Get Loaded In The Park

Bank holidays are clearly there to be celebrated, everyone knows that. And so it was that thousands of people gathered on Clapham Common to load up and enjoy the hell out of the last Sunday of the year that didn’t involve the dire trudge to the office the following day.

A quick peruse around the sold-out site of Get Loaded in the Park allowed me to wisely settle at the Clash stage, where Chase and Status were proving that drum and bass can indeed sound great, especially if you mix it with some tasty breaks. They were followed by the excellent Magnetic Man – consisting of producers Skream and Benga – who provided some heavy, bassy dubstep, full of deep and dirty electronics. Very welcome.

Temporarily wandering elsewhere, I caught the last part of Miike Snow’s set. Sounding just as interesting as they do on record, the band showed why their quirky, electro-tinged indie is creating such a buzz of late.

Back to the Clash stage was next on the list, in order to hear the dark, French electro of Miss Kittin and the Hacker, giving a rare UK performance. Playing some of the finest cuts from their sublime album – including ‘Life on MTV’ and the wonderfully twisted‘Frank Sinatra’ – the crowd lapped up the synths and razor-sharp lyrics of the duo.

Next up was more electro, but of a different nature, courtesy of Peaches, who relayed her distinctive brand of punky electroclash to the gathered masses. Peaches has never been one to shy away from the spotlight and tonight was no exception. She and her band sprinted on stage to the sound of the A-Team theme-tune, looking like extras from Flash Gordon, and then spent most of the set climbing on the rig and clambering through the crowd, all the while hitting every note spot on. Brilliant. Material from new album ‘I feel Cream’ also went down just as well as old favourites, showing that Peaches is still very much on the ball.

Doing some more flitting allowed me to catch some choice moments from electro-house stalwarts Booka Shade (who were in fine form), and Royksopp, whose bouncy, enjoyable electropop seemed to put all attendees in a thoroughly good mood.

Over on the main stage, Detroit techno maverick Carl Craig was giving a rare live outing to his reformed Innerzone Orchestra. Accompanied by percussionists, a sax player, pianist and full string orchestra, Craig and his team expertly blended electronics and live jazz, giving a superb, thoroughly professional performance. Much excitement had surrounded Innerzone’s performance at Get Loaded, and thankfully their set exceeded even these high expectations.

More live musicians could be found adding their magic to a dance soundtrack at the other side of the festival, where French house legend Laurent Garnier was playing the headline slot to what had been a formidable line-up on the Clash stage. A popular choice with the crowd, Garnier seamlessly mixed classy electro-house, skittish drum breaks and jazzy textures, aided by several very capable musicians. A stellar performance from a true pro, Garnier worked the crowd and created something that was at once engaging, intelligent and highly danceable throughout. Marvellous stuff and undoubtedly a big highlight of the day.

And what better way to close a dance festival than with the duo who did so much to bring dance music into the spotlight back in the day – Orbital. Still masters at what they do after all these years, they rolled out all the classics, sounding as good as ever, with personal highlights being the wonderful ‘Halycon’, ‘The Box’ and – of course – the Doctor Who theme, given the obligatory breaks treatment. A fantastic set.

Realising that we had just witnessed a one-day event with a killer line-up that bettered many full three-day festivals, we – like many others present – reflected that we would most definitely be getting loaded once again next year. And with these happy thoughts in mind, we stumbled off the site to find just a little more revelry before bedtime. It was, after all, a bank holiday weekend…