Clare Joslin writes:
Being a big Boosh fan, a lover of all things Garth Marenghi, and an established stalker of old men in eyeliner (hellooo Gary Numan), the new Mighty Boosh Festival at Hop Farm, Kent was pretty much a dream come true for me.
Joined in a field by thousands of equally fanatical fans, I wasn’t surprised to see the show’s characters out in force. Acquaintances I made included Sandstorm (“glove love”), Mr Susan (minus his mirrorballs), a gang of bright pink Tony Harrisons, Betamaxx, and a number of crack foxes, to name but a few. Oh, and of course there were plenty of the obligatory Ol’ Greggs.

A separate comedy tent - the Velvet Onion - played host to Ross Noble and Frankie Boyle as well as numerous names brought to mainstream attention via the magical medium of TV (Boosh and Darkplace‘s Matt Berry, Garth Marenghi’s Matthew Holness, Flight of The Conchords‘ Arj Barker…). Early queues did spark some mild annoyance (“Sorry love, it’s limited capacity”), but security soon realised they couldn’t keep track of numbers and just gave in to the free for all.
The mainstage, lovingly named Monkey Hell, welcomed the expected cult and ‘underground’ friends of the Mighty Boosh phenomenon. I do wonder how much of the Robots in Disguise fanbase just wanted to check out Fielding’s girlfriend, though. But that said, acts like Har Mar Superstar, The Charlatans and the amazing Gary Numan kept musical offerings at a high calibre. Did I mention Gary Numan was amazing…?
A big surprise for many was the beer tent, selling cider by the half pint (half pint??!) and taking a 10p deposit for each paper cup - cue loads of enterprising youngsters running around begging for empties. Other facilities included Nabootique merch stands, fluorescent trade stalls and decent toilets (with foot pump flush)… although they couldn’t match the full flush and proper sinks of the media loos, daaahling.
Headlining the show was a live set from the Boosh themselves, with Vince, Howard, Naboo, Fossil and Bollo through to some future sailors, a bit of Nannageddon and the Hitcher on a health and safety defying giant eel (which Noel fell off of). The band played all the usual songs and crimps, joined by the crowd for a bit of “bouncy, bouncy, shoes in a line…”
For anyone who’s seen a live Boosh show before, simply imagine a bigger one, outside, viewed from some distance. As days out go though, this was a fine one, enhanced by the bootiful weather.

Posted by Clare Joslin on Monday July 7th, 2008 at 3:00 pm