It’s August bank holiday.
What better way could there possibly be to rejoice amongst the dying embers of summer by shaking your limbs to throbbing pulse of electronic music, played by some of the most revered artists in the world?!
The birth of the London Electronic Dance festival saw an eclectic group of thrill-seekers descend on Victoria Park on Saturday 28th August. Some guests were there purely for the canyon-sized headliners, whilst other revelers looking for a way to kiss goodbye to the London summer; admittedly, some punters had probably turned up on hearing that as the festival hadn’t sold out, tickets were being sold on a two-for-one deal….oh well, you can’t win them all.
Whatever your reason for going, if you were lucky enough to attend Saturday’s L.E.D., there is little doubt that you had a good time; from Annie Mac banging out a set of crowd pleasing classics to Friendly Fires’ Mick Jagger-shaming dance moves, to Aphex Twin’s blisteringly innovative hour and a half long closer, nobody was going home feeling short-changed.
However, what was truly amazing is how far away from London the festival felt, despite being situated practically within the heart of the capital city. Victoria Park had been transformed into a veritable fairground of sorts, with the Waltzers spinning wide-eyed ravers to the strains of electronic music emanating from the nearby Main Stage, whilst the rest of the crowd spilled out amongst the various face-painting stalls and ice-cream vans, clutching cans of cider against their newly acquired Day-Glo stripes.
There were points at which the organization of the festival left a little to be desired, with certain clashes between artists that meant that it was impossible to watch a whole set on one of the stages without missing the beginning of another artist on the alternative stage; however, this being their first year, the organizers deserve to be cut a little slack; (anyone who can feature Shy FX, Goldfrapp and a merry-go-round on the same bill and still maintain credibility deserves a hearty pat on the back.) The main acts were interspersed by VIPs and guest entertainment, with our very own Clash DJs providing fun and frivolity for a crowd that was only too keen to scream along to their favourite tunes.
As the night progressed, the more experienced acts whipped their crowds into a frenzy with a gloriously intricate light show offering a delicate interplay with Aphex Twin’s unrelenting wall of sound, the infamous ‘acid face’ projecting out over the crowd as two bunny-suited MCs bounced around on stage. Not to be outdone, 90’s electronica giants had their own visually spectacular stage show to end the festival, with a silver-clad spaceman cutting otherworldly shapes as the crowd surged and swelled to the stomach-churning bass lines.
As it was its first attempt, the festival was clearly out to make a big impression and this is exactly what it achieved, with a carefully selected line up ranging from mainstream bands to the more hardcore of electronic artists; to produce a successful follow up next year, the organizers will have to pull something special out of the bag, however, judging from this year’s event, it seems that they are more than capable of doing this.
Whether L.E.D. becomes an annual institution remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure; on a Saturday in late August 2010, several thousand Londoners were transported out of our big city, into a world of hedonistic release, rose-tinted melodic memories and Proustian rushes of musical times gone by…oh yeah, and merry-go-rounds.
Words by David Harfield