New Zealand's Drum and Bass masters Shapeshifter are getting ready to release their latest single "In Colour" which comes from their New Zealand #1 album "Delta.” ‘In Colour’ is a fusion of electronic beats, mixed with fearless lyrics. A band traditionally known for its hard hitting drum and bass tunes, this track is a much more light-hearted version, nevertheless it’s sensational. ‘In colour’ is the fifth song on their latest album, ‘Delta.’ This album is bold, Shapeshifter morph time and time again and that’s what makes this album so exciting. From depth charge bass music, elastic electronic textures and barreling breakbeats to bedrocks of soul, jazz and rave that ground their experimentation
‘In Colour’ epitomizes the boldness of this latest album; the lyrics are powerful, encouraging the listener to want to make the world better and to ‘Let all the colours ignite tonight’. This track maybe a more lighthearted version of their traditional hard hitting drum and bass beats that encompass other tracks, but it maintains the unique Shapeshifter edginess’. With P Digsss amazing vocals, mixed with brilliant electronic intense beats this track will certainly have you dancing from the get-go. The track is catchy with intense energy which eludes an irrepressible joy,showcasing various people from across the globe, smiling, dancing and generally having fun. This track will certainly make you smile!
This is a great single with revolutionary electronic tones underpinning the whole album, it is far from cheesy, and the authenticity of its message sounds through. They are certainly breaking new ground with this album as well as setting themselves apart from the competition. This track is creative and the band have explored new territory whilst still maintaining that heavy beat. This track will certainly reach all corners of the globe.
On top of their mainstream success Shapeshifter have released records through legendry south London Drum and Bass label, Hospital Records. With the combination of mainstream and cutting-edge, this band has certainly covered all bases. We’re not the only people to love this brilliant new track, MTV Iggy state "Shapeshifter dole out a heavy dose of happiness in the video for “In Colour.” We dare you not to smile as the uplifting chorus pulses behind footage of people around the world dancing and laughing."
The new single ‘In color’ is released 16th September 2013.
“Summercamp? Never heard of it.” I was used to this. In the two weeks I knew such a thing existed, I didn’t meet a single soul planning to go along. Boo them – this was a seriously impressive event.
It’s not what you think, baby. There’s no camping at Summercamp, for instance. The name is more likely inspired by host venue Camp and Furnace, a dressed up warehouse space in the Baltic Triangle, Liverpool’s answer to a New York Meatpacking District. That, or the fact a name like Summercamp has broad appeal for a festival trying wholeheartedly to tap that hipster parent market (I’m looking at you, cool mum, with your turned-up jeans and edgy under threes).
There’s a log fire, but we’re not toasting marshmallows here. It doesn’t rain, there are no ghost stories, and the only baked beans in sight are swimming in the Fire and Salt BBQ Co’s treacle sauce. Fancy. Let’s do away with chronology then, as a festival like Summercamp might. Instead, here are the things I loved most about this laidback two-day delight:
Banter "If you like us, we're calledFair Ohs. If not, we're the Spectrals," cries lead singer of the former mid-set, waving to drummer of the latter stood in the crowd. I catch the retort, that no one is reviewing them anyway. It’s pure coincidence I don't love Spectral's Summercamp showing. Let’s move on.
Talent Mount Kimbiemake the kind of shuddering bass that set those little hairs on your arms shaking. Sure, you can enjoy this music anywhere, but what I like about seeing these two play live is that they don't look at all like their sound.
Delphicgive an expectedly slick performance, despite some kind of technical issue early on. All weekend we see artists gesturing side stage to have their levels upped, or in the case ofThe Stavesapologetically downed. One sister wants the other lower, admitting the request sounds cruel. Summercamp is full of these intimate and funny moments.
FrenchiesWe Were Evergreenshow they truly are, playing older tracks like ‘Baby Blue’ with new verve. I sip peach beer (from the real ale stand, of course) and can’t help smiling as I notice all three of the bands’ left feet tapping in unison. It’s a change of pace when they all take to the drums, and I’m shocked to learn their debut album is still forthcoming; it’s hard to look at so much talent.
Reasons to Dance All weekend, there are beats at the street festival outside. Punters sun themselves, drink up and chow down to afro orchestra, local folk and, come dusk on Sunday, 80s DJ mashups featuring weirdly fun tracks like Paul McCartney’s ‘Temporary Secretary’.
Of course, no one wants to dance after watching Duncan Wallis front Manchester outfit Dutch Uncles. My fashion photographer friend agrees – in a peachy long sleeve denim shirt and single sleeper earring, the singer rocks 90s dad. Nuanced against drum, bass, keys and not one but two electric guitars, his vibrato is arresting. I’m reminded of a book, too, A Visit from the Goon Squad, when the band delivers a moment of pure pause: “You can hold my hand/ I feel it… girl.” A cover of Grace Jones’ ‘Slave to the Rhythm’, and I’m hooked.
