Both the site and the line-up have stayed pretty much exactly the same since the conception of Hay-on-Wye's Freerotation festival in 2007, but that hasn't prevented it from garnering a reputation as one of the best festivals in the UK for underground electronic music. Mindtours label owner Steevio has been making the most of Wales' remote spaces for over a decade now, becoming quite the local hero with music lovers that may be interested in going to an outdoor party sans psytrance, and the Baskerville Hall weekender serves as the peak of his promotional activities so far. Indeed, upon first glance the third installment looked to be bigger and better than before, with Freerotation virgins like DJ Bone, Marcel Dettmann, Efdemin and Peverelist all making appearances.
Photo credit: Tulane Blyth
Things didn't get off to a great start upon our arrival on the Friday, with whispers of DJ Bone's customs hold-up already spreading like wildfire across the intimate camping area. Nonetheless, the party was already warming up in the outdoor cafe. Through in the hall's main room, Philpot owner Michel Baumann was steadily increasing the intensity under his Jackmate guise, steering the low-key deep house vibes into a stream of steady jackers before finally opening things out with a killer acid track.
Baumann has played at every single Freerotation event so far, and had clearly thought long and hard about how to work the crowd into a lather on the opening night. With the momentum and tension built so well, it was a little disappointing to witness Dandy Jack strip things back to a lethargic minimal groove via his laptop, but the energy levels soon returned once he started to inject a bit more swing and funk into his constantly twisting and turning live set.
Photo credit: Tulane Blyth
The night hit its peak with the much anticipated performance from Sven Weisemann. After pushing for a later slot this year, it quickly became clear that the pint-sized Berliner wasn't messing around, with torrents of crowd-pleasers teased and mixed in his typically assured style. "Miura," "Found a Place," "Let Me Show You Love," Armand Van Helden's mix of "Sugar Is Sweeter," "The Journey" and an extended cut-up mix of "Tantakatan" with "Phylps Trak II" ensured a suitably rapturous reaction to his performance, something which even honorary Freerotation wrong 'un Alan Abrahams couldn't match. His recent Immune album has been the product of his evolving live style from the past few years, and although this year's set has probably been the most polished I've seen him, it lacked the raw and nervous energy that make him such an interesting live proposition.
But how would Saturday night turn out without Bone? Sonja Moonear certainly helped to take our minds off his absence in the outdoor cafe during the late afternoon, her functional but solid minimal house made only more entertaining by the enthusiastic dancing of her Junction SM partner. Uzuri boss Lakuti was setting the scene in the main room with her deep and shuffling house sound, overshadowing a couple of mixing malfunctions with an impeccably selected set of both fresh and vintage jams, but it was down to Move D to really get things moving.
Photo credit: Tulane Blyth
Although he got off to a slow start, it wasn't long until he had the crowd in the palm of his hand with an unstoppable succession of surging melodic house cuts, each one trumping the last until the atmosphere was at fever pitch. He was one person who was beaming from ear to ear throughout the entire duration of the festival, and the extended ovation that he received following his set goes at least a little way towards explaining his joyous demeanour throughout.
Shackleton—who followed on from 2562's broken rhythms and bass-heavy techno—enjoyed a similar rapport with the assembled Freerotationers, locking into a rolling hypnotic groove with a heavy emphasis on fresh material. I've never seen him play a bad set, but it seems as if the ex-Skull Disco man has finally found his feet in the live arena, overlapping and intertwining his dark tribal polythythms to devastating effect.
Photo credit: Tulane Blyth
Marcel Dettmann's main room set posed an irksome clash with Hessle Audio's label showcase, though after 45 minutes of his rough and raw rhythm tracks, it was hard not to clamour for a musical switch. The sustained visuals of wriggling worms certainly didn't help matters. Starting his set firmly in fourth gear, it felt that there was a lack of structural dynamics compared to previous occasions that I'd seen him play, which is something you could never accuse the Hessle lads of doing. If you were able to brave the sticky mist of sweat that had formed in the sweltering conditions of room two, then you would have been treated to a constantly engaging mix of house, techno, funky, dubstep and garage that rounded off the night perfectly.
This year, the organisers had seen fit to extend the music through until Sunday evening, and it was a pleasant surprise to find Move D playing a special intimate set in the cafe. Seeing as the schedule hadn't been made available until earlier that afternoon, the marquee was far from packed, but everyone in attendance seemed to be quite delighted that their hangovers were being soothed by David Moufang's bumping deep house selections.
Photo credit: Tulane Blyth
XDB and Jitterbug both went on to straddle the deep house and techno boundary with aplomb, while Freund Der Familie warmed things up nicely in the main room with some lush scene-setting dub techno and stepping grooves. Soulphiction and Pigon's journey from deep house jams through to jacking techno kept the crowd's attention until the dying minutes, but it was Punch Drunk boss Peverelist who stole the show with his uniquely gratifying dubstep sound. Eschewing the kick drums in favour of delicate yet propulsive percussion and surging sub-bass, he built things up into a powerful crescendo before finishing on the edgy R&B of Guido's "Beautiful Complication," which should finally see the light of day on Punch Drunk later this year.
Above all, one thing that is clear about Freerotation is its ability to inspire its attendees to make the return visit, no matter if they're artists or punters. The community spirit and general good vibes present on site throughout the festival are second-to-none, and it's refreshing to see a booking policy that doesn't rely on flavour of the month selections or token Richie Hawtin appearances to gather a crowd. Hay-on-Wye sometimes goes by the name of "the town of books" due to its high density of literary emporiums, but if Steevio and his crew continue on the same path, it might not be too long before it's referred to as "the town of techno." At least for one weekend every August, anyway.
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