- I envy those cities that are yet to experience vibes on a summers day 2003. It was definitely an experience that i would like to relive.
Traditionally vibes is a party that always lives up to its expectations and this year was nothing different.
I think the new venue had thrown off the organisers as they hadn't opened and were still getting the armbands ready by 1:20. Some peoples tickets had read gates open 12pm, so they had been waiting for an hour.
Anyway once in a tour had to be made. The main area which housed the vibes stage was fairly big with a few bars a vip room, market stalls and these wierd aeroplane lounges with girls dressed up as air hostesses at the door. Drink passes were sold which kinda helped speed up the bar process. One of the greatest ideas was the caipirinha bar, which went down a treat.
Now on to the music. The lead up djs were quite impressive who helped the crowd in the build up stages to 5pm. Honourable mentions go out to Daniel Magg, Jo Mills and Sugar Ray. Saw a bit of Afro Celt and Wicked Beats Sounds System and would have liked to hear more but was feeling quite energised by the djs in the JFK stage.
Ian Pooley was superb, he made the crowd go nuts. One of the better funked up house sets that i have heard in a while. Its a pity he only played for an hour. Xpress 2 played a in a similar upbeat style. Their mix of their hit song "Lazy" was different yet pleasing to the ear.
But once 7.30 rolled around, it was time to see those Masters at Work. Did manage to catch the end of Mr Scruff who played a good lead up set. First to come on was Little Louie Vega who for the first 45min played a dj set, which featured some their own tracks like "Work". Louie was then joined by a cool cat on the bongos and another with a heavenly soulful voice for a few tracksBy this time dusk had come and gone and the crowd were out of control. He was then replaced by one very talented individual who had an acoustic guitar and a spectacular voice and also managed to mimic a trumpet with his lips.
Finally a small sexy girl came on to finish the set with Mr Vega. Man could she sing! The only thing i think they lacked was Kenny Dope Gonzales after pulling out of the last two owes Australia a Masters at Work tour. Would have liked to see a larger band or a saxophonist but it didn't really detract from the performance.
The organisers were definitely on a winner with the lineup but i think they fell a bit short in a few areas. The venue itself wasn''t as good as last year The lack of toilets and cloak room was quite mysterious. The 9pm finish was kinda weird as everyone was wanting more by the end. Only a 1 hr Ian Pooley set was not long enough. When I arrived I was worried about the lack of speakers at the vibes stage but was proven wrong when the crowd filled up.
Despite all my minor qualms, I had a freakin fantastic day and I cant wait til next year and the year after that and the year after that. Vibes have once again shown how to put on a brilliant outdoor summer event.