And I'm back after a VERY heavy day in Hackney yesterday raving it up on the marshes. Yes Radio 1'd Hackney Weekend was certainly a smash and I thought that today I'd give you a run down of who I saw.
So the day started off in the Dance Arena (well the bar first, obviously) and a warm up set by DJ Zane Lowe. Now many of you will know that I'm not a fan of Zane Lowe, I've been very critical of him for 2 reasons: 1) He plays odd music in the middle of sets and 2) he can't mix for shit. When I saw him before Skrillex in February he was pretty poor. Yesterday however he was truly on form and played a flowing, banging set with some very nice mixing. This got everyone pumped up for the following act.
Flux Pavilion took to the stage with Doctor P. I'm seeing Flux in October but I couldn't miss the chance to see him, especially as there was fuck all on the other stages at this point. The set was explosive, energetic and quite brutal. The bass was LOUD, now I've been to a few gigs over the years but none of them had the bass quite this loud. It was so loud in fact you could hear and feel it across the site at the Main Stage. But this just added to the frenzy as everyone went ballistic for "Can't Stop" and "Bass Cannon".
After a break for beer, food and to recharge I headed over to see a nice little set from Friction on the DJ stage, the young drum and bass outfit got everyone going and are certainly worth checking out.
I then went round to see Magnetic Man in the In New Music We Trust tent, catching the end of a very impressive and almost haunting set from Lana Del Rey, who by the way is very tasty! For those of you unfamiliar with Magnetic Man they are a trio made up of Skream, Benga and Artwork, as you'd expect from this group they are very almost old school in their sound. Proper dub straight from its origins. They certainly had the crowd going too, with their MC (the name eludes me) getting everyone going. Special guests Katy B (also tasty) and Angela Hunte added to the experience with their vocals. If you're into your classic dub then these are well worth seeing.
Finally the last act of the day that relate to this blog were certainly my favourite. Chase and Status are massive in the UK, not so much elsewhere but if they come near you, just see them, it really is that simple. They opened with the brilliant "No Problem" and from there I don't think I stood still for more than 20 seconds. The set from them was of course packed with energy and of course explosive bass. Guest appearances from Liam Baily and the absolute nutter that is Tempah T, just got everyone going even more. But without a doubt the loudest cheer came from "End Credits" and "Pieces" both featuring Plan B. A nice touch was throwing in a couple of old ones such as "Smash TV" and of course the ever enjoyable "Eastern Jam". Overall they smashed it with a sick set. Just book your tickets for them right NOW!
A fantastic day was had all round from my dubstep point of view as well as seeing Rihanna in very little shorts!
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