Squarepusher Headlines Bangface 2008

On April 25, the south coast of England was invaded by thousands of electronic music fans for a weekend festival hosted by London party label Bangface.

Impressions of the Festival Venue

The organisers had selected the old Butlins holiday camp at Cambersands as a suitable venue in which to house the ravers for the duration of the weekend, some of whom had made the short train journey from the capital whilst many others had come from as far as the North-east and Europe.

Arriving at the camp brought mixed reactions -- excitement at seeing some of the biggest names in the dance/techno field warring with horror at the bizarre sight of a smiley face balloon dancing above the giant blue plastic entertainment arena. The accommodation was similarly alarming. Although advertised as ‘private chalets,’ they had obviously not seen a coat of paint since the place was opened in the 1970s and lacked any sense of coziness.

Any negatives were immediately displaced by the atmosphere as festival-goers arrived bleating with anticipation and keen to make friends with the chalet next door. Being housed in blocks rather than being confined to the area around one’s tent was a novel take on the festival idea and had a similarly unique affect on the tone.

Full credit is due to the Bangface ‘crew’ for managing to turn the vast, carpeted ballrooms (more used to the sight of OAPs dancing the foxtrot) into a cavernous rave venue complete with credible visuals, awesome strobe lights and a seemingly endless stream of glow-sticks and balloons.

The Line-Up

Highlights from the long list of renowned DJs included Ceephax Acid, who warmed up the crowd early on the first day with a selection of awe-inspiring electronic beats, and Altern8 whose happy-hardcore set provided just the necessary entertaining lift on Saturday after one night of hard dancing. The range of DJs was as commendable as their number with beats ranging from old-school techno to the new, experimental genre of dub.

Headlining Saturday were chilled-out duo Plaid who lived up to their billing and produced some truly enjoyable rhythms. Although their music is typically laid back, Plaid added a little extra to the electro layers and turned favourite tunes into beats that had the crowd dancing. To compliment, they had a well-thought out visual display with images changing in unison with the music. The real magic of Plaid was their progressions which were so poetic and beautiful that they should have felt out of place in the slightly grimy venue and some of the electronic tones.

Squarepusher Headlines on Sunday

The man that the majority of the festival had turned out to see, however, was Squarepusher whose gigs have become more numbered in his older age. Critique of his past performances have described everything from the legendary to the mediocre to the self-indulgent and downright bizarre.

But the Essex-born legend did more than acquit himself, he surpassed expectations. He played proper electro, as only Squarepusher can, throughout his performance, switching between playing his bass to his guitar live with all the nonchalance of genius skill.

Keeping the crowd happy with a few choice favourites (the opening strains of Hello Meow elicited an overwhelming cheer), he played mostly new tunes and showed a return to his original, fabulous form. All in all, Squarepusher was worth the wait until 10pm on Sunday night, giving the 5,000 strong crowd something that was both enjoyable and inspiring.

Squarepusher plays bass

Squarepusher - the man himsefl

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