Body & Soul Mon Amour

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Going back to Body & Soul is like meeting someone you’re in a long-distance relationship with after several months of absence. You know there is a mutual understanding and intense feelign and your expectations are high – yet you fear that upon meeting them again things may have lost their magic, the spark. But every year the fears quickly gather, and just as quickly dispelled. Body & Soul 2014 was one of the best to date.

Darkside kicked off the Friday night with an amazing performance – the duo made up of Nicholas Jarr and Dave Harrington picked up the infectious giddiness of the crowd only to throw it back at them with a celebratory dance marathon. From there it was on to The Walled Gardens and Donal Dineen’s set that seemd to knit ?the whole spirit of the festival together, warming them up for some of the intenser and highly atmospheric goings-on at the Reckless In Love Stage in the woods. Saturday continued much as Friday left off. Going from strength to strength, Saturday delivered a whopper series of performances, with GoldFrapp on the mainstage, and Mount Kimbie and Jon Hopkins commandeering the crowd in search of high instensity dance beats. The Wonderlust Stage, perhpas our favourite area of the whole weekend, delivered one memorable and ethereal moment after another, but in particular Sally Cinnamon’s set.

The winner of the weekend however, was indisputably the weather. No one had ever seen such high spirits, so much exposed skin, and just glorious vibes everywhere. Body & Soul seemed to be rewarded for its good karma over the years, with weather that brought out the best of everyone. Totally unforgettable.

Other favourites: Maria Somerville and the Arbutus Yarns tent had a special place in our hearts for the duration of the festival.

Marilyn Lee

All images are from Allen Kiely except for the cover shot taken from Young Wonder.

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