Beacons Festival 2014 Preview

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This weekend will see the return of Beacons Festival which takes place in the Yorkshire Dales.

Having started out in 2011 this music festival has gone from strengh to strengh pulling together a top lineup of artists from all around the world and this years lineup is no different.

Topping the bill for 2014 are electronic musican collaborators Darkside, UK indie folk band Daughter, american rapper Action Bronson and English producer Jon Hopkins.

Other acts joining in on the action include the likes of Erol Alkan, Jackmaster, Carli XCX, Joy Orbison, Nightmares on Wax, Neneh Cherry, Dusky and a whole bunch more.

Our picks and must sees for this weekend are:

Action Bronson: This upcoming hip hop artist has been billed as the "next" Ghostface Killa and his legendary stage antics include recently eating someone's burger in front of the audience he was performing for and rapping from a porta-loo mid performance.  This larger than life rapper is bound to put on a show that the Beacons Festival crowd will not want to miss.

Submotion Orchestra: Formed back in 2009 in Leeds, UK, this seven piece band plau a fusion of jazz, soul and dub and have been the favourites of the likes of Trevor Nelson, Jo Whiley and others.  Their live stage shows are full of energy and they are bound to get you bouncing around as they take to the Beacons stage on Friday nite.

Dusky: Saturday at Beacons will see London electronic music duo Dusky hit the crowd with a set of producions so diverse its hard to classify them.  Influnced by many genres, expect a fusion of house and techno and everything in between.

Darkside: Hailing from New York, Darkside are electronic music duo Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington.  Having recently released a remix of Daft Punk's 2013 entire album Random Access Memories to high praise this duo has blown up playing festivals and events all around the world.  Their latest album Psychic delivers a wide range of genre music and their live set is something not to be missed.  Be sure to catch them at Beacons Festival closing out Sunday night.

The Klaxons to headline OxfordOxford plus more!

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Futuristic three-piece, Klaxons, are now confirmed as the headliner of OxfordOxford in one of many new confirmations for the event’s debut line-up spanning the weekend of 26th-28thSeptember in South Park. Tickets for the film and music days, plus weekend passes are now available to purchase from http://www.oxfordoxford.co.uk/, Sunday’s community themed day remains free entry.

Plaudits for their third album have been high and Klaxons are gearing up for live dates that now include a headline set at OxfordOxford, the band’s only gig in the city for 2014. The crowning act for the event’s music-focused day on Saturday 27th September, Klaxons come to South Park armed with tunes which charge between dance and post-punk sounds. Also confirmed is Katy B, a vocalist who is firm favourite of dance floors nationwide. Katy B has leant talents to a whole host of recent club smash hits not to mention her two solo records of electronic, urban, pop perfection. In support of home-grown talent OxfordOxford will play host to three local acts by teaming up with BBC Introducing in Oxford show to present space-pop quintet, Flights of Helios, indie outfit Balloon Ascents and lo-fi pop trio Robot Swans.

OxfordOxford will kick off with a cinematic spectacular on Friday 26th September, additions to the big screen’s billing include a special ‘dance-a—long’ version of 80’s guilty pleasure, Dirty Dancing. Similar cult classics on offer will be the action-packed Top Gun and family-favourite, The Goonies. As already announced features will also include ‘sing-a-long’ Grease and Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland.

 
The event will culminate in a vibrant and varied collection of Oxford’s many different community groups and activities, access to which will be free all-day on Sunday 28th September. Dance, local history, sports and local industry will all feature across the day in numerous forms. Local retailers wishing to take part are welcome to contact OxfordOxford via [email protected]. Specific details of Sunday’s offering will be announced shortly.   
 
Eleven 11 Events Director, Owen Kent comments:

“Friday’s specially curated Film line up includes a number of the most entertaining cult films making for a fun-filled day out for all. The Kids Area will also bring some magic to the experience for families."

“Klaxons, as an Oxford exclusive for 2014, will surely bring all the energy, passion and hits to their headline show, it will be a real spectacle to close Saturday’s music event.  I am also delighted to confirm Katy B as main support, another very talented live performer, and consistently a festival highlight."

