Groove Armada

Homelands England 2000 review

At 8.30pm Groove Armada's Tom Findlay and Andy Cato opened their DJ set with a few strains of 'I See you Baby' which ensured that everyone in the Ericsson Make Yourself Heard tent knew who had come on.

The set slipped into an easy flow groove with nice clap rhythm soon joined by deep bass but remaining mellow. Andy starts clapping and the place rocks. The pair are joined by a guy on drums who adds a pleasing live touch. Further crowds are pulled in when they play 'Dooms Night' by Azzido Da Bass and now things are really getting hotter with a deep bass line you can feel vibrating through the floor.

But variety was the order of the day, and they never stayed long with one sound - this set was only 1½ hours and they wanted to try a few things out including a funky number with a disco sample from Michael Jackson's 'I Wanna Rock With You', some very jazzy stuff that got everyone moving and some deep vibrating techno.

Some might say it didn't flow but perhaps this was an experimental set and why not, the night was young and there was no need to commit to anything yet. Daylight had now gone and use of red lights and smoke together with a spin of 'Higher State of Consciousness' by Josh Wink got people jumping and cheering. The set finished with Groove Armadas very own 'Chicago' which went down nicely.

An interview with Groove Armada at Homelands is online here.