Surprises I picture Ghostpoet’s wardrobe as a wall of textures and stylish as fuck, but invariably black. He’s dressed head to toe in the stuff, sunglasses too, and it’s a relief when he warms up a bit and ditches a few layers. With an album titled Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam, I expected gritty, but I want to block my ears, or cry, or both, so frank and personal are tracks like ‘Survive It’.
The repetition will be too much for some, the ha ha hahs and the lii lii liines. But this is rap after all, and though sinister, the music is also inherently playful. I suspect he’s repeating things because he likes the way they sound or feel.
Another storyteller, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, gives an equalling surprising performance, albeit in a very different way. Not happy with his onstage acoustics, he takes his set list to the floor and invites the crowd to sit on the ground beside him; it’s the first time all weekend my legs get dirty. His voice is raspy, his songs sad, so you have to be in that sort of mood really, but crouched on a would-be forest floor it’s the perfect time for it.
Should this foxy little urban festival return in 2014, I hope it’s in more or less the exact same mode. And keep an eye out – this deserves a crowd.
Nestled within the picturesque North Yorkshire countryside, Skipton has been home to Beacons festival in mid-August for the past two years (or three if you’re counting it’s disastrous debut year which was cancelled before It’d even got started due to flash floods), the question upon mine and many others lips when arriving on site was: “Is it going to be third time lucky for this independent festival?”.
Early indicators this year were hinting at a successful affair with the capacity of 2012 doubling to 7,500 for 2013, the festival organisers boasting themselves of an increase in the number of toilets, a dedicated family camping area, aptly named ‘Diddy Rascals family field’, a vast increase in entertainment with added tents for visual arts and spoken word performances and if all of this wasn’t quite tickling your fancy the weather forecast looked far more cheerful than previous years.
After arriving at the festival Friday afternoon I was greeted by its small but quaint layout within the dales, there was only a small arena area with three tents dedicated to music bill, although amongst the other tents dotted about I was pleasantly surprised to see sponsors Whitelock’s, Kopparberg and Urban Outfitters with their own respective tents to entice the weekend festival attenders with food, fashion and by the looks of it a lot of fun! Furthermore on the other side of the site was the wide range of arty stuff with the tea rooms, ‘Beacons Boutique’ and ‘Into the Woods’ tent standing out as a popular choice with the latter showing art house films throughout the day.
To kick off the proceedings on the Friday afternoon I went to check out Esben & the Witch in the smallest of the three music bill designated tents entitled the “You need to hear this” stage, and was taken aback by the Brighton three piece’s sound of atmospheric rock which more than filled the rather small tent. Sticking around the tents vicinity was a certainty shortly afterwards as one of the hottest tips of the festival Dan Croll was to appear. Opening with catchy hit ‘From Nowhere’ it was a sign of things to come from the 22 year old Staffordshire singer songwriter throughout his whole set consisting of up tempo indie pop tunes, which went down pretty well with more than a satisfied crowd in the Yorkshire sunshine.
Over at the “Loud And Quiet” stage Mercury Prize nominated sub headliner Ghostpoet was about to perform the best set of the Friday with his set of hip hop rhythms which definitely filled the tent with people as well as an atmosphere that would definitely beat that of headliners Bonobo, with a massive reaction from the crowd for sing-along favourite “Cash And Carry Me Home”. To close Friday night was headliner Bonobo hailing from Yorkshire himself, accompanied by a diverse band and a female vocalist, his electronic beats set went down relatively well with the crowd but nearing the latter half of his set I began to feel a very samey vibe which is inevitable but hard to avoid playing songs of that nature for a long duration. To end the night myself and the majority of the crowd made our way to the “Residential Adviser’ tent for celebrated Spanish DJ John Talabot for more house vibes reminiscent of headliner Bonobo.
After John Talabot I was disappointed to find that the arena closed at 2am sharp to mine and the other festival attenders dismay which was also worsened on the Sunday night with all entertainment finishing at midnight leaving many people scratching their heads with what to do immerse themselves in for the remainder of the evening. Although the “Into the woods” and other artsy tents remained open till later I feel this is something organisers should address for next year to keep campers occupied instead of them resorting to creating their own amusements which coincidently occurred on the Sunday evening when a make shift drum and sing-along accompaniment was heard travelling through the camp long into the night.
