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| Blive in London |
Date: Saturday 2nd July
2005
Address:
Clapham Common, London
Occurrence: Annual
Hours: 12 noon - 9pm
Ticket Price: £30
Genre: Various
Dress Code: N/A
Capacity: 20,000 |
Main Stage: Paul Oakenfold, Audio Bullys, Layo & Bushwacka, Har Mar Superstar, Sneaky Soundsystem, Scratch Perverts.
Hed Kandi: Andy Norman, Craig McGivern, David Dunne, Lisa German, Savvas Fellas, Therese Live, Bonni Bailey live.
Bacardi B-Bar: Slammin Boys, Back II Basic Sound System, Norman Jay, Basil on percussion.
The Strongbow Rooms: Justin Robertson, Radio Slave, A Man Called Adam, Grand National, Kris Bones, Raymondo Rodriquez.
Ministry of Sound Arena: Cassius, Jon Carter, Medicine 8, Mutiny, Mark Knight, Marc Hughes |
B-Live in London is a 3-day festival on Clapham Common taking place from the 1st-3rd July that has arisen from the success of the Bacardi B-Bar on the festival circuit over the past 8 years.
A great variety of music was on offer over the weekend, as the line-ups for each day shows (www.blivelondon.co.uk). Friday was a Latin affair, with The Spanish Harlem Orchestra headlining, Sunday looked to be on a chilled out vibe, with Amy Winehouse, Brand New Heavies and Jamiroquai, and Saturday had a bit of everything that would really appeal to clubbers: please read on!
The first thing we noticed upon arrival was the size of Clapham Common: it's huge! In fact, the whole festival was much bigger than I was expecting, with the main stage backed up with Ministry of Sound, Hed Kandi, Bacardi and Strongbow arenas.
The Scratch Perverts were in full flow on the main stage when we arrived, and they were probably as good as anybody we saw all day. These guys are really talented and are a team in every sense of the word, just like a band, with each member doing different jobs, such as bass or lead that contributes to the overall sound. Being on so early, the crowd wasn't as big as they deserved, but everyone who was there enjoyed their performance. Great stuff!
By 14:30, the Hed Kandi tent was already very busy, and the crowd were treated to their trademark soulful and sexy disco house that is so popular right now, especially with the girls! Similarly, the Bacardi tent was mobbed, where there were live acts and DJs playing. Both tents had a great summer vibe going that reminded me of being on holiday.
By the time we got back to the main stage, Har Mar Superstar was doing his thing, (not really my cup of tea to be honest) and the crowd was definitely getting bigger too. Following on closely behind, were the Sneaky Soundsystem, who I'd never seen before, but we were impressed.
After chilling out in the VIP lounge for a bit (alright for some eh! those seats were very comfy!) we went around the tents again, which were all now very busy. As the quality of the line-ups above show, it wasn't hard to see why they were so busy! We didn't venture back into the Bacardi tent, it looked too busy, but heard classics coming out like Professional Widow and Ultraflava, which made me smile.
The Hed Kandi arena was probably still our favourite though, with a brilliant happy upbeat atmosphere and plenty of friendly sing along tunes. Couldn't fault the tented arenas in anyway. Brilliant!
So, it was back to main stage at 17:15 for Layo and Bushwacka. We love the tunes these guys make, but we weren't overly impressed with their DJ set. It was alright, but no better, it just kept plodding along.
Up next were Audio Bullys, and straight away they dropped the massive Shot You Down. This certainly lifted everyone, and a big crowd was now in front of the main stage. They did a live set as apposed to a DJ set, with one of them controlling all the music via a laptop, while the other was the MC and singer. After the big opening, we were a bit disappointed with what followed. More of a hip-hop set than anything else, but to their credit they finished off in style and got everyone going again, by dropping Shot You Down for a second time!
Their were 15 minutes between acts on the main stage to allow time for changing of equipment etc., and the free Ministry of Sound frisbies started to fly all over the place! Had to keep ducking, but lost concentration for a second and got sconed right on the head! Ouch.
Last but never least, on the main stage was the legend that is Paul Oakenfold. This unfortunately, is now the bad part, nothing to do with Oaky, but the sound system or someone cocked up very badly. There was no sound at all to begin with! Then when it was "fixed", the sound was only coming out of the monitors on the stage and not the main speakers! Oaky was unaware, and was playing tunes that we couldn't hear! Several times the sound engineer ran on stage with Oaky looking none too impressed.
Eventually, 2 tunes later, the sound did kick in, and everyone was cheering and jumping around; I don't think I've ever witnessed anything like it! Even still, it was only coming out of one side and was not loud enough, but this may have been due to noise regulations (?).
Ok, now that I've had my rant, back to the music. Oaky played just what you'd expect, a mixture of progressive, trance and house, with favourites such as Greece 2000, Beautiful Day and The Body Rocker's I like The Way You Move being greeted with aplomb. The atmosphere was 100 times better than for any of the other main stage acts, and it was very busy. He finished with a trance remix of Underworld's Born Slippy, as the sky's cleared and the sun came out for the first time. A perfect ending, and the crowd were definitely up for more as Oaky made a sharp exit, looking more than a tad angry. It was a shame that it finished when it did; the atmosphere and setting were now ideal.
There were also Afterparties each night; Saturday's were at Koko and Ministry, but after 8 hours on my feet, it was home time to ease my aching thighs. Overall, we had a superb day with the brilliant arenas outshining the main stage for one reason or another.
P.S. The free Strongbow was a great idea! |
Venue:
Music:
Crowd:
Sound System:
Total: ## / 40
Rating: Award |
| Review written by:
Kevin Boyle |
kevin@uk-cl.co.uk |
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