the madness together. Bring in the burger boys and their like, and Splash is just a second rate Notting Hill Carnival. And no one wants to celebrate West London, do they?
I finished off Splash with my own... splash, down Railton Road at the lovely lido. I would love for it to have been inclusive, but with the pool all to myself, this was a rather exclusive affair.
And it rained.
technorati: brixton splash
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