It was Saturday 11th June and there was only one place, one event and one reason to be in London. The place, Victoria Park E9, the event LED festival and the reason, Deadmau5.
From the moment you arrived at Victoria Park’s front gates, went through and started the walk towards the thumping bass you got that feeling that you were there to see something very special. All I can say is that the ten or eleven hours after that were the most entertaining of the year so far, by a country mile. It had that full on festival feel which is so hard to capture in a one day event and this instantly puts everyone on a good chirpy lets go mental kind of mood.
After taking in everything that was going on around we headed for the VIP area which was more like an arena. It had a huge bar, a cocktail bar, a LUXX bar (the hosts of the VIP), plenty of room to chill out and relax as well as some top notch grub. This was obviously all topped off with a host of DJ’s playing the very best funky upbeat but banging house and electro.
We caught our breath, grabbed a playlist and headed straight for the Let’s Go Crazy Arena where Jaguar Skills were getting ready to do what they do best, have a serious mix up. And a serious mix up is what they had. From dub step to house to drum n bass all with sample vocals thrown over the top. It was epic, and the 3000 or so ravers thought so too. It went off. It actually felt like the whole tent was moving with the bouncing to the bass. If you missed this you definitely missed out as this was by far and away my surprise highlight of the day. Absolutely superb.
There was clearly only one way the day was going to go after this, and that was, mental. Every single person that walked out of that arena had a huge smile and a real buzz about them that would not leave them until the event was done.
We headed back over to the VIP arena to grab a quick beer and check out what was going on to find only what I can describe as one of the coolest DJ’s I’ve ever seen. It was Sacha Muki with his aviators and curly hair having his own little rave up to the tunes he was mixing. Fantastic. You couldn’t help but start tapping your foot and before you knew it you were full on having a little jig. It was quality.
The time had come to head out to the main arena where thousands of people had pitched up for the day. Food and beers were flowing everywhere you looked all helped down by the savage sound system they had in place.
Up next for us was Skrillex. To be honest had never heard them and wasn’t really sure what to expect. What I didn’t expect is what happened next. Some serious bass and boom into Dub Step we went. Now I can honestly say that just listening and seeing the performance has changed my entire view on Dub stub. It was seriously not for the weak with a lot of jumping, bouncing and general raving around, but what an hour and a half that was. For all who have not seen or heard this is highly recommended.
We thought about leaving the main stage to go see DJ Hype and DJ Fresh but Zane Lowe was about to start his set and I had never seen him so decided to stay at the main stage. The only bad thing was what I knew I was missing out on. But compromises have to be made and that was one of them I’m afraid. As soon as Zane Lowe came out on stage everyone who was sitting was on their feet and ready for the last three acts. The tunes of course were superbly upbeat with a massive variety of genres all being mixed to take you to completely different places as well as touch something in everyone that was there watching. Another hour of absolute crazyness with a good 25,000 people doing what they do best, dance with pure feeling.
A few minutes of composure, a quick rush to the bar and back again for one of the World’s leading electro house Dj’s, Calvin Harris. Back in amongst the crowd everyone was still buzzing the previous set. Just thousands of very excitable people all ready to get let off the leash once again for another real quality hour of absolute pure good vibes all put into place by the exquisite mixing master class Calvin Harris had in store for us. From his old to his new he kept everyone on the edge for the entire set with the quality everyone could hear and see for themselves. If you ever get the chance, this is definitely one DJ you should go and watch. Pure quality.
It was now that time of the night everyone had been waiting for. The main event. Deadmau5. You could see purely from the amount of people wearing Deadmau5 t – shirts that this is why everyone was here at Victoria Park for the LED Festival.
The entrance was huge. Under a white sheet, dressed as a ghost up on a raised platform from where smoke covered the main man until the mouse head was there for all to see. It was sensational. It had a face that moved out of lights with the actual DJ booth almost playing his own cartoon. The graphics and visual were stunningly breath taking for all to see and that weren’t even the best part. That was obviously the slamming tunes the voted for 4th best DJ in the World was about to unleash on the masses. This was epic. Everything mixed had everyone on the very edge of exploding and as soon as he went from house to dub step the inevitable happened. It exploded. For the full two hours no one in the grounds was standing still. It was without a doubt the highlight of the day and will never be forgotten. From the show to the actual performance you could not fault it. It was an absolute pleasure to listen to a World’s top DJ performing and enjoying it as much if not more than the people raving to it.
Would I recommend this event to people? 100% and to everyone I know and speak to.
A massive thanks to all for putting on such a cracking day out in a great part of London with some of the biggest names in the business keeping everyone entertained.
Don’t miss next years, it would be criminal….
Published on 14 June 2011 by Paulski
