Bloc Weekend in review

Chalets, bingo and techno. Happy camper Lee Smith goes raving at the English seaside for Bloc Weekend 2008.

great coverage and writing Lee... a very enjoyable read!

I was in London 2 weeks before this went off. I didn't even know about it untill I saw a flyer for it. What a great lineup! What a great location and total holiday weekend. Thanks for the report.

It should be noted that Bloc was pretty much just a lifted idea. Dedbeat should get the real credit. They were the trailblazers. Bloc just copied and pasted. Also, the line up could have done with some new blood. The majority of the acts on show this year last released something exciting 5-10 years ago.

I hope more people copy and paste the idea, I'll give them credit as well. It just sounds like a great party vacation and ya don't have to sleep in a tent in the mud.

quote:

---

Posted by benjaminfreeney
It should be noted that Bloc was pretty much just a lifted idea. Dedbeat should get the real credit.

---

Fair comment, but Dedbeat was considerably less techno orientated. Plus they stopped doing it, so why shouldn't something else come along to take its place?

^^ good call
i think it also shows a touch of respect for the former... continuing the dream

It would be nice to bring that dream to the states but, alas, I don't think it would go over as well. Being in Europe (Berlin/London) spoiled me for accessability to great dance music. Why did we ever break from the motherland? (don't answer that)

Hey Lee, great review andnice to finally meet you at Bloc. Sorry for posting this on the forum, but have lost your email addy.

How you doing Lee?!

I have to say man......well written. Very well written.

Be well my friend........

Spot on (...except perhaps on the dubstep front, which was ably represented by Kode 9 & Mr. Spaceape, amongst others). Bloc 08 was indeed a thunderous success. The quality of music was consistently excellent, as was the refreshingly non-trendy crowd. To benjaminfreeny's previous post I say this: the music policy was very cleary about quality, over and above newness/novelty. So only relative upstarts like Shackleton, Kode 9 and Andy Stott got in, because they're the real deal. I say that's a good thing. God forbid another electronic music festival crammed to the brim with talentless flash-in-the-pan nu-rave/minimal nobodies with two singles to their name. Good on Bloc for bypassing the hype.

Absolutely not. It was a lazy line up. Dave Clarke, Juan Atkins, Joey Beltram, Karl Bartos, the reformation of Red Snapper, Amon Tobin, the list goes on and on. None of these people have done anything relevant in years. You can't deny their brilliance at a certain stage, but that doesn't make for good line-up programming in 2008. Very few risks taken. Lots of safe bets.

A festival with no corporate backing is a good thing and the festivals existence and ethos is commendable. However, in many ways Dedbeat was just replicated ie exact same venue and ethos and lots of the same acts(even though the last Dedbeat was 4 years ago).

It would be nice if Dedbeat got a mention when people are lavishing praise on Bloc.
They came up with the idea and took all the risks when no one thought a festival without superstars and corporate backing could survive.

They set the template that Bloc have appropriated.

Aye, fair enough.

But Deadbeat's, well, dead now. Bloc is by no means perfect (nor was Deadbeat) but fun was had regardless (or perhaps because of?) the vintage of many of the artists and (on Sunday evening especially) the music they were playing.

Anyone bored by Bartos was missing one of the highlights of the weekend for me in the Wee DJ's set in the boozer. Genuine talent doing something out of the ordinary. And he wasn't the only example of that over the course of the weekend.

Nice read Lee, as per usual

Sorry benjaminfreeney, but I just can't agree with your sentiments. Fine, Red Snapper, Bartos and a few others have been off the radar for a while now, but so be it. Dave Clarke and Joey Beltram, however, are both still highly active on the techno circuit, and Amon Tobin is very much as on the money as he ever have been (or haven't you been keeping up?). As for Juan Atkins, well, he was one of the highlights of the weekend, as was rightly pointed out in the review, delivering a smile-inducingly pulsating set which weaved old and new beautifully. So what if these guys are over 23 or whatever? And to say that booking the likes of Monolake, Sleeparchive, Convextion, Kode 9, Shackleton, Boxcutter, The Black Dog and Ochre is lazy (!) is not only insulting to both the artists and the organisers, but also grossly ignorant of what's going on in the dance music underground right now. These are precisely the kinds of producers who are moving electronic beat music into new territories. In fact, I can't actually think of ANYONE who's pushing it more than Monolake right now. Except perhaps for, er, Shackleton. Frankly, I'm amazed. Are we even talking about the same festival? What would it take to please you? Give me some names, if you would... (By the way, I look forward to reading your comments post-Bangface Weekender. 'Luke Vibert was at the last Deadbeat', 'the format is copied', 'Model 500 haven't done anything good in ages', etc, etc, etc.)

