What: South West Four Music Festival
Where: Clapham London
When: Last weekend of every August
WIIFM: Music, Food, Themes, Markets
I could feel his joy through his moves; his arms reached high towards the sky; his feet stepped on different parts of the grass; his head followed along up in the air; his soul nurtured on the sounds of music and his shadow closely danced along.
Their fingers interlocked as they moved in a wavy-like way. Their eyes are closed blindly looking up at the sky. Shaking their heads to the beat of music, their bodies synchronically danced under the moving clouds.
A young man gave way to his dancing. He stepped out of the crowd and found himself a bigger space to spread his imaginary wings. While snapping his fingers to the beat, his shoulders followed the sound of the snares and he drifted away to the melancholy of the festival.
It was 3 pm on a beautiful Sunday when I got into SW4 Music Festival in Clapham in London last weekend. The event is one of the biggest in the vibrant city where a high number of local and international DJ’s showcase their best musical talents and entertain thousands of ravers and electronic music lovers.
As the sun shined over Clapham I started the day with a soft creamy ice cone with a flake from a Mr. Whippy van and a coffee from an old beetle turned hot drinks stand car.
The main stage had 4 towers of speakers that stretched a few inches above the grass all the way up towards the flying planes.
There were names such as Antz, Silver City and Amnesia Ibiza. Three circus like covered tents hosted different types of electronic music that included a long list of line up DJs.
I realised it was also a drinks and food festival when I witnessed the endless lines of food kiosks and drinks bars. There were Hot dogs, BBQs, as well as Asian American burgers, to name a few. Drinks included everything from alcohol to soft drinks, fresh juices, tea, coffee, smoothies and cocktails.
And if you thought that was not enough to entertain you, there was a sky scraper rollercoaster and a giant revolving swing that would bring back your childhood moments.
Once I filled my brain with enough caffeine and my body with enough carbs, I was ready to explore the day ahead.
The main stage was warming up with Black Coffee dropping sweet and slow beats and the crowd seemed to enjoy the free Reese’s peanut butter cups and new Mohito 7up giveaways.
I couldn’t resist the temptation, so I grabbed some and headed to Amnesia tent where Chez was performing a musical show intertwined with dancing laser lights of many colors while the frequent spraying of fog got the fans jumping non- stop. Hanging from the ceiling were octopus shaped creatures that swung to the wind as if they were actually dancing to the great house tunes.
As the music reached its ecstatic climax a group of 6 girls, dressed up in black, entered the stage in front of the DJ and gave a-one- to- remember dance performance.
I didn’t want to leave such a vibrant sexy atmosphere; it was approaching 4 pm when Fritz Kallbrenner was about to kick some German house at Antz arena.
He opened up with a live performance of his very best track Ways over water and for the next hour the crowd jumped to the electronic sounds of Berlin.
At 6 pm his brother and my all time favorite DJ Paul Kalkbrenner kicked his show on the main stage with one of his biggest tracks Gebrün Gebrün from the album Berlin Calling.
He played German techno at its best, and the crowd sang along with every track and wooed their lungs out when Mr. Kalkbrenner took his jumper off to show his love for soccer wearing his German jersey.
At 9 pm The Chemical Brothers gave an hour and half show that was worth every penny. I would have happily paid the same price for that ticket if it was only for their performance.
They played every tune live in real time and synchronized the visuals along with the sounds of the music.
At one-point green and orange balls followed the music along on the two big screens, and out of nowhere lots of massive balloons in the same color dropped from the roof onto the crowd. They went mental. At times I couldn’t hear the music because the whistles blown by the fans.
Just before closing a giant robot dropped down in slow motion behind the brothers and started dancing along; its eyes blinked, beamed and reflected different laser light colors with every beat while the arms and legs moved along to the melodies.
It was a show not to be missed.
In summary, the event was very well executed, organised and directed. All DJs started and finished on their allocated times; they gave their fans two days of absolute fun and entertainment.
Edited by Chermaine Sowah
