When you throw a party, how far do you go to ensure your guests have a good time?
A few plates of munchies, a bath full of ice cubes and beer bottles, laying on some taxis? Well, whoopy-doo for you, Gatsby. An introduction to guerrilla promoter Stuart Campbell should force all would-be epicureans to reassess the extent of their commitment. Because when the Downpatrick lad decides to throw a shindig, he’ll go to any extreme to make sure it passes off in fine style.
“A few of us had to dig trenches for the toilets,” he smiles. “It took us a day or so.”
I wonder if Michael Eavis is as pro-active.
Between the 22nd and 23rd of July, various indie ne’er-do-wells will arise and go to the latest of Stu’s growing list of tiny extravaganzas – the second (annual) Innishfree Rock Festival. And while he can’t promise either bean rows or hives for the honey bees, for those willing to hop on the short ferry trip from Burtonport in Donegal, he has lined up a raft of bands, DJs, filmmakers and renegade saxophonists for their amusement.
Innishfree may not be Ireland’s biggest festival (that’s if it’s even big enough to be called a festival), but it could well be its most picturesque.
“It’s quite a small island,” says Stu. “Two miles in circumference, made up mostly of peat bogs and barren marshes, but it’s surrounded by really beautiful white sand beaches. There’s a real interesting history with the place. It was inhabited until the late 50s when the islanders decided to move to the mainland, and then in the 60s a load of hippies and primal screamers moved there and established a commune. We’ve set the stage up between the ruins of a few old houses. It’ll look great when the sun goes down.”
Stu bats away suggestions that the aesthetic informing festivities is of the Wicker Man variety (“We’re not planning on sacrificing any virgins"), but with audience members warned on their tickets that “there is no B&B, pub, garage, hospital or kebab shop – you really must bring everything you could ever possibly need”, there’s no denying that the mood propelling the event is anything other than pastoral.
“The weather was great last year,” he says. “But there was one point when the wind picked up and one of the tents began to lift off the ground. We were watching a band and I had to run over with some of the crowd and hang on for dear life until we got it all secured.”
Innishfree is the latest in a short line of brilliantly quixotic shows put on by Stu over the last two years. In that time he has consciously chosen off-the-radar locales (his parent’s back garden and a bikers’ bar in Coleraine) to host proceedings.
“I was living in London and moved back 2 years ago and couldn’t get over how much moaning people did about Belfast and how crap it was. I thought I’d rather do something positive. Most of my friends were in bands, so it was pretty natural that that was the direction I’d go in. And I wanted to do things that were a bit different and more interesting than the usual. People ask me why I don’t just run a club night in Belfast. I couldn’t think of anything worse. Most of the venues are crap. If you force people to go away, it’s bound to be more fun.”
Following the success of Innishfree 05, there are almost twice as many acts due this year. However, Stu is keen to stress that expansionism isn’t on the agenda.
“I don’t really want Innisfree to get much bigger,” he admits. “At the minute there’s no distinction at all between the bands and the punters, no such thing as a backstage. And we’ve a great relationship with the island’s committee. We employ locals on the mainland, try to make sure we look after the place while we’re here. And the sole inhabitant of the island loves it. He’s a saxophonist. He walked over last year, introduced himself and started jamming.”
If the local hermit gives it the thumbs up, how will the rest of us resist?