A weekend at Lovebox 2009

As far as blogging goes, this is a little off topic for me. But it’s no secret that I’m a massive music fan, so should all make sense in the end 🙂

This weekend I’ve had the pleasure of attending the Lovebox Weekender, a two-day festival held in Victoria Park, East London. Set up by Groove Armada eight years ago, it’s an infusion of electro, rock and ‘cutting edge’ pop acts. Lovebox was the name of a club night hosted by the duo, as well as one of their albums – both of which helped to lay the foundations for the event’s concept.

So, I was wondering around the site, camera in hand (or someone else’s actually) all with the aim of creating content for Lovebox.net/tv.

Day one was all about the main stage, and the first big act to step up was Florence & the Machine at around 6.00pm. The very beginning of this set provided me with my quote of the day, courtesy of the man behind me; ‘is that the girl from Girls Aloud?’

Decked out in a feather trimmed leotard and matching shoes, Florence’s energy cut the crowd like a knife and I was impressed with how strong her voice was when performing live. She was obviously a bit giddy that it was the first time they’d played on a main stage, and her excitement was incredibly contagious. To the same man behind me that dismissed them with; ‘I don’t like Florence…or her machine’, you not only need your eyes tested, but you are truly wrong.

Next up was N.E.R.D, who after a slow first half, turned the crowd on a penny like no artist I’ve ever seen. The interaction was well-timed and everyone went crazy for ‘Lapdance’ (as you do). Pharrell turned on the charm and inadvertently created a bit of a riot at the front by inviting girls onto the stage with him. I’m not going to lie, I tried my best. In the end, I was pipped to the post by a girl standing next to me after she pulled the ‘fake faint’ move. Ahem. Anyway, it was a great festival set.

The night finished with a Clockwork Orange style entrance by Duran Duran, and though I wasn’t too impressed with their new material, the classics went down a storm. The piece de resistance was the inclusion of Mark Ronson on stage for the finale, a Bond theme medley and my favourite of their songs – ‘View to a kill’. Amazing laser show as well.

Day two’s highlights included an audience-performed session of Hip Hop Karaoke, a great interview backstage with half of Bombay Bicycle Club (lovely boys) and a live set from Filthy Dukes. In fact, I’m listening to their album right now, and they were truly great on stage. A perfect afterparty band I think.

We also got the chance to check out the All Star Lanes bowling alley yesterday, which was very impressive, as well as the antics inside the Gordon’s Sloe Gin Sanctuary (a clever concept that gave away a free cocktail to those that found one of a limited number of special wristbands). There was also the inevitable fairground rides, ‘Affordable Vintage Clothes Fair’ and the hawaiian-beach themed Rizla stage (which could have been four times the size and still packed).

I’ll be working on a final edit this next week, which will go live on Monday. I’ll post it here as soon as it’s finished.