“Most importantly for me, as one of the organisers of the event, OxfordOxford is supporting homegrown talent from the city, and is giving different performers the opportunity to share the stage with international artists, gain experience and promote their music. We are particularly pleased to have BBC Introducing in Oxford on board presenting Flights of Helios, Balloon Ascents and Robot Swans. It is great to be working with them as we share similar views on bringing up and coming talent to a local audience."

"OxfordOxford is proud to be working in partnership with Oxford City Council"

Reading and Leeds BBC Introducing Stage lineup announced

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With less than a month to go until the gates open, the countdown is now well and truly on for Reading & Leeds 2014. Returning this year will be the one stop home of the best in up and coming talent, the BBC Introducing Stage. With BBC Introducing forever championing the finest in new music from the UK and beyond, the stage is part of BBC Introducing’s commitment to offering the best new artists unrivalled opportunities to be seen and heard. As a powerful launching platform for emerging talent, the stage has previously been home to this year’s Main Stage success story Jake Bugg as well as Catfish And The Bottlemen, Spector, Clock Opera and many more.
 
Topping the bill on Friday at Reading and Saturday at Leeds will be the extremely exciting BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra championed London soul singer Moko. Joining her will be alternative punk project The Bulletproof Bomb, Kent experimental rock group Broken Hands, the ambient neo-soul singing collectiveLyves, 19-year-old folk-pop singer Rebecca Clements, the blues tinged and Tom Waits influenced sounds ofJohn J Presley, the fiercely executed rap and powerfully emotive, catchy vocal melodies of Judge and The Jury, melancholic indie quintet Dancing Years, Buckinghamshire singer/songwriter Natasha North and fierce Scottish post hardcore band Shambles In A Husk.
 
Heading up the lineup on Saturday at Reading and Sunday at Leeds is the delicate vocal of Bombay Bicycle Club collaborator Rae Morris. The thrilling and hotly tipped London slacker rock trio Happyness will join her alongside York band Hello Operator, ex-General Fiasco brothers Owen and Enda Strathern’s new band Oh Volcano, three piece Leicester music makers Juniors, upcoming songwriter and Enigma Dubz collaboratorLippi, the melodious pop of Liverpool’s Guardian championed trio All We Are, France formed Aussie and Brit four piece indie rockers Sunset Sons and the horror-influenced skate-punk of Cambridge four piece Bloody Knees.
 
Sunday at Reading and Friday at Leeds sees the stage headlined by Scottish synth-pop trio and Island signeesPrides who will come to the festival fresh from playing the Blink 182 Reading & Leeds warm-up shows at Brixton Academy. Joining them are unsigned indie rock band Crystal Seagulls, promising and ever hard working singer-songwriter Adam French, the live spectacle of Swansea based Cramps-esque punkers Heavy Petting Zoo, fiercely talented alternative songwriter Jack Garratt, Manchester’s future stars Man Made, Hull-based garage/punk band Mother, the BBC Radio 1Xtra playlisted talent of Esco Williams, the hauntingly beautiful music of Billie Marten and the raw.
 
This year saw the return of the prestigious Futuresound Competition, offering the winner the chance to perform on the Festival Republic Stage and five runners up the chance to open over on the BBC Introducing Stage. Leeds’ piano bashing, rock ‘n’ roll five piece Carnabells came in on top for what is sure to be the opportunity of a lifetime over on the Festival Republic Stage.
 
The Friday at Reading and Saturday at Leeds sees self-proclaimed ‘Black Keys meets Nancy Sinatra’ trio Crybabycry open the stage. Saturday at Reading and Sunday at Leeds bills the post punk and pop of Tabloids and Forever Cult’s slow burning grunge kicking off festivities. Sunday at Reading and Friday at Leeds, West Yorkshire alternative five piece Allusondrugs and the mod sounds of Leeds’ Vendettas will be opening the stage.
 
Centre Stage 2014 winners GirlsOnDrugs have also been added to the bill. A collaboration between a boy and girl, the band have deep bass synths and dream-laced chords enlivened by the beautiful, sultry, vocal talents of Kat McHugh, whose voice dances from pure expression to melancholic yearning.
 
The BBC Introducing Stage is truly the best place at the Festival to see the best emerging talent from across the UK. All this and a few very special, secret guests can be expected during what promises to be the biggest weekend in this summer’s festival calendar!
 
