An amazing weekend!
First of all, it was nice to put some faces to names at last, but I'm really sorry I was a bit of a non-event as regards the Bluelight camp/crew. This was purely down to the fact that I was there with my little brother for whom everything (festival, dance music, drugs, randoms etc) was
entirely new territory. My priority was ensuring that he had the best time possible, & I think he was a little unnerved by 'Camp Ketamine' (!) & a little overwhelmed by the whole experience, so I thought it best that we kind of went off & did things on our lonesome, which as it turned out was probably the best choice.
Hope I didn't offend anyone in the process, but those of you that I did chat to briefly were sound (especially Carsick, Tylerdurden, Tranced & duck_racer), & it was great to see a few familiar faces from my Leeds days again. A special mention to Mike for his truly fascinating story of how he lost his mind - I was in my tent trying to get to sleep at the time, but became utterly enraptured in his tale of slow descent into temporary insanity, & it was without doubt the strangest bedtime story I've ever been read! :D
As regards the mud: it's all been said before really, but for us once we had a pair of wellies an aura of invincibility descended upon us! Splashing around in the mud at the Origin stage to OOOD was shit-loads of fun & it was at this point on Friday afternoon that I just knew everything was going to turn out OK. Although blazing sunshine would obviously have been preferable, my perception of events was that everyone essentially said: "
Fuck the mud, I'm gonna have a good time!".
It was a prime example of life being what you make of it, I think. The major downside for me was the lack of anywhere to sit & chill. IDSpiral especially was rendered a fraction of its usually remarkable self as 90% of the seating area was nothing but a swamp. Having said that, the organisers deserve 100 virgins bathed in honey & asses milk for managing to pull off what they did - I dread to think of the nightmares & headaches that they must've been having backstage.
So Friday afternoon then: Organismic's blend of psychedelic breaks, d'n'b & trance in the Liquid tent was a completely unexpected treat & we had a good little boogie in Breaksday to Plaza Da Funk as well.
Cosmosis at the Origin stage was fantastic as I knew he would be, jumping up on the stage to dance with the crowd, which inadvertantly led to me making friends with the cheeky chappy in the bottom of this photo:
The Overkill tents postponement & awful sound were a disappointment it has to be said. It was the one thing that my little brother was looking forward to more than anything & I wanted to cry when I saw his face when he first heard that Bangface might be cancelled. But despite everything, it went ahead & although it really wasn't my thing I still had a great time in there (especially Ceephax who was fucking brilliant) & my bro absolutely loved it! This night was extra special because it marked the first time that my brother had ever done pills! It was an amazing experience to share it with him, & something I'll never forget - neither will he! :D Here are a few choice photos that I snapped during the night:
Went & caught about half an hour of Richie Hawtin in the Vapor tent which was predictably excellent.
Didn't catch a wink of sleep on Friday night despite our best efforts, but that didn't stop Saturday being absolutely fucking awesome. The music that I saw on that day was just orgasmically good from start to finish.
First up was Prometheus (Benji Vaughan) who is my favourite psytrance producer & who I've been wanting to see for over 3 years. He played a DJ set which included not only some of his own tunes which had me virtually cumming in my pants, but really unexpectedly some banging twisted house as well. Fucking awesome stuff that was made doubly so by my being right at the front the whole time & making friends with some over-40's hippies who were insistent on getting my number & inviting me to their free parties.
While I was doing this my brother went off to see Neil Landstrum which was the first time he'd ever heard hard techno & he came back walking on clouds with a massive smile on his face.
Following Prometheus in the Liquid tent were the incomparable Shpongle, & when the first notes of
Dorset Perception rang out the packed tent went fucking wild. Seeing Raja Ram bouncing around on stage like a loon was absolutely hilarious & the set was one of the highlights, being much more dance-oriented than I thought it would be. Excellent stuff.
Next up we caught the last half hour or so of Tristan's set at the Origin stage which was a lot of fun, & then on came Eat Static who quite literally blew the roof off, which is no mean feat when you consider that the Origin stage is outdoors! %) It all got a bit too much for my little brother who started to come up like a fucking bastard, so I gently guided him away from the intense insanity that Eat Static were pounding out & we chanced upon the Nectar Temple in the Soma field.
