By now, you must've heard about how this year's Lovebox was a dustbowl, pretty much a building site slap bang in the middle of the Sahara desert, stirred into a tornado by the shuffling of a thousand huaraches. The #Lovebox hashtag on Instagram went into overdrive, bindis were worn, Action Bronson punched someone, Snoop donned a three lions shirt, and Danny Brown wasn't thrilled with the whole thing.
We were down Hackney way on Saturday in order to rep our stage, which this year, in association with Soundcrash, put on seven acts throughout the sun-drenched day. After a brief stop-off at the Radio 1 Essential Mix stage, buoyed up by sleek bamboo pillars, where Joy Orbison is going b2b with Ben UFO (who can blame us?), we begin things (following appearances from Dornik and Howling) more peacefully with the classically educated don that is Nils Frahm.
The Late Night Tales curator and piano wunderkind plays an intricate live showcase, enchanting a sun-starved (and thankful) crowd cloaked by the tent's blue canopy. Smoky green lights provide some ethereal escapism from the whoosh of Nos canisters and 4×4 basslines of the outdoor arenas. Paired with haunting strokes of his keyboard and vast synthesiser setup, the Berliner treats us to the hypnotic 'Says' as well as Ólafur Arnalds collaboration 'a1'. Modern classicism eat your heart out.
A bite of jerk chicken is all it takes to shake us out of the spellbound stupor we've slumped into, before we duck our heads in again for Maribou State. Hertfordshire boys Chris Davids and Liam Ivory are joined by vocalist Holly Walker on stage, rolling through cuts from new LP 'Portraits', such as 'The Clown' and the gorgeous 'Home', rippling layers of textural electronica over their infatuated crowd. When we spoke to the pair last month there was talk of them lugging along a string quartet – on the day there's not a cello in sight, but this doesn't detract from their vivid sonic tapestries and warm songcraft.
From that point we're blasted into a breakbeat, rave-inflected frenzy for Paul Woolford under his Special Request moniker taking to the buttons. Blinding neon visuals and a smattering of clattering drums from 2013's 'Soul Music' properly get our knees up. You'd think a taste of the 'ardcore might be hard to swallow following twinkling, jazz-like rhythms but the producer smashes it, garnering a rabid, grinning crowd.
Even though Bonobo's just started on somewhere else on site, the Big Top suddenly becomes so packed with dust caked faces that queues begin to form outside. Flume must be on next. The Australian DJ and producer proves a massive hit with Lovebox attendees, including one toddler wearing a Bob Marley tee on his dad's shoulders. Churning out crowd pleasers such as Rustie's 'Slasherr', his own 'On Top ft. T-Shirt' and 'Holdin' On' along with his rework of Disclosure's 'You & Me' and one brand new track right at the end, the young producer's high-energy set gets hips loose and crowd quakes going.
Finally it's time for a Warp records bona fide legend – a man that needs no introduction – Tom Jenkinson AKA Squarepusher. Coming on stage in what can only be described as a beekeeper-cum-fencing outfit, the producer's glitchy live set is a furious rendition of this year's 'Damogen Furies' and 2013's 'Enstrobia' cuts, set before a background of lightning-fast stripes and pixellated madness. It's an incredible live performance and we highly recommend you check it out HERE.
And with that, it's over to Snoop to check out his massive gold microphone. It's a testament to how Lovebox – which began life back in 2002 as Groove Armada's al fresco club night on Clapham Common – has a little something for everyone. Throughout the day we see all ages, all different types of music fans, congregate in throngs – and we can't wait to do it all again next year.
You can read our review of other stages over the whole two days here.
Words: Felicity Martin
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