- Fortune favours the brave, and that has certainly been the case with the Mint brand since 2008. First they converted the Mint Club into a veritable powerhouse with killer Funktion One sound and a sensory stimulating, Watergate-inspired LED ceiling. Then they branched out into the festival market with the one-day, one arena extravaganza Cocoon in the Park (many such events have failed before even the first instalment where that one just celebrated its fourth year). And then, 12 months ago, they managed to convert a previously hit-and-miss venue into one of the city's foremost warehouse spaces.
As if that wasn't enough, September 29th saw the inaugural Mint Festival. Still a one-day affair, but this time with six different arenas and a more diverse sonic programme, many thought it crazy given the weather during a British summer, let alone during the bracing throes of autumn. But, alas, fortune favours the brave, and so it was that beneath cold yet sunny skies, not a single drop of rain fell at any point during the 13-hour marathon.
Photo credit: Ian Ramsey / IGRPhoto
It's best to think of Mint Festival as a scaled-down and localised Global Gathering: each tent was controlled by a successful Leeds promotion (or two), and all were surrounded by the usual smattering of extras from burger vans to vintage joke shops; flouro stores to ice cream vans, and every tent was decked out with punchy Funktion-One sound. The crowds, too, are similar to those of mass-market dance events, ranging from fresh-faced youngsters to weathered old ravers with everything in between. Given the Mint team's experience, it was no surprise for everything on the day to be well-organised and punter-friendly (but for charging a fiver for a programme which inevitably leaves a sour taste).
That's the cold hard facts sorted, and so to the music. Surgeon was never going to find it easy to get people dancing from almost a standing start at 3 PM, but did so anyway. Knitting together skimming and skirting, acid-tinged techno cuts, the relatively old and sweaty 'floor was remarkably responsive, punching the air and stomping like lemmings throughout. A large hi-def screen behind him projected appropriately technological visuals, from "entry denied" messages to machinery blueprints. Even the lights were specialised: the Blacklight tent featured icy blue and white uplighters, but the System & Flux tent shoot out more primary coloured blotches and bubbles.
Photo credit: Ian Ramsey / IGRPhoto
System & Flux is where Soul Clap did their deep R&B house thing, Wolf & lamb got woozy and sensuous and Seth Troxler indulged his techno side, seguing hypnotic, stripped back tracks with more raw and percussive jams. During the Visionquester's set, the music was cut, and the 2,000 strong tent all started singing happy birthday as Mint's main man Shane Grahame presented him with a cake.
At the same time elsewhere, Ben Klock was threading a much more subterranean and subliminal brand of techno, Greg Wilson was halfway through a well-worn but still lovable reel-to-reel set of soul and funk in the Asylum arena and all sorts of bright lasers, maximalists sounds and serrated synths were bleeding from the Bigger than Barry and Jungle Jam tent (in truth, everyone at events like this seem to play "bigger" than they might usually).
Photo credit: Ian Ramsey / IGRPhoto
That's the main problem with an event like this: It's almost impossible to choose exactly who to see at any one time. Jamie Jones was clearly a top pick for most, though, because throughout his set the System & Flux arena was packed, and had masses of people on each other's shoulders. The soundtrack tripped from the creamy Hot Creations vibes you might expect early on to a more spaced-out and sci-fi tech funk later on. It was as tight as you'd expect of someone who plays as many gigs as he does each year.