2022/08/25 – 2022/08/28 – Camper Calling – Ragley Hall, Warwickshire
Review & Photos: G. Rossington.
Back at Ragley Hall in Warwickshire for its sixth edition, the August Bank Holiday event once again brought together live music, campervans, families, food, entertainment and an almost bewildering number of things to do. The headline names were certainly big enough to attract music fans — James, Shed Seven and a Basement Jaxx DJ set on the Lakeside Stage, with Björn Again, The Bootleg Beatles and Fleetwood Bac headlining the Arrow Stage — but the real appeal was everything happening around them.
There was something wonderfully unhurried about the 2022 programme. You could spend the morning at yoga or Tai Chi, take the children to the Calling All Kids Club, try tree climbing or bushcraft, wander through the craft workshops, grab some food and then settle down for a band. Or, if relaxation wasn’t your thing, there was a Silent Disco, mini golf, graffiti workshops, breakdancing, a DJ workshop and even mobile axe throwing.
In short: you could be as busy or as chilled-out as you liked. And that is probably the essence of Camper Calling.
Although the main festival programme ran from Friday to Sunday, Camper Calling 2022 opened on Thursday, gave early arrivals the chance to settle into the Ragley Hall estate before the main weekend.
The Arrow Stage was already offering a taste of what was to come, with The K’s, The Lottery Winners and Scouting for Girls on the opening-night bill. Setlist.fm records Scouting for Girls as the Thursday headline performance. It was an effective way to begin. Rather than arriving at a campsite and spending Friday morning finding your bearings, Thursday arrivals could immediately slip into festival mode. That sense of a proper extended weekend is one of Camper Calling’s most attractive qualities.
Friday showcased the festival’s wonderfully eclectic approach. The Lakeside Stage moved through DJ Yuki, The Novus and Mellowmatic before Uncle Funk’s Disco Inferno and Mr Wilson’s Second Liners got the party atmosphere properly established. The Selecter then brought ska and two-tone energy to the evening, before Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon provided one of the day’s most intriguing attractions.
Charlotte Church’s Pop Dungeon was a particularly inspired Camper Calling booking. It was not simply a conventional DJ set; it was an opportunity to abandon musical seriousness entirely and celebrate the sort of pop songs that everyone knows but perhaps doesn’t always admit to loving.
That sense of fun continued with the Friday programme elsewhere around the site. The Gulps brought a dose of newer rock, while Doctor & The Medics, Lancashire Hotpots and Elvana offered three very different varieties of festival entertainment. The Lancashire Hotpots, with their humour and northern charm, were practically engineered for a crowd that likes its music accompanied by plenty of audience participation.
Elvana, meanwhile, remained one of the most wonderfully bizarre acts on the bill — the concept of combining Nirvana songs with an Elvis-inspired frontman sounds ridiculous on paper, yet somehow works brilliantly in a festival field.
Then came the Lakeside finale: Basement Jaxx. It was a DJ set rather than the full live-band experience, but that hardly mattered once the music started. Basement Jaxx’s catalogue is packed with dancefloor anthems, and their headline slot transformed the Lakeside area into exactly what it should have been on a Friday night: one enormous outdoor party.
After a day of wandering between stages, activities and food stalls, the audience could simply dance. And there was a pleasing lack of pretension about it. Camper Calling has always seemed happy to put a huge dance act alongside a heritage rock band, children’s entertainment and comedy without worrying about whether the combination makes sense. The answer is that it does.
Saturday brought one of the strongest musical days of the weekend. The Lakeside Stage featured Echobelly, The Pigeon Detectives, Gentleman’s Dub Club, Starsailor and, finally, Shed Seven.
Echobelly were a welcome reminder of just how strong the British alternative scene of the 1990s was, while The Pigeon Detectives supplied a more energetic indie-rock edge. Starsailor then provided a beautifully atmospheric bridge into the evening. Their songs have a reflective quality that works particularly well at an outdoor festival, and their appearance gave the Lakeside crowd something more intimate before Shed Seven took over.
Echobelly were a welcome reminder of just how strong the British alternative scene of the 1990s was, while The Pigeon Detectives supplied a more energetic indie-rock edge. Starsailor then provided a beautifully atmospheric bridge into the evening. Their songs have a reflective quality that works particularly well at an outdoor festival, and their appearance gave the Lakeside crowd something more intimate before Shed Seven took over.
Shed Seven were an almost perfect Saturday-night headline choice. Few bands understand the festival singalong quite like they do. Their catalogue is packed with songs that have followed British indie fans for decades, and the combination of nostalgia, big choruses and frontman Rick Witter’s unmistakable stage presence made their headline slot feel like a celebration rather than simply another gig. For many in the audience, this was likely the point where the weekend really clicked into place.
If the Lakeside Stage supplied the main musical narrative, the Arrow Stage was frequently where things became a little more playful. Saturday’s headline act was The Bootleg Beatles, giving fans an opportunity to experience the music of arguably the most important band in British pop history without needing to travel back to the 1960s.
The attraction of a Beatles tribute at a family festival is obvious. The songs are effectively universal, meaning parents, grandparents and children can all find something familiar.
Doctor & The Medics could bring “Spirit in the Sky” nostalgia; Lancashire Hotpots could get people laughing; Aüguztfest could offer something completely different; and then The Bootleg Beatles could close the stage with a catalogue of songs known by practically everyone. It is difficult to imagine many families complaining about the choice.
The music might have provided the evening highlights, but the daytime programme was arguably where Camper Calling really distinguished itself. The 2022 schedule reads almost like a holiday activity brochure.
