01. Bloc
July 6 - July 7
London Pleasure Gardens
London, UK
Since Bloc announced they were moving on from the template of their much-loved festival, the voices of dissent have gradually turned to shrieks of anticipation. Butlins holiday park in Minehead in March was to be swapped for a July date at London Pleasure Gardens, a sixty thousand square-metre space at the city's Victorian Docklands designed by Shangri-La of Glastonbury fame and Mutate Britain. The main stage is being described as a "gargantuan…monolithic auditorium," surrounded by steel shipping containers; the second stage, The Hub, is an acoustically treated geodesic dome (hosted by RA), with the DJ stationed in its centre; and the MS Stubnitz, an 80 metre long GDR fishing vessel, will dock at the site to host two rooms of music. Not to be outdone by the spectacle of the venue, the bill runs the entire gamut of electronic music, from Orbital to Richie Hawtin and Flying Lotus, to Amon Tobin, A.T.O.L., Ricardo Villalobos and countless others besides.
RA pick: Pioneering minimalist composer Steve Reich will headline the RA stage on the Friday.