Jason Carter, Head of Live Music & Events, BBC Popular Music says: “BBC Introducing are delighted to be bringing our stage to the Festival for another year. Over the past few years it has been fantastic to see bands that have been completely unknown move up the stage at the Festival, right up to the main stage, this is another phenomenal new band line-up”.

Secret Garden Party 2014 Review

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“The longest yard”

Wow, where to start? Secret Garden Party blew my mind. After spending seven hours on a coach to get there, which was inevitably delayed, I got into the festival just in the nick of time and met up with my photographer. We’ve done a dozen festivals together and he took me on the short walk to the campsite where I was reacquainted with our trusty festival tent, the nickname of which I probably shouldn’t share, but nonetheless, this sagging, red mess was our dishevelled but not unloved HQ of the next three days and for its part, it did the job.

So bag down, party gear on, we headed into the festival proper. Our first port of call was the Fox, a giant, hay-filled canid used several times thereafter as a meeting point for lost friends. Atop its tail, during several conversations with excited randomers, I got my first real inclination of the scale and atmosphere and it was impressive, but at that point I had seen nothing.

Our first taste of action was Little Dragon on the Great Stage where thousands were crammed in to take in the surreal sounds of the Swedish synth-pop veterans. It was here that we met our extended group and after we made our way back towards the main area of the festival to take in more of the mise en scene: all kinds of different bars and hang-outs, food vans, huts, shacks, bars, art installations and of course people; lots of people.

“Are those people hanging from the ceiling?”

The next two acts we saw took us by great surprise as they were two of our favourites and yet we hadn’t even realised they were on the lineup. We noticed the familiar gait of Skream silhouetted against a constantly pulsing, fractal visualisation behind him. Then straight off the back of that the MC announced the arrival on stage of none other than DJ EZ who eased us in with some UKG classics before showcasing his flair on the ones and twos, bringing dirtier, grimier sounds to a packed crowd of willing skankers at the Drop, plus a gratuitous three minutes of ‘Deep Inside’. 

I rated SGP highly already. I came to the festival with a head full of names, my top DJs and artists and everyone who I’d planned to see but what I hadn’t bargained for was the rest of the festival experience being so fun. I could have stayed there for a week. Under the dark, expansive sky, bright lights shone and big beats rumbled; a different vibe around every corner. I got my first taste of the Drop coming from the back end and the way the wooden overhangs looked over the arena – like the wall around a fort – meant that the excitement of what I had in store over the next couple of days was growing with every moment. 

As the house beats rolled and the visuals evolved, surrounded by trees, lakes and these wooden platforms, the revelry atmosphere was almost spiritual. Gas canisters lined the floor, we danced on hay bales as night turned into day and the sun came up to techno rhythms. I got to see the festival in a completely new light and it was from this point that I got to fully appreciate the size and effort SGP had put into every single detail. Friends that had been before told me that in fact this year had been scaled back slightly and there were a few things missing and I remember thinking there wasn’t really anything I could imagine being better.

“This is the first festival where I’ve seen a dog shit”

Then came Saturday. All the days blurred into each other, so much overlap – the hallmark of any good festival – but there are distinct parts of each day which makes it impossible to pick a favourite. Saturday started with a walk to the lake where we sat by a cloud on the shaded banks. I could’ve stayed there all day, it was idyllic. We had a picnic, of sorts, and drank happily in the summer heat, the sound of Spitfires swooping above and balloons here there and everywhere.

Most of our group were SGP veterans, unlike my photographer and I who were straight up virgins to the Huntingdon festival, so I was happy to take their lead and they assured that the next stop was the Pagoda. The queue was huge and I couldn’t really see what all the fuss was about. Then our time came and on we got in, a floating stage on the edge of the lake in full sun with banging, hypnotic house and techno. The Pagoda was unbelievable, packed full of likeminded ravers, intermittent squirts of Super-Soakers and scantily clad, golden goddesses. We raved there for hours before heading back to campsite in the evening to recharge our batteries. This where my lack of sleep caught up with me. 

“Make sure you see the fireworks, you’ve gotta see the fireworks, the fireworks are the best bit, are you coming to the fireworks?”
“Yeah I’m coming, sounds sick, can’t wait!”
“Did you go to the fireworks?”
“Nah I fell asleep.”

