Reviews - Page 51 of 52 - Summer Festival Guide

Heineken Open’er Festival 2011 Review

April 17, 2019July 5, 2011 by Tina Boonstra

It was the tenth anniversary of the Heineken Open’er this year and with headlining acts including; Prince, Coldplay and The Strokes, this years was a line up that rivalled any other main stream festival. Situated in the north of Poland, it might not be the first to come to mind when thinking about going away to a festival next summer, but it’s soon making a name for itself for as an international festival. We arrived on Friday morning having, much to our dismay, missed sets by Daktari, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Paulo Nutini and Coldplay, but that was not to get in the way of a great line up for day two. Once we’d battled with the wind and rain to set up our tent, we set off to explore the festival grounds, but came to find that they were actually a bit of a ghost town. Each day the festival grounds didn’t open until four, so until then, there wasn’t actually anything happening.

The festival really only got going at around 8:30pm with Abraham Inc. opening on the World Stage, a blend of Klezmer music, funk, hip hop and jazz, with a beat so infectious, the crowd though soaking wet, could hardly contain themselves, and neither could we. Headlining on the main stage, Pulp performed a set that no one would easily forget, as the rain poured relentlessly on to the stage the band refused defeat and continued playing to a soaking wet, yet wildly adoring audience. The frenzy culminating as Jarvis Cocker screamed out to the crowd, ‘Gdansk would you like to Gdance?‘ and they did, breaking out into manic dancing the party continued regardless of the stormy weather.

Day three, like day two, got off to a slow start. We were rudely awakened at a ridiculous time, (before midday), by music blaring out from speakers set up on the camp site. Not cool. Forced to get up, we trudged to the town to find some warm food, before the festival kicked off again. Prince, put on an amazing show, confetti cannons, four encores and fireworks, he never did do things by halves did he? Day four brought with it the sunshine that we had been expecting all along, and These new Puritans, as well as a set by James Blake were truly breathtaking. The clash of organic sounds and tribal rhythms, with the produced sounds of the synths, make These New Puritans absolutely unmissable. And James Blake’s, pensive melodies, artful use of delay and relatively small band left chills running down our spines.

On the main stage that night, The Strokes opened with ‘New York City Cops’ and continued to play almost their entire début album, to an ecstatic crowd. Then Deadmau5 took over to close the festival with an unforgettable set which the crowd absolutely loved, it was the perfect end to an almost flawless festival.

As we left for the final time, we had little to complain about, the Heineken Open’er definitely competed with all the major festivals around today, but there was something missing. If festivals are about the music alone, then the Heineken really did deliver, but, if its about more than that, if its about the experience of being taken to a new world, of street artists, creative spaces, quirky venues, and a unique shared experience, then this festival comes up short.

The big sponsor, left little room for any sort of character, everywhere we looked there was the Heineken logo, and though drinks were way cheaper than you will ever find them at a UK festival, the choice was Heineken and nothing else. If you want to explore a new city, and go to a festival with a line up pretty similar to a UK main stream festival, then the Open’er is great, but if you’re looking for something a little more unique and quirky then this probably isn’t it.

The Big Feastival Review – Saturday 2nd July

November 21, 2018July 4, 2011 by Summer Festival Guide

The weather man was kind to London yet again as another glorious day awaited us for the inaugural Jamie Oliver presents The Big Feastival. The Big Feastival brings together an extravaganza of food and music with some of the UK’s top restaurants and artists playing over the weekend.

Taking place in Clapham Common, we arrived with empty bellies around 2pm to sample and indulge in some of the top quality food that was on offer and to sit down and listen to some great music. With food tokens in hand we immediately turned our attention to the numerous food stalls. Starting at top British food institution Canteen, we sampled the delightful Fish and Chips, the fish was crispy and tasty and the chips were fried to perfection.

Looking around, The Big Feastival was a family affair, many had turned out with their young children who were kept busy with attractions like the Little Dudes Den and the fairground rides. With the sun shining, most had taken advantage of the lovely Clapham Common grounds by sitting on the grass with food and drinks in hand whilst enjoying the music and comedy acts that played on the main stage and the bandstage.

With my stomach still hungry, I headed over to Peter Gordon and Michael McGrath’s The Providores, they were serving up a scrumptious NZ Lamb Sandwich. The lamb was melt in your mouth material and was accompanied with a minted yogurt sauce and tomato chutney all brought together on a sourdough ciabatta.