Saturday started off on a high with rock and roll Manchester girl Findlay taking to the “You need to hear this” stage, with catchy singles ‘Off and On’ and ‘Your Sister’ and the latter reminiscent of 70’s Bowie, the reasonably early bird crowd were definitely woken up from their slightly hung-over state by this loud bluesy outfit. Closely following Findlay with a similar old fashioned vibe were Temples who took to the “Loud and Quiet’ stage on the Saturday afternoon with their set of 60’s psychedelic rock screaming out late Beatles/Pink Floyd.
Saturday night brought a rare treat in non-musical form which would turn out to be the highlight of my festival – this being a showing of the film “The Stone Roses: Made of Stone”, followed by a question and answer session with the director Shane Meadows, of “This is England” and the consequent TV series “This is England ’86” and “This is England ’88” fame. I felt that this late addition to the bill was a very smart move by the Beacons organisers and this is proved when I arrived at the ‘Into the Woods’ tent to find that it was completely full for the film showing. Afterwards I was pleasantly surprised by Shane’s honest, humble and thorough answers to questions fired at him and this left me and the other eager fans in the room with a developed insight into his different film and TV involvements throughout the years.
Kicking of a rather gloomy Sunday afternoon on the “You need to hear this” stage were the aptly named The Wytches. The Brighten three pieces' dark psychedelic sound with loud drums and wailing vocals filled me with promising unique vibes which were strangely out of place for that low down on the bill – definitely one to watch. Later on in the afternoon was the time for the much anticipated Sheffield two piece; Drenge. Consisting of brothers Rory and Eoin Loveless, they enticed the large crowd playing furiously loud riffs twinned with screaming vocals, furthermore with confirmed support slots for fellow Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys and Indie Pop band Peace things are looking pretty promising for the Loveless brothers at the moment.
Closing the ‘Loud and Quiet’ stage and indeed the festival were Django Django, who have achieved much critical acclaim across the UK after 18 months of touring their mercury prize nominated self-titled debut album. Their psychedelic themed show got off to a slow start but with hit singles ‘Hail Bop’ and ‘Default’ winning the crowd over it was an atmospheric end to the festival.
Uniquely arts orientated as well as hosting a list of flourishing musical artists, this independent minded and family friendly festival is definitely worth a trip. If not for the breath-taking scenery, or its diverse range of food, drink and ales then with ticket prices at less than half the price of a mainstream festival admission I’m struggling at reasons for why you shouldn’t give Beacons the light this time next year.
Daniel Hughes was at this year’s V festival and managed to catch up with the lovely Moya after her performance on the Futures Stage. See what she had to say about performing at the festival, as well as how her year has been so far.
Dan: Hi Moya, you’ve just finished playing the futures stage how was it?
Moya: Good, really good, the crowd were amazing actually. It’s always a bit touch and go at that time of the day but there were some devoted fans at the front which made my life a lot easier, and it was a nice stage as well.
Dan: Ah that’s good, so how did it compare with when you played at T in the park?
Moya: Oh so much better. Don’t get me wrong the Scottish are mad and do like a party but for some reason, maybe because of the stage or just the way it was all set up, it just felt a lot more comfortable and the crowd were a lot better. Oh god they’re going to kill me at T in the park aren’t they!
Dan: Haha, I’m sure they won’t mind. So what is your favourite thing about festivals?
Dan: So have you seen anything particularly strange at any festival that you’ve played at or been to?
Moya: Oh god….. Not really, well Reading and Leeds maybe, doomsday on a Sunday night where they try and blow up everyone’s tents. That’s not always fun.
Dan: Ok. So your new single Come and get it comes out soon, what’s your inspiration behind the record?
Moya: Haha…. Well it’s about an ex. Basically it’s about him not manning up and being a bit of a bastard really, and not realising what he had. When I was saying basically come and get it, I’m here for the taking and him then not doing that.
Dan: Nice. So you’ve recently been touring with Rod Stewart, how has that been?
Moya: Nuts! Arenas, there is nothing that can compare to it, it’s amazing and he is a very lovely man, I’m very lucky to be a part of his tour.
Dan: So who would you say are your musical icons and have inspired you to get into the business?
Moya: I think it’s kind of a lot of the motown and soul sort of stuff. I listen to a lot of Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan people like that and they are the ones who inspire me I think.
Dan: That’s brilliant, well thank you for your time today Moya and enjoy the rest of your day.
Check out Moya's new single 'Come and Get It' here:
Typically the last 'big' festivals of the summer months in the UK, Reading & Leeds are a special pilgrimage a combined audience of hundreds of thousands of people make every August Bank Holiday weekend. This year I headed to Leeds Fest to check it out, here's what happened!
Arriving on Friday morning, the site was buzzing with campers dampened slightly by a little storm on Thursday evening, but nothing to put off the masses from what was hopefully going to be a great festival.
