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With Global Gathering making its hotly tipped entry to the Australian festival scene this November (all the latest info on www.inthemix.com.au/globalgathering), ITM’s dave1986 files his ridiculously comprehensive review of the recent UK festival!
It was with extreme delight and keen anticipation that I got the chance to attend 2008’s Global Gathering festival in the UK. For those not familiar, the team behind Godskitchen – Angel Music Group – attract over 50,000 English punters to the festival, and it takes place towards the end of July each year at Long Marston Airfield, near Stratford-Upon-Avon. The Friday/Saturday event boasts the strongest and most diverse lineup of any dance event on the planet; a who’s who of electronic music, from the legendarily iconic, to the brightest so-hot-right-now new talent.
In 2008 Kanye West stood up to take the headline slot, alongside Moby and Mark Ronson, with heavyweight DJs like Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, Sasha, John Digweed, Dubfire, Ferry Corsten, Above & Beyond, Roger Sanchez, Eric Prydz, James Zabiela, Sven Vath, Andy C, Krafty Kuts and countless others rounding out the bill (for the full lineup, check out www.globalgathering.co.uk). Whether it was house, trance, techno, prog, breaks, DnB or hard dance, Global Gathering summonsed the best in the business. With such a massive lineup, Global – as it is fondly referred to – takes place 5pm-2am on Friday and 2pm-6am on Saturday. It’s certainly an endurance test!
Having been warned of monstrous queues in past years we arrived early on the Friday to be confronted by an already extensive line, however the doors opened promptly at 10am to allow punters in to set up their tents. Before long we were set up and enjoying an electric atmosphere of anticipation. Global veterans had brought their own large speaker set-ups for the camping area, along with tents big enough to hold entire dance floors; many had even brought turntables! Portaloos were aplenty, as well as public water taps connected via underground piping, a must in the hot weather.
Throughout the day, Mexican waves travelled up and down the campsite, with eager punters jeering, drinking and dancing to everything from the latest Eric Prydz house anthem to old-school Scooter rave classics. It seemed that the festival had already begun, and before long 5pm strolled around, and the masses began to make their way to the main festival site.
FRIDAY
Once inside we made our way past the Stealth Stage where Fedde Le Grand was dishing out his brand of tech-house grooves. Having been impressed by him previously, he continued his good form to a large crowd, literally bursting at the seams screaming ‘Fedde… Fedde… Fedde’. An acapella of Put Your Hands Up For Detroit certainly gave the crowd what they were begging for. Moving on to the largest tent of the festival, which on Friday was named the Global Stage, John Dalback was on deck and warming up the crowd nicely.
A word on the production in this tent, the festival’s pride and joy in this respect; AMAZING! That is all that can really be said! It’s a huge tent that easily accommodates up to 15,000 people, with the DJ booth elevated above the ground and surrounded by large, synchronised screens that were placed so as to spiral around the performer and up towards the roof. The sound system was crystal clear, and combined with spine-tingling visual appeal it created an awesome experience.
With such fancy surroundings, John Dahlback played a great – if not somewhat restrained – set, meandering between electro-tech and house grooves, with characteristic progressive and trancey influences lightly keeping the energy bustling along. His own track Watch Me went down well with the crowd, as did Pyramid. During his set Deadmau5 was spotted wandering through the crowd, and he mauled by some very enthusiastic guys eager to take a picture. As we were leaving he was stepping up to the plate, starting with a very nice piano intro which morphed into his track Arguru.
Heading across to the Cocoon stage, Adam Beyer was letting loose to a very small but appreciative crowd of tech-heads. Yet again, it was another great setup, albeit on a smaller scale. It provided an afternoon of strobelight entertainment to the looping, percussive grooves of Michael Ho Screw the Coffeemaker (Adam Beyer Remix). Choose Your Systems was well appreciated, as evidenced by a guy in the front row holding up a laminated paper sign to the crowd which read: ‘ABSOLUTE STONKER!’ Beyer made great use of his mixer, cutting the highs in and out to provide interesting percussive rhythms. A short, techno remix of Dubfire – Roadkill had the crowd won and I left with a big cheesy grin.
Catching the final 10 minutes or so of Deadmau5, advertised as playing ‘live’, I couldn’t help but notice that he generally mixed his originals and remixes without too much alteration or rearrangement. Perhaps a more apt title would be ‘DJing all of his own tracks’, but nevertheless the crowd were hugely responsive. Next to take the stage was none other than prog-god Sasha. With a trademark atmospheric, beatless intro to M83 Couleurs (Sasha Involv2er edit), Sasha didn’t waste too much time, settling into some nice, pulsating tech grooves.