Yeah I flopped on the fireworks which I was naturally wounded about. I sat down for a rest about 9pm and came-to in a tent around 1am. What I was playing at I don’t know, but I can tell you what everyone told me and that was I was an idiot for missing them and to be fair, the photos looked incredible; and I have it on good authority that Public Enemy smashed it shortly after, just like they had at Parklife when I saw them earlier in the year.

When I woke up, alone at the campsite, with a phone with no battery I set forth into the festival to find someone, anyone. Our group was led by the high leader Larry whose bright, yellow face you could pick out of a crowd from any distance; Larry was a flag. But after two hours of looking for my compadres – while simultaneously dancing ruts into the ground as I circled the Drop, Temple of Boom and everywhere in between – I decided probably just to make some new ones; and so I did. A bold claim maybe, but I think SGP had the best crowd I’ve ever seen (aside from one or two goblins and Technicolor madmen) and even the brief but fierce rainstorm couldn’t dampen my spirits.

I managed to find the crew just in time to see Route 94 at the Drop and when he brought in ‘My Love’ just as the sun was rising up, followed by his remix of ‘Fly 4 Life’, it was going off; that was until the technician told him to pack it in and (light-hearted?) boos rang round the venue.

“We’re a travelling rebetiko band”

After that I found myself on my own again, in a peculiar little tent in the early hours with fiddlers three and all kinds of mad ukuleles and mad, eccentric instruments being strummed, plucked and banged. I sat on a bench and a man in a fez carrying a violin pulled apart the curtains that formed the wall and sat down next to me. We sipped (“proper”) cognac and chatted at length about all sorts, then all of a sudden he popped up and said “oh I’ve gotta play now,” and off he went onto the stage.

SGP is the first festival I’ve been to where the place itself was more impressive than the music. There were bars hidden in secret wooded paths. You could go through a wardrobe in a fence and into Narnia, with snow-covered paths and its own ice rink and a toilet cubicle through which was a field of six-foot sunflowers and various specimens of wristband-wearing flora and fauna. Hay bales stacked 20 feet high with hologrammatic faces singed into them, fire pits, rolling fields, soft hillsides and ponds and lakes surround you; believe me I’m going back next year.

“It’s going off in these glasses”

Sunday came and it was a dream. Off we went again to the cloud by the lake and lay in the sun, swigging Kopparbergs like they were going out of fashion. We got to the Great Stage to see the Correspondents tear it up – another hot tip from the regulars – then we had the paint fight. If you’ve never been in a paint fight with tens of thousands of people, I’m inclined to say you’ve never been to a proper festival, but then again that wouldn’t be fair. 

Cannons of dry paint, fireworks cracking in the sky, grenades of powdered blue and red tossed back and forth between the two sides and no one left unscathed. Everyone was covered in dry paint, gold glitter and all kinds of festival wear and tear as ‘Jump Around’ blasted out across the heavily populated fields and hills. David Rodigan was next to do his thing, with sweet reggae music pumped loud from the Funktion Ones, followed by more bass-heavy sounds from Fat Freddy’s Drop in probably the most chilled environ possible.

The rest of Sunday was spent exclusively at the Drop with b2b sets from the likes of Joy Orbison, Optimo and Jackmaster. In between pounding four-four beats and intangible vocal whirls came classics like ‘Sugar is Sweeter’, timed to perfection – this was heaven for me. There’s something about house music that never ceases to amaze me and I found myself in awe at times wondering how the DJ was gonna play himself out of this tune or that tune, but they always did. 

“Chaise-Lloyd”

Rather than go out with a bang however, the music fizzled out around midnight and we were left to collect ourselves and head back to the campsite. Somewhere in the distance lightening filled the sky, like one final goodbye, and that for me was the end of Secret Garden Party.

Review by Lloyd Wall

 


Created with flickr slideshow.

 

Photos by Paul Taylor

Tramlines Festival 2014 Review

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Tramlines Festival has become one of the biggest events on the inner city festival calendar. From its early days as a free-to-enter event subsidised by the local council and corporate sponsors, the festival now attracts visitors to Sheffield from all over the country due to the fantastic value of £28 for a full weekend pass to see some of the biggest names in a wide range of music genres including Katy B, Sister Sledge, The Cribs and Public Enemy.

