elrow Town brings the surreal and stupendous to London

Elrow Town breezed into London last weekend in a blaze of psychedelic colour, animatronics and banging tunes.

It is now a week since the second day kicked off and the hedonistic musical mayhem is still fresh in the memory.

Great sets from Claptone, Fatboy Slim and Idris Elba were the order of the day, seven days ago.

And last Saturday saw Paul Kalkbrenner, Paco Osuna and Steve Lawler entertaining up-for-it revellers across the Psychedelic Trip and Sambodromo do Brasil arenas.

Both main stages were incredible feats, with inflatable giraffes and other critters looming over the dancefloor in the Sambodromo and awesome ‘walking’ praying mantises stalking the massive pyramidal Psychedelic Trip.

The event, in the shadow of the Olympic stadium, in Stratford, brought a hefty dose of the surreal to this corner of East London, with smiles on faces wherever you looked. It was a timely reminder not to take life too seriously.

Here’s hoping elrow Town is now a regular feature.

VIDEOS: South West Four 2017 Review and Pictures

South West Four continues to go from strength to strength, with increasingly impressive light shows – and DJ sets -making this wonderful event an audio-visual feast for dance music fans. 

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That is helped significantly by headliners Luke deadmau5, whose entire schtick is the awesome marriage of breathtaking incandescent stage decor and whomping synth-laden aural fodder. 

But support acts also pitched in, with Markus Schulz's terrific Dakota concept bringing visual storytelling alongside his riff and bass heavy neotrance madness.

On Sunday's headliner – deadmau5 has maintained a bleeding cool edge in an era of throwaway EDM and a proliferation of festivals – much like SW4 itself.

His set was a tour de force uptempo crowd pleasers like Ghosts N Stuff were tempered with euphoric dreamstates like Phantoms Can't Hang, and some hip-hop and DJ tool-like samples were thrown in as the Mau5 pitched it up as well as down.

Deadmau5 makes you work, he won't throw you euphoric bones track after track and the overall effect is that he creates a mood, a nose-thumbing meta journey, where occasionally you're in on the joke and occasionally you're the butt of it – but you don't mind either way.

His set here was quite simply fantastic. 

I also particularly enjoyed Ferry Corsten's set in The Gallery tent, where the Dutch maestro appeared to revel a greater freedom to play his beloved trance to an equally ecstatic crowd.

Honourable mention must also go to Gareth Emery.

The main stage was also busy throughout as top talents like Martin Soveig, Example and DJ Wire and Sub Focus veered closer to the overground. 

But is simply too much to list in terms of the stellar line-up, so I'll concentrate on my overriding impressions.

South West Four has never felt so sure of itself to me, it is how an event like this should be – no unnecessary gimmicks, just solid entertainment aimed squarely at the punters.

Long may this jewel in the summer crown continue.

Eastern Electrics 2017 review and pictures

Well what a great event Eastern Electrics was!

On the way out of the festival I overheard someone saying: “It wasn’t as good a venue as Hatfield House.”

But, I must say, I disagree.

As much as I don’t want to criticise the beautiful grounds of Hatfield House, it always seemed an odd fit to me and the whole event seemed cramped at the Hertfordshire site.

That was not the case at the latest home of EE – a sun-kissed Morden Park.

Whilst not exactly the most salubrious part of our fair capital, the expansive park offered Eastern Electrics room to breathe.

It was a triumph, with great line-ups, sensible position of arenas and an up-for-it crowd.

Sets from Steve Lawler, Carl Cox, Ninetyone, everyone in the Defected tent, Terry Farley and DJ Pierre were excellent.

This must be the biggest one-day incarnation of EE I’ve been to and it was great to have a voyage of musical discovery, as I ambled from tent to tent eager to hear more cutting edge electronic music.

I also felt there was more variation this time round, with great minimal fayre in the always brilliant Switchyard, and funkier and uplifting offerings in other arenas.

My only minor gripe was with the increasingly prevalent festival RFID wristband system (queue up to put cash on it, then queue up to get a drink using it – why?!).

That said, for a system which for me is pointless, it did run as smoothly as I’d hoped.

But I don’t want to end on a negative, so I’ll restate just how much fun Eastern Electrics was this year and how self-assured this seemingly wandering festival has now become.

It has established itself as a staple of the summer and long may it continue – wherever it is.

   

VIDEO: Mauro Picotto plays intimate London event as Alchemy comes to town

Thumping beats and soaring riffs were in evidence as Mauro Picotto's Alchemy rumbled into London this week, writes TopReviews4U editor Paul Christian. 

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The event, at Work Bar, in Chapel Market, saw Picotto joined by Gabry Fasano and Alby & Devid.

Fans whooped as Picotto dropped a remix of classic Lizard (Gonna Get Ya) and other storming techno, trance and house tracks in an eclectic set, at the intimate venue.

Comical facial and hand gestures were the order of the night as 'The Lizard Man' interacted with the knowledgeable and up-for-it crowd.

Best of all the Alchemy stars mingled with revellers between sets, in an informal and surreal experience, almost unheard of in today's world of aloof EDM silliness. 

Strong support was also welcomed as reverberating subs and techno riffs made for a uniquely Italian flavour, like the Peroni clubbers supped as the bass kicked. 

With plenty more on offer from both the Alchemy label and Work Bar, there's lots to look forward to in London and beyond. 

                                         

South West Four 2017 Phase 1 line-up complete - includes deadmau5, Eric Prydz, Pendulum, Marco Carola and more

Phase 1 of the line-up for South West Four 2017 is complete with many more acts to still be announced, writes TopReviews4U editor Paul Christian.

Early headline announcements include deadmau5, Eric Prydz, Pendulum, Marco Carola, Sigm, MK, Duke Dumont, Gareth Emery and more.

Keep checking back on TopReviews4U for more on SW4 and other top UK dance events.

   

• For more information and tickets go to www.southwestfour.com