- Lovebox is one of the UK's only electronic events with no age restrictions, and welcomes just about anyone apart from your pet dog. Families are actually encouraged here—children under 12 go free. It's a one-size-fits-all urban music festival, and as such offers an eclectic selection of techno, rap, indie, drum & bass and pop.
Held once again in Victoria Park, the festival sold out completely this year. Security struggled to handle the capacity at the entry points, with even VIP queues dragging on for nearly an hour. Once inside, the arena bar queues snaked back impossibly far, and a general sense of disorganisation prevailed. There were no maps anywhere except on the festival's smartphone app, so I resorted to asking directions or just wandering around until I ended up where I needed to be.
That said, there was plenty to look at, if not just the colorful, often flesh-bearing costumes. The festival is famous for its inventive and eye-catching stage designs and this year they didn't disappoint. The Manor, a two-storey LED-flashing house with a DJ booth on the second floor, was a standout attraction. Nearby was a Nando's with its own DJ booth and a Red Bull Music Academy tent boasting the weekend's underground acts (Benji B, Theo Parrish).
Looming large was the aptly named Big Top Tent, where I spent most of Friday. Early on, Paul Woolford was dropping grungy tech house bombs such as Dusky's "Inta." Early in the evening, Moderat played seamless renditions of "Bad Kingdom" and "Therapy," eventually closing with "Nr.22," only to be begged back with chants of "one more tune."
Lovebox seemed to do an impressive job of separating the different crowds. I didn't once see a balloon-inhaling raver tripping over a toddler. Many families chilled out in the VIP area, which was a safe haven for all and had a relaxed garden party vibe, with kids playing croquet, a van serving cocktails and a canteen dishing up hearty things like polenta.
Swarms of thousands did however unite on Friday for headlining act Chase & Status, who performed a safe set of fan-favorites: "Pieces," "Count On Me" and "Eastern Jam" to name a few. Any track with vocals was sung back to them with gusto in between mini mosh pits. Chase & Status have since named this as "one of the best lives shows of their career," and while it was an energised performance, something always felt lacking. The culprit was a strangely muffled main stage soundsystem. No one seemed to mind and danced on into the night anyway, but the set always felt restrained and dying to be cranked up.
As Lovebox went on, low sound levels became increasingly distracting. Mount Kimbie sounded timid on muted speakers, even if you were positioned front and center. The duo approached the set casually (to say the least), strolling on to no applause and beginning by playing around with drums as if they were still sound-checking. Even "Made To Stray" struggled to get the crowd going past some light head-nodding.
Though better than others, the speakers at The Manor lacked oomph and some much-needed low frequencies. On Saturday evening, Visionquest slammed out deep house and Adam Beyer played to the setting sun with insatiable techno rhythms. Beyer had everyone whooping and whistling at every drop, but his set felt uncharacteristically deflated due to the weak soundsystem.
Saturday's headliner was M.I.A., who opened by showering the main stage crowd with thousands of glowsticks. When waved in the air, they illuminated the East London night, creating one of the most memorable sights of the festival. M.I.A. gave one of the most engaging performances of the weekend, the best moment being when audience members filled the stage with her for "Bucky Done Gun." Still, technical issues dampened the performance. M.I.A. struggled against low mic volumes (at one point asking for the mic and bass volumes to be switched up) before the sound and lights cut altogether for several minutes. In the aftermath, many took to Twitter to complain about M.I.A's power outage, and the story made it into most local news outlets. (Lovebox haven't commented.) As a big music festival, they try to achieve so much and serve so many that it's going to be nearly impossible to get everything right. But sorting out the sound would be a great place to start.