This was without doubt one of the highlights of our festival. We went in just as a group of performers put on a theatrical performance that incorporated dance, music & acting to tell the simple story of a man who finds inner peace. The timing & tone of it could not have been any better, & it put my brother's mind back into a happy place. By chance, at that exact moment my other little brother rang me as he was out in Manchester that night for the first time, & so the 3 of us had a big fucked brotherly conversation which was the definition of snoo.
They played some wicked chilled trippy stuff after, & I had a little dance:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pdJR-nTrH1Y
We then went to check out Venetian Snares which was as everyone knows was a fucking disaster. I can appreciate that he was pissed of with the sound problems, but to flounce off the stage, spit in the sound guys face, & not even bother to acknowledge the 1,000 or so people who turned out to see him in the mountains of mud is a fucking disgrace. To quote Loefah of the Digital Mystikz:
"What a grade-A penis".
So it was just as well that the last act of the night was undoubtedly the musical highlight of the whole festival for me, & one of the greatest musical experiences of my life. Derrick May headlining the Vapor Tent was absolutely fucking incredible. I was expecting old-school cheesy Detroit techno, but instead, to my ears anyway, he played over 2 hours of dreamily melodic uplifting techno instead. A masterful performance, I was in heaven the whole time, almost crying with joy at the end of it. He got the longest ovation of the festival that I saw as well. I'll never forget it.
Saturday night we finally managed to get half a decent night's sleep, which we were in dire need of, & then on Sunday the sun stayed out for most of the day which combined with the traditional Sunday vibes of the Glade made for a truly wonderful time.
Started off with Vibrasphere at the Origin stage who were immense. They're another that I've been wanting to see for years & they lived up to all my expectations. Everyone at Origin, as they were over the whole weekend, was smiling, happy & having a great time, such as this guy whose philosophy I'm sure we can all agree with:
...&
especially this guy who was one of the legends of the weekend for me:
Had a bit of a boogie in Sancho Panzy, caught a bit of LongRange at the Glade stage & then headed back to the Origin stage to catch one of the pioneers of progressive psy & one of my favourite producers, Atmos. The
atmosphere for his set was magical & I had buckets of fun stood on the front platform facing the crowd & dancing my tits off the whole time. Here's some pictures that I got when I was there:
Went to see a bit of Younger Brother at the Glade stage & then finished off with Squarepusher. He started off with a DJ set of absolutely fucking banging rinsing hard techno which was fantastic, & then did his thing with his bass guitar & laptop. This was my little brother's highlight of the festival as he's a massive Squarepusher fan & stood right down the front by the barrier watching him go apeshit & leap around with joy was a real heart-warming experience for me. Let's face it, Squarepusher's a musical God & his performance was astounding. The perfect way to officially end the festival. Here's a photo that I got of the crowd showing their appreciation:
The rest of the evening we spent cruising round the stalls, chatting to randoms, & then as we were sat in one of the bars I heard the sounds of The Beatles emanating from a mobile wine bar. We turned the corner & discovered & joined in this impromptu celebration of good times:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mue5BF0LVBk
Then the final act of Sunday consisted of spending the night at IDSpiral where in the dome we sipped some yummy mushroom chai, chatted to loads of friendly randoms, & got up & danced to the beats still being pumped out by the DJ, mainly due to the ringleading of this energetic fellow:
Due to the license being put in jeopardy the music had to be stopped at just past midnight, but that night at IDSpiral was really special & defined the festivals spirit of triumph in the face of adversity.
We then had one last chill under the night sky below the gazebo in the chairs that some of you had very kindly left for us, & then the following morning made our way back home covered in mud but drenched in smiles.
Threaded throughout the fabric of all of this are the threads of names & faces of the hundreds of smiley people that we met over the weekend, the old faces from down the years that I bumped into & reconnected with, the snippets of other music that we caught over all the site, & the hundreds of funny & random things that seem to come thick & fast at such events, such as the hole in the mud behind the Origin stage that people would cheer at whenever some poor unfortunate soul plunged obliviously into it.
All of it coming together to make for an unforgettable & amazing weekend.
And that, as they say, is that.
