Richie Hawtin’s Ibiza clubnight ENTER. at Space is one of the most popular on the White Isle. About to start it’s fourth season in July, he brought the concept back to London, England on Saturday, April 11th for a day party at Wapping’s cavernous Tobacco Dock followed by an afterparty at Studio Spaces. Adam Beyer, Ida Engberg, Paco Osuna, Maya Jane Coles and Hot Since 82 were among the acts supporting Hawtin – Mike Barnard and Ann McManus donned their best black attire to join the day party.
Feelings hosted a Spring Fling at Clapton Round Chapel in London on Saturday, April 4th. The Feelings crew are known for their blend of house and disco by respected DJs, with New York City’s Club Shelter founder and head of A&R at Motown, Timmy Regisford, and Chicago house advocate Tevo Howard of Beautiful Granville Studios joined by The Menendez Brothers, Kasra V and Feelings residents. Mike Barnard and Ann McManus were among the congregation.
Nic Fanciulli’s music festival The Winter Social took over the Kent Life Museum in Maidstone on Saturday, February 28th. A spin-off of The Social held in Mote Park the previous two summers, the Saved Records boss headlined with support including Maya Jane Coles, Hot Since 82, Dusky, Davide Squillace and Matthias Tanzmann. Mike Barnard and Ann McManus give their views on the festival’s sold out debut.
Find Me in the Dark brought Ostgut Ton’s Function, one half of the brains behind celebrated underground techno imprint Sandwell District, and his uncompromising sound so often heard at Berlin’s Berghain to the intimate space of Corsica Studios on Saturday. January 31st. Joined by Florian Kupfer, Jacko, Daze, Limo, Lock Eyes and resident Asquith, the sold out Elephant and Castle club was buzzing right through the night with two heaving dancefloors.
Bugged Out returned to Butlins Bognor Regis from Friday, January 16th to Sunday, January 18th for another three days of house, electro, techno, disco, garage and more across three stages plus extras such as pool parties, a pub quiz, rave karaoke and 24-hour arcades. Music came from acts such as The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, Maya Jane Coles, Dusky, Ten Walls, Erol Alkan and Kerri Chandler. We were there to see Bugged Out successfully bring the weekender back to the south coast.
Get a bonus festival experience this month when Bugged Out take over Butlins Bognor Regis for a weekender featuring some of the biggest names in dance music. From Friday, January 16th to Sunday, January 19th ÂME, Ben UFO, The Chemical Brothers, Daniel Avery, Duke Dumont, Erol Alkan, Kerri Chandler, Maya Jane Coles, Simian Mobile Disco, Skream, Ten Walls, Tiga and Todd Terje will be among the acts filling the resort with music.
Find Me in the Dark celebrated its first birthday on Saturday, November 29th with a headline live analogue set from Genius of Time. The underground electronic music night at south London’s Corsica Studios has built up a reputation for booking only genre-pushing acts such as Omar S, Kassam Mosse, Voices from the Lake, Shed’s Head High project, Pariah and Legowelt over the last 12 months, developing an enviable position as a place to hear fresh music among a knowledgeable crowd. For the birthday, Christopher Rau, Huerco S., Imre Kiss, Jason Spinks and Asquith provided strong support.
The annual Drumcode warehouse party in London has become a Halloween fixture over the last four years, and for this fifth edition – Awakenings & LWE present Drumcode Halloween – the stakes were upped. Dutch promoters Awakenings were brought on board by Adam Beyer’s label to put their stamp on proceedings as they moved to the 5,000-capacity Tobacco Docks in Wapping for a fright-by-day on Saturday, November 1st featuring Beyer’s label cohorts and techno luminaries including Agoria, Scuba, Joseph Capriati, Paul Woolford, Len Faki and Happa. Mike Barnard and Ann McManus donned their Halloween finest and braved the dancefloors filled with ghouls, ghosts and other monstrous oddities.
FOUND returned to the festival scene with Ceremony, their the second event of 2014 on Saturday, September 13th in Finsbury Park. Seven arenas of house, bass, techno, grime and hip hop from the past, present and future was promised – here’s how Mike Barnard and Ann McManus saw it.
The rave sounds of hard house, garage, jungle and old skool don’t get much of a look in at dance music festivals these days. Even drum and bass is more a token nod than the main event as EDM, house and techno tend to take centre stage. So fans of the once-popular club genres must have rejoiced when United Festival turned up at the end of the summer in Finsbury Park to give Londoners the opportunity to bust out the glow sticks, whistles, white gloves and cyber gear for a day celebrating 25 years of British rave culture.
North London has a new underground dance music festival with the arrival of Ceremony in Finsbury Park on Saturday, September 13th. Presented by FOUND, they brought Lil Louis, Todd Terry, Louie Vega, Inner City, Kevin Saunderson, Claptone, Route 94, DJ Luck and MC Neat, a Tropical Showcase and more over seven stages. We were there to see FOUND’s new venture in action.
As the fabled Ibiza closing parties approach to mark the end of another summer on the Spanish party island, a double birthday celebration took zap! bang! Magazine’s Mike Barnard and Ann McManus on their first trip to the famous clubbing destination. Here’s their viewpoints from either side of the gender divide as they set their holiday mode to “rave” on a non-stop weekend.
