- The sleepy village town of Congleton was rudely awoken last month by just shy of two thousand revelers itching to inebriate themselves and boogie to some quality dance music. With tickets priced at just £30, a location just south of Manchester in the center of England and a line-up generously filled by able and practiced protagonists such as Matthais Tanzmann, Matt Tolfrey and the Ketoloco DJs, we were all set to be entertained. Winner?
Kind of. Our arrival on the Friday evening was somewhat belated by following instructions courtesy of the festival website to "follow the Cloud 9 signposts from the motorway junction to the festival." They were so small that we drove past them several times before noticing them. After a disquieting greeting from some rather frightening security folk, though, we pitched our tent in a small field full of cow shit, and sat drinking warm lager in the drizzle before turning into our tents to get a bad night's sleep.
There's nothing better to turn the average punter into an excited reveler than a good thorough searching on entering the arena—and we weren't disappointed by the military-esque bodily interrogation we received in the morning. The arena consisted of two tents, one providing dubstep and drum & bass, the other house and techno. An outdoor stage hosted bands throughout the day, and saw potential NME "best new band in the world" types from the indie rock/new disco scene such as Kid British and Underground Heroes headline throughout.
Two 50,000 watt Funktion One systems and a new 50,000 watt Stealth Audio system, though, were the key attractions for the dance areas: The sound throughout the whole event was nothing short of incredible. We headed over to the Cloud 9 tent where we were to spend the majority of the day, and were welcomed by Tim Anderson, who was filling in for another DJ who didn't show. Those expecting a progressive Berlin-style warm up would have been sorely disappointed. The tunes were techy, jumpy and well put together—exactly what was needed for the frustratingly sparse crowd. Stoke-On-Trent house hero Pete Bromley took over, and his uncanny ability to fill a floor was in full demonstration, as the tent was quickly furnished by a lively group of house lovers, preparing themselves for a good day of music.
After such a fervent warm up, the Ketoloco DJs' driving, deep, build-up set was all but lost on the crowd. But it certainly wasn't helped by Trevor Loveys following them up. (Why they were paired up next to one another is anyone's guess.) I spent the entirety of his set willing him to shut up and fuck off, and let Matthias Tanzmann do the job properly. The Moon Harbour boss eventually did, with a two hour set of meticulously placed drops, and oversized, groovy house music. At this point I was thankful the event wasn't a sell out—there was plenty of room to dance, surrounded by people who were clearly there for the music.
That said, Matt Tolfrey's answer to Tanzmann's incontestable display of talent and experience was somewhat disappointing. Something with more bite would have been more engaging—especially considering his performance was a prime time set. X-Press 2 and Lee Mortimer both made a decent go of things, but were both unremarkable in most respects. And while I would have stayed and embraced the novelty of the silent disco, it seemed odd to pay an extra £3 to dance around with a pair of dodgy headphones after having my ears tossed off by an incredible 50,000 watt soundsytem.
Considering the event wasn't organized by experienced professionals, though, you can't blame Cloud 9 for much. The right names were in the line-up, and the vibe and the sound were spot on. In most respects, it was a huge success. In fact, charging £30 to go camping and listen to some great music is almost charitable.