Although he started fairly minimal, the immensity of sound in the tent meant that a hypnotic, booming throb continued while spooky chimes and spiralling swooshes kept the beats ticking over. Perhaps starting a little slower and more eclectic than what some of the crowd were in the mood for, I was surprised that after 15 minutes or so much of the Deadmau5 crowd had left. Sensing a semi-slump, it wasn’t long before Sasha raised the pace and all out chaos ensued. Huge progressive buildups with undercutting tech beats pounded out of the speakers. For me, the most appealing aspect of Sasha is his ability to combine the energy and climax of trance with the subtlety and groove of progressive and tech. His mastery of Ableton, controlled by his one of a kind MAVEN midi controller, is generally astounding. Coma made an appearance, as did Ladytron Destroy Everything You Touch (invol2ever edit). Gradually dropping the pace a touch towards the end gave the crowd a chance to soak up the experience, finishing with The Chemical Brothers Midnight Madness was a fun and suitable choice for the send off.
After Sasha it was time for Eric Prydz to take the reigns. Through his productions under a range of aliases, it is safe to say he’s earned a level of respect from both fans and DJs that’s not easily parallelled. All I can say is; he certainly delivers the goods. And then some! Interestingly, the performance was a perfect example of the influence that the resurgence in all things tech has had on the international scene. Generally speaking, his set was what you would expect from a modern Cirez D performance (Prydz’s tech alias). Known for playing a large number of his own tracks during his sets, by dropping unreleased edits it ensured the performance never became predictable. The Pjanoo sample appeared early on, but quickly ripped into a tech-house groove.
Edits of Muranyi and Aftermath gave a driving tech edge to the performance, showing a level of thought and strategy that Prydz obviously puts into his music. The very large Smith & Selway Total Departure (Cirez D Remix) was a highlight, and finishing with the original Pjanoo had swarms of eager punters rushing from the fringes to experience one of the most memorable house anthems of the year. All in all, a fantastic performance that may not have been what many expected, however one that we thoroughly enjoyed.
Next up, Tiesto. Without a shadow of doubt, his performance was by far the most anticipated for Friday. Throughout the day people were constantly asking each other where and when Tiesto was playing. With this much hype, he certainly had a lot to live up to. Starting off with Carpe Noctum, the first part of the set was much the same as the start of his In Search Of Sunrise 7 compilation; warm and with a Balearic vibe. Technically, although Tiesto doesn’t tend to make any large mistakes, he doesn’t have the same eye for subtly of Dutch contemporaries like Armin or Ferry. A tune with complicated percussion patters will just be faded in out of nowhere on top of a continuous outro beat, and his style of bashing songs together is not always the wisest technical choice. Nevertheless, he keeps the energy to a maximum, and a driving remix of Planet Funk Chase the Sun had punters going mental, while an electro remix of Elements of Life was a crowd-highlight.
The last hour featured all out melodic trance, with the monstrous Vengeance Temptation (Denga & Manus) causing people to literally hold onto each other, as did the mash-up of Chicane’s classic Saltwater, Chicane vs Natasha Beddingfield Bruised Water. Interestingly, none of Tiesto’s more famous tracks were dropped. No Traffic, no Lethal Industry, no Flight 643, no Adagio for Strings. In a way this impressed me, and the crowd didn’t seem to mind being introduced to ‘new’ music that may not have been all that familiar. All in all, Tiesto delivered what he usually does; a big party full of fun tunes that people everywhere lapped up. With the end of Tiesto came the end of the first day, and a mass of pleased – but tired – punters made their way back to camp.
SATURDAY
After a slowish start due to the hot weather, we made our way back at around 4pm on the Saturday ready to start it all again. The Saturday event is definitely the bigger of the two, with many choosing to just buy a day-ticket, negating the need for camping. After a quick beverage and a late lunch, we made our way over to the tent Mark Knight was in control of. Having heard promising things, I was thoroughly impressed. Starting off playing large driving techno, the crowd were treated to epic off-beat climaxes together with rolling beats. Atmosphere abounded courtesy of the fantastic Huntemann vs. Dubfire Diablo, and gradually the techno settled into more groove based tech-house, with Funkagenda What the Fuck well received. Mark Knight, Adam K & Soha From the Speaker had people giggling to the amusing lyrics and addictive groove.
More and more house influences were introduced throughout Knight’s performance, with chugging remixes of Armand Van Helden You Don’t Know Me and Daft Punk Technologic pleasing the crowd. While personally I enjoyed the early part of the performance most, it was a deeply impressive set and technically sound. A definite highlight of the festival. As we made our way outside the crowd were being treated to an acrobatic performance from 10 red and blue coloured jet-planes. Flying in patterns, soaring to the sky, then dropping down and flying just over the top of the crowd, trails of multi-coloured smoke were left through the skyline. From a distance the planes created the illusion of playing chicken, much to the delight of the gathered crowd. I was chuffed at the spectacular surprise show.
