The 80's Warehouse was curated by Jack Hemingway and Greg Wilson and they did a fine job of it. Totally overspent on the lights I'd imagine, sound was great, DJ's really performed well. Saturday night's line up all did a great job. Norman Jay played a funk, soul & disco set and I would say it's the best I have heard him play in recent years. Looking forward to playing with him in
Brighton on Aug 27th a lot now, as that's a celebration of 30 years of Good Times.
Graeme Park did the decent thing and took us back to the late 80's - early 90's rave era. Lot's of great tracks and memories flooding back. The place was alive with lasers, scan lights and some serious dancing. Looked like MDMA was back in the bloodstream, rather than the moodier K & Coke that has tainted the atmosphere at a lot of clubs over the past decade or so.
Man of the match for the Saturday night was undoubtedly ANDREW WEATHERALL he absolutely outclassed the rest of the DJ's (no offense). He sounded as if he were playing on a different sound system. Complete control of the place, pitch perfect mixing and track selection. His WAV/Vinyl and EQing sounded so punchy and the subtle nuances shone through. I'm a bass and percussion freak so to hear the system come down in volume but expand in frequency's was a joy. We danced hard for hours in the Warehouse.
I played in the Roller Disco on Sunday along with Stevie Kotey, Disco Bloodbath & Joey Negro. Fellow Brightonian Kate Wildblood had played in there on Friday and said to expect some fun and games and the odd comedy wipeout. It sounded fab in there and the skaters certainly kept me entertained.
Other area's that appealed to me were the Soul Casino, very well put together, large carpeted room, sprung dance floor, talced, and some decent soul being played to a crowd beneath the glint of four mirror balls. It looked, felt and sounded authentic. Add to that the effort of the scenes dancers, and the punters who had decided to look the part and you were taken back the era.
Simon T and Colin Curtis stood out as classy selectors, Ian Dewhirst and Wayne Hemingway also did a fine job of packing the dance floor. Good fun and some serious tunes. No footage from this area which is a shame.
Let it Rock stage was really cool, 50's all the way, some brilliant rockabilly bands, jiving and post war fashion. Looked amazing when it got going in there. few movies below but not a great representation to be fair.
Overall I think this festival will really take off next year, as word gets round about this one. An inspired vision from Wayne Hemingway, some brilliant curating, creative input and hard work and general effort all round, made this a pleasure to be involved in. Big thanks to the best artist liaison going Maz Phiri she really is great at her job. Made our lives a lot easier and made me and my friends feel most welcome all weekend.
From a practical view point the toilets and showers were absolutely excellent all weekend, none of your jank portaloos, nice clean and flushable toilets made a big difference. Drinks were reasonably priced and there was a lot of varied entertainment all weekend. Fashion shows, art workshops, live bands (The Faces, Earth Wind & Fire, Heaven 17, Peter Hook doing his Joy Division thing) - I got to hang out with Noel Watson, A Guy Called Gerald, Greg Wilson, Norman Jay, Joey Negro & Cosmic Boogie. All in all I really enjoyed the whole thing.
Here's to next year (and hopefully being invited back!)
Some shots of the scooters for you:
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