Don Broco, a Bedford-based alternative rock band took to the Main Stage, and were an unexpected surprise. 'Hold On', probably their most popular tune got everyone going, as did the band's in-time dance moves, steps to the side, hand-claps, a cheeky boyband touch for the popular quartet, who's lead singer had an Elvisy-look going on.
Then it was time for something different, a rapper by the name of Wacka Flocka Flame took to the brand-new Radio 1Xtra Stage, to a huge crowd. His hype man got things bouncing, as the man himself finally arrived 15 minutes late. Wacka wore a Leeds United shirt and some appropriate bling, as his set saw him get a few headbanging fans up onstage,along with a girl plucked from the crowd who 'twerked'. It was an interesting 40 minutes or so.
Just over the way to the NME/Radio 1 stage, where American girl trio HAIM were the main attraction, bringing their guitar-laden hooks to the masses. They played favourites like, 'Forever', 'Falling' and new single, 'The Wire', all from their much-anticipated debut album. One of the best things about HAIM is Este, their bassist. The older sister likes to have coarse, blunt banter with crowds during gigs and is famed for her 'bassface'. You can watch her facial expressions for 45 minutes and be easily entertained.
Overall, their performance was better than expected and I left happy, as did many others who had squeezed into the tent.
I took a bit of a wander around the Arena site afterwards, taking note of the wide variety of stalls, grabbing a few ponchos for the oncoming storm and taking in some pizza (note: this was at a time when you could actually SIT on the ground and not get covered in mud…)
Then it was time for the sub-headliners, Nine Inch Nails, almost a cult band, such is their feverent support. Being a few rows from the front barrier, I couldn't tell the size of the crowd at the time, but having seen so afterwards, it wasn't very busy, but then that should be expected given Trent Reznor and his merry band have never been notable to a mainstream audience.
NIN were good. They missed out a couple of hits, like 'Closer' and 'Hurt', but if a newcomer like me could get into it, I'm sure the hardcore fans were ecstatic with their 80 minute set. Reznor is a tense, serious stage presence and if memory serves me right, he didn't interact with the crowd one bit. At the time I didn't question this, but afterwards it turns out he put out tweets suggesting he was 'lied to' by R&L boss Melvin Benn, which Benn himself has since said is a lie.
It's all very confusing but what we are led to believe is that Reznor was promised a more extravagent stage show than the one he got, as headliners Biffy Clyro would've had stage priority, it resulted in a bank of lights instead, still impressive but not the full NIN experience.
There were probably the perfect set-up for what was a definitive headlining performance, from Biffy-motherf***ing-Clyro, as they were known for the evening.
Some doubted they had it in them to headline a major UK festival, but they delivered in spades, with a strong set packed full of their more recent mainstream hits, with a few golden oldies squeezed in for long-time supporters. Simon Neil, lead singer, was very appreciative of the crowd, telling them, '"It all goes downhill from here…I'm only joking"'. Their 'banter' was limited, but the shirtless trio let their epic music do the talking, which really got the crowd going too.
Lasers, fireworks, smashed up guitars, sing-a-longs, a massive tree prop, mental mosh pits; the show had it all, and despite the swirling wind and rain it was a fantastic way to close the first night of Leeds 2013.
Saturday came and the site's landscape had changed drastically. Rain had come in a big way, with heavy rain in the night, turning the lush green grass into a mudbath. Wellies were a necessity, as were ponchos, it was 'proper' UK festival weather.
As a result of the poor conditions, I was stationed in the NME Tent for a good few hours and was lucky to see what I saw!
Fatigue seemed to have set in during the first half of Deap Vally's set. At the 20 minute stage, drummer Julie Edwards instructed the crowd to wake up and have fun, reminding them they were at a festival! They promptly did so and the atmosphere was quite good afterwards, shame the music wasn't quite as good. I sort of like Deap Vally, but their music is too samey for my tastes, I liked their energy during the gig though, they played at such a frenetic pace I'm surprised they managed 2 shows in 2 days!
Next up were fellow Americans Fidlar. A little heard of band, but an excellent band, one of my finds of the festival. They played a clutch of quick, simple songs that relied on great riffs and lead singer Zac Carper's hyper vocals. I was reminded of a very low-fi Nirvana, if you want to see for yourself I recommend you check out 'Cheap Beer', the slogan that adorned their merch and the song that really had the crowd going wild.
I suspect that the crowd was boosted because of the next act. Brummie stars Peace, were as flamboyant as predicted, lead singer Henry Koisser striding out in a leopard print jacket and hat to a loving audience. Tracks 'Follow Baby', and 'Lovesick'', got the best responses and saw the band at their most confident. Sure the live set isn't yet perfect, some of their songs weren't the most interesting in a a live arena, but they are getting there as one of a few bands that could really kickstart the era of the British guitar band.
