The Bent Rehabilitation Clinic for the Tediously Insane
June 11th, 2003 by susanna
Show us a festival lacking in spontaneous comedy – and we’ll bet it’ll be one that won’t stick in those ever-sketchy memory banks for as long as a weekend of idiosyncratic, daftly eccentric humour.
For that reason, we’re doubly excited to have, not just a new Comedy Tent, but Bent’s slightly unhinged Rehabilitation Clinic for the Tediously Insane.
Nottingham’s Simon Mills and Nail Tolliday are as famous for their debut album ‘Programmed To Love’ and the 2003 follow-up ‘The Everlasting Blink’ as they are for digging deep into their dressing up boxes. And while playing doctors and nurses might be a commonplace fantasy for the rest of us, Bent’s tent will feature lots of that, plus military costumes and…music.
We asked Simon, what can we expect?
‘I think it’s going to be a few soldiers sitting around playing Jimi Hendrix records. Even I don’t know what to expect! It’s going to look like something out of M*A*S*H* with us in combats, one guy with his six-pack out smoking a cigar, one guy giving crew cuts, I don’t think we’ve got a helicopter pad. Not this year…’
How did the clinic go down in London?
‘It was great. People were walking by and didn’t know if we were a real clinic or an art installation. We invited them in for free drinks then they had to sit down and wait for their appointment. They’d then come in to an operating theatre and lie down and listen to our Bent album, we’d pick the track depending on their ailment.’
What music will you be ‘prescribing’ at the festival?
‘Well, personally I’m looking forward to blasting out Motown for three days. A few of our DJ mates want to play so it will probably be a tent playing lots of dodgy records!’
A party room?
‘More of a chill out room with a twist, in a proper style military tent.’
What or who are you looking forward to seeing?
‘All of it, I love the Big Chill, it’s my favourite festival. We played there two years ago [Lulworth Castle, 2001] on the Sunday night to about 5,000 people which was amazing. It’s one festival where people don’t bother checking their mobile phones all the time, you really feel like you can get away from it all.’
Festival tips Bent style.
‘Make sure you bring luxury bus! No not really… Bring a box of matches, a compass and spare trousers. Not jeans though, I’ve heard they aren’t good in wet weather.’
What else are you looking forward to this summer?
‘We’re going to Australia and Singapore to promote our new album which will be really good as we haven’t toured that far yet and hopefully a few DJ sets in the States on the way back.’
Lastly, what can we expect next from Bent?
‘We’ve just done a mix for the Fabric Live series which will be out in August. It’s got a few surprises on there and an overall positive feel to it. But we can’t tell you anymore, as it wouldn’t be a surprise!’
EDIT OCTOBER 2007: that really was the late-night tent to be in!!