Last year saw over 100,000 music lovers attend the festival, and although this year’s statistics are yet to be announced, attendance had been forecasted to be even higher, which is feasible judging from just how packed the city centre was over the weekend.

Tramlines brought a carnival atmosphere to Sheffield. The city had a palpable buzz, with bars and pubs full to the brim, revellers spilling onto the streets and people of all ages and music tastes enjoying the wide variety of artists on the bill.

Walking around the city, it felt like bands were playing everywhere they could be squeezed in. From car parks to beer gardens, to squares, libraries, museums and even double decker buses, music could be heard. If it wasn’t a band, it was a DJ or an acoustic singer/songwriter. The city was host to a three-day long party, fantastic for the profile of Sheffield and the local economy.

Tramlines has been described as an ‘Urban Glastonbury’ by its organisers. Big boots to fill for a festival only in its sixth year. How did it stack up against its contemporaries and does it deserve such lavish acclaim? We tried to find out.

 

Friday

When the first song by the first band you see at the festival makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, you know you’re in for a special weekend. That’s exactly what happened during Post War Glamour Girls who opened proceedings at City Hall. Roaring single ‘Little Lands’ from the talented Leeds four-piece kicked off a 25-minute set mainly showcasing material from their upcoming second album. Due to being scheduled to play Deer Shed festival at 11am the following day, their relatively early starting time meant they were missed by many, but they fully deserve to be back headlining one of the venues next year.

Bathed in purple light, Sheffield Blessa played in the hugely impressive Cathedral. With parallels drawn to The XX, the dream-pop act drew a crowd of around 300. They couldn’t have suited the venue any better, with vocalist Olivia wearing a nun-style robe and her soaring vocals accentuated by the reverberations of the Cathedral’s acoustics.

A hot, sticky and packed Leadmill was headlined on Friday night by The Wedding Present, an indie-rock band whose success spans a period of almost 30 years and 8 studio albums. Inexplicably starting at 9.30pm rather than 10pm as billed, a constant theme running through the festival, their hits ‘My Favourite Dress’, ‘Corduroy’ and ‘Brassneck’ got a rousing reception from the crowd.

Saturday

Day two kicked off with the masked and feathered post-rock duo Nordic Giants, who drew a near-capacity crowd to the City Hall. The band played soundtracks to five short, surreal and disturbing films designed to provoke an emotional response from the crowd. Right at the start of the unforgettable set a member of the audience asked, “What the hell is this?” but the originality and compelling showmanship unequivocally won the crowd over.

Next up in City Hall were instrumentalists Brontide, delayed around 10 minutes due to guitarist Tim’s broken looper pedal. Luckily, Talons who played earlier donated theirs to save the day – and it’s a good job they did – the trio are all about complex, multi-layered riffs backed up with hard-hitting drums. The short set of five songs was one of the highlights of the weekend; Brontide’s technical intricacy is softened and made accessible by catchy bass hooks and Tim’s fist-pumping and infectious enthusiasm.

“If you added our ages together, we’d probably be over a thousand years old,” joked Chuck D of Public Enemy. Although his comment was tongue-in-cheek, the experience and calibre of the group showed through in their fantastic hour long headline performance. Many fans were left disappointed as they were unable to get into the full to capacity Devonshire Green. Those lucky enough to gain entry were treated to DJs spinning old-school hip hop tunes which got the crowd in a party mood before Flavor Flav in his trademark clock pendant and Chuck D exploded onto the stage blasting out classics including "Bring the Noise" and "Fight the Power”. Their hour long set finished off with "Harder than you Think" before Flavor Flav declared in a final parting rally cry for peace and unity, "The only race is the human race."

Psychedelic indie rock sextet Neon Waltz drew a crowd of around 150 to the Leadmill. Their set was characterised by slow-tempo tracks breaking out into feverish jams. Although the young Scotsmen rarely showed signs of originality, they ended on a high point with ‘Perfect Frame’.

