In the North of England, August Bank Holiday weekend signals two things. Firstly, that guaranteed downpour that ruins every optimistic Sunday BBQ, and secondly, the return of Creamfields: the UK’s largest dance music festival.
Back in 2012, the two combined and the festival waved the white flag on the Sunday session prompting organisers to spend over £500,000 renovating the site to ensure a safer and more enjoyable weekend. 2013 welcomed better weather, but we were excited to see what mother nature threw at the dance music mecca this year.
For the third time Creamfields was run as a three day event, with the Friday appearing to have become more popular than ever. One sarcastic steward explained: “Busy day?” “Nah mate just 45,000 people today, you know pretty peaceful.” After trudging through a two hour queue and frantically going through parcel tape to rescue what was left of my destroyed crate, I was failing to see the funny side!
The boys at Cream and new owners Live Nation managed to cleverly work their way around the licensing restrictions for the Friday with three large scale silent discos, however the no-headphones required Cream tent was the obvious choice for us. We reached it in time for Sander Van Doorn who tugged on the heartstrings of all EDM heads throwing down a solid set to warm up the weekend.
The tent was at capacity for headliners 3 Are Legend, (Steve Aoki, Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike). They used everything at their disposal to get their new project on the map however no matter how many “whoop there it is” chants they instigated, or how many bottles of champagne they sprayed, the set was pretty underwhelming. The Friday sound restrictions meant even during drops you could still comfortably hear the topless guy next to you begging an adjacent blonde to get up on his shoulders.
On Saturday another 25,000 punters stormed the gates at Daresbury, bringing the total weekend attendance to 70,000. Some sort of Record? Of course it is, this is Creamfields remember. The official start to the weekend marked the entrance of the Annie Mac Presents stage, which was one of the most talked about at the campsite after a night of EDM and D&B. We caught up with Monki for one of the most versatile sets of the weekend.
Photo Courtesy of Nathan D’Armour
It’s always tough playing in the afternoon when the majority of fans choose to swap the £5 a can drinks and £8 burritos for campsite Carlsbergs and Pringles. Nevertheless the fresh faced Radio 1 resident weaved her way through a seamless set. ‘Diamond Life’ and ‘Show Me Love’ prompted mass sing-alongs despite the tent being pretty roomy for most of the hour.
When five o’clock came we followed the several thousand strong heard to the South Stage for Martin Garrix hoping EDM would redeem itself. Garrix dazzled the packed crowd who braved the showers to hear a heavy-hitting set. Opening with ‘Tremor’ and following up with ‘Animals’ meant some of the crowd disappeared but that’s to be expected from the shop window dance music festival.
Soon it was time to head back to AMP for Friend Within. The tent had filled up since Monki but we managed to wiggle our way to the front in time to hear a personal favourite ‘The Mechanism’. With such a heavy baseline it was a true test of the sound, and the system was that good I lost count of the amount of times I was told. “Here all night, we’re just staying here!”
Sunday is always a hit or miss day depending on how hard you take the Saturday however DJ EZ was quick to show the rest of the world how an afternoon set should be done. Hailed as one of the best garage DJ’s in the business, EZ produced the highest intensity set of the weekend: fuelling up all those garage and bassline junkies and sending a lot of love out to the late MC Sparks.
In good spirits it was time for Oliver Heldens who warmed up the Departures stage. His fresh and defining sound, bridging the gaps between EDM and the underground, was a breath of fresh air. After dropping his number one ‘Overdrive’ many of the punters scratched it off their tunes-to-hear bingo card and left us to sample some of his new material. His latest remix ‘Can’t Stop Playing’ kept us grooving until half four, at which point it was back to the tent to refuel after an impressive afternoon.
The Sunday night shift was on Axwell ^ Ingrosso repping EDM whilst MK and Gorgon City finished things off at the house-heavy Speakerbox stage. The Swedes made their way through an impressive set whilst a blend of flamethrowers and confetti kept the crowd dancing all the way through the night. Their new material was promising but the highlight came in the form of ‘Save the World Tonight’ that ended an electrifying hour. These two have channelled the energy of SHM into their own project and that isn’t a bad thing. Their set was a shift from the darker corners of EDM to more uplifting and feel good music.
Photo Courtesy of Oskar Brewitz
For house, MK led the charge. Right in the thick of things, MK proved why he’s one of the best in the business. Detroit basslines weaved their way through his set and my voice disappeared during ‘My Head is a Jungle’. Afterwards, we expected the crowd to disappear but not this time. The tune to hear cards joined the empty cans in the thick mud and people just embraced the last two hours of this extraordinary festival.
Finally Gorgon City stepped to the plate. This time there was no confetti, just raw high quality isolated sound that pierced its way through the crowd. A guest performance by Zak Abel for their sure-to-be number 1 single ‘Unmissable’ ended another astonishing weekend away from the world.
All good festivals are built upon variety. Creamfields 2014 was not a story of when two tribes (EDM and House) go to war, it was the ideal blend between deep and intimate house sets and high intensity, goosebumps-giving stage shows. A mix that the boys down at Cream HQ have worked long and hard to perfect. Hats off to you, now get preparing next year!
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