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Features
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Introducing NEM3SI$’s new label Infinite Resistance! | Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! | Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! | Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! | Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! | SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! | The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! | NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! | Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project | The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! | A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden | Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma | Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino | New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! | PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! | Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! |
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Global Gathering 2008: Reviewed
Reported by reddan
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Submitted 17-09-08 20:54
This year’s Global Gathering once again managed to pull in 50,000 revellers to Long Marston Airfield for another weekend of great music, amazing DJs and spectacular fun. In stark comparison to last year’s drenched flooded site, this year saw the sun beaming down - this weekend was definitely not going to be a wash-out. HarderFaster set Reddan to report back.
With more than a whiff of all out music festival rather than pure dance party, this year’s event was looking to cater for a larger range of musical tastes, with a line-up on the main stage that could rival any other commercial festival, with acts such as Kanye West, Roisin Murrphy, Sam Sparro and Mark Ronson alongside the more usual and established DJ acts. Was 2008 to be the year that Global Gathering grew up?
Arriving on Friday night to kick off the weekend, we headed down to the main stage to find Kanye West on the line up on his own, no doubt due to the “sheer scale” of his production. His 90 minute performance was unlike any other act over the whole weekend. Bringing his infectious class of hip-hop to the biggest dance festival in the UK, Kayne managed to entertain the ecstatic audience, a surprise considering the hostility towards him on the forums prior to the festival. With tracks including the amazing Stronger, which samples Harder Faster Better by Daft Punk, he didn’t disappoint this reviewer and there was plenty more fun to be had across the set.
After, we were dragged over to the Polysexual Terrace by the wicked mix of bouncy tunes launching themselves out of the speakers. Mark H and Ed Real were highlights, but Anne Savage with a mash up of breaks and tough house was purely outstanding.
This year saw the introduction of the MySpace bus, an old London Routemaster. With the chance to get up close and see some DJs playing some very intimate sets, the bus was a great hit, with the queue sometimes as long as you would expect to see outside a great club, with a one out, one in policy! All aboard!
Once the fun had finished for the night, the heat made it quite hard to get comfortable in the tent, however that didn’t cause too much anguish as it gave us a chance to get to know the “neighbours” who like us preferred to sleep with the stars on the Friday evening.
Once rested and back up we were to find that it was Saturday that had to be the clear winner between the two days of the event, with so many great artists it was hard – no impossible – to plan to get around and see each and everyone of the DJs, but tried to anyway!
There was a welcome return for the Red Arrows, who gave the whole site a chance to sit back and take in the fantastic aerobatics. The roaring engines managing to drown out the sound of pumping background music, almost so that, to this reviewer at least, we could have been sitting on a far off beach while watching them. Of course with the whole weekend bathed in luxurious hot weather - there was no repeat of last year’s Glastonbury style mud pits – rain shelters were used as parasols and bodies relaxed everywhere soaking up the atmosphere and the blue, blue sky!
Over at the Godskitchen Arena, some of the best known DJs from around the world were being served up including Armin van Burren, Judge Jules, Above & Beyond and Ferry Corsten. During the evening we checked out Armin who was, not surprisingly, playing to a packed tent, with his skilful blend of trance and infectious smile beaming out across a sea of people while Sander van Doorn’s high energy during his performance and his choice of great bouncy mixes managed to get the whole of the Global tent hyped up for his energetic set.
The productions in both the Global and the Godskitchen arenas were superb, the electric atmosphere enhanced by the amazing light shows, sometimes making the whole arena almost a replacement for the sunshine which had been blazing all day. You could almost feel the heat from every single bulb in the massive screens and light arrays and the varying colours of the light shows were something to marvel at.
Robyn was undoubtedly one of my favourites on the main stage on Saturday. With her crowd pleasing hit after hit performance, all clad out in her trademark cat-suit, she managed to give Global a tremendous show.
This years VIP passes introduced a number of new additions to the event. The golden circle at the front of the main stage proved popular, allowing VIP ticket holders to get closer to the front than in previous years, there were hot communal showers for VIP campers, the queue definitely something to keep you occupied with on Saturday morning while waiting for the main site to reopen, and VIPers were also treated to a set of jacuzzis to lay down and relax during sessions!
The VIP area included its own “chill-out” zones with groups of parasols to cover heads in case it rained. While there was also a VIP arena with various acts and performance going on over the weekend, a respite from the hussle and bussle from the main events site and finally the campsite had been moved to make it easier to access the event site, with its own entrance in and out.
As always the fairground attractions were on-board to keep campers entertained during the down time of the main site, with bumper cars and various other attractions which promised to throw you around as if in a washing machine.
The only negative to the whole weekend was the food and drink, although the food was of standard festival quality it did tend to be overpriced, and with so much “choice”, from the chicken stand or the various “flavours from around the world” it was hard to decide what meal would be worth paying a minimum £6 for.
The whole weekend managed to cover the entire dance genre, with house beats, to pumping drum and bass, trance to electro and of course hip hop. With nearly all musical taste being provided, does Global run the risk of watering down the whole weekend by trying to cater for almost everyone? Or will it continue to expand and become the Glastonbury of dance? Who knows! All I can say was that there wasn’t a moment where I didn’t stop enjoying myself over the whole weekend, almost so that I didn’t really want to return to reality and the dreaded 9 to 5.
Lets hope next year’s event will be just as good as 2008 and mother nature brings the sunshine back to this great festival.
Photos courtesy of the HarderFaster archive. Not to be reproduced without permission. Share this :: : : :
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The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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