Next up, very cool live techno courtesy of Martin Buttrich in the Bedrock Tent. A very small crowd didn’t do the quality of music justice, with deep and groovy beats obviously not suited to the afternoon. The ever popular Hunter made a feature to finish, and then SOS (Desyn Masiello, Demi, Omid 16B) picked up where Buttrich left off; with more rolling beats. It was, however warmer, with lush, subtle melodies that brought smiles all round. Before long the beats got chunker and the BPM got raised. Unfortunately fantastic track selection was let down by some sub-par mixing, especially from Desyn.
Over to the Godskitchen Arena (the Global tent from yesterday), young star Sander Van Doorn was on deck. He got things going by dropping a section of Riff, which had the crowd’s attention drawn immediately. Sander exhibited his style of electro and progressive mixed with traditional tech-trance, a sound that’s elevated him to fame. His remix of Sia The Girl You Lost To Cocaine is a great example of his ability to experiment between genres. His bootleg of Timbaland Apologise, as well as the Bart B More mix of Out of Space, let people relate to some familiar tunes, if a little cheesy. Sushi, Apple and Dozer all made noteworthy appearances too. Personally, I prefer the stomping Sander of old, but there is no doubt he is a hugely talented individual (both in the studio and behind the decks).
Following on, it was time for the hotly anticipated Above & Beyond. With all three members behind the decks, big electro-trance tunes embodied the first segment of the performance, with Sirens of the Sea popping its beautiful proverbial head in for a run. Trademark Anjuna material followed; sublime melodies and vocals, with interesting track structures defying much of the generic, obvious trance that gets around these days. The crowd lapped up every moment of it, with Alone Tonight in particular having everyone sing-along. I was not able to tracklist much of the set (I was informed by a master trainspotter that a lot of new Anjuna material was tested), but it was trance of the highest order.
After an hour or so, it was time to make our way over to catch John Digweed, in command of his Bedrock Tent. By now the tent was packed to the rafters, and it was heaving to big, relentless techno and prog hybrids. It seems that with every year this old-school legend stacks up, he just gets more exciting and more innovative. Massive rolling basslines complemented fluid and atmospheric melodies; the air was positively electric. It’s hard to describe the feeling that Digweed was able to develop inside the tent, such is his mastery. It was bubbling and ready to burst with energy, but always under check. I had this picked as the set of the festival at the time. Gui Boratto Haute Couture, Vincenzo The Phantom Image (a gem!), and the new Bedrock release Guy J Geko (Remute Remix) all commanded huge appreciation.
It was hard to drag myself away, but I jumped back over to Godskitchen to catch the rest of Armin Van Buuren. It seemed I was destined to be stuck running between these two tents all day, such was their quality. To enter the tent was a task in itself, as Armin easily had the largest audience of the festival. These days (at least in our part of the world), most of us are accustomed to seeing Armin weave his magic over 6+ hours. Yet with only two hours to work with, Armin was transfixed solely on smashing the audience to bits. And boy did he do just that.
He played MUCH harder and driving than I expected, in fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trance crowd go more mental. This was absolute destruction! Massive tunes such as Vengeance Temptation (Denga & Manus Remix), Gareth Emery More Than Anything (Stoneface & Terminal Remix) and Paul Van Dyk Cast Away featured, while DJ Shah More Than Anything (an Armin favourite) was a highlight. Communication got the biggest response of the festival (bordering on insanity), and his finish of Burned with Desire signalled the end to the best festival trance set I’ve ever witnessed. Armin’s charisma behind the decks and appreciation of his fans proves why he is currently the world’s most popular DJ.
Catching my breath, we swung back around to catch the wonderful genius geek, James Zabiela, who was rocking out to the Bedrock crowd. Always impressive, he was dishing out jacking, throbbing techno. With his EFX wizardry, it is often easy to forget how accomplished he is with traditional DJ techniques. With the tricks almost all but gone these days, he has made the complete transformation from boy wonder to seasoned heavyweight. The odd, long buildup resulted in punishing drops, with absolutely slamming bass thumped out relentlessly from the speakers. To counterbalance, the odd breaks tune was complemented with faultless CDJ scratching. An unbelievable, throbbing techno remix of the timeless trance anthem Push Universal Nation had me close to tears. An incredible set to say the least!
Back to Godskitchen, I caught the last of Ferry Corsten, with Veracocha Carte Blanche receiving the usual good reaction, while Menno de Jong Spirit (Paul Miller Remix) also proving a favourite. Ferry is never one to disappoint. Markus Schulz followed, playing a great set full of big and groovy basslines with beautiful yet restrained melodies. He shied away from some of the more ‘epic’ trance featured in previous performances. It was a few BPMs lower, and a little more sophisticated in its track selection. The Marco V mix of Nic Chagall What You Need featured, while finishing with the classic *Bedrock- Heaven Scent guaranteed a nod of approval.
