|
|
|
Gatecrasher Summer Sound System 08 |
|
escrito por CGWW UK
|
|
Friday, 15 de February de 2008 |
Untitled Document
Gatecrasher Summer Sound System 2008
|
With such a promising line up, Gatecrasher Summer Sound System was set to be the biggest event of the UK festival season.
The word ‘Summer’ generally suggests sun, heat, t-shirts and shorts, however when you’re in the UK, you can’t really expect too much from the weather. As Brits we should all know by now that our summers are never quite that, so for anyone who had checked the weather reports braving an extremely wet and windy weekend was to be expected in the name of festival fun. |
On Saturday, the sun was shining, the mood was mellow and we were all in high spirits. Upon arrival the most horrendously long queue could have quite easily dampened them, and the disorganisation of the staff was terrible. No one seemed to be able to tell us where we should go for our tickets until we had already queued for an hour just to be told we were in the wrong place. After at least 2hours of queuing and bearing the lingering rancid stench coming from parts unknown, somehow the mood of party-goers was still positively high, as were ours. The whole vibe of the Gatecrasher crowd was perfect. People were friendly, happy and generally just up for having a good old fashioned rave-up.
Pitching the tent was somewhat comedic as the weather conditions meant it took double the time and effort, however it soon cleared up, the sun came out and the merry making began... |
  |
|
Does It Offend You, Yeah? Were the first of all the acts to actually blow me away. They were fantastic, getting the whole crowd going with their electro/rave/rock sound on the live stage. Though the turn out was fairly modest in comparison to what was expected, those who were there were rocking out, smiling and singing along. Clearly many were fans of the band as everyone seemed to know the lyrics and were not afraid to sing them. ‘Lets make out’ and ‘We are Rockstars’ went down a dream and set me in the mood for some more good music. Another surprisingly good performance on the live stage came from The Whip... |
     |
The Ed Banger stage was moved to the Monster tent (Monster - a new energy drink). Uffie cancelled, much to everyone‘s disappointment and although Feadz put on a good show, the tiny space became annoying and unbearable and so we decided to leave before the end of the set.
Digitalism’s (Jence Moelle and Isi Tüfekçi) 8pm set delivered everything they promised and was definatly a highlight performance for Saturday with musical treats such as Idealistic, Zdarlight, Homezone and other remixes.Saturday's headliners the Prodigy totally lived up to expectations. Getting there half an hour early we got right at the front of the crowd, but slowly as the arena got more and more full it became hard to stand your ground and people were pushed and shoved everywhere. Sitting on a friend’s shoulders, I looked back at the crowd that had formed and could not see an end. A sea of endless ravers and no way out in sight! The intro music began and things kicked off, in all senses of the word. With everyone trying to force their way forwards, people were pushing, shoving and being thrown around like ragdolls. However amazing the music was, and yes it was pretty good, I could not take the risk of being trampled on every two seconds and so we moved further back where the was more space to actually enjoy the music rather than be stuck in a moshpit with the rest of the hoi-polloi. As huge gusts of wind pummelled the crowd, ‘World's On Fire’, one of two new songs played, sadly failed to overwhelm, however the classics certainly did the damage. As you would expect, ‘Breathe’ began and the crowd went crazy. The weather slowly eased as the likes of ‘Poison’, ‘Voodoo People’ and ‘Out of Space’ ensured the headliners signed, sealed and delivered as promised... |
|
|
Moving on from that, the Crasher Arena had the most impressive lighting and visuals of the day in store for Paul van Dyk. Populated with purple hues, cool blues, and 3D animations, there was a brilliant atmosphere among the crowd as van Dyk delivered a rousing trance and techno set.
Once we had endured enough of the euphoria in the Crasher Arena we moved back over to Electric Stew for Kissy Sell Out who worked the crowd into a frenzy with hits including ‘Get Busy Tropicana’ and ‘Ready for the K-Hole’.
It was around this time that the Cement tent was evacuated midway through Pete Tong's set. Sadly, Bryn Edward Llewellyn, 41, from Nether Heyford, Northampton, was pronounced dead at 2am after paramedics were unable to revive him. Thames Valley Police classed the death as "unexplained" pending a post-mortem however there was speculation amongst festival goers that it may have been due to a drug overdose.
Unaware, the fun continued throughout the night and the friendly, fun and vibrant moods of the crowds flooded through to the campsites. However wet, windy and cold it may have been no one seemed dampened in spirit. |
Sunday. I awoke to the sound of heavy rain slashing against the tent, as I’m sure everybody else did. The thought of braving it out into the extreme winds and rain seemed bad enough but that was before we noticed the mud. It was unbelievable to imagine the day before had looked so fresh and green, as everything had turned brown and soggy. Luckily we came prepared with wellies, hoodies and scarves (thank you, weather report!) and so when we finally bucked up the courage to venture out for a session of crystal castles, hot chip, dizzee rascal and chemical brothers fuelled fun we were devastated to hear the main arena had flooded and the acts had been either moved, cancelled or delayed. This of course resulted in an atmosphere land slide and many a gutted fan. Gushing winds, ice cold rain and mud everywhere, but nothing a cup of tea couldn’t sort out, and so off we trotted with our cuppas (or plastic cuppas) for a quick sit down and wait for Chromeo.
After the disappointment of the Hot Chip and Crystal Castles cancellations, we needed something to get us back into the festival spirits and Chromeo succeeded in doing just that. ‘Needy Girl’ was definitely the song that stole the show and it was clear they had cheered many a face in the crowd. |
  |
|
Putting Justice and Soulwax on at the same time should be a punishable crime, as both performances were outstanding. However, having seen Justice before I only stayed for a short while and as always they rocked it making sure everyone was doing the D.A.N.C.E.
Soulwax. Soulwax. Soulwax. Where do I start? FANTASTIC! Highlight of Gatecrasher for sure. Amazing music, an amazing crowd and an amazing performance. Tracks like “E-talking” and “Krack” simply blew me away, with such a rush of excitement its almost impossible to explain in words. Everyone was jumping, throwing their arms around, shaking their hair and generally getting freaky as the Belgian rockers did their thing. Simply outstanding. |
  |
Overall Gatecrasher was a messy one. Whether it was because of the physical mess caused by mud and rain, or simply because of the messes we made of ourselves, it didn’t matter. It was a happy mess, one of those ones where you look back and say “yeah, it was worth it”.
As we struggled to take down our tent, pack, and not get blown away by the hideously strong, wet winds there was a definite feeling of fulfilment.
Making our way to the car, watching flying tents, sheets, sleeping bag and whatever else the wind could lift all I could do was laugh. The things we do for fun.
But my gosh, was it FUN.
Looking forward to 2009! Bring it on. |
|
|
Modificado el ( Wednesday, 25 de June de 2008 )
|
|
|
|