The Big Kitchen was the location of the live cooking element of The Big Feastival, we managed to catch Sophie Grigson cooking up a delightful indian treat. However the crowd were waiting for the man himself, Jamie Oliver, to take the to the live kitchen stage, with so many packing the tent, we managed to make it to the outskirts where we could just see and hear the show. Joined by one of the Two Greedy Italians and Jonny Vaughn, the three of them cooked up a storm!

Between our group we sampled the majority of food that was on show, the Pit Smoked Pulled Pork Shoulder and Slaw from Jamie Oliver’s Barbecoa was my favourite dish of the day! Smoked for hours on end, the pork was amazingly tender, it was cooked to perfection and I could have had 2 more portions of it.

I also sampled the Pork Pibil Tacos from award winning restaurant group Wahaca, they were just the treat to finish my day off.

Musically, Saturday’s The Big Feastival was topped off by brilliant sets from the Mystery Jets and The Charlatans. Jamie Oliver even managed a good boogie whilst The Charlatans were playing, however for me, today was all about good friends, good music and even better food.

With proceeds of the event going to The Prince’s Trust and The Jamie Oliver Foundation, Jamie Oliver seems to have found a winning formula combining what is some of the best food from the top restaurants in London with some of the UK’s best entertainers. I look forward to sampling more delights on its return next year!

Click here to see more photos of The Big Feastival

Wireless Festival – Friday 1st July 2011

July 3, 2011 by Summer Festival Guide

As we headed out of the office to Wireless, the sun was beaming down on London and we expected a massive crowd as today was sold out with an estimated 63,000 in attendance.

Walking into Hyde Park, you could feel the buzz and excitment of festival goers in the air as we were ready to see headliners Black Eyed Peas who were joined by Plan B, Tinie Tempah, Bruno Mars, David Guetta, Far East Movement and more.

Walking out to the main stage, we catch the end of Example, already there is a good crowd building around the main stage, directly opposite is the Unwind Stage where Jodie Connor is about to take to the small but intimate stage.

We take point at the main stage to check out Bruno Mars, his cool, funky, jazzy, pop sound is translated amazingly to the live arena. Complete with live band, Bruno Mars is one act that is much better live than on album. He is very much alive on the stage, and brings alot of character to his performance, much like his video clips!

Next we head to the Pepsi Max stage to check out Far East Movement, an L.A. based electo pop / hiphop group whose number one single “Like a G6” pushed them into the mainstream. The tent was packed out as the lads went through their hits “Like a G6” and “O.M.G”. They brought a raw energy to the stage and played a flawless set.

Back over to the main stage, we get set to catch one of the UK’s biggest artists of the moment, Tinie Tempah. Fresh from Glastonbury

success, we expected another stormer of a live show. However some production issues meant that Tinie’s microphone was not working properly and we failed to hear some of the lryics he was delivering in the start of his performance. However once fixed, Tinie was back to his live best, managing to get most of the crowd down on their knees whilst building up to his latest single with Swedish House Mafia “Miami 2 Ibiza”.

David Guetta was headlining the Pepsi Max stage and brought an arsenal of music with him. Djing to a crowd that bloated outside of the arena, he delivered big tune after big tune, perfect to dance to whilst the sun was still shining over Hyde Park. We even got a special appearance from Black Eyed Peas beauty, Fergie who arrived onto the stage to sing on “Geting Over You”.

The crowds flocked to the main stage for the Friday night headliners Black Eyed Peas. Having to follow in the footsteps of previous headliners such as Jay-Z and Kayne West, BEP were in top form! Dressed in silver space suits they instantly got the crowd rocking with “Rock Your Body”. As the sun began to set on the Hyde Park the production came into effect, huge lighting rigs, led screens, led suits and helmets began to glow and enforced that BEP were going to close Friday’s Wireless in style. Will.I.Am’s DJ set took the crowd on a journey through classic dance hits, whilst Fergie had her spot on the stage during her solo of “Big Girls Don’t Cry”. BEP performed tunes from their back catalogue including “Where is the Love”, “Don’t Phunk with my Heart”, “Shut Up”, “My Humps” and more!

