El Row steal the show at Lovebox

Lovebox Weekender 2015

Friday 17th to Saturday 18th July 2015
Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets, Greater London, E9 5DU, England MAP
£89.50 for both days - SOLD OUT

Daily capacity: 50,000

Now in it’s 15^th year, Lovebox opened it’s gates to around 50k punters last weekend in Victoria Park. Sunshine prevailed for most of the day, and the line up was both eclectic and well chosen.

The crowd were a mixed bag but with noticeably more youngsters than I’d noticed in previous years, and as expected the day was not without signs of trouble here and there. Security seemed to be hot on the gates with sniffer dogs catching at least three different culprits as we waited for our friends to arrive. In the main though, people seemed pretty well-behaved; we did see one fight break out which was handled well and the large group of on-lookers soon dispersed.

The site itself seemed pretty spread out, and never felt over-crowded at any point. The queues for the bars however were ridiculous, not only where there huge snaking queues to get into the beer tents – there were queues to get into the queues which made getting drinks a tedious affair. This seemed to be a general running theme for all bars. After one failed attempt we tried the real ale van, but were again greeted by a massive queue of disgruntled customers.

You’re not permitted to bring alcohol onto the site, so drinks prices seemed especially steep too at £5 a beer and £5.50 for a Corona. Even if you simply wanted to re-hydrate, water was charged at £2.50 a bottle. Combined with the dire queue situation this did not equate to a good experience in that respect! That said there were water points, but not too well signposted.

Onto the music! First highlight for me was Maribou State in the Big Top. Despite apologising for technical difficulties (which went undetected by us) the band played a fine set consisting of dreamy house numbers accompanied by the velvety vocals of Holly Walker. Tracks were filled with atmospheric synths, and duo Chris Davids and Liam Ivory played plenty of numbers from their album Portraits which was extremely well received by their audience. It was perfect music to swing away to in the warm balminess of the afternoon, although personally I think that type of set definitely wouldn’t have gone amiss if it were outdoors on an open air stage.

We did a bit of a reccy of the site, and passed many stalls such as Gypsy East who offered an Aladdins cave of unique jewellery, crystals and vintage pieces; everything you could possibly want to pimp up your accessories. Clothing vendors such as Festivaleyes also offered a magical array of adventurous attire, showcasing all things-sparkly and playful, ranging from leggings to catsuits, bumbags to head pieces. For anyone looking to stock up on festival gear, it was heaven!

Dipping into the El Row arena we were greeted by awesome set production lined with colourful bunting and Tibetan prayer flags. The whole creation felt like one huge celebration which is typical of the El Row ethic, to bring the carnival to the people. Matador was firing out thumping techno left right and centre, and we became fixated to the spot the music was that good. Every now and then, confetti exploded from the stage into the air, with performers in the shape of mystical gods parading through crowd, adding to the party atmosphere and an exceptional show. An unexpected and welcome surprise that lifted spirits in an instance.

Bonobo is my final musical highlight, who played on the West Stage Saturday evening. The heavens did decide to crack open ever so slightly, but not enough for a full downpour and the music was way too good for us to even notice. Filling our ears with beautiful and melodic electronica, he played tracks from North Borders including his hit Cirrus – much to everyone’s delight. The hour was spent wistfully dancing away to a percussive and transient deep house and jazz-tinted productions, filled with thought and emotion.

Main gripes would be my aforementioned queue situation; the toilets weren’t much better either. I’ve been to a lot of festivals and I know it’s not just a case of this is what you have to expect at a festival. Even Glastonbury wasn’t this bad!

A couple of minor things spring to mind too, such as their policy on removing caps from bottles of water and opening every can you purchase. I get the logic in not allowing you to bring drinks onsite, but surely once you buy them it’s up to you when to open them? It seems a small thing but when you’ve queued for 30 minutes to buy a round for six people, to then be given a flimsy cardboard tray to carry all your drinks – none of which have lids – precariously balancing everything trying to get back through a crowd to deliver said drinks… HASSLE!!

Finally, Lovebox could really do with providing more bins. I spotted a few large open containers around the site, however a severe lack meant the ground was strewn with litter. Coupled with at times severe gusts of dust made for tricky stomping ground. I guess there’s not much you can do to combat the dust, other than dressing like you’re going to Burning Man. However leaving the festival with a wheezy chest, crap in eyes, and alarmingly dark remnants after nose-blowing does make me wonder whether I might take after the security next time and invest in a mask of some sort.

All in all musically it was a great day, and there was a decent variety in terms of other things going on besides the music. The stalls made for good window shopping, plus there was a roller disco, skate ramp, a few fair ground rides and lots of interesting characters for people watching. I always find with London festivals, people tend to keep themselves to themselves a bit more and they’re not the kind of place you’d expect to go and make friends for life. That said, when you only have a day or two your time is far more restricted, so sticking within your group and agenda is to be expected.

Thanks for a great day Lovebox, looking forward to seeing some improvements for next year!

review by: Carrie Tang

photos by: Carrie Tang