Glade Festival 2008 - Rated!

United Kingdom | | 22 July 2008

Overall - 7/10

As a dedicated electronic music festival, Glade has to rate up there with the best. Capable of attracting some of the biggest names in dance music, and providing them with good sound in an attractive space, it will only ever be disasters like bad weather that will put expectation levels down for those who really want to attend.

Getting There and Back  - 9/10

Short of being chauffeured to the site to find the kettle just about to boil in your already erected, personalised tepee, getting to, in and out of this festival is a breeze. Not too hilly either, so not far to set up camp, and with a reduced number on site this year, a fair bit of choice when choosing where to pitch your tent.

The Site - 8/10

It is a beautiful woodland glade! With the arenas situated at the foot of the slope, in a fairly simple arrangement that leaves plenty of room to provide a couple of market areas, and still leave a good size for the chill out space that is Inspiral, the site works well. With the addition of The Pussy Parlure providing an alternative ‘real club’ feel as soon as you walk through the doors, and the outdoor energy of The Origin Stage giving you yet more options, the overall space is good for a festival of this size. It loses points because of it’s lack of respect for the space itself, with overflowing bins, no recycling, and not enough water points.

Atmosphere - 6/10

Suffering a bit from last year’s biblical weather, the site was obviously short of the mark in terms of capacity. This meant that at times, even some of the best acts were playing to half empty tents, and although it was a friendly crowd, and good enough weather to keep the spirits high, you still felt that there was more left in it. But at it’s peak, the party was in full flow, and the crowd gave back lots of energy to the performers on the first two nights. An 8 o’clock finish on the Sunday night seems a little harsh too.

Music - 8/10

Definitely benefiting from a slight widening of their horizons, the music on offer at Glade is still aimed strictly at an audience who like their electronic sounds, booming bass and pounding rhythms, with DJs filling most of the line-up. It leaves little room for variety in terms of live acts or bands, but this shouldn’t be seen as a problem. The acts and DJs cover a wide range of styles and each area provides a distinctly different feel. It was good to come from Overkill or Breaksday to catch the different vibe created around Sancho Panza, or Origin, or even catch some disco or latin flavours in The Pussy Parlure.

Uppers

The Plump DJs and Stanton Warriors always provide quality in terms of breaks, and both filled their 10.30 ‘til midnight slots in the Breaksday tent to good effect, while Dubfire and Jeff Mills helped maintain a darker feel to The Glade / Vapor arena on the Saturday night. During the day, The Dub Pistols brought the reggae vibe early on Friday, and the Overproof Sound System continued it on Saturday with a great set. The latest incarnation of The Orb sound system, with live drums, percussion and an MC, performing shorter, punchier versions of their tracks makes seeing them again at another festival this year a must.

Downers

Having to choose between Dubfire, Stanton Warriors, Autechre and Lee Burridge, who were all playing at the same time on the Saturday night, and it still being light when the music stopped on Sunday night, without even giving The Orb a chance to do an encore.

Random Events

An unusually high percentage of people with twitches.
No signs warning you of the hazards of tripping over discarded Nitrous Oxide canisters.
The Granny’s Gaff stall selling grams of cake in sealed neatly labelled clear bags.
Vegan food stall Planet V’s persistence in keeping the music going until the early hours Sunday night – Good work lads and lasses!

by Matt Cook