Deep tech house label boss Dennis Ferrer is a mainstay on the underground circuit. His Objektivity label has been running since 2006 and he’s a man still in demand on the biggest stages. A resident at the low gimmick, maximum music exploration of Insane Friday’s at Pacha Ibiza, it’s fitting the music policy at the famous White Isle venue is geared towards a crowd looking for more than just the glitz and glamour many DJ residencies offer on the party island. We were on the White Isle for the party on Friday, September 5th featuring guests Reboot and Hong of Singapore’s Zouk club alongside Ferrer and fellow resident Digweed to check out Ferrer’s set.
The last Bestival I went to was 2008 – which went down in legend as ‘the year of rain’, and ranks among one of the more trying experiences I’ve ever had. So it was with some trepidation (and constant checking of weather reports) I headed back down to the Isle of Wight for Josie and Rob da Bank’s latest. The contrast couldn’t have been greater – a weekend of glorious sunshine, an atmosphere of infectious fun, and some great bands getting into the party spirit showed that Bestival is doing better than ever.
Respected electronic music festival Dimensions brought 7,000 revellers to Pula in Croatia for its third edition from August 27th to 31st. Spread across beach, boat, abandoned fort and amphitheatre venues with headline acts such as Caribou, Moodymann, Warpaint, Roy Ayers, Jon Hopkins, Darkside and Gilles Peterson, it was a feast for the ears and a test of the stamina – especially when an intense storm showed up to break up the glorious weather on the last night. We were there to soak up the music, as well as the rain as it would turn out, in what was one of the finest and best sounding festivals we’ve attended.
London clubbers are treated to a wealth of their favourite acts when South West Four hits Clapham Common every August Bank Holiday. It remains a firm fixture on the city’s festival calendar despite the increasing competition from urban dance events and acts from the trance, EDM, house and techno scenes played on the Saturday when Mike Barnard and Ann McManus were. Here are their views from either side of the gender divide.
South West Four returned to Clapham Common over the August bank holiday weekend with another two days of dance music in the south of London. We were there on Saturday to report on the beats.
The self-proclaimed ‘Island of Freedom’ Sziget Festival turned 21 this year, and we were fortunate to pop over to Budapest (via a 26-hour coach ride) to find out for ourselves what kept the fans of this European City-fest coming back year after year.
Balearic Ibiza vibes were re-created in Hackney Wick when veteran spinner and White Isle original DJ Alfredo made his first London appearance in two years on Saturday, August 16th at Feelings. We got down to the daytime party at Shapes warehouse to hear what Ibiza used to sound like.
Daily boat parties on the clear Adriatic Sea help make festivals in Croatia unique experiences, and Dimensions Festival has 21 to choose from. In the second part of our preview of the respected four-day underground electronic music event in Pula, we take a look at the boat parties organised for 2014 day-by-day. Each is hosted by club nights and labels featuring some of the biggest names at the festival on the most intimate setting of a constantly sailing ship in the middle of the sea.
It’s been three years since zap! bang! Magazine attended a GlobalGathering at Long Marston Airfield in Stratford-Upon-Avon, so we were long overdue a return visit. Mixing in with the 50,000 revellers for the two day rave featuring some of the biggest dance acts on the planet, we were delighted to find that Global had found a way to create more intimate spaces among the huge main tents while generating a fun atmosphere with energy that lasted right through to the early hours of Sunday morning.
50,000 dance music fans headed to GlobalGathering for two days of raving on Long Marston Airfield last weekend; here we present the differing viewpoints from two of them in our first ever He said/She said feature. Mike Barnard and Ann McManus give their (serious, kinda) opinions on the 14th edition of the long-running festival in Stratford-Upon-Avon, this year headlined by Chase & Status, David Guetta, The Prodigy and Alesso.
In just one month the abandoned fort in Pula will be alive to the sounds of underground dance music as the respected Croatian festival Dimensions kicks off. In the first of two previews looking ahead to the festival running from Wednesday, August 27th to Sunday, August 31st we look ahead to the opening concert, daytime beach parties and night time fort activities.
Boutique dance festival Farr braved an electrical storm and the threat of heavy showers to blossom into a sun-seekers dream in its fifth year of fun in Bygrave Woods with an expanded three nights of music. From Thursday, July 17th to Saturday, July 19th house music took centre stage with drum & bass, reggae and bands providing the soundtrack to a growing Hertfordshire festival in a unique setting we hope it never leaves.
Trying to make sense of the Glastonbury line-up this year? Good luck!
Glastonbury is a vast festival of more than 100 stages with 1,000s of performances. Just walking across the site will take hours, especially given all the distractions along the way, so making sense of what to see and do will often result in last minute panic as you realise your favourite band is playing in a tiny tent miles away or some kind of drunken stupor has lead you to sleep through the Saturday night headliner of choice.
To your rescue is a few zap! bang! Magazine picks for each day, based on the full line-up handily posted on the official Glastonbury website. It’s a bit dance-orientated, admittedly, so excuse my taste if you delve in.