After a bit of Peace, I ventured into the now spitting rain to find some fresh music. It was the Rock Stage that I found it, with The Computers part way through their set. Instantly I thought I'd been transported back to the 1950s as they were all dressed in slick suits, with even more slicked back hair. Their tunes matched the image, and were a breath of fresh air. Sure the lead singer's attempts at telling a story inbetween songs were a bit manufactured, as were his off-stage antics which saw him join a wet, muddy mosh pit. But it was pure fun, reminding me of The Hives' eccentric set from 2012, in a good way!
Then, then it was Major Lazer time. Now I didn't know what to expect, a pure DJ set?
Headliner time had come, and the pop-punk of Green Day was blasted from the Main Stage. Now I was a fair distance back, and wasn't massively impressed with the size or energy of the crowd, but to be fair, it was constantly raining, muddy as anything and the band were just okay, nothing more, on reflection. Billie Joe Armstrong annoyed me, with his political speeches and subtle nuances. However, I did enjoy songs off 'American Idiot', which I loved at the time of release, with their comprehensive playing in full of 1994 album Dookie, released the year of my birth, missing the mark for me, but not for the legions of loyal fans down the front.
Come Sunday, the thousands of campers were weary and out on their feet, but ready for a fantastic days's entertainmen The site was still a swampy mudbath, but with forecasts of clear skies and sun, it was looking promising for the final day of the festival.
Similarly to Saturday, I spent a good couple of hours in the same place on Sunday, this time the Festival Republic Tent, a place full of new talent waiting to be discovered. I saw Drenge and Swim Deep, back to back. Both were good in moderation, with outstanding songs, like 'Honey', 'The Sea' and 'She Changes the Weather', from the latter Brummies. Crowds were pretty decent too, with plenty of shoulder-riding and singing going on for the latter. Drenge were slightly more subdued, as the duo rattled through some awesome sounding music, but I'm not entirely sure whether they fit the tone of the stage.
Then it was time to check up on another NME darling, Palma Violets, a group who I was undecided on, their first album deceiving me at times. However, their blistering live set had people jumping around and going crazy. They are energetic, cocky and funny, all great features for a band to have. 'Best of Friends', was the highlight, a song that evokes the spirit of the Libertines when they were in their prime. With a couple of albums under their belt, I can see the southerners living up to the aforementioned hype, they look like they believe it too!
With that brief foray to the NME tent, it was off to the Main Stage for the remainder of my 2013 festival. White Lies were 4th from the top of the bill, but didn't really live up to expectations. For a start, I wasn't the biggest fan, I think a lot of their material sounds very 'samey', which was true of the performance, a performance hampered by sound problems and a pretty uninterested crowd, most of whom were hanging around for Chase & Status and Eminem later on that evening. Their early hits, 'Fairwell to the Fairground', and 'Death', were nice, but the longer it went on, the longer it felt they were 'going through the motions'.
Up next were Foals, again a band I was wary of. I like a lot of their songs, but had never been impressed by their live performances I'd caught on TV. However, they were great fun, energetic and had some good banter with the crowd, lead singer Yannis ending up in the crowd by the end of their set. Before that though, songs like 'Spanish Sahara' and 'My Number', showed the variation in their song-craft, going from the deep, building tunes to a catchy pop number. The boss of the festival Melvin Benn has since claimed they could headline the festival, which I think was a slight over-exaggeration, although he said the same about the next act, something which may be true…
Chase & Status, an incredible act and a perfect appetizer for what was to come. Their set up saw the duo positioned behind a 'C' and 'S' DJ booth each, with MC Rage effectively the ringmaster of proceedings, dragging out the likes of Liam Bailey as guest vocalists, with Plan B and Delilah projected onto a humongous video screen above their heads. It was impressive to see such a stage show, especially given the problems Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails had.
When tracks like 'No Problem', 'Let You Go' and 'Hypest Hype', dropped, the crowd went nuts for it, descending into mosh pits and general dancing. It was amazing to see, and one of the loudest, best atmospheres of the festival I had witnesses (more of which later). It was strange, given all I'd heard and read online prior to the festival was that their booking was a poor one, not in-keeping with the tradition of the festival. Sure, that may be correct, but why not move with the times, book popular acts who DO have crossover with the rock, alternative and indie music scene (you'd have been surprised just how many 'metalheads' were enjoying themselves to C&S). I don't see it as an issue, especially as it helps to keep the festival going, something which the next act definitely helped with.
