Buried away in the north of Wales in the picture perfect toybox town of Portmerion you’ll find Festival No.6. Taking place in what was once the filming location of the BBC’s 1960s cult hit, The Prisoner, amongst the back drop of rolling hills and the River Dwyryd estuary, at first glance you’d be forgiven for thinking that this festival could consist of nothing more than wholesome fun for families and those who like a quieter affair.
However, delve a little deeper and you’ll find that Festival No.6 has more to offer than first meets the eye. With EDM and IDM headliners such as Jon Hopkins, Bonobo, Andrew Weatherall, Greg Wilson, Todd Terje, Julio Bashmore, Laurent Garnier and Norman Jay, you soon learn that these peaceful pastures can hold more than their own. Achim Brandenburg aka Prosumer kicked things off on Friday with a bang.
The Edinburgh based DJ who made his name in Berlin’s Panorama Bar had the audience dancing for the full set with his deep disco house and this certainly wasn’t just a case of first night festival excitement either. The old school sounds chosen by Prosumer reflected his impeccable taste and ability to judge the crowd’s mood which ensured he kept everyone happy. Afterwards, there was a choice between Andrew Weatherall and Laurent Garnier but luckily with Gauriner pulling out a 3 hour set, you weren’t necessarily forced to pick between the two.
So first off to the Studio 6 tent for Weatherall and it seemed everyone had the same idea. This tiny tent was packed out with a crowd ready to go wild. The acclaimed producer and DJ hit us up with some cosmo disco. The synthetic sounds were upbeat and the great thing with Weatherall is you know at some point in the set you’ll get some sort of musical education, hearing something you want to Shazzam. Acclaimed Garnier stole the show for Friday night. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the master take to the decks and I was excited to be getting to see him outside of a club setting. His eclectic mix of Detroit techno and jazz worked with house could keep me dancing all night.
As soon as I entered the tent it was clear why Garnier had been given a longer set; you can tell right away that he’s been around for over 25 years. As always Garnier’s mixing was spot on and tight. The loose sounds were liberating and it was a shame he wasn’t on for longer as I definitely could have kept dancing.Now, music wise, things wrap up pretty early on site at around 1am. However, if you’re the type of person who likes to keep the party going it’s pretty easy to find others of similar mind and if not… then at least you’ll get a decent night’s sleep ready for tomorrow.
On Saturday Jon Hopkins took the The i Stage late evening. What mostly seem like ambient sounds on record were taken to monster beats by the twice Mercury nominated DJ. The carefully crafted visceral sounds of ‘Immunity’ don’t lose any of their magic on stage. ‘We Disappear’ built the crowd up quickly whilst ‘Open Eye Signal’s’ ephemeral transient melodies came crashing like a wave. What’s more, the fact that Hopkins was so evidently enjoying the set made it all the more better for the crowd. I was genuinely disappointed when the set came to an end.
However, I soon perked up again with No. 6’s next offering, summer’s most anticipated Nordic electro-disco magnate, Todd Terje. The crowd was ready and waiting in The Late Night Pavilion and Terje didn’t disappoint. The 80s vibes bounced along, coming full throttle in Doloreon Dynamite. The old style rhythms perfectly intertwine with echo reverbs which kind of made me wish that I hadn’t forgotten my visor and leg warmers. Todd’s staple track ‘Inspector Norse’ was highly anticipated by everyone in the tent, so when the funk-addled sounds finally arrived towards the end of the set the crowd was ready to go wild and, despite the lack of lyrics, had everyone singing along to the, now somewhat infamous, hookline.
Julio Bashmore wrapped things up on Sunday back in The Late Night Pavilion… Why does Sunday night always come around so quickly? Peppermint feat. Jessie Ware was sure to be the crowd’s favourite. The song was destined for the dance floor, the 909 claps cushioned with ware’s club house vocals the crowd chanted in chorus “I’m hot for you” and it was surprising but nice to see Bashmore had pulled in a crowd of varying ages, an interesting quirk of No.6. The set’s oscillating synths and house beats were the perfect end to the weekend.
Outside of the main area of the festival you could find yourself with an array of weird and wonderful sites, from super-sized sea enemies floating along the estuary, to the 40 strong Brythoniaid Male Voice Choir belting out Tom Jones. If you’re solely there for a party then raves in the woods kept many entertained for hours, and for those of you with kids there was even a child friendly version hosted by PaperChatterbox.
So whilst this festival may be small, with a capacity less than 10,000, it’s true when they say that not all the best things come in big packages! Festival No. 6 truly is a festival like no other. See you there next year…
