Appearing for the first time at Brockwell Park, Mighty Hoopla promised to be sparkling fun and certainly fulfilled those expectations.
A trial of glittered up and excited pop fanatics streamed in from all parts of London on Sunday June 3 to celebrate London’s alternative club culture and to sing along to their favourite 90s belters.
An already bright and colourful site was made even brighter by the fantastic sunny weather. From midday to around 3:00pm lots of people drifted around, topping up on glitter and enjoying the atmosphere. At the glitter stand people seemed most excited for Lily Allen and TLC.
By early afternoon the line-up really took off and with so much to see it became essential to pop in and out of as many tents as possible.
The new Glitterbox stage attracted a big crowd for Fleetmac Wood who were unashamedly obsessed with the original band and gleefully played remixes of all of their classics.
The uber-Fleetwood Mac fans stayed here while Vengaboys fans ran across to the Guilty Pleasures tent to enjoy the tightly choreographed routines of Europe’s number one party band. The whole tent was transported back to the 90s and everyone was joining in and signing their hearts out.
Old Dirty Brasstards, a sauve seven piece brass band with two drummers, then kept the crowd alive with songs such as Shaggy It Wasn’t Me as the tent got busier and sweatier. Fans then went wild for 5ive who bounced on to the stage with adolescent energy and one band member was even wearing a pink sweatband around his head which added to the 90s nostalgia.
Meanwhile on the main stage Nadine Coyle and Melanie C were separately enjoying their solo acts.
Lily Allen was a crowd favourite
The VIP by Noisy Kitchen tent experienced a brief power cut but managed to get the bar back up and running in time for Gok Wan to take to the decks. Dressed in a hawaiian shirt and aviator shades Gok looked very at ease as a performer and happily obliged when inundated with selfie requests. He was later joined by Fearne Cotton who continued playing house.
Lily Allen was probably the biggest draw on Sunday. After starting with ‘Smile’ she looked out and told the crowd: “You look so beautiful – so much glitter!” Between her better known songs the crowd swayed patiently while she performed tracks from her new album ‘No Shame’, which will be released on Friday.
TLC then took to the stage for their second ever UK performance. Complete with back flipping dancers, a live band and epic lights, they were full of energy. The crowd however started to grow impatient for the infamous song ‘No Scrubs’. Some people started to drift away but for those who committed finally got their fix as they finished with the 1999 hit.
The lineup was action packed and entertaining and everywhere you looked was glitter, costumes, silliness and sass. The crowd was definitely most satisfied when everyone could join in and sing along so there were moments of lull but the anticipation only made the classics more sweet.
I would definitely go again.