The rap legend that is Eminem graced the stage for his second headline set, amongst a bunch of questions and fears. I got talking to people around me beforehand and whilst everyone was excited, noone knew what to expect! Old material, new material- a mixture of both? Would he mime? Well whilst that wasn't really clarified (although personally I think he relied on backing track the odd time, but was at his best and actually rapping for the majority of the set), one thing was clear; Eminem was back.
Whilst a lot of the first half of the set was his newer material, from 'Recovery' and 'Relapse', it was bearable in a live environment. This was partly due to the live band AND DJ he had accompanying him, aswell as the buzzing crowd, still excited from C&S who were devouring his hit-packed set.
My favourite moment of the festival came with the 3 minute medley of older songs, that was, 'My Name Is/The Real Slim Shady/Without Me'. For 3 minutes I was a child again, and it was amazing! As was the special guest for 'Stan', Dido herself. Both of those moments were special and brought much acclaim from the audience. Then a one-song encore came about a great rendition of the intense, 'Lose Yourself', before Em headed off for good. It may have been a fairly brisk, 25 song, 100 minute set, but god was it good. And that was Leeds Fest 2013, done just like that!
So, to round it all off, Leeds 2013 was fantastic, perhaps as an overall experience outing 2012's edition, Foo Fighters and all! We saw the newly anointed Biffy Clyro become the rock gods they were destined to be, a return for the veterans of pop-punk, Green Day and Eminem finish it all off with a blistering display of a hip-hop gig. Other personal highlights were the likes of HAIM and Peace on the NME stage, Chase & Status killing the Main Stage, Major Lazer bringing the party to the tent, aswell as echoes of the Libertines, with Palma Violets giving a confident, humourous performance.
It may have been muddy, it may have been soaking wet; but Leeds Festival 2013 was bloody good!
This year's South West Four or SW4 as its more commonly known as celebrated its tenth year anniversary and had a spectacular lineup to match.
Closing out Sunday night on the main stage was headliner Example. His presence on stage with his live band brought a continued wave of euphoric energy over the grounds of Clapham Common as he kicked off his set with 'Kickstarts'. Bouncing around the stage like an energiser bunny and fresh off a main stage performance at Glastonbury, the sold out 30,000 crowd filled the main arena to wave their hands in the air to tracks 'Won't Go Quietly', 'Stay Awake', 'Watch the Sun Come Up', and his new single 'All the Wrong Places'. Complete with a massive laser display and pyrotechnics showering the Clapham Common grounds, Example sent out this years SW4 in style!
The UKF hosted main arena also had massive sets from SW4 favourites Knife Party, Dutch DJ Nicky Romero, Drum and Bass master Andy C, American Trap sensation Baauer and special guest, the one and only Steve Aoki.
Having recently started a trend of spraying champagne and throwing cakes into the crowd, we were waiting in anticipation for Steve Aoki to hit the stage to see what crazy antics he would bring to the London. Kicking off with his new track, it didn't take long for Aoki to balance himself up on the DJ booth to present to the crowd what looked like an M&S chocolate cake. Pointing a finger out across the crowd, he takes aim and tosses the cake high into the sky, as the crowd disperse to avoid being literally cake faced, the cake splats onto the ground spraying up onto those unfortunately enough to "get a piece". Steve Aoki then topped his set off by running out to the barriers with a bottle of champagne to spray those that were front and centre to complete an entertaining performance.
Earlier on in the day in the Together Arena the iconic Soul II Soul drew an packed out crowd to see Jazzy B and the rest of the troupe. Jazzy B got on the mic to say "Its great to be on this side of the river" as the north Londoner's treated the crowd to tracks like 'Keep on Movin', 'Back to Life', 'Get a Life' and more which kept the fans grooving throughout their hour long set.
The Bedrock arena had special guest and legendary German DJ and producer Sven Vath get the mid afternoon crowd bopping their heads with a typical Vath set full of techno house goodies that you can't help but shake your ass to! Vath is still one of few DJ's that performs with Vinyl and its a pleasure to see this against all the digital DJ's these days.
Also up in the Bedrock arena is flight shy Eric Prydz whose also another SW4 fan favourite. Featured regularly over the years, Prydz never disappoints. His electro infused big room house sound has served him well over the years and this years set at SW4 was one of the best ones yet.
Closing out the Bedrock tent and performing in a Skull like custom made DJ booth is Alex Ridha, who is more famously known as Boyz Noise, a german electronic music producer who brings his lively and innovative live show to SW4. His innovative mix of different genres of music with electronic music makes it easy to understand why he is in huge demand and why his live sets are praised around the world! His energy transcends over the packed tent to ensure that everyone is treated to a special show.
