London’s young cultural revolution of the last decade has seen a huge shift East, with the formerly near-destitute boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Hackney becoming hotbeds of new creativity and the centre of London’s new bohemia. Hackney’s Victoria Park is now the annual residence of the Lovebox festival. The event is a three day showcase of the best examples and influences of London’s eclectic club scene, and the line up this year was the best yet.The Sunday sun was out and the crowd had a smile on its face.
The Friday and Saturday were still a hazy memory of performances from headliners Dizzee Rascal and Roxy Music, along with an intense set from fidget pioneers Crookers. But today was the day the aficionados came out to play. The line up didn’t contain any of the household names or crowd-pleasers of the previous days, but to those in-the-know it was sublime. Almost too good to be true, as stalwarts of the buzzing electro and nu-disco scene Cut Copy, New Young Pony Club, Hot Chip, Hercules and Love Affair and Chromeo came together for what promised to be the party of the summer. The cherry on the space cake was headliner and veteran darling of the club scene Grace Jones.
The NYC Downlow tent saw two disco heavyweights Horse Meat Disco and Disco Bloodbath sparring over the decks all day. This had to be seen. For those unfamiliar with the NYC Downlow set up, the tent is designed to look like a shady pre-Giuliani New York club, complete with neon lights, yellow cabs and transvestite ushers. I passed the leather clad hosts on the door and entered a world packed with heaving bodies writhing in intense heat to 70s disco classics. There was a special feeling in here unlike anywhere else over the three day event. Those who were in there hadn’t stumbled across it by accident – these were devoted music fans who had come here to hear that blend mix of disco, electro and vintage house that have made the boys from Disco Bloodbath heavyweights on the ultra-cool end of London club scene. The homo-erotic associations were clear for all to see, but as classic after classic was fed to the baying crowd disco displayed its undying ability to unify a crowd regardless of sexuality, gender or race.
Onto the main stage, and Hot Chip seemed off the boil, never building up a rapport with the crowd. Perhaps their bouncy electronics are best heard in the contained environment of a club, because on a big open air stage their sound seemed to drift off over the heads of the early evening audience. Over and Over was the one peak in an otherwise flat set.But the event’s peak was worth waiting the weekend for.
Everything about Grace Jones’ character is a work of art. From the songs to the album covers to the outfits and beyond. Her performances are themselves visual art. Tens of thousands of people stood entranced by her androgynous figure strutting across the stage like some omnipotent dictator - there was pure magic in the air. Now in her sixties, she stalked the stage singing songs of hedonistic pursuits like a veteran boxer moving around the ring – the stage was her home, she knew her space and looked natural and confident. In true eccentric form she hula-hooped her way through ‘Williams Blood’ without flinching, a feat which most women a quarter of her age would struggle with. Her version of Love is the Drug worked the crowd into a near frenzy, and the addition of Pull Up To The Bumper almost made the earth move.
The crowd left on a high, and the after parties and after-after parties raged on until the next afternoon. Days like Sunday at Lovebox don’t come around too often, and as I sank into my bed sometime around mid-day on Monday, I knew I was lucky to have been there.
copyright Tom Armstrong. 27/7/10.
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