Our music editor went to one of the city's biggest festivals, for the very first time...
While I could natter for ages about the history of house or what’s happening in the world of techno, I’d be lying if I said I knew that much about drum and bass. And yeah, I am a bit embarrassed to admit that.
However, you can often find me lurking in the jungle tent at festivals and I think there’s always been a DnB head inside of me, but I just hadn’t spent enough time exploring that world. When Detonate Festival 2019 came around it was time to change that.
Both locally and across the nation, Detonate has an impressive reputation and has been throwing respected parties since 1999. In 2014 (and on its 15th birthday) it decided to take things one step further and launch a summer festival too - y’know, a proper outdoors one. Those five years since have seen it move from Nottingham Racecourse to Colwick Country Park, even extending to two days in 2017 before returning back to a sold-out, solid Saturday lineup at the Park again.
This year, a new stage was announced; The Elsyian Fields joined the established set up of the Big Top, Floating Disco, Hidden Wonderland and The Clearing. Each area was curated to have its own sound, with the Big Top, The Clearing and Elsyian Fields being homes for the die-hard fans, housing Andy C, Friction, DJ EZ and more. The Hidden Wonderland was hosted by bouncy-house-brand Movement while the Floating Disco, as you’d expect, saw the likes of Shut The Front Door and Horse Meat Disco play out more synth-led tunes and reworked wedding classics (Abba, anyone?) before chameleon of the scene, Artwork, closed it with style.
Yes, it rained, but there were enough dry spells to ensure it wasn’t a total wash out - if you came prepared with the right stomping boots and a good hood (which the promoters encouraged you to do), then there were no problems. Arriving at around 1pm, the queues weren’t bad and the electronic wristband system worked smoothly for me too. Some of the stages could have been louder, with restrictions probably limiting the volume, but not everywhere - Elysian Fields was a sure-fire place to get skanking, not to mention, an impressive apocalyptic style rave setting that went down well with the masses.
After settling in and lining my stomach by noshing down some chips ‘n’ gravy (the street food selection had much more exotic delights to offer, but sometimes those greasy fries just hit the spot), it wasn’t long before I was getting stuck in and exploring the lineup. Warming up at the Floating Disco then singing along to Dr Dre 2001: An Orchestral Rendition, I quickly ended up joining the, very up for it, crowd and absolutely losing it to Andy C - setting the tone for the rest of the day and resulting in sore, muddy feet.
It’s always good to look around at gatherings like this to see a mixture of ages on the faces grinning back at you. With a night that’s been running for so long, there’s no doubt that an annual festival like this is likely to bring out ravers who would have got sweaty at the original events. I might not have been hugely familiar with the line up (though very aware it was packed full of massive names in the genre), but a crowd’s vibe is universal at any event and here, I felt welcomed and encouraged to blow off some steam and absolutely ‘ave it.
If you’re a Detonate regular I’m sure you won’t need much swaying to get you excited for 2020's festival. But that’s not my point for writing this.
It’s funny how we all fall into our own scenes but it’s good to break out of them, and I think (and hope) the electronic music world is swaying that way and encouraging crossover right now. If you wouldn’t usually go to a DnB event, I’d urge you to give this a go and likewise, if you love to get down to a ridiculous EZ drop, you might be surprised how your body moves to outrageous techno at the next night in the city that pops up.
Detonate festival 2019 took place on Saturday 8 June at Colwick Country Park
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