Thomas from our Facebook Community has looked back and blogged about his Warriors Dance Festival experience, one year on.
It’s a great lengthy read about the entire day at the event. So kick back with a few snacks ;)
Enjoy the read guys!
Credit: Thomas Richards Blog
First up was Doorly, a prolific DJ based in Huddersfield. Doorly kicked of the day’s proceedings with an eclectic mix of dubstep, house and hip hop. From DJing in a small booth beside the enormous main stage, he did well to get the crowd up and bouncing, despite the searing heat and the fact that most of the crowd were still getting over the long car journeys they had taken to arrive at Milton Keynes Bowl. It’s believed that fans from the furthest stretches of the UK and even a few groups from Western Europe and further made the trek over to the East
Midlands venue to see their favourite acts live in action. A particular highlight of Doorly’s set for me was when he played his remix of Calvin Harris’ I’m Not Alone. The remix replicates the original’s introduction (with the addition of a kick-snare drum pattern), causing the crowd to believe that Doorly is in fact playing the original. Then, at the peak of the intro, a filthy, robotic-sounding dubstep beat drops rivalling anything produced by veterans of the scene. This was harshly welcomed with boos by the majority of the 65,000 strong crowd who were primed and ready to bounce along to Calvin’s original dance number one. This was unsurprising considering the immense popularity of the song, however I feel booing a DJ for playing one of his own remixes is extremely disrespectful. Alas, Doorly couldn’t give a damn. In fact he reloaded the track and dropped it again, adding salt to the crowd’s wounds. I happily danced away and continued to do so for the duration of his hour and a half long set.
Following on from Doorly’s unique mix, a more nu rave / indie rock approach was supplied from Reading’s Does It Offend You, Yeah?. DIOYY are a pretty small group based on fanbase, and were massively appreciative of the chance to perform on the same stage The Prodigy would later headline, and in front of the capacity MK Bowl crowd. The set got off to a slow start with the band opening with their more textbook indie tracks from their first album. Things picked up majorly about 4 or 5 tracks in when they played the banger and their then latest single The Monkeys Are Coming. All of a sudden a great surge of energy tore through the crowd, everyone in the front pit was jumping and moshing. An unexpected vibe from this band, but definitely a welcomed one. DIOYY followed The Monkeys Are Coming with the curiously named, up tempo smasher Attack Of The 60ft Lesbian Octopus, a personal favourite of mine. The band kept this pace up for the rest of their set, and really prepared the crowd for what was to come as the afternoon / night wore on.
Following a pretty mediocre DJ set from XFM’s Eddy Temple Morris, Chase & Status brought their phenomenal live show to Milton Keynes, accompanied by their legendary drummer Andy Gangadeen, crowd pleaser MC Rage and a plethora of featuring artists joining the dubstep / drum & bass outfit for their respective songs, such as the stunning Delilah (Time), young talent Mali (Let You Go), mad man Tempa T (Hypest Hype), soulful Benga look-a-like Liam Bailey (Blind Faith) and Chase & Status regulars Plan B (Pieces, End Credits, Fool Yourself) and Takura Tendayi (Running, Street Life, No Problem, Flashing Lights). When C&S say ‘live’, they mean it. They recreate all their songs from scratch on stage using synth keyboards, guitars and the aforementioned vocalists.This works extremely well allowing duo to remix and mash up songs right before your eyes, making every show that little bit different. Their bass-driven Warrior’s Dance Festival set had the entire crowd raving and moshing right the way through, climaxing when, upon Plan B’s command, the front pit was split right down the centre before each half charged directly into one another at the drop of the classic drum & bass anthem Pieces. A diamond performance from Chase & Status, one that will stay in my memories for a long time to come.
After another lackluster DJ set from Eddy TM, it was Enter Shikari’s turn to grace the stage and prove their worth to the now very excitable sell-out crowd. This excitement seemed to almost transfer straight from the crowd and onto the stage from the moment ES started playing, they were going mad up there! Throwing guitars and drumsticks, jumping around like kangaroos on cocaine, stage dives, their performance had everything you’d expect from a heavy rock band. The band played all the classics from their first two albums, however they refrained from playing any new material. This was a great decision on Enter Shikari’s behalf as it meant that they could fill the set with roaring tunes that everyone could sing / shout / scream along to, such as Sorry, You’re Not A Winner and Mothership. Despite this overall theme of post-hardcore anthems, the group couldn’t resist jumping on the dubstep bandwagon, suddenly dropping the fast paced Blue Bear remix of Juggernauts half way through the performance of the original mosher’s anthem. This was met by a cheer of sheer adrenaline from the crowd, a cheer so loud it must of rippled right through the heart of Milton Keynes. A perfect set from one of my favourite rock bands.
Preceded by the first of two amazing Salt In The Wounds. From the moment those drums kicked in the entire crowd was alive and throwing shapes like there was no tomorrow. Sadly however as the set drew on people became weary and Pendulum had lost the vibe they had built up in the first couple of tracks. This all changed once the band got onto The Island – Part II (Dusk); a track so loud and dark that the crowd were powerless to resist bursting into a flurry of bona fide ravers again. This vibe was carried on until the end of the set, in which the band played two of their most popular songs with the fans: Tarantula and Propane Nightmares. All in all a cracking performance from my favourite band, however Pendulum’s set is much better experienced in the dark, incorporating that jaw-dropping light show described in a previous post of mine.
Following Zane Lowe’s second set, it was the moment we were all waiting for. The moment Liam, Maxim and Keith burst onto stage. Backed by ambulances and fire engines in what has to be one of the most elaborate and creative stage set ups ever seen, the trio geared up for what was to become the best 2 hours of my life, a sentiment I’m sure is very much shared with most, if not all of the MK Bowl crowd. The Prodigy electrified us ‘Warriors’ right from the off, playing the explosive favourites Breathe and Omen. Following on from this we were given two new tracks; Colours 2010 and a guitar heavy dubstep rendition of Thunder. It’s widely believed amongst forums and other rumour-mills that these tracks indicate the new style that The Prodigy could take going into their 6th studio album. Throughout the set the band just kept outdoing themselves, every time I thought they’d reached a peak, boom! something else came along. A particularly special moment for myself and for many other Prodigy fans was seeing and hearing Weather Experience performed live, accompanied by a mind blowing laser show. I’m extremely happy to be have been a part of that as it was the first time WE had been played since 1996. Time was fast approaching the venue’s 11pm curfew and the guys were already in the doghouse for repeatedly breaking noise levels and for Liam’s crazy moment in which he thought it’d be fun to trash his own equipment right in front of us all. Nonetheless The Prodigy continued to bring the noise playing anthem after anthem after anthem, ending the set with probably the most famous of their songs and certainly one of the best, Out Of Space.
I had extremely high expectations of the group based on their immense reputation and after watching countless live clips on YouTube. These expectations were absolutely smashed, their performance, along with the rest of Warrior’s Dance Festival, really was the best day of my life. I fear for the woman I marry for even she may not be able to take that crown.