Fittingly the Black Eyed Peas brought Wireless to a dancing close with hits “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling”. They set the presendent for the rest of the weekend which sees the Chemical Brothers and Pulp headling Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Click here to view our photos from Wireless Festival

Hard Rock Calling 2011 Review

June 29, 2011 by Alessia Cifali

The first day of the Hard Rock Calling is welcomed by heavy rain. The place looks like a smaller version of Glastonbury, the difference being half of the people here in London aren’t ready for it.

Despite the rain, the crowd is overwhelmed and between a beer and waffle they are all ready to party.

The arena is lined with stands offering all kinds of catering from Chinese to Mexican through to Fish and Chips and Ice-creams. The Arena is furnished with 3 stages. The main stage clearly the more popular, a second stage named Pepsi Max, is covered by and big tent and a third smaller stage positioned next to the Tuborg stand were few unsigned bands will be performing throughout the weekend.

The highlight of the Pepsi stage on Friday is definitely Indy rock stars ‘The Kills’. The duo formed by American singer Alison Mosshart and British guitarist Jamie Hince have been in the music business since 2000 and are currently promoting their fourth studio album ‘Blood Pressures’. Their unique style really warms all the rain drenched revellers and gets them ready for the main act.

Thousands brave the rain and give their best support to The Killers. Brandon Flowers & co. play almost all their hits during the set and also give the crowd the opportunity to listen to what is possibly the first single from the still un-named new album; the song is called "The Rising Tide".

on the notes of 'Bling (Confessions Of A King)' fireworks are triggered providing a little bit of light to the dark sky.
It is definitely an outstanding performance from The Killers.

On the second date of the festival, the sun is shining high in a cloudless sky. The temperature is finally close to the season’s average. Everyone in Hyde Park is enjoying the weather and the good music. The Pepsi Max Stage is obviously less crowed than the day before but with the same good quality music on offer. The Italian Gianna Nannini at her first appearance in such occasion looks thrilled to be part of it and give’s her best in her 40mins set.

Another highlight of the Pepsi Max Stage ‘Imelda May”. Her rockabilly music along with her Irish accent seduces the crowd and soon everyone under the tent is dancing and singing along.
Meanwhile on the main stage the band Black Cards performs for the very first time in front of such a huge audience. The band is a side project of the ex Fall Out Boy, Pete Wentz. Their electro-pop tunes are highly appreciated from the Hyde Park crowd.

On the notes of “Raise your hands” at around 7:15 p.m. Bon Jovi takes control of the main stage.

The roar coming from the fans is so impressive that even if you are at the very end of the venue you feel it. The ground seems to shake under your feet.

The band thumps out a phenomenal 27 song set spanning their entire musical career lit with obvious hits “Living on a Prayer”, “Always” and “it’s my life”. Sadly the classic “Bed of Roses” was left out.
Again the night ends with an amazing fireworks display and a seemingly endless queue to the exits.

The third day of the event will always be remembered as the hottest day of the year. Temperatures way about the average forcing everyone to drink a ridiculous amount of water trying to cool down. Every single shadow packed with people looking for some reprieve from the sun. Surviving the hot weather has been a challenge for everyone and the first Aid tent has greeted many visitors.

Earlier in the afternoon American band Train took the main stage, fighting the burning air. Their set is probably one of the highlights of the afternoon along with Adam Ant and his post punk melodies.
Meanwhile on Pepsi Max Stage after a brilliant set from Mike & The Mechanics at around 7:40p.m. Lighthouse Family begin their set in front of a full house. Their easy listening music lit up the spirits of all the attendees. On the notes of probably their most popular song “High” the crowd chorus fills the tent with a good mood, typical reaction to this amazing band.

Back on the main stage it’s time for Rod Stewart to start his performance. He appears on stage looking like the Rockstar he is. The cheers coming from the crowd are testifying to what everybody knows already. It is going to be huge! The whole set is highly concentrated on his last covers album of popular American rock/soul songs. While Rod performs a rendition of the song “Downtown Train” by Tom Waits. Fans are left with nothing else to do than dance and sing their hearts out.

The perfect celebration for the 40th Anniversary of this big event ends with another set of fireworks. Rod Stewart is the perfect host for the crowd during this amazing night.

The crowd leaving the arena seems not to mind the endless queue to the bus/tube stops. All they know is that these 3 days have been amazing, well organized and full of fun. Like us, they can’t wait till next year replicates the experience, hopefully without the rain!

