Reviews - Page 51 of 51 - Summer Festival Guide

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!

Swimming

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

Tiësto Live @ Victoria Park

August 1, 2010 by Summer Festival Guide

Friday 30th July 2010 saw Tiësto return to Victoria Park in London for his second live show. With a supporting lineup that included The Japanese Popstars, Avicii, and Pendulum on the main stage the afternoon was set to be full of musical madness.

We arrived to catch the last part of The Japanese Popstars, the trio from Northern Ireland lived up to their expectations playing what they call "big room, cool as f**k electronic music built for festivals and staduims", See our interview with the lads here.

Next to take the helm was Avicii, Tiësto's hand picked supporting artist for his current tour. For those that dont know much about Avicii he is a Swedish DJ and producer who has come up through the ranks of Laidback Luke's online forum. Winner of Pete Tongs Fast Trax, Avicii has taken the industry by storm, DJing all over the world and working with some of the best producers in the game. As the crowds slowly started to gather in the main stage area, Avicii kept their feet moving with a mix of house, electro, and trance infused beats. Dropping the massive Swedish House Mafia single One brought huge applause from the crowd.

Pendulum were set to take to the main stage next and as the stage was setup for their arrival you could feel the excitement in the atmosphere. The Australian rock / drum and bass band have recently released their new album "Immersion" and with two other albums behind them the live set was never going be a let down. By far one of the best live drum and bass acts at the moment their stage presence is immediately felt with MC Ben Mount taking centre stage. Ben's energy levels alone are enough to get any crowd going crazy and as soon as the bass kicks in the crowd are jumping and moshing in all directions. Ben creates a riot as he jumps off stage and mounts security fence and gets in amongst the punters. As a first time witness of seeing Pendulum live, I was very impressed with the amount of energy they put into the live set. If you havent yet seen them live I would highly recommend that you catch them on their Arena Tour of the UK in December 2010. A brilliant production setup completes the live experience.

Dutch DJ legend Tiësto's arrival is highly anticipated and as his intro kicks off, the crowd begin chanting "Tiësto, Tiësto". With thousands of punters piling into the main area to see what they came here for, Tiësto walks out to massive applause. On tour with his 4th studio album Kaleidoscope, which features an array of musicians inculding Nelly Furtado, Kele Okereke (from the Bloc Party), and Calvin Harris to name a few, Tiësto was here to showcase his new tracks.

As always Tiësto is in the party mood, complete with a huge grin on his face and his arms in the air. The crowd seem to take his lead and as we walk through the masses of fans dancing to one of the worlds most in demand DJ's, we see all types of party people, some with light-sabers, a mexican hat crew and a huge number fans in the traditional dutch orange coloured t-shirts. One thing is consistent though, the smiles on everyone's faces as they jump up and down to Tiësto's beats.

Tiësto never fails in the production department, his show is kitted out with a large backdrop LED Screen and awesome pyrotechnics. As the night begins to fall the lighting really comes into its own. The sound system is loud enough to ensure that you can feel it anywhere from the park! Halfway through his set, Tiësto gets onto the mic and yells out to the crowd that he is about to take us back through his back catalogue and treats us to the likes of "Lethal Industry", "Silence", "Flight 643", "Love Comes Again", "Traffic", "Adagio for Strings" and more. His new tracks also get a great response, especially the Sneaky Sound System collaboration "I Will Be Here". Tiësto shows once again why he is the only DJ ever to host his own show in Victoria Park and we look forward to seeing him agin next year!

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