It would take a festival with a majority of exciting and innovative acts to satisfy me. Yes, I know. That is frankly amazing. If you read my post you will note the use of the word 'majority' and not 'all' in relation to the acts 'that last released something exciting 5-10 years ago'.You will also note that there was no mention of Sleeparchive, Monolake, Shackleton or even Andy Stott and Claro Intellecto in this context. However, this small number of qualitative acts is overshadowed by the rest of the flabby programming. Just because you're still on the circuit doesn't mean you are exciting or relevant. Its a case of quality not quantity. A big chunk of the line up consisted of classic artists like A Guy Called Gerald that appeal to the lowest common denominator. That is lazy.

And finally concerning Bangface, not only does the line up have Luke Vibert in common with a Dedbeat line up of 4 years ago, the same can be said for Plaid, DJ Producer, Dmx Krew, Cylob, Stingray, Bogdan, Knifehandchop, Shitmat, Mike Dred, Scotch Egg, Venetian Snares, Ceephax, U-ziq, Kid606 and DJ Rephlex Records. And yes they are using a template that Dedbeat forged.
And the most exciting thing Model 500 has done in the last few years is appear on A Francois Kevorkian compilation.

Agree with most of what was said, but if you're expecting Skream's take on dubstep to appeal then you're far too narrow minded and not giving the genre the attention it deserves.

Along with Monolake, Juan, Claro and Stott etc, the Appleblim and Peverelist set on Friday night, as well as Shackleton on the Saturday, were real highlights.

quote:

---

Posted by odbpowell
if you're expecting Skream's take on dubstep to appeal then you're far too narrow minded and not giving the genre the attention it deserves.

---

I know, I was being flippant. I can only be in one place at a time and chose the acts I saw accordingly. Sorry if that caused you offence

Nah man, no offence at all. I'm actually not that bigger dubstep lover these days, but absolutely dig certain things and will stand by 'em as much as I can!

And I would pay to watch Juan over and over again. In fact, I'd pay to watch him sleep.

Don't diss Juan. Lowest common denominator. If you think it's only the lowest common denominator that want to see Juan Atkins play then you don't know what you're on about mate.

Gerald released a great album last year, so i would disagree that he is past it in any way

I think its disrespectful to talk about juan atkins or gerald like this, i personally like to hear some classic shit as well as new stuff especially at a three day event. To say Gerald or Juan are lowest common denominator is just bad minded. At these type of events you never catch all the acts so why complain about what you didn't see? I think the line up represented whats going on really well.

Sorry, lowest common denominator was the wrong phrase to use. Apologies. What I meant to say was that a lot of the acts were ones that anyone with a passing interest in electronic music would know. I in no way intend any disrespect to Model 500 or A Guy Called Gerald by saying this. Both have made huge and positive contributions to the music we love.

Pardon me.

I simply felt that there were too many classic acts and not enough exciting new acts on the line up. Don't get me wrong, classic acts are a good thing and it always fun to see them play at festivals like this but i believe it should be in moderation. It just seemed to me that there were too many obvious choices.

fair enough, i think your being pretty demanding, but from the acts you mentioned it seems like you just got a bit of bad luck with the line up you wanted rather than it being tame. It may be a sad state of affairs but i don't think there'll be another event this year thats as good.

quote:

---

Posted by benjaminfreeneyI simply felt that there were too many classic acts and not enough exciting new acts on the line up.

---

No festival is there purely to break new artists. Any succcessful event needs a balance of established and "exciting new acts" on the bill and I thought they got it pretty much spot on. Maybe my musical taste isn't obscure enough.

You're not one of these types are you? -

Absolutely not. But thanks for your thoughtful illustration.

Its not about having an obscure taste. Apart from Monolake and Sleeparchive, German techno had very little representation. Which isn't a good thing as it's probably a fair point that Berlin has usurped Detroit as the main place for techno in recent years.

Berlin could never usurp Detroit with regards to having soul! there's some good stuff and some absolute shite that comes out of there, same as anywhere else.

quote:

---

Posted by benjaminfreeney
Absolutely not. But thanks for your thoughtful illustration.

---

Thanks Goodness for that.