Parklife Weekender 2011 Review

June 14, 2011 by Tina Boonstra

From Piccadilly station, across the city centre, and over to Fallowfield, a buzz of anticipation spread across town, as Manchester geared up for the return of Parklife Festival. Only in its second year, Parklife has a growing reputation for a party that you won’t soon forget. If waking up in a soggy sleeping bag isn’t your style, then this urban festival offers the best of both worlds; a weekend crammed with great music, without the pain of figuring out how to set up a tent. Relatively small, with only seven venues over two days, Parklife does all it can to pack as much as possible into that short time. From the relentless beats of the Chibuku tent on Saturday, to the best sounds coming out of Manchester in the Now Wave venue on Sunday, not to mention, the massive acts lighting up the main stage; Parklife may look small, but it’s one big weekend.

Following the crowds pouring into the park on Saturday afternoon, we were welcomed by Everything Everything, giving it their all up on the main stage, to an already pumped up crowd. As we explored the rest of the park, walking past the Chibuku tent, whose heavy bass already had the place packed out, we came across the secret garden; fabric art installations by Donna Jevens and the Elephant collective, as well as bath tubs to sit in and watch as spoken word acts, and buskers perform on their own stage. This slightly surreal, dreamscape installation was alive with people enjoying a rest from the unyielding party that continued on just around the corner. If that wasn’t already enough to spark our curiosity, past the spoken word, circus acts and tunnels of love, we came across the Truly Treemendous Treehouse Stage, which housed silent disco DJ’s in a tree, as well as a dance floor and some giant vegetable seating for everyone else to enjoy.

Back to the main stage, and Beardyman had replaced Everything Everything, enchanting crowds with his almost unbelievable beat boxing skills, cross over to the Now Wave tent to catch Jamie XX start off his set, and as the audience throw themselves into the rhythms, it was hard to believe that it was only six o’clock. Katy B’s clear vocals cut across the park, and drew the crowd back to watch her perform tracks like Broken Record and Perfect Stranger, with a completely different feel to her recorded work. Live band, coupled with a small brass section gave the set a more soulful feel than her latest album allowed for.

With the sun setting over the festival main stage, and the carnival atmosphere continuing, before we knew it, debut festival headliners Two Door Cinema Club, began their electrifying set. Playing tracks from their album, Tourist History, as well as new materiel with an infectious beat, they left the crowd screaming for more. As the throng poured out of the park and into numerous after parties, we were left to wonder, how could tomorrow top a night like this?

Day two broke with the sun rising over the city, but soon gave way to a more traditional UK festival climate. The rain transformed green grass pathways into mud planes, and we rejoiced as mudslides and wrestling commenced and the multitude turned from an array of colour to slimy brown. It was inevitable really, and nothing was going to get in the way of a great line up for day two.

In the Juicy tent, rammed all the way to the entrance, one of our Parklife highlights was Riot Jazz, a ten piece brass band, who pumped out a combination of punchy jazz, hip-hop, and funk beats, in true style. Making it impossible for anyone to be standing still, as tune after high energy tune blasted out in ecstasy before the rain drenched audience. The energy was astounding and just as we thought the crowd couldn’t dance any longer Broke n English took over to prove us wrong. Torn between staying to watch the set, and catching Labrinth’s debut festival appearance, we pulled ourselves away to head to the main stage, but before making it there, we crossed paths with a samba band and crowds dancing behind them.

The rain had stopped, but the mud was rising with Labrinth’s opening song to his first ever festival crowd. And after a bass heavy set from Skream & Benga, two thirds of legendary magnetic man, the air was heavy with anticipation as the crowds waited expectantly for day two main stage headliners, Chase & Status. With pounding rhythms, and heavy bass, soaring melodies, and awesome visuals, not one person was standing still as the main stage lit up for the final act of the year. And though sweat poured down their mud caked faces, the audience were swept away by a performance that kept getting better. Before leaving we popped into Now Wave to find a crowd of dancers falling in love with the crushed harmonies, and catchy melodies of Mystery Jets. And as our tired legs left Platt Field Park for the final time, we couldn’t help but think that Parklife, will only keep getting better.

L.E.D presents deadmau5 Live Review

April 17, 2019June 12, 2011 by Summer Festival Guide

As we head well and truely into the festival season, L.E.D returned for its second installment at Victoria Park in London with L.E.D presents deadmau5 Live.

