In our latest fan celebration, Katie Hawthorne recalls how a thrilling gig in a muddy field – and a fruit snack – encouraged her teenage self to follow her own eclectic musical tastesRead more from our series: The fandom that made meThe sun was setting when I heard it: the sound of a party in the distance. It was 2011 and I was working at Bestival as an Oxfam steward. I had just completed all of my shifts, and I was ready to get lost in the festival. A distant bass line tugged us through the mud towards the main stage and there, under heart-shaped lights that looked like Haribo sweets, was Swedish pop icon Robyn. She was dressed head-to-toe in silver, like an alien or a glitterball, pumping her fists like an aerobics instructor, her white-blonde bowl cut bouncing to the beat. I found myself in the middle of the crowd, hands in the air, absolutely mouth-open-transfixed.
Then Robyn grabbed a banana. She twirled with it like a dance partner, held it above her head to peel it and theatrically stuffed it into her mouth, taking such greedy bites that her cheeks bulged. And she kept dancing: the pummelling dance track ran through her whole body as she lifted her shirt and rubbed her stomach in an elaborate performance of satisfaction. It was so powerful, so sexy, so brazen, so silly. I have probably told more people about this banana than I have the story of how I met my partner.