Leicester instrumental outfit Maybeshewill played a captivating 45 minute slot back at the City Hall. Deviating from a typical post-rock formula, the band relies on keyboard and samples, in addition to having a guest cellist and violinist for Tramlines. No surprise that there was a grand, orchestral feel to the gig, which climaxed in a spine-tingling version of ‘He Films the Clouds Pt. 2’, with the vocal sample sung by the crowd.

Headlining a rammed City Hall were Future of the Left, who provided a contrast to the mainly instrumental bands so far in the venue. But FOTL were distinguished by more than just Falco’s vocals; the star of the show was Jimmy, not only a fantastic guitarist, but whose antics included taping a bottle of beer to the head of one of the crowd members, lifting him up and using him as a drink dispenser. All in all a thrilling and memorable end to the day by the Welsh quartet.

Sunday

A sparse Sunday afternoon calendar was livened up by Physics House Band at Corporation. The experimental trio from Brighton at first glance seem like a band aimed at other musicians, with mathy riffs and complex time signatures, but their tracks are definitely ‘noddable’ by the crowd, who appreciated the quiet/loud dynamic. Despite the bass being a touch too loud, Physics House Band were one of the top performers of the festival.

Also in the nearly pitch black Corporation were Rolo Tomassi. This is certainly a band to keep in mind the mantra, “appearances can be deceiving”. Softly-spoken vocalist Eva welcomes the crowd and mentions that Sheffield is her hometown. But she’s not softly-spoken for long – once the track starts, she’s growling and hurling blood-curdling screams down the microphone, making for an utterly spellbinding 30 minutes whether or not you like mathcore.

Back to Devonshire Green, The Rifles kicked off a snoozefest on the main stage. Another victim of cranking up the bass volume, there’s frankly more life in roadkill than the Chingford quartet and this reflected in the bored-looking crowd.

Luckily the main stage finale was spectacular with a rousing performance by The Cribs. One of the UK’s top live bands, the Yorkshire trio launched into a crowd-pleasing set heavy on tracks from the album ‘Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever’, ending with the explosive ‘City of Bugs’.

Tempted for one more band before the trip home, Bo Ningen appeared to be an intriguing option for Sunday night. The official programme, describing them as ‘Psychedelic art-rock’, didn’t hint at what was to be the most thrilling and unique set of the weekend. Bo Ningen are a quartet of absolutely insane Japanese guys with waist-length hair, wearing dresses and catsuits. With Queen’s Social Club so rammed that the crowd spilled out into the corridor, the group made the air fizz with their hypercharged brand of glam rock. In an electrifying finale, lead singer Taigen jumped off the stage onto a table at the front of the room and whipped the onlookers into a frenzy, miming stabbing himself with his bass guitar, all the while playing it with sublime technique.

It’s clear that musically the festival was an absolute success, but what about the organisation? A common theme over the weekend was inaccuracy of the printed schedule guide. The Wedding Present, Brontide and The Beat suffered from either having conflicting times published in the programme or being moved without proper communication. Yes, the unexpected usually does happen and bands have to be rescheduled. But how about having an app to send push notifications to attendees when things change? Or even just clearer social media communication. On Facebook, the organisers had announced High Hazels would take Catfish and the Bottlemen’s slot on the main stage. In fact, they took The Beat’s place. We were left having to check various bands' twitter/Facebook accounts directly to determine what time they were due to play.

Another theme of the festival was overcrowding. It’s understandable that world famous acts such as Public Enemy have a pull larger than the capacity of Devonshire Green, but one example of avoidable disappointment was Slow Club on Sunday evening; a homecoming for the successful Sheffield duo and the Leadmill was one-in-one-out, with a queue right down the road and round the corner. Surely O2 Academy, Devonshire Green or another sizable venue would have been a more sensible choice, especially as the festival was winding down and there were so few gig choices at this point.

But even with these minor gripes, the atmosphere in Sheffield was electric over the weekend. It may not be Glastonbury in terms of scale and organisation, but Tramlines is definitely up there with the most enjoyable of the inner city festivals and a bargain for £28 for the whole weekend's entertainment.

Stereosonic announces lineup for 2014 feat Calvin Harris, Tiesto and more!

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Calvin Harris, Tiësto, Diplo, Disclosure, W&W and DJ Snake will headline the first of the two artist groups with: Skrillex, Alesso, Steve Aoki, Showtek, Dash Berlin and special guest Carl Cox leading the charge for the second group of Stereosonic artists. In a year of domination of world festival stages and charts we are very proud of our Australian acts returning from global shows this year to Stereosonic.
 