After selling out shows all over the world and more recently becoming the first electronic artist to sell out London’s Earls Court in December 2010, we expected a mammoth crowd to grace the grounds of Victoria Park to see the DJ who doesnt like to be called a DJ, deadmau5.

We stroll into Victoria Park around 3pm to the sounds of Retro/Grade who have taken to the Main Stage. Immediately we head to the Let’s Go Crazy Arena to check out one of D&B’s finest acts Netsky and MC:AD. If its was ear ringing D&B you wanted to hear, then this was the arena for you! The speakers were smashing out the sounds from Netsky, Skrillex, Modestep, DJ Hype and all the other DJ’s in this arena. As we walked around the crowd, the amount of energy in this arena was insane, the D&B massive was definetly representing.

As 4pm approached, we headed back to the main stage to see Skrillex, label mate of deadmau5 on mau5trap records. An extremely talented young man, Skrillex is a electro / dub-step producer, he is welcomed to the stage with large applause from the crowd. His DJ set is full of head banging tunes, and with microphone in hand, Skrillex announces that “London is my second home and I f*ckin love it here”

With the sun well and truely shining, the grass crisp and dry, Radio 1’s Zane Lowe is next to send the main stage crowd into euphoria. Zane has a massive presence on the stage, his DJ skills and crowd pleasing ability is second to none and he plays a huge mix of music in his sets. Zane really does know how to whip a crowd into shape!

Having just released his new single Bounce, Calvin Harris is next to take to the main stage before the main event. Calvin takes it straight to the L.E.D crowd with his massive hands in the air anthem I’m Not Alone. Everytime I have seen Calvin he never disappoints, his sets are consistently brilliant with the right amount of electo-pop numbers to please the crowd, a number of them his own productions!

For those that do not know, deadmau5 is full on techie, his shows and music are created using cutting edge technology and are constantly pushing the boundries. His current setup consists of a mind-blowing led cube and his iconic led mousehead. Being a tech-head myself, its amazing to see how Joel brings his show together using the latest tech.

With the Lets Go Crazy arena closed, the main stage area packs out with about 25,000 fans who have been here most of the day to see deadmau5. As the music fades, deadmau5 runs to the front of the stage in a ghost outfit before taking his place at the top of the famous cube structure that has been a part of his shows for about a year now.

Starting out with the uplifting “Some Chords”, deadmau5 knows how to gear up the crowd, and we expected the next 90 minutes would follow suit.

Moving out of sight for a minute, deadmau5 returns to the Cube with his famous LED mousehead! As he takes us through his musical journey, his mouse head lights up with all sorts of images. The visual spectical of deadmau5’s shows are amazing, with a massive L.E.D backdrop as well as the full blown cube and mouse head, no expense is spared when it comes to putting on this production.

Needing no introduction onto the stage, we hear the build up of one of the tunes I was most waiting to hear, “Sofi Needs a Ladder” starts to arise from within the speakers, and as the beat kicks, Sofi comes out and there is a massive roar in the crowd. Struting her dance moves in front of the cube, Sofi makes her way down the catwalk to take it to the waiting crowd. Sofi sounds just as good live as she does on the album!

deadmau5’s live shows never disappoint, and as with last year at Earls Court, this was another stormer of a show, once again showcasing why deadmau5 is one of the most in-demand electronic artists in the world. I dont suspect it will take long to see him back in London again very soon.

We very much look forward to see what L.E.D has in store for us next summer!

For more photos check out our L.E.D presents deadmau5 album in our Facebook page

Dot To Dot Festival 2011 – Nottingham

May 31, 2011 by Jessica Mitchell

Nottingham was the second stop on the Dot To Dot agenda, and they took over the city's various venues to showcase some briliant acts.

Nottingham is a vibrant city with loads of bars and venues. The festival was made up of 4 venues all with a range of bands to watch.

The day started with us getting our wristbands from the Dot To Dot tent. The wristbands allow you to hop from venue to venue. The bands didn’t start till 1 so it’s a nice time to go exploring.

The first band we did go see was the Alpines from South London. You were quickly taken in by their unique sound and mesmerizing presence on stage. The band had a unique indie sound. The lead singer had an amazing voice that you couldn’t tier of listening to. They played in the Rock City venue which was the main venue for the festival. It also had a basement room were smaller bands played. The Rock City’s main room was large with 3 bars and a balcony view point. Even though it was large, when the bands got in full swing it filled up very quickly.