To close the festival the reigns were handed over to Judge Jules. Starting off with rolling tech-trance, it wasn’t long before the pace was raised dramatically to cater for a very tired and worn out crowd. Thanks largely due to the Judge’s incessant screams of ‘’Come on!’’, and a combination of personal charisma and amusing idiocy behind the decks, the crowd responded and rocked out till the end. It took some big tunes, though, including Direkt Dizko (Sander Van Doorn Remix), his remix of The White Stripes Seven Nation Army and, after reaching into the dairy section of his CD wallet, a tech-trance bootleg of Linkin Park Numb. Far from pioneering, it was all out banging party tunes, which no doubt the crowd needed to survive.
A very long review; but it was a very long event (25 hours worth of continuous music across nine different arenas spread over two days!) Inevitably, I missed a lot as it was impossible to be in 10 places at once, but by all accounts Kanye West was entirely disappointing (again), Moby was fun, David Guetta and Axwell kept the house fans happy, and the Stanton Warriors were the pick of the breaks crowd. To finish, it is worthy to remark of why – in my opinion – Global Gathering and many other European events are such successes. As with any party, it comes down to the punters. The fact that so many people were willing to trek out to the middle of nowhere, camp out, look like crap, and crank out at a big party is testament to the European scene.
Advantages of this enthusiasm abound – with noise restrictions, cut-off curfews and high site-hire charges being done away with – ensures the promoters can focus solely on the quality of the festival, bringing the best party and best acts to the punters. Plain and simple; this is the secret to the festival’s success. With Global Gathering coming to Australia in the wake of other international brands making their debut (Armin Only and Qdance this year, Sensation to come on NYE), it bodes well for the Australian dance scene in general. Whether our festivals are elevated to that “next level” comes down to the willingness of the fans to take it there!
Check out this YouTube that brings together the best of Global Gathering UK 2008:
JackT says...
What a comprehensive review! Massive kudos.
Finchy84 says...
Dave you suck!!!! Haha only messing mate, grat review.
DrKOK says...
as if oz's GG gunna be that good!!! FFS its gunna be at the bowl for Melbs!!!
DrKOK says...
as if oz's GG gunna be that good!!! FFS its gunna be at the bowl for Melbs!!!
youngman says...
Amazing review - felt like I was there. Sounds like an incredible event.
krys_65 says...
What a brilliant review.It gave a great picture of the crowd and atmosphere.I had goosebumps reading it!I know GG Oz wont be as epic but I think it will be what each of us makes of it.I am dying for A
timambo says...
wow! nice review mate...can't wait for our summer to kick off. Arminn, still topping everything.simply the best. Oz is waiting to explode...bring it on.
trancejunkii says...
absolute spot on review mate... Armin was def the BEST!!! he completely annihilated and destroyed that Godskitchen Tent to which was jam packed full of 20,000ppl!!!! Complete domination and clearly the best performance of the whole festival!!! Proved once again why he is the premier DJ in the world...Godskitchen and Polysexual Stages (I hope there is a Hard Dance stage for the aussie version) were rockin from start to finish, and the land mass they use for the whole festival is about 20 times bigger than that of Sidney Myer Music Bowl!!!!!!
Chay83 says...
Great review, I got tingles down my spine reading it! I'd heard average things about GG from a friend who was there last year, but I guess it can really come down to the weather! It's good that you got to experience GG minus the quagmire! I may have to pop it back on my "must do" list for Europa next year! *G*
seen006 says...
brilliant review mate. simply brilliant.. it will be interesting when aussie gets but only a taste of what the larger european festival offers.. bring on aussie.. and lets do this!!
kamshaft11 says...
Fantastic review ; ) ....Deadmau5 coming down Feb-Mar next year! *high five*
angy says...
Kickass review mate! Reading it in an internet cafe in Thailand, most impressed :)
GroovyGeo says...
Those Jets are called the RED ARROWS, How can u not know this? Great review apart from that. I was there and reading this review brought back so many memories of those two days THANK YOU. I thought it was the best festival, loved it!!
GroovyGeo says...
I want to go back to that Damn airfield and PARTY again!! GG was awesome and Godskitchen tent rocked, Polysexual was amazin and Nocturnal was pumping!! Aussie GG wont be anywhere near as good, I was BLOWN AWAY by the SOUND SYSTEMS and had a good old ring in my ears for a couple of days afterwards and as we know it was a WHOLE weekend camping thing with SO MANY PEOPLE