Review of SW4 Festival | Festival Reviews

Coming out of Clapham Common tube station, exposed to floods of people dressed in festival attire, consisting of the essentials. Aviators/Ray bans, limited clothing exposing generous amounts of skin with a variation of footwear, predominantly Hunters for those who attended the tropical waterlogged festival the day before. The optimists, predicting an Indian Summer donned Havannas, Sneakers and Toms! It was an absolutely beautiful day, with a toasty sun warming the party goers up for the hours ahead of endless dancing, humming and singing.

The atmosphere was absolutely buzzing as people swamped on to the Common, sipping pre-festival beverages to further amplify their already accelerated moods, before readying themselves at the gates eagerly anticipating what lay behind the walls to the highly proclaimed SW4 grounds which was pumping out some beastly beats. Bottles and cans disposed of into the over laden bins, we casually walked to the queue, it took but minutes for us to enter the grounds to the festival.

A first whip around the perimeter of the SW4 grounds and we saw 3 tents and the main stage. The line up for the Sunday was awesome with a host of DJ’s and artists to satisfy most musical tastes. The atmosphere was really friendly, with everyone there to have a good time.

We spent most of the day at the main stage enjoying the sunshine and sets from Steve Angello, DJ Fresh and Public Enemy – something for everyone. The atmosphere was electric right from the offset with the crowd bouncing (literally) as soon as the first beats were dropped. This carried on right through the afternoon, calling for some ice cold beverages to replace afternoon tea.

With soberity stolen by Gordon's Gin and Tonic in a can and the more manly Tubourg, great satisfaction was founded in Burger and Co's fast food cheese burgers. Eaten amongst a heaving common of people watching DJ Fresh’s set on the Main Stage. Four hours of raving shoulder to shoulder, drinks swirling onto peoples clothes, fags precariously waving in the air, uncontrollable sweat and elusive festival voices we was truly witnessing SW4 at it's full potential.

After an afternoon in the sun we headed to the DJ Magazine Arena to catch Eric Prydz. The set was incredible, with a mix of Pryda classics and new debut tracks. By the end of the hour the tent was swelling and when a remix of Human League's ‘don’t you want me baby’ dropped I thought the tent roof was going to explode.

At the end of the night we were stood at the side of the stage watching 2 Many DJs tearing up the tent (literally!) In classic Soulwax fashion they played crowd pleaser after crowd pleaser, mixing seamlessly between each track. With each drop the roar of the crowd got louder. The crowd safety managers even were getting involved in the exhilarating atmosphere by chest bumping in the air, infront of the stage. The crowd responded to this by respecting individuals and keeping the majority of crowd surfing at bay.

For that consideration, the event felt incredibly safe with everyone with their heart set on having a sublime Bank Holiday weekend. Having been to Global Gathering, Creamfields, Pukklepop etc I can honestly say that was one of the best dance music tent atmospheres I have experienced and perhaps biased, but one of the best DJ crowd pleasing sets. Closing track was a Justice remix of Phantom Part II. Excellent.

As the festival came to an end we both knew that no after party could match the last 2 sets we had watched at the side of the stage with Pryda and 2 Many DJ's. Our legs were also shot from dancing and our voice's hoarse from whooping. So we left Clapham Common, over indulged in House Music, legs knackered and full of lactic acid, ears ringing with the abuse of repetitive beats, but buzzing with subliminal festive satisfaction.