The next venue was the Rescue Rooms, and as said on a sign approaching the venue it’s up for NME Best Small Venue!. Inside the tiny venue was a long bar and two outside drinking areas. The atmosphere was amazing with it being such a small venue. The band we went to see are called Wolf Gang I had never heard of them before but they had a very big backing from the crowd. Everyone was packed into the venue like sardines it was so busy people were lined up outside. We got a little spot on the balcony were we could just about see. They were worth elbowing through the crowd to get a glimpse of. With their stylish indie sound and the lead singers punching vocals leaving me amazed that I hadn’t heard of them sooner. You could understand why Wolf Gang played in Rescue Rooms as it made them sound vibrant and in your face!

After the aftermath of pushing my way out of the Rescue Room’s venue I quickly made my way back down to Rock City to catch Swimming. As we got in to Talbot Street which was closed off for the festival. There were stalls and bars outside, they were also giving away free Kopparberg tasters that seemed to go down well with the festival goers.

Inside Rock City it was already very busy. We wormed our way through to a good spot, were we got to see the last few songs of Swimming, a 5 piece band from Nottingham. It was great to see a band playing in their home town. They lit up the town with brash electronica music like warp techno. This was mixed in with guitars and the striking voice of the lead singer. Swimming are a fantastic group of guys with great song writing skills, which they write from events that have happened in their own life’s.

After it had all calmed down waited patiently for the critically acclaimed Ed Sheeran. The excitement in the venue grew it was the busiest I had seen it all day. After the 30 minutes we waited Ed Sheeran made his way to the stage with his guitar and the determination to please the waiting crowd. Ed layers the sounds from the guitar and his voice by recording them and playing the sounds back adding the vocals, when all combined together gives the feeling of an entire band from just one person and his guitar. Ed Sheeran is just 20 years old, but his style of music flirts between dubstep to hip hop, and sometimes just with his outstanding voice and guitar. He sung his hits like City and A Team which the entire crowd got behind and sang with him. He has a lot of talent and writes songs with a lot of passion which people can relate to.

After all the fuss and excitement of Ed Sheeran we stayed in the main venue to watch The Naked and Famous, a band tipped to be big this year. The band is from New Zealand and the calming vocals of the lead singer Alisa Xayalith give the band some personality mixing in with the guitarist. It has an electro pop sound which gives the band’s music a lot of depth. The crowd loved this band and knew there music well.

My highlight of the festival has to be The Naked and Famous, a great band with fantastic stage presence.

Overall an awesome festival day out and would recommend to anyone who enjoys watching bands in great venues.

The Great Escape 2011 Review

May 19, 2011 by Jessica Mitchell

The atmosphere was amazing and addictive during the day it was relaxing and chilled with the few venues in the town down all the little winding streets, full of street performers and shops selling all sorts of weird and wonderful things. The venues were spread all over Brighton so you could get a different atmosphere from the different venues. Including the Pavilion Theatre which is a nice pub turned into a venue, to Digital which is a club with amazing banging base. In the evening it came alive on the seafront with venues and bars, the place lit up with people drinking and having a good time.

Day One: I got there late Thursday evening and went to pick up my pass. It was already very busy you could hear bands coming out of all the different venues. I was already thinking in my mind which bands I was going to see. I had a plan mapped out but it got turned upside down when I got my pass as I walked down to the sea-front and it turned out that

was the place to be, so I didn’t leave for the rest of the night. There were crowds of people outside the bars and venues enjoying themselves and socialising. Armed with my wristband, camera pass and anticipation, I went into my first venue to see the band Fight Like Apes. They are a very energetic band that liked to jump about and use the stage to its maximum advantage. They had a large fan base that enjoyed it and joined in with the bands enthusiasm. After that I went down to see Example at the Concorde. It wasn’t too busy but the people that did decide to make the walk down the other end of the seafront were not disappointed. Example sang all his hits including Unorthodox and Won’t Go Quietly and even some new material. Example was dripping sweat from jumping back and forth around the stage! I walked back down to the Coalition on the front where I caught Frank Turner, who turned out to be one of my highlights of the weekend. He came out with just his guitar and a smile and wowed the crowd with his acoustic sound and the joy he had from playing his music. He sung hits from his album such as Still Believe and Pass It Along. Definitely one to watch out for!

