Waveform was a wicked festival. Generally the people were really chilled and friendly, it was hassle-free, and the music was crisp, loud and banging.
I was expecting a big glade-style festival - large crowds and heaving dancefloors. With only about 2000 people though, it was pretty small, and when I first checked out the dancefloors I admit I was not impressed, particularly with the archangel stage (where most of the breaks was and where I knew I would spend most of my time) which was the smallest main arena and tiny in comarison to some festival stages. However, this minor problem spawned three massive advantages which made the festival so good: 1. You could walk from one end of the festival to the other in less than 10 minutes - even in the mud - which meant no long missions to get something back at the campsite. 2. If you lost your mates you would inevitably bump into them again shortly. 3. It created a really cool intimate vibe that ive never felt at a festival before. Besides, when the music is good it doesn't really matter what size the tent is. Apart from a couple of nobs selling overpriced laughing gas the crowd was probably the friendlist ive ever seen at a festival. The security were also really chilled- upon arrival they greeted us in a friendly manor but barely checked our wristbands, let alone considered searching us. About half an hour later we were sorting various lines out and some security people approached with a full view of what we were up to, asked us how we were doing and then just left us to it.
Waveform this year was set in a beautiful green countryside location. A big green hill loomed over the whole area which was cool, and with a short walk up to the top you were gifted with a beautiful view over the whole festival and beyond. The odd seemingly wild horse impressively darting around the steep slope was also a nice touch. There was some tasty organic food on offer in the 'Organic Food Emporium' (I particularly liked the Indian/Chinese place offering chinese style chicken samosas), and some good homemade beer and cider available from the bar. Walking from the campsite there were 4 main arenas in a row- Project storm (techno, dnb, hard trance), the Tribe of Frog tent (all things psychadelic and dressed up in typical ToF style), the Archangel tent (breaks, dnb) and then tucked into the corner of the festival finally was the main stage, which had everything from psy-trance to reggae bands to minimal blasting out from its brilliant speakers-big up Opus Pocus for some amazing sound. The other tents boasted good systems as well. Archangel had the infamous funktion one which never fails to blow me away. The Tribe tent had the music at really nice volume- loud and crisp without being offensive. The 24 hour music license for saturday night was also a massive bonus and something more festivals defintely need to imitate. Stand out acts for me were the Equalizers with some fat and energetic electro / breaks, Subterra with some dark late-night dnb, and of course the mighty Far Too Loud who came on directly after the fairly ridiculous 'Earth Dance' and smashed it with a live set showcasing their mind-blowing psychadelic take on breakbeat. There was also some really good pys-trance, probably some good hard-trance (although I personally wouldn't know), and for all the minimal lovers out there, I heard some really cheaky sounding stuff pumping from the main stage which im sure was jokes. On top of this there was also the Cats Cradle stage, a little tent with a bit everything, offering a chilled escape from the main throb of the festival. Basically, there was great music of all varieties on offer at any given time so you could nearly always find what you were looking for (without of course going on a long trek). In fact, there was only one major problem with Waveform- during the day the crowd were generally much more up for chilling than dancing, which meant the tents were often quite empty. This was particularly the case with the main stage. There were times when some brilliant reggae bands were playing out in the sunshine on a great system and only about ten people were taking any proper interest, which to me seemed almost criminal. Perhaps the organisers need to think about the positioning of the stage- being the furthest from the campsite it is quite easy to get drawn into another tent on your way, even against your intentions.
There was also the mud. However, whilst it did get quite muddy there was still plenty of grass to chill out on and keep the place attractive, and anyone who had been to Bestival the week before would have felt blessed in comparison. You cant go to an English festival and complain about the mud, especially give then time of year.
Waveform was simply very fun and very easy- easy to find, a short queue to get in, short walks about the place, really good drugs in abundance, and plenty of good music. At just £78 a ticket plus the fact that its possibly the last festival of the summer, there really are no excuses for not showing up next year!
I had been a bit disappointed by the lack of decent festivals that I had been to in recent years. The usual cliché POOP bands (you know the ones who sing about looking out of windows and being in love!!) playing to a crowd of people off their nuts, singing the same songs their heard on the radio at work!! Being fed adverts on the big screens for washing up powder and Shit films your never gonna see. Well I was glad to find that all was not lost and that there are festivals out there that do have soul.
Hosted in the breathtaking grounds of Henham Park Estate, Southwold the Latitude festival celebrated its 3rd birthday. The festival is not famed for its amazing line up of blockbuster acts or its incredibly large but impenetrable fortress of fences, nor was any of it that ‘spectacular’ (apart from some sheep spray painted pink).However what it didn’t have in wedges of cash, it made up for it in character.
The main stage hosted some big name acts such as Sigur Ros, who played a phenomenal set of their Icelandic falsetto brilliance. Promoting a new album með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust which according to Google means "with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly" which is a pretty f*”king cool name for an album if you ask me. Other main stage highlights include Seasick Steve an inspired American blues singer, who rocked the crowds with song likes “dog house blues” and “Cut My wings”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RlUwS1LKRs&feature=related
Moving around was another major part of this festival, although not long distances, walks had to be made to feast on the best parts of the festival. A few smaller stages situated around the woods and the beautiful river which ran through the festival; which hosted both gondolas; and a fantastic light projection of a spinning globe at night, a real sight to be seen!
The Sunrise Arena, located in the woods – hosted some great acts such as Crystal Castles and Metronomy to name but a few. In addition a great new act called ESSER who I think will be someone to look out for in the future (www.myspace.com/esserhq)
Other music acts which rocked the roof off the tented stages were Sebastien Tellier (http://www.myspace.com/telliersebastien) the French electro pop maestro, who knocked us all into submission with his electro beats and Blondie the punk goddess who still has it considering she is in here 60’s
Other treats included Comedy acts such as Bill Bailey and Ross Noble who went down a storm and upon finishing his set lead a 5,000 strong stampede across the fields. Fun was also had at the countless cabaret acts which continued long into the nights, which unfortunately on all three nights I cannot remember.
As I said before it was great to feel a part of something a bit more special, rather than the mundane churned out rubbish that we are fed most of the time at festival. This wasn’t a festival for festival’s sake. It hard charm, it had atmosphere and most importantly it had pink sheep!!
Welcome to Love That Tune! Put a Donk! on it! If you're a producer/DJ and you want us to post your tune or mix on the site then please send us an email.
If you're an artist that is featured and you want your tune taken down then please get in contact. Please comment, we like to hear your thoughts ... most of them anyway! bear@lovethattune.com trick@lovethattune.com
In fact, there was only one major problem with Waveform- during the day the crowd were generally much more up for chilling than dancing, which meant the tents were often quite empty. This was particularly the case with the main stage. There were times when some brilliant reggae bands were playing out in the sunshine on a great system and only about ten people were taking any proper interest, which to me seemed almost criminal. Perhaps the organisers need to think about the positioning of the stage- being the furthest from the campsite it is quite easy to get drawn into another tent on your way, even against your intentions.
