Lovebox at Marlay Park: Revenge of the N.E.R.D.

Considering the gloomy economic and summer climate you’d think a cheap and cheerful mini-festival would attract a huge crowd, but not so.
Paulo Nutini’s inoffensive pop soul doesn’t translate in a festival setting, but that didn’t stop the crowd from happily getting into it. Nutini looked like he’d been enjoying the hospitality area a tad too much though. Maybe it was just high spirits…
The Stockade dance area, decked out like a Robin Hood stylee forest party, was small but perfectly formed – a pity then that it closed early, especially as wind forced the temporary closure of the Warehouse tent, just as Gorillaz Sound System were due on. Boo hoo. This meant there was a good half hour between acts when there was nothing better to do than admire each other’s rain gear.
The big question of the night was why Maxïmo Park and not N.E.R.D. were the headliners. It took a couple of songs before Maxïmo got going – whereas N.E.R.D. had owned the stage from the get-go. The high point of the evening had to be ‘She Wants To Move,’ featuring half of Marlay Park on stage with the band. It was always going to be a hard act to follow and even a decent rendition of ‘Our Velocity’ wasn’t enough to stop the persistent trickle of revellers towards the exit.
Lovebox is a great idea, but unfortunately this year’s festival disappointed. Thankfully, though, N.E.R.D. were worth the entrance price alone.