Day 2: I woke up all ready and excited in my hotel room, by the looks of it everyone else was already drinking and getting into the festival spirit. I took a walk down one of the main streets in the town before the bands started and checked out some of the street performers. Then I made my way down to Above Audio which was a little pub/ bar on the seafront where I listened to a few bands. The Jezabels stood out for me. They are an Aussie 4 piece band with a rich indie sound very enjoyable to watch with great stage presents. I walked down to Life and in the tiny unique venue I caught Mishima, a Spanish indie pop band, they were addictive to watch with songs in both English and there native Catalan. In such a small venue you felt you were in your own little show that no one else new about.

For the next few hours we just chilled out. I spoke to some of the festival goers who seemed to be making the most of the bars and venues. They all seemed to be in high spirits and enjoyed being down the seaside. There was a range of ages from teenagers to the more mature all having an awesome time. As the evening grew the next lot of bands started. I started out at the Brighton Coalition which was a large bar/music venue under the arches on the sea front. After seeing a few bands i came across Handsome Furs, a great band with lots of energy very exciting to watch. At one point the lead singer ended up in the crowd. The crowd loved this band and the excitement they brought to the venue with their fresh dark sounds. I walked back down to Life, the tiny venue with a great atmosphere. I got to see Visions of Trees that were amazing! The lead vocalist's voice was gripping with their electronic sound. I took a stroll down to the Corn Exchange in the town and caught a glimpse of Katy B, and the venue was very busy. It was what you expect, she’s an amazing and talented artist and is going to go far with her dub step and drum and bass style of music. She sung hits such as On a Mission, Perfect Stranger and came on for an encore of Lights On. The atmosphere in the Corn Exchange was big with everyone excited to see the next big thing.

Day 3: We started at the Relentless Bar where I ended up catching Seekae on the outside stage. Such a talented group of people pushing out there dance tunes. I also saw them later that day in the Digital venue which is obviously made for a band like this, the bass was unbelievable, definitely one to watch out for in the future. A bit later on that day I saw Benjamin Francis Leftwich who with just his guitar was amazing to watch the line was huge to get in to see him and I’m not surprised. He is very talented, the crowd loved him, and was singing along. And to top of my weekend I popped in to see Foster The People and White Denim. I was not disappointed with what I choose to end my weekend with, they just blew everyone away. After a packed fun filled weekend I got ready to go home. I really enjoyed my weekend, it’s great to come across bands you would never normally choose to see. Overall The Great Escape was a great weekend with great weather and great bands.

South West Four 2010 Review

April 17, 2019August 31, 2010 by Summer Festival Guide

Saturday 28^th August had finally arrived and it was the first day of the SOLD OUT South West Four weekender. Extended to a two day festival this year we were delighted to see the sun shining after a week of rain.

We made our way to the infamous Clapham Common, home to SW4 for many a year. As we picked up our passes and walked in, we manage to catch the end of Alex Metric finishing up his live set on the main stage.

We make our way to the front of the main stage to see Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong. A regular at SW4 he was to kick things off in typical Tongy fashion, busting out massive track after track and showcasing why he is still one of the most in-demand DJ’s in the world. Dropping the massive Swedish House Mafia “One” brings the crowds running into the main stage area in their hundreds, by far one of the biggest tunes of the year.

Over to the other side of the park to catch Gareth Emery in the TimeOut Gallery Arena who is playing a nice selection of uplifting trance to an already very busy tent. The Gallery Arena has been one of the most popular tents at SW4 and with a lineup including Judge Jules, Sander Van Doorn and Paul Oakenfold it was bound to be packed like a sardine can!

We quickly head over to the DJ Mag Bedrock Arena to see Mutant Clan (Timo Maas and Santos) who are busy on their setup of 8 CDJ’s and 2 mixers. They seem to work seamlessly together to blend track after track.

Moving onto the Toolroom Knights arena, we catch Dirty South who has had another productive year in the studio releasing the popular “Phazing” which is doing the damage around clubland. Sticking to his electro / uplifting house style he rocks the crowd in one of the tents that I quite enjoyed throughout the day. We also catch Funkagenda in the Toolroom Knights arena and he rocks the crowd with a massive set.

As the sun continues to shine on through the afternoon, the crowd was building up to its maximum 20,000 capacity. We see smiles all around us as we walk through the crowd back to the main stage to catch Laidback Luke, one of the busiest DJ’s / Producers in the business. Pumping out track after track we were very excited to see him for our first time. His style is a mix of uplifting / progressive house and electro. His blend of tracks at SW4 gathers a massive crowd in the main stage area.

