Curated by Lovebox’s boisterous younger sibling Bang the Box, Friday will see appearances from Ed Sheeran and Architecture in Helsinki on the Gaymers Stage. With a ticket for Friday‘s shenanigans costing from only £28.50 it’ll be hard to find a better night out for such good value.
2011 is set to be 20-year old Ed Sheeran’s year. The singer-songwriter has achieved phenomenal success with minimal airplay, securing a no. 1 album on iTunes earlier this year with No.5 Collaborations Project, featuring tie-ups with Devlin, JME and Wiley. Now signed to a major after multiple self-funded indie releases and due to release his debut album this Summer, Ed is stunning critics and fans alike with his incredible raw talent and individuality.
A band all about creating the perfect pop/indie rock rush, Architecture in Helsinki use multiple instruments including synths, saxes and even their toes. The six-piece are constantly challenging themselves to keep their enthusiastic live shows bursting with energy and maintaining an addictive happy-go-lucky, made-for-dancing vibe.
In the Vice Arena, taylor-made for London’s hippest bright young things, Friday’s festival-goers will be treated to a very special appearance from Warp Records’ Hudson Mohawke and their cornerstone artist Flying Lotus. The avant-garde L.A. native and producer of otherworldy, experimental, multi-genre sounds has been heavily influenced by his family’s jazz heritage as well as his love of drum and bass, West Coast gangsta rap and G-Funk melodies. A unique and pioneering electronic artist, his most recent album, Cosmogramma, has been described by Mary Anne Hobbs as “A completely new sonic language. Lotus is like Hendrix – he’s completely torn up the rule book in electronic music… I hear his sound echoing in every corner of the planet.”
The Bang the Box crowd will also be privy to a very special first ever live appearance from Photek, aka Rupert Parkes. One of drum and bass’s earliest adopters, this true player in the scene is one of the most respected artists in his genre. Herve, known for his rave-oriented productions and high energy DJ sets, also features on the bill.
The Relentless Energy Drink Arena will run across all three days of the festival and be host to three of Lovebox’s most exciting crews. On Friday, iconic Parisian dance stable Ed Banger Records will launch a full-blown attack on Lovebox patrons ears by presenting enfant terrible SebastiAn, French house duo Cassius, electropop Lolita Uffie and DJ superteam Carte Blanche. Ed Banger head honcho Busy P will be teaming up with graphic designer and illustrator So Me to form Busy Pictionary. In a feast for the eyes and ears, So Me will be creating live artwork on stage whilst Busy P spins the decks.
SATURDAY
The Essex born and bred megastar with a songwriting talent to match her astonishing voice, Jessie J, will perform just before Snoop + Tha Dogg Pound on the main stage on Saturday. The winner of a Brits Critics’ Choice Award and the BBC’s Sound of 2011 has recently experienced a meteoric rise to critical acclaim in 2011, and is set to play the main stage on Saturday. With a debut album certified Gold after just one month, which includes the anthemic Do it Like a Dude and number one smash Price Tag ft. BOB, Jessie is set to bring her energetic and passionate live performance style to one of her biggest audiences yet. Whilst American artist Santigold will be mashing up dub, punk, and electronics to make an energetic, anger-fuelled set that blurs the lines between the dancefloor and the moshpit.
Saturday’s Music Safari will also feature Gaymers Stage appearances by three-piece North Wales indie rockers The Joy Formidable, Bolton’s Americana-influenced CherryGhost, the “new MGMT” Foster The People, New Yorkers Violens and folk-tronic Malpas. Encompassing an eclectic line-up of underground club collectives, cool indie kids and international mega stars in the shape of Snoop Dogg and Warren G, Music Safari will have a strong party vibe.
Fresh from sell out shows all over the UK, independent Drum & Bass label Hospital Records will be bringing Hospitality to the Relentless Energy Drink Arena on Saturday for their first ever London festival appearance, including DJ and producer, High Contrast, influential reggae DJ David Rodigan, live collaborative act London Elektricty (featuring Elsa Esmerelda), DJ, producer and musician Danny Byrd, new wave Drum & Bass producer Netsky, pioneers of jungle Drum & Bass Shy FX, Austrian Drum & Bass duo Camo + Krooked, hard-edged grunk composer Starkey, prolific Drum & Bass producer Logistics, highly respected producers, Nu:tone (featuring Natalie Williams), Drum & Bass DJs and producers Sigma and definitive label Wah Wah 45’s Soundsystem. Hosts include drum & bass, dubstep and hip hop MC‘s Wrec, Dynamite, Stamina, A.D. and SP:MC.
Meanwhile, Lovebox founders Groove Armada will return to the festival with Groove Armada Presents Red Light, the Mulletover crew featuring main man Geddes will bring a techno- house affair and their deep and sexy style, whilst Seth Troxler will bring his atmospheric bliss to this year’s festival.
SUNDAY
Lead singer of The Gossip and NME’s “Coolest Person in Rock,” flamboyant indie-rocker Beth Ditto will play the main stage on Sunday. The Love Magazine cover star, rock goddess and queen of indie is made for Sunday’s Out and Out Fierce programme – a collection of the weird, wonderful, and fantastically fabulous; showing diversity, and being a true reflection of our wild, polychromatic, polysexual capital.
Also added to the