Eschewing Sunday’s annual Get Loaded In The Park for a purely dance line-up, South West Four’s first weekender sold out both days by the week of the event, dispelling any doubts that it couldn’t be done. With half the battle won, could it go the distance?
Saturday
With patchy weather on Day One, the tents found themselves doing a roaring trade throughout. Naturally most of our time was spent in the Bedrock / DJMag in association with Data Transmission Arena, with little reason for us to move from our bassy spot down near the front. German-Italian combo Mutant Clan (Timo Maas & Santos) show little regard for convention or time by banging out fantastically warped techno early on, paving the way for Joris Voorn to rip the tent apart with his decidedly more uplifting sound. Although you could accuse him of getting a little stuck in a rut musically right now, he never fails to set the crowd alight. Swedish genius Christian Smith follows on with one of the most tremendously enjoyable sets we’ve seen in ages – fun, big room, groovy, melodic techno that sticks two fingers up at the duller side of the genre. Absolutely fantastic – miss him at your peril. Josh Wink goes straight in for the kill afterwards, launching into an acid frenzy with his very first track and running the gamut of tech house and tribal flavours – from 2000 & One’s Pak Pak through to the inevitable, frenzied re-edit of Higher State Of Consciousness. John Digweed closes in an atypically euphoric mood, interspersing techier moments with fluffy melody.
Elsewhere, The Gallery tent is rammed all day – probably the most packed out of the 3, with the most electric atmosphere to boot, and Toolroom’s debut arena is an undoubted success, capitalising on their status as the world’s current biggest house label, with headliner Benny Benassi tearing through riotous electro from across the world to a baying audience. After Pete Tong gets the party going on the main stage, it’s big names all the way – and newer recruit Laidback Luke’s thumping and eclectic party house sounds shows that he’s a more than able contender for the biggest of big leagues. Headliner Armin Van Buuren does exactly as you’d expect him to, and even if you aren’t a lover of mainstream trance, the immense production during his set makes it hard not to enjoy. And although the wind and rain took their toll for sections of the festival, few spirits were dampened during this now legendary day.
Sunday
We’re about to leave the house and it’s absolutely pissing it down. Is this going to be a full-on washout? Thankfully the rain soon passes and by the time we emerge out of Clapham Common tube, the weather is absolutely bloody gorgeous. Blue skies, few clouds, temperate sunshine – exactly what South West Four was made for. We’re a bit later down today after a slow start to the day, and so have missed quite a lot of talent in the few hours prior (such is the depth of the line-up today), but what we do see is top notch. Zane Lowe sets on stage announcing that he’s got a “king kong fucking hangover” and sets about doing his usual party-starting thing. Mission soon accomplished via a mix of current bangers, classics, and even some anthemic rock moments. The spirit of Get Loaded lives on.
Onwards to Caspa, and although you want to hear heavy dubstep on an equally ludicrous sound system, the council-imposed restrictions are doing little to stop the packed tent going apeshit to his greatest hits – remixes of Deadmau5 and TC being standard issue – and making for a wonderfully deranged festival set. The crowd are younger and sprightlier today, it’s got to be said – no doubt in thanks to the musical policy of Sunday, which is very much more of the moment. We head back to the glorious main stage sunshine, to catch Armand Van Helden in full swing. It’s a full-on party set that works blissfully with the weather – disco-heavy as you’d imagine, with his remix of Uffie & Pharrell’s A.D.D. S.U.V. and various Duck Sauces doing the damage on a major scale. Even his cheesier pop-dance crossovers like I Want Your Soul are lapped up by the more discerning amongst us (ahem). He’s the perfect warm-up for Fatboy Slim, who plays a pleasingly refreshed set – plenty of acidic moments like his and Hervé’s Machines Can Do The Work doing battle with remixes of his classics, like Lazy Rich’s wonderfully fidgety remix of Weapon Of Choice, with the volume pleasingly jumping up a few notches for his last half hour.
A resounding success for South West Four’s first two-dayer then. With one day catering for a slightly older crowd and the other for youthful ravers, it could be a perfect balance that ensures their status as London’s number one dance festival isn’t budging…