Clapham Weekender, August 23rd and 24th
Thursday, 28 Aug 2008 11:49
Dance and rock come together over the Bank Holiday weekend
South West Four and Get Loaded in the Park returned to Clapham Common in south London for the bank holiday weekend, and just like the weather, served up a real treat for revellers both old and young, where never could the phrase ‘something for everyone’ be more apt.
The festival with an increasingly growing stock returned for its fifth year at the same venue with what many would argue to be its strongest line-up yet!
SOUTH WEST FOUR
As always, the first day of the festival was dedicated to the dance orientated and organisers did not disappoint with the line-up. Despite going head-to-head with the more established Creamfields festival, South West Four managed to secure the services of such renowned acts as Carl Cox, Fedde le Grand, Layo & Bushwacka and Erik Morillo.
It was in fact Morillo's set that really got the crowd going, spinning a carefully picked set of '90s and '00s classics, and nobody drops a remix like Morillo. The legendary Carl Cox didn't disappoint, but then again, was he ever likely to?!
Other highlights of the day weren't necessarily where you'd expect to find them on the main stage; Sven Vath lived up to his reputation as the "undisputed figurehead of the German club scene", with a dazzling set on the Global Stage, while Armin van Buuren served the comparatively small crowd a veritable treat of a set in the Time Out tent.
One of the best run, friendliest and high-quality dance events of the summer once again lived up to and enhanced its reputation and will undoubtedly return the stronger for it next year – one just wonders whether there is anyway round the 9pm licence dilemma, a bizarre (if understandable due to the festival's residential setting) time of day to bring the curtain down on a dance event!
GET LOADED IN THE PARK
Day two of the Clapham Weekender was more for the indie crowd, although the sold-out event also had its fair share of DJs to keep the breaks and grime folk happy too.
Headlining the show was the insatiable Iggy and the Stooges, fronted by the iconic Iggy Pop, still going strong at the tender age of 61 (although probably slightly less strong this week after falling off a speaker mid-performance and injuring himself at the event!). However the slight mishap didn't prevent the superstar carrying on with his only UK date this summer, and famous tracks such as I Wanna Be Your Dog and Search and Destroy were obvious crowd pleasers.
The self-proclaimed inventor of the stage-dive did however resist jumping into his adoring crowd on this occasion. As he did resist playing two of his most famous hits, Lust for Life and The Passenger; but then again this was a Stooges gig so it was understandable.
Proceeding Iggy and the Stooges were Britpop pioneers Supergrass, who treated the Clapham crowd to a mixture of old classics such as Richard III and Alright, as well as testing the water with a string of news tracks from their latest album Diamond Hoo Ha. The Hives also wowed the main stage and their hit single Hate To Say I Told You So was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the whole weekend, as lead singer Pelle Almqvist worked the crowd and wiped them up into a raucous frenzy.
Gogol Bordello, who had been described by comic Phil Jupitus as a like that resembled "the Clash having a fight with the Pogues in eastern Europe", were, shall we say... different.
Officially described as a "multi-ethnic gypsy punk band from New York", they are certainly one of those bands that have to be seen to be believed. Their single Start Wearing Purple is amusing in a bizarre 'turn and give a confused look to the person next to you' kind of way.
But the crowd seem to love them and several thousand people can’t be wrong... as they say!
Other notable moments from the day was Kate Nash doing an Amy Winehouse impersonation (by turning up over an hour late for her set that is), the always entertaining and exceptionally talented Beth Dito and her band Gossip, and DJ Yoda, who I would recommend anyone with a taste for scratching, mixing and 80s nostalgia to go and see – truly spectacular set from the London based hip-hop turntablist.
THE WEEKENDER
As the sun came down on the Clapham Weekender for fifth time, the general consensus among techno-heads and indie kids alike, was that the organisers has once again put on a great weekend and perhaps most importantly, at a very reasonable price.
Drink and food prices were also palatable (rarely the case at a modern festival) and waiting times for the toilets and refreshments were minimal.
The festival really can be proud of itself for continuing to put on an event, friendly enough to take the family too, yet respectable enough to attract the mid-20s professionals and the indie kids of Shoreditch and Hoxton – a feat of universal appeal that is definitely easier said than done.
Roll on 2009!
Jamie Reid
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