Calvin Harris, one of the world’s most biggest artists is thrilled to be returning to the region’s favourite electronic music festival: “I love Stereosonic! I’m looking forward to getting back out and playing in Australia.” 

 

Several much loved and respected music brands will be partnering with Stereosonic this year indicating the level of respect Stereosonic has on the world stage within the industry. LA’s HARD, known for its Holy Ship! and HARD LA parties, will be taking charge of Main Stage 2 on one day. The highly respected Dutch brand ‘Awakenings,’ will be throwing down deep house and techno sounds, whilst Ferry Corsten will return with his iconic ‘FULL ON’ arena. Legendary record labels and electronic brands: Armada, OWSLA and Beatport will all make their arena debuts at an Australian festival, for Stereosonic. 
 
Held over two weekends in five cities, Stereosonic continues to create an incredible experience for patrons, with breathtaking production and immaculate festival grounds, complimenting the world class line-up. 

Stereosonic 2014 Artist Line-up: 

Calvin Harris, Tiësto
Diplo, Disclosure (DJ Set), W&W, DJ Snake
Duke Dumont, Will Sparks, RL Grime, Peking Duk
NERVO, Cedric Gervais, Cosmic Gate, Andrew Rayel
Tale Of Us, Destructo, Ørjan Nilsen, Nina Kraviz
Oliver Heldens, Wilkinson, Scuba, Cash Cash, 
Kölsch, MaRLo, Mano Le Tough, Shogun, Uberjak’d
Mark Sixma, Nina Las Vegas, Timmy Trumpet
M4SONIC, Tigerlily, Generik and L D R U & Yahtzel
 
Skrillex, Alesso, Steve Aoki
Showtek, Dash Berlin, Carl Cox
Porter Robinson (Live) Laidback Luke, New World Punx
TJR, Ferry Corsten, Noisia, Deorro, Headhunterz, MK
DVBBS, Booka Shade (Live), Markus Schulz, What So Not
Joel Fletcher, John O’Callaghan, Foreign Beggars
Hot Since 82, Alison Wonderland, Crookers, Jack Beats
The Aston Shuffle, Route 94, Simon Patterson, Alex Metric
Deetron, Kaz James, Ilan Bluestone, Acid Jacks and Nick Thayer
 
MCs: MC Stretch and MC Losty
 
Arenas: HARD, FULL ON, Awakenings, OWSLA, Armada and Beatport

Sydney – Saturday November 29th and Sunday November 30th, Sydney Showgrounds
Perth – Saturday November 29th and Sunday November 30th, Claremont Showground *
Adelaide – Friday December 5th and Saturday December 6th, Adelaide Showground
Melbourne – Saturday December 6th & Sunday December 7th, Melbourne Showgrounds
Brisbane – Saturday December 6th & Sunday December 7th, Brisbane Showgrounds

 

Global Gathering 2014 Review

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Global Gathering the festival that sets the benchmark for Top Dance festivals in the UK is back this year at the prestigious long maston airfield in Stratford Upon Avon. This festival goes back 14th year and has won many previous awards for Best Dance Festival. DJ mag were responsible for naming this baby giant and it has always lived up to the name year after year. 

2014’s headliners are set to be big with the likes of Prodigy heading up the main stage on Saturday evening and Chase & Status on Friday . Global is set on Long Maston Airfield giving it a post apocalyptic and industrial feel. The stages here are of true brilliance and are by far one of the best parts of the festival, with unique simplicity stages like The Global Freight Depot and the Bunker always turn a DJs set to stun. 2014 at Global Gathering brought a number of tents such as the returning BBC 1XTRA stage , the futuristic GodsKitchen , UKF Stage , The mighty new Hanger arena and Defected in the House along with many more smaller stages dotted around the landing strip.

Taking the main stage just before sunset, the 25 year old Belgian known as NetSky took the crowd by storm to give them the injection of pure energy, while the hot orange glow of the afternoon sun dropped into the hills around the airfield gearing up the masses ready for the headliners that evening. Playing some of his new material like ‘ Running Low’  due to be released inside a new album sometime this year and available to listen to via the official Youtube channel for NetSky. 