With John Digweed, Pete Tong, Erick Morillo, Dillon Francis, RL Grime, Friction, Crazy P, The 2 Bears and more performing on Sunday it was yet another example that its best not to mess with a formula of bringing one of the biggest dance music lineups to London every Bank Holiday weekend. SW4 have stuck to their roots of doing what they know best, throwing a massive weekender party in a park and have had 10 years of success by doing so. If you haven't ever been to SW4, we recommend you prepare for next year as each year just seems to exceed the previous, see you on the Common in 2014!
Leeds Festival 2013 was brought to a glorious end with the triumphant return of Eminem.
The rapper, real name Marshall Mathers, brought along a live band and a couple of guest stars to liven up proceedings, as the festival revellers battled the boggy mud onsite.
In his first appearance at the festival since 2001, Mathers was majestic, spitting his way through a clutch of new songs, 'Survival' and new-ish tune, '3am'.
Whilst the bulk of his set was made up of his post-'Recovery' songs, we finally saw a little bit more of the old Em.
First, Dido was wheeled out to take part in 'Stan', a number one single back in the day! This before an excellent medleythat consisted of, 'My Name Is/The Real Slim Shady/Without Me'.
By this point, the Main Stage was pumping, as the crowd were singing their tired souls out, jumping around and raising their cigarette lighters, to the aptly titled, 'Lighters'.
A recent hit, 'Not Afraid', followed to great acclaim before Eminem departed, leaving his epic band to play him out.
He then quickly reappeared for one last blast of, 'Lose Yourself'.
Throughout the gig, Mathers seemed relaxed and happy in his space, not often the case given his troubled past. With claims of miming hanging over him, he seemingly blasted away any claims with his storming set that attracted the biggest crowd I saw throughout the weekend, and cheered the mood of some muddy revellers.
Eminem; the best act of Leeds Festival 2013? Maybe, just maybe!
For the second consecutive evening, American punk-rock trio Green Day took to the stage, to headline the Reading & Leeds Festival.
It all began with a mysterious pink bunny striding across the stage to 'Blitzrieg Bop', by the Ramones, a surreal, but inviting image as the bunny hyped up the crowd for the main attraction of the day.
Lead vocalist and guitarist, Billie Joe Armstrong seemed to be in fine health, remarkable considering his admission to rehab just last September. He was frequently involving the crowd in an 'EYYY OHHH' chant, that personally grated after a few songs but the crowd seemed to get into it.
The theatrics didn't end there though. A fan was brought up on stage to finish off the chorus to 'Know Your Enemy', t-shirt cannons were produced by Armstrong after a short break, both highlights in what turned out to be a two and a half hour set.
Armstrong was also the ringleader of everything, from telling Leeds they were 'much louder than Reading', to earning his fellow bandmates spontaneous cheers, to starting off some Bono-esque rants against the 'system', which was a little bit tiresome if I'm completley honest and sort of took you 'out' of the gig.
Back to the music and with 30+ songs, the band spanned their history, playing 1994 album, 'Dookie', in full, wih a good few songs from the recent triple album, '¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tre!', and 'American Idiot', the rock-opera that thrust them back into the limelight back in the mid-2000's.
They eventually ended the bonanza with a string of hits from their past with the likes of, 'American Idiot, 'Jesus of Suburbia' and 'Good Riddance (Time of Your Life', the last one seeing Armstrong on his own with an acoustic guitar, a fitting end to a strong set, overall R&L got a pretty good UK festival exclusive!
Rockers Biffy Clyro closed the first day of Leeds Festival 2013 with a barrage of wind, rain and fire hitting the masses at the Main Stage.
The topless Scottish trio delved into their back catalogue of classics aswell as the recent hits which alerted the mainstream to their presence in their first major UK festival headline slot.
Crowd favourites, ‘Black Chandelier’, ‘Mountains’ and ‘Many of Horror’, were all given outings as it celebrated everything Biffy were and have become over their remarkable career.
Lead singer Simon Neil, seemed in awe of the occasion, constantly thanking the huge crowd and pointing out this was his band’s 7th appearance at the Reading & Leeds festivals.
Their success hasn’t been overnight then, but a career has been carved from the band’s post-hardcore roots and transformed into the lean, mean stadium rock outfit they are today, be that for better or worse.
The crowd certainly thought better; singing along the words to every song, participating frequently in circle pits, and generally having a great time with the first headliner of the weekend.
Neil and his band played their part too, with an elaborate stage presence. A gigantic sheet covered the main stage, before being dropped to reveal the band’s silhouettes in dramatic fashion.
It was a great way to kick off the show and with lasers, a prop of the artwork to latest album, ‘Opposites’, streamers and fireworks to top it off, Biff brought the party to Leeds.
