Maximo Park frontman Paul Smith has spoken of the chaos adverse weather conditions caused at this year’s Benicassim Festival. Smith told nme.com how the band were stranded on the site due to not being able to retrieve their equipment: “A storm came through and ripped it to bits. We were left without a show really,” he said. “The Kings Of Leon went, Paul Weller went halfway through his set. There was nobody else allowed onstage, but our gear was trapped onstage. We were supposed to be in Helsinki right now and we couldn’t get there because we didn’t have our equipment with us and we thought, ‘Well, let’s see if we can shoehorn our way onto the bill’, and luckily enough they accommodated us later on in the night.” Strong winds were the main cause of the problems, forcing Kings Of Leon to cancel their headline slot.
Paul Weller has also spoken of his experience after fire broke out on the site during his set. “I was fucking scared.” he said. “I came on stage to big black clouds and could see the huge inferno to the left. It was spreading so quickly! About 50 minutes in, the organiser came and forced me off stage as the huge inferno was spreading so quickly and the winds were swirling!” He did praise the crowd however, saying: “I thought the set was one of the best I’ve done. Although I was scared, I was gutted to come off stage. The crowd were great.”
Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher has also commented on the festival, calling it ‘a waste of time’ on his online blog. Like Weller, Noel did reserve some praise for the crowd, commenting: “”I really can’t say enough about the crowd. Unbelievable behaviour. Special mention to the topless birds, what a welcome sight that was!”
The festival did recover after the severe weather conditions, with some of the disrupted sets being re-scheduled.