Dusk is here and its time for the ever powerful electronic sounds of Chase & Status. Production and stage precedence this year made for an incredible set from the two British Producers Saul Milton (Chase) and Mr Will Kennard (Status) playing all the big tracks such as ‘Time’ Feat Delilah as well as ‘Take me away’ To fit in with all the base and hands in the air what finale would be complete without lasers and fireworks. Exploding to the sounds of ‘Fool yourself’ lighting the crowd for the final time that day and completing what was a truly perfect hot summers day. 

Clearing the main stage theres still plenty going on and depending on your music palette you can head to a range of different artists and stages. Heading up the Hanger stage in the after hours the chart topping David Guetta performs at the top of the towering wall of light situated in this oversized super tent. This stage would rival many main stages and despite its size was full to the edges. If Guetta isn't for you though don't worry you've got visual delight of Subfocus sitting proud amongst the giant rings of light over at the 1Xtra Stage. Happening all around the top DJs like Aly & Fila , Hot Since 82 , James Zabiela, Alesso and so many more converge for 1.5 days worth of pure magic. 

Waking up to yet more sun beating down on the masses the day was off to a great start. Global is an action packed weekend with little down time. Acts are on from 12 mid-day and go all the way into the wee hours of Sunday morning. The main stage started to fill out early afternoon with the masked DJ Jaguar Skills. Next to entice the masses was the RAM Records Heavy weight Andy C & MC 2SHY, seeing Andy perform in sunlight was a strange experience as normally confined to the early hours of a set list. Never the less a set filled with all the right tracks including the Andy C Remix ‘Get Free’ with all the heat and pumping base the security were constantly handing out a good supply of water to the crowd and making sure anyone who needed fluids got a drink of water. 

Leading on to the penultimate act of the day Knife party were set to get the crowds ready for the headline act. Sitting behind a pretty impressive LED Bank located centre stage Knife party originally formed of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen which you might remember from The Drum & Bass superstars Pendulum, Knife party was a side project that went main stream. 

To Headline this year Global Gathering pulled out the stops for one of the biggest most widely known electronica big beat acts around. Prodigy are a phenomenal act to witness and had great little surprises through the set. Red flares lit at certain points within songs like Fire Starter and ‘ Smack your bitch up’ illuminating the crowds hands and a sea of iPhones and mobile phones taking video could be seen. Keith Flint lead for Prodigy got the crowds running in circles at 3 points within the main area creating a tornado of people all under his control. The stage consisted of a semi circle of tribal symbols and lights, flickering stage lights to imitate fire and plenty of disorienting strobes to give it that truly cereal experience! All the original hits previous mentioned as well as ‘ Their Law’ including the new creations from Invaders Must Die, singing along to OMEN the atmosphere and energy was relentless. Global Gathering as a festival is truly a one off masterpiece and to its credit has survived and battled its way through the financial crisis and out the other side its 14 incredible years are a testament to its amazing DJs, stages and organisation. 


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www.James-Bridle.co.uk

Secret Garden Party limited early bird tickets on sale now!

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Early bird tickets avaliable now for Secret Garden Party! 

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Following a sold out weekend the Secret Garden Party puts a limited number of Early Bird tickets on sale, from Monday 28th July, for next year’s event, which takes place 23rd-26th July 2015.

They will be available from www.secretgardenparty.com

http://sgp.seetickets.com/event/secret-garden-party-2015/mill-hill-field/807299

With its theme of ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ revellers enjoyed a hot and sunny weekend with a range of music including Public Enemy, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Little Dragon, Foxes and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and secret dj sets from the likes of Chase & Status and Nero.

The Saturday Spectacular, which included water holograms, a huge firework display and flames of fire, also featured new technology never before used in the UK. The ‘Falling Stars’ section had 5,000 papers helicopters, each carrying flashing red and blue flashing LED, dropped from c.350ft by a single paramotor pilot spinning gently to the ground, some had free tickts for Secret Garden Party 2015. Other spectaculars included the ‘Make A Rainbow’ paint gathering, a Spitfire flypast and this specially grown sunflower field accessed via an ‘out of order’ portaloo.