Rhythms of the World 2015 closed this evening with an awesome headline set from Acid Jazz legends The Brand New Heavies, providing a fitting climax to what has been an amazing weekend of music from around the world and round the corner.
The day kicked off with the traditional church service in the St Mary’s Big Top, which saw festival goers and church regulars enjoying a unique with what has become a Rhythms tradition as the weekly service took place at the heart of the festival. At midday the music kicked off, and saw many festival goers, (a number of whom were clearly still recovering from the excesses of the night before!) enjoying relaxed midday sets from the Luton based Exit Black on the Main Stage, and being soothed over on the St Mary’s stage by the sounds of folk duo Worry Dolls.
Over on the BBC Stage things soon kicked into another gear with the arrival of Live//Learn, who’s fusion of indie and techno got the crowd up on their feet and saw one of the first dance alongs of the afternoon.
From there on in it was back to back hits over on the Main Stage, as sets from Indian legend Raghu Dixit and the incredible Paul Young performing with his band Los Paminos worked the packed Hitchin Priory crowd into an increasing frenzy as the afternoon drew on.
Over on the Arcadeclectic stage there was perhaps the most intriguing line-up of the day, mixing singer songwriters with poetry, punk and rock, with particular highlights including the eccentric G La Roche and an explosive set from Ubermanoeuvre. The Hitchin based sextet’s unique mix of high-energy rock, electro and brass shifted the dial firmly to “Party”, with their punk cover of Lady Gaga’s Just Dance proving a surprise festival hit with the crowd who had gathered amongst the trees.
As the festival headed into an evening of dancing, singing and celebration the tunes kept coming over on the Priory Park stage, where the Blunt Beats crew kept the gathered masses happy with a mix of pretty much every genre imaginable, whilst on the Ice House Stage there was a fantastic reception for local acts 7 Hours West and English Manner.
The evening came to a climax with two incredible headliners. Indie darlings Amber Run brought their sweeping and epic sounds to the BBC Stage, playing a string of hits from their debut album 5am. Whilst over on the Main Stage one of the biggest crowds ROTW has ever seen, settled in to enjoy a hit packed set from legendary The Brand New Heavies.
In what was a fitting end to what will surely go down as one of the best days in the history of the festival, The Brand New Heavies brought the day to a close with a set that featured hit after hit, leaving what seemed like most of North Hertfordshire tired but ecstatic and certainly in need of a rest after a weekend of dancing.
As the crowds flooded out of the festival for another year, the team of over 800 volunteers who make Rhythms of the World possible deservedly gave themselves a pat on the back for what was a truly incredible event…. And now the planning begins for how to make 2016 even bigger!