Erick Morillo as energetic as always teases the crowd with a great intro track and then busts into his unique style of Latin / Miami style house music. It’s been a while since I last saw Erick on a big stage and he always plays with a high amount of energy, constantly dancing and grooving behind the decks. By the end of his set, there is a mass of friends and colleagues gathered on the stage partying with Mr Morillo.

As we mill about the press area we catch a glimpse of Paul Oakenfold and Tall Paul having a chat before Oakey heads off to the Gallery Arena, quite the site to see the two legends together.

Sasha takes to the decks as the crowds begin to darken as a few rain drops being to fall. With his progressive style Sasha starts off slow and slowly builds the journey up to a style that only Sasha is capable of. A couple tracks in and the rain beings to come down, however this doesn’t affect the crowd, they are more up for it than ever! A few umbrella’s go up and jackets go on, some of the crowd try and pack into the tents but the majority enjoy the rainfall which lasts only 20 or 30 minutes.

We head back to the Bedrock Arena to catch John Digweed who to my surprise is playing a rocking set to a fully packed out tent. Playing a more uplifting set than I expected I quite enjoyed seeing Digweed back here again.

With a muddy ground and nite falling, headliner on the Main Stage Armin takes to the decks to massive applause, most of the crowd have been waiting for him and they have their dancing shoes ready. Armin gets right into the stride and the hands are up in the air from the very first beat. The world’s number one DJ never disappoints and his set is typically Armin, a journey through some of the biggest trance tunes of the moment and a selection of Armin classics.

We leave before the end of Armin’s set to avoid the mass exodus, having enjoyed quite an awesome day at SW4. With most of the day quite pleasant before the rain, a great lineup and crowd to suit, SW4 once again shows why it is one of the most popular dance music based festivals in the UK.

You can see more photos here in our Facebook album.

L.E.D Festival Review

August 30, 2010 by Summer Festival Guide

L.E.D Festival held it's inaugural 2 day event at London's Victora Park on Friday 27th August and Saturday 28th August 2010. Brought together by heavyweights Cream, Loudsound and Goldenvoice, the lineup spoke for itself which included friday headliner David Guetta and Saturday headliner Leftfield.

With a bit of rain during the week and on Friday morning, we were happy to see it dry up a little before we arrived there.

	We walked in just in time to catch the Audio Bullys with Simon Franks on the mike. As the crowd slowly builds out by the main stage, a massive roar is heard when the Audio Bullys play "Shot You Down".
	Newcomer Afrojack is one of the hottest talents coming out of Holland at the moment and he took to the decks for the next hour. He took things up a notch with a very energetic performance. As the sun starting to shine out through the clouds, Afrojack dropped his new tune "Take Over Control" featuring the lovely vocals of Eva Simmons and to finish, tune of the moment Swedish House Mafia's "One", to see the crowd run to the main stage to join in made for a great end to a very impressive and enjoyable set.
	Calvin Harris took to the decks next performing a DJ Set. Its been a while since I have seen Calvin DJ however his skills on the decks are second to none. Geting the crowd going with his latest tune "You used to Hold Me" Calvin played a uplifting house set before making way for the exceptional SoulWax.

Soulwax took to the crowd with a full band setup and rocked it like they do. Soulwax are well known for their energetic and non-stop performances and didn't disappoint at L.E.D.

Moving to the Planet Turbo tent we catch the end of Zombie Nation just as they drop the always brilliant Kernkraft 400. Headlining the Planet Turbo tent was none other than Turbo Recording label boss Tiga. With a loyal following Tiga kept the tempo up with a typical uplifting Tiga set.

Headliner David Guetta takes to the Main Stage with a massive stage setup. Perched high above the crowd in a stage built full of led lighting, he kicked off with his latest successful collaboration with Fergie (from the Black Eyed Peas), Chris Willis and LMFAO "Gettin Over You" Going through his plethora of tunes we also heard his new collaboration with Kelly Rowland "Commander". For me David Guetta was the highlight of the day, closely followed by Afrojack.

Overall we quite enjoyed the first edition of L.E.D Festival in London, we look forward to seeing it back at Victoria Park next year.

Photos for L.E.D Festival can be found here