17th-19th June, Matterly Bowl, near Winchester
Arcadia, Glade's heroic centrepiece, is a twisted metal-fangled monument to dance culture. Towering 20-feet above its faithful, it looks like a spaceship built by scrap-combing ravers, with a miniature cockpit percehd aloft. Fire-balls shoot skyward from artificial branches, while satellite stacks of speakers launch crystalline beats in mightily loud surround-sound.
Nothing beats Arcadia as an arena for dancing – and it is as close as Glade gets to fulfilling its utopian manifesto of creating the perfect environment for the perfect rave.
We begin out weekend at the new Glade stage, a wonderfully-devised compromise between the open-aired and sheltered arena, for Afro-beat legend Femi Kuti. Having a father whose radical music and politics still loom large after his death can’t always be easy, though Femi is content enough to produce an essentially updated version of the African jazz-funk fusion that Fela Kuti so introduced to the world in the 70s. A great inclusion on the bill, the Glade stage delivers well on Femi’s lively and invigorating performance. The numerous band of brass, percussionists, guitarists and dancers are flawlessly professional and entertaining, creating a glorious cacophony of rhythmic warmth and African groove.
The anticipation darting through the massive crowd for Booka Shade is palpable. Though lesser known here, most will certainly recognise their signature tune, 'Mandarine Girl'. Like Explosions in the Sky or Coldplay, they are shamelessly populist masters of their art, sharing a knack for melting hard hearts with their overwhelming melodies and luscious sonic landscapes. The set is outstanding, taking the best elements of trance, techno and house to conjure a sense of mass euphoria most DJs can only dream of, rays of affectionate synth washing over the enamoured crowd.
Off to Vapor now, hosted by BLOC, techno specialists whose weekender is infamous for its non-stop mayhem. With a 3,000 capacity, the tent is steeped in menace and thrills, Mutant Clan doing the warming up. Made up of Timo Mass and Santos, they specialise in percussive-oriented, hypnotic grooves, with stripped-down and drawn-out arrangements. Poly-rhythmic tribal drum samples are used to masterful effect in Kenesai , to re-imagine the sometimes tired techno format.
The remainder of the evening is spent perusing the various sights and sounds: a sleazy but entertaining show of sword-swallowing and erotic fire-dancing at Arcadia; Balkan gypsy bands at the Interstellar Circus; and a whole load of Psy Trance spread across a stage and three tents.
Notorious for his jaw-droppingly brilliant beat-box interludes, the next day Beardyman employs some extra kit, layering sample upon sample to create full-bodied tracks. Certainly impressive – his New Order cover and MJ covers are great – all the charm, showmanship and humour of his original act are diluted, rendering him more a novel oddity than the weekend highlight he might have proved to be.
Headlining act Squarepusher certainly doesn’t fail to confound expectations of what is an appropriate Glade set. Opening light and playful with 80s electro fantasy music, he soon gives way to a heavy, psychedelic thrash section, playing the ridiculously fast riffs himself on his trademark 6-string bass. Frenetic, loud and with typically beguiling time-signatures, it’s the introduction of some seriously high bpm that rouses the biggest cheer of the set. A fine riposte to the fogeyish cliché that all dance music is repetitive, same-same beats, his Jazz-inspired bass, noodled and slapped all over the busy backdrop is the most remarkable part of his idiosyncratic act.
On to BLOC for a collaboration between Apparat and MODESELKTOR; the former a lesser-known purveyor of dreamy, low-key electronic, the latter famous for club-banging party sets. Dark, heavy and stripped-down, Moderat’s three DJs are Silhouetted against a spectacular VJ show of cubist artistry and graphics, producing some mesmerizingly loud noise.
Thankfully, Sunday doesn’t demand too much of our tired legs, and is spent bumbling around with the infamous grannies, getting up to all sorts of tomfoolery, tug-of-war, skipping and coff-tea drinking antics included. Music-wise, a considerably aged Finley Quaye has retained all the affection of his heyday, despite a performance in which he barely faces the crowd, but it’s Nitin Sawhney who produces some of the most spine-tingling, beautiful moments of the festival. Obsessive about his music – and rightly so – he grumbles off-stage to sound-check a second time. With cello, tabla, Sawhney’s acoustic guitar and two ethereal singers, it is worth waiting for, this surely the most marvellous set of the weekend, the evocative Homecoming arousing a reaction of a near-spiritual level.
Throughout the evening, grannies in tow, we sample a host of decent sets at Boom Town. Rusko, producing live, is playful, fun and rammed with unlikely samples. In the interests of continuity, Tayo keeps the dub glitchy, while Drop the Lime mashes through a frenetic set that would give the most patient listener a headache, cutting up his pneumatic basslines every twenty seconds or so.
Underworld round off the weekend with a celebratory show, their only of the year and a triumphant one. For a group defined by probably the biggest dance single of all time, 'Born Slippy', they can stand away from its shadow and bask in its glory as they choose. Less hard or serious than expected, Karl Hyde writhes jubilantly in his sparkling blazer, genuinely moved by the adulation of the crowd. The sound is all light and uplifting, twinkling motifs backed by enduring beat-making.
As an electronic festival it goes without saying Glade is not for committed indie fans. Some balance has been struck with a number of quality live performances but this remains a festival for the dance hardcore. In terms of its lauded community spirit, the vast majority were as affable as could be, but with so many substances in consumption the mood is bound to be edgy at times. Never one for trendiness, Glade lacks the voguish offshoots like bassline, bashment, wonky, Italo etc, and has one foot in the free-parties of old and one in a modern festival. Still, what they do they do very well, and 2009 couldn’t be considered anything less than a rousing success.
Posted In Latest news, Jul 25 2009.
Words - Finn