REVIEW: Rudimental delight at the Westonbirt Arboretum

The concert area, set in a semi-circle of trees in the heart of the arboretum with bars and food stands lining the perimeter, creates a truly spectacular environment to watch live music.

It’s not often you get to see top acts in such breath-taking surroundings and last week the team behind Forest Live put on a string of stellar line-ups.

I opted for the Thursday night concert with the breakbeat, jungle, soul and funk superstars Rudimental as headliners.

With hundreds of people in attendance, there was quite the hum of excitement before the band took to the stage at 9pm.

Though the Rudimental booking would have been aiming to draw in the younger crowd, the demographic at Westonbirt was eclectic.

Families, couples young and old, and groups of teenagers all got into the spirit of things in equal measure.

I brought my mum along and though she had never heard of Rudimental, she struggled to keep her feet still and a smile off her face.

Rudimental truly have a sound that appeals to everyone and their hour-long set proved that – I’ve never seen a crowd at a concert look so universally happy.

A pleasant surprise of the evening was the sound quality. As a soundsystem snob I was prepared for the worst, as filling an open space surrounded by trees is no mean feat for a sound engineer.

But, to my delight, the system delivered some subtle highs, crisp mid-range and a punch in the low frequencies that could be felt 50 yards away from the stage.

My only slight gripe – and it is slight – is that while the surroundings were stunning, when the sun went away there was little to remind you where you were.

A couple of trees were lit up but they could have made so much more of it all.

That aside, it was not an evening those in attendance will forget in a hurry.

We forget how lucky we are to live in an area where spectacles like this take place. I’ll certainly be keeping a keen eye out for what the next round of Forest Live concerts have in store.