Festival season – you know: fringing, mud, overcrowding… But lately, there seems to be as much happening off the festival circuit as there is on. From intimate parties and secret gigs to big acts in small places, we’re hanging up our Wellies and keeping our ears to the ground.
First up, the festival experience – without the festival. Last weekend, the Ace Hotel curated Latitude, giving us snippets of a four-day fest – comedians, musicians, life drawing and banana daiquiris – in a one-day rooftop party. Over in Euston, a Burning Man installation, which was used around the base of the Burning Man effigy last year, now sits on the British Library’s piazza, giving people a visual taste of Nevada.
And it’s not just about festivals. The street food business is getting in on the music scene. Summer Tales is leading the trend with their ‘secret DJs’ announced last minute via Twitter. Pulled straight from the festival circuit, expect big hit names (last year’s line ups included Rudimental and Gorgon City) – but with a £5 entry fee.
But what has us most excited: secret gigs in secret locations. Sofar (Songs From a Room) have been bringing musicians to intimate spaces – most often someone’s living room. Can’t get a ticket? The Nest in Dalston has been transforming their basement into DJ Artwork’s living room every Friday night in June, thanks to the raucous party he threw a few weeks ago (which he announced on Twitter) with his ‘friends’ Skream and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. Giving him total control, with more of his ‘friends’ on decks (so far, Simian Mobile Disco, Jasper James, Waifs & Strays and Route 94 have all played unannounced), this Friday will be the last one, so expect a banger of a ‘house party’ which, if it’s anything like the last few weeks, it’s RSVP yes.