There was tree climbing, slacklining and bushcraft, Panic Circus, the Actual Reality Arcade, One Adventure, ping pong, Chaos Corner, Noisy Toys and the Calling All Kids Club. There were graffiti workshops, mini golf, magic shows and singalongs. For teenagers, there was breakdancing, DJ workshops and teen-only yoga and stretching. For adults, the Zen Garden offered Tai Chi, Pilates, yoga, meditation, breathwork and sound baths. And for everyone, there was the Silent Disco Kings running from late afternoon into the evening.
This variety is important because family festivals can sometimes fall into the trap of offering a handful of children’s activities while expecting parents to spend the rest of the day at the main stage. Camper Calling took a different approach.
The children had their own programme. Teenagers had their own programme. Adults had wellness options. Families could participate together. It meant that everyone had ownership of the weekend.
The lake was intended to be another major part of the experience, with activities scheduled throughout Friday and Sunday and the Camper Calling Annual Boat Race taking place on Saturday morning.
However, 2022 came with one significant disappointment. The festival announced that all lake activities had been cancelled because of excessive blue-green algae blooms. It was undoubtedly frustrating, particularly given how prominent the lake was in the wider festival offering.
Nevertheless, the sheer amount of alternative entertainment meant there was no shortage of things to occupy families. The programme was robust enough to absorb the loss of one attraction without the entire weekend feeling diminished.
And the setting itself still mattered. The lake, woodland and estate helped make Ragley Hall feel like somewhere to explore rather than merely somewhere containing a collection of stages.
Sunday was the weekend’s great finale. The Lakeside Stage moved through The Kairos, Craig Charles, The Dualers, Newton Faulkner and Heather Small before Del Amitri and, finally, James took the headline position. It was a superb progression.
The Kairos represented the newer generation of indie artists. Craig Charles brought his legendary funk and soul DJ energy. The Dualers added ska and reggae. Newton Faulkner brought his distinctive acoustic style, while Heather Small supplied one of the strongest voices of the weekend.
Del Amitri then offered a dose of sophisticated Scottish songwriting before James closed proceedings. Few bands could have provided a more fitting Camper Calling finale.
James are masters of the big emotional festival moment. Their songs have the ability to sound both intimate and enormous, and the festival environment gives tracks such as “Sit Down” an entirely different scale. When thousands of people sing together, a song stops belonging solely to the band that wrote it. It becomes everybody’s.
After three days of music, food, activities and wandering around Ragley Hall, it was exactly the sort of communal finale the weekend needed.
The Arrow Stage offered two other headline experiences that deserve plenty of credit. Björn Again brought ABBA’s extraordinary catalogue to the Friday night, while Fleetwood Bac closed the Arrow Stage on Sunday.
Tribute acts can sometimes divide opinion, but Camper Calling understands the simple pleasure of hearing great songs performed live. Björn Again’s ABBA celebration is practically impossible to resist. Whether you are a dedicated ABBA fan or someone who simply knows the choruses, the combination of sequins, melodies and giant pop hooks is tailor-made for a festival.
Fleetwood Bac offered a similar opportunity for fans of Fleetwood Mac, with the Arrow Stage becoming a second destination for anyone who wanted a different kind of nostalgia to the James headline. And that is another Camper Calling strength: you are rarely forced into one musical choice. The festival allows people to build their own weekend.
The atmosphere around the music was just as important. Camper Calling encouraged people to spend the whole day on site, and the combination of food traders, bars, activities and open spaces made the festival feel like a temporary village.
Food is particularly important when families are involved. Nobody wants to spend four days eating exactly the same thing, and the festival’s street-food offering gave people plenty of opportunity to eat between performances and activities.
It also created social spaces away from the stages. A family could grab lunch after the Calling All Kids Club, friends could meet for a drink before the evening headline and everyone could wander back towards the music when they were ready.
That relaxed approach is a huge part of why Camper Calling feels different from a conventional concert. You are not simply there to see a band. You are there to spend a weekend.
And the friendliness of the audience is an important part of that experience. Camper Calling attracts people who seem genuinely keen to have a good time rather than compete over who is having the most intense festival experience. There is room for everyone.
Camper Calling 2022 was a wonderfully varied family festival with enough musical ammunition to satisfy even the most demanding gig-goer.
Basement Jaxx turned Friday night into a dance party, Shed Seven delivered a huge Saturday indie singalong and James provided an emotional Sunday finale.
The Arrow Stage offered its own alternative journey, with Björn Again bringing the ABBA party, The Bootleg Beatles celebrating the most famous catalogue in British music and Fleetwood Bac providing a fitting Fleetwood Mac-inspired Sunday night.
But the weekend was much bigger than those six headline performances.
Del Amitri, Starsailor, Heather Small, Newton Faulkner, Echobelly and The Selecter supplied plenty of musical depth, while Craig Charles, Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon and the likes of Elvana ensured that there was always something a little different happening.
The Kairos, Abbie Ozard, The Gulps and The Bangra Smashup added younger and more contemporary voices, while the Lancashire Hotpots, Doctor & The Medics and Bierkeller Schunklers kept the fun factor firmly intact.
Ultimately, Camper Calling 2022 succeeded because it didn’t insist that everyone experience the festival in the same way. Ragley Hall provided the setting, the artists provided the soundtrack and the audience provided the warmth.
Camper Calling 2022 was never simply about the headline act waiting at the end of the day. It was about everything that happened on the way there.
