Tag: citadel

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Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london

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To see the full Despacio gallery please click here.

Despacio returns!!

(For those who don’t know: Despacio is a sound system created & curated by James Murphy (LCD sound system) & 2manydjs (Soulwax). It is the best in the world

On the first day it began at Lovebox I was hesitant about going in and wondered if maybe it was finally losing its magnetic hold on me but as soon as I hit the dancefloor I remembered why I had been avoiding it..once I am there I do not want to leave. Everything else can wait. Some of my happiest moments on earth have been at Despacio and that is not an exaggeration of any sorts. It is a complete and fulfilling experience which generates happiness and well-being amongst those fortunate enough to witness it. It is a Love Machine. It was built with love and it produces love. We live in dark times. The world needs Despacio. It is a beacon of hope for how humanity can be: together as one, in harmony with each other, connected by the music, bonded by emotion. Sound over the top? I’m sure, but what can I say? That’s how it makes you feel.

When you are in Despacio you dance with strangers. You form a circle. You muck about, have a dance off, embrace. When you make eye contact you do not look away, you smile, from ear to ear, you know how each other is feeling. It makes you include one another. It makes you be a good human being. It makes you appreciate the beauty of existence. You don’t want it to end. Life makes sense inside Despacio. And the music is phenomenal. The 6hour set driven by the inspired vinyl selections of 2manydjs and james murphy takes you on the most incredible journey, building and building to the ultimate crescendo. And the sound will blow you away. It is unlike anything else that exists anywhere else on the planet. And the only way you can experience this is to see it and hear it in person.

Its coming to the Roundhouse in September. Tickets went on sale this morning, if you can get one, get one. http://gigst.rs/despacio

Here is a video I shot over the weekend:

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#MYLDN (588)

Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london

This was lovebox at victoria park on the Saturday..

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this was citadel at victoria park on the sunday

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Lovebox used to run for the whole weekend but for some reason this year they did 2 days of lovebox and then the 3rd day was called Citadel.

On the friday & saturday Lovebox was a bit of a wild affair. the largely 18-21 inner city  demographic seemed hell bent on getting properly wasted from the off.  And they did. They demonstrated the wild spirit of youth and even though it got a bit messy it gave me hope for London. No matter how expensive and exclusive it becomes they will never be able  to crush the diversity and the energy that fuels this city.

To see the full lovebox gallery please click here

On the Sunday it turned into a completely different festival. same location. same promoters. same stages and food trucks but was now called Citadel and was a totally different line-up and as a result a totally different crowd. Lovebox had the likes of Snoop Dogg, Rudimental and Cypress Hill and consequently generated an urban racially mixed largely working class crowd whilst at Citadel the singer songwriter Ben Howard was headlining and consequently attracted a very white middle class relatively sedate audience. I was there all three days (because of Despacio – see tomorrow’s post) and it was so weird coming into the same location which looked exactly the same but the people couldn’t have been more different from the previous two days. The queues for the smoothies was now longer than the queues for the bar. There was more eating going on than drinking. It was a very family atmosphere. Children were running around and getting their face painted. And as you can see above they were playing croquet for god’s sake. If they had had mallets and Lovebox there would probably have been bloodshed.

What was fascinating was how a change in music could utterly change the demographic of the audience. It really felt like a class divide and made me realise how  the art we consume and the culture we come from are interlinked and intertwined, to such a degree we aren’t even aware of it.

It feels music festivals are going the way of Citadel. Calmer, more family friendly, more food orientated and it feels less and less about the music….and in all honesty I am not very happy about it. Festivals should only be about music and getting loaded and having a wild time. That is what they are there for. They are there so we can all let off a bit of steam so we can deal with the rest of the shite. The festival Grinch has spoken.