With spontaneous bursts of pyrotechnics exploding from the top of the stage, combined with the swirling wet weather, conditions were perfect for a memorable debut headliner performance from the one, the only: Biffy Clyro.
Poland's Tauron Nowa Muzyka is nigh and anticipation rising as organisers release day-to-day breakdowns of the festival's thrilling live and DJ performances. Opening the festival on Thursday night will be master producer Vladislav Delay and jazz/hip-hop trio BadBadNotGood, who both pave the way for a myriad of explosive electronica acts over the four days including Moderat, Skream, Squarepusher, Jamie Lidell, Jon Hopkins, Venetian Squares, LFO, Zebra Katz, Deptford Goth, Omar Souleyman, Jackmaster and so much more. Tauron Nowa Muzyka has also revealed a host of alternative excursions for festival-goers to take advantage of as well as exhibitions and an incredible one-off sound installation set up by Red Bull Music Academy that will premiere at the Closing Down Concert on Sunday 25th August. Running from 22nd-25th August, Tauron Nowa Muzyka is an unmissable experience for electronic music fans everywhere with one of the most pioneering electronic music line-ups on the festival calendar. Limited one-day, two-day and three-day tickets and travel packages are available now from the Tauron Nowa Muzyka website starting from an incredible £30.
Voted the ‘Best Small Festival’ at the European Festival Awards 2012, Tauron Nowa Muzyka is getting ready for another amazing year as the festival rapidly approaches. With an already mind-blowing calibre of leading electronic artists on the line-up, the Polish festival still has a few surprises left up its sleeve as it reveals three exciting excursions, designed to give revelers the opportunity to explore the culture and history of Katowice and the surrounding area. Trips run during the day on Friday and Saturday and include an insight into life of 19th and 20th century coal miners in the eerie 320 meter deep GUIDO coal mine in Zabrze, a guided journey around Katowice on the city's special melex electric carts, and a trip to the Tyskie and Civic Brewery's for a taste of beer history and production, with a well deserved pint at the end of the tour. Excursions are affordable and start at just 10 Euros. For further information and tickets head here.
Tauron Nowa Muzyka will display an incredible series of exhibitions and design projects curated by European creatives. Premiering over the weekend will be KOD/Y, the collaborative photography project by photographer Pawel Fabianski, graphic designer Michael Okraj and modern artist Natalia Mleczak, looking at symbols and the human form. Julia Dauksza challenges perceptions of art with the Grey Motors exhibition, displaying her vivid and unfinished paintings, and elsewhere the Design Silesia Cafe, specially built for Tauron Nowa Muzyka, will centre around the world of modern design with talks, book meetings and movie screenings. There will also be a screening of a 48 hour film project, which will see film makers writing, shooting, editing and scoring an original movie in just two days.
As well as hosting a stage at Tauron Nowa Muzyka, Red Bull Music Academy is collaborating with two local Silesian musicians and producers to create a unique and one off sound installation that will focus on the Upper Silesian Region. Exploring music concrete by taking recordings from the region, the project is an hour long musical picture of Silesian culture and premieres at the Katowice Evangelical Church, on the final evening of the festival.
Tauron Nowa Muzyka now heads back to the impressive Dolina Trzech Stawow as government funded construction on the proposed 2013 coal mine site continues. Determined not to let this spoil the amazing experience and line-up that Tauron Nowa Muzyka has in store, organisers are hosting the festival at last year's site. A handy ten minutes down the road, Dolina Trzech Stawow is a huge park boasting three lakes and its very own beach.
With easily the most pioneering and exciting electronic music line-up on the European festival calendar, this year's Tauron Nowa Muzyka will be unforgettable. Achieving recognition at the European Festival Awards, having been voted the ‘Best Small Festival’ in 2012, Tauron Nowa Muzyka prides itself on curating a festival experience like no other. The festival will feature special live performances, A/V shows, label showcases, design exhibitions and movie screenings scattered around the beautiful Dolina Trzech Stawow. The music line-up features the likes of Moderat, techno pioneer LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator), British producer Skream! accompanied by Sgt. Pokes. Also joined by Venetian Snares, Squarepusher, JETS – a joint project by Jimmy Edgar and Travis Stewart plus a phenomenal 20th Anniversary showcase from the esteemed German label Kompakt records, consisting of a DJ set from DJ Koze, Sid le Rock and Coma, Mathias Aguayo and Spanish duo ZA! Also Zebra Katz and Njena Reddd Foxxx, London Grammar, Jon Hopkins, Holly Herndon, Mmoths, Darling Farah, BadBadNotGood, Adrian Sherwood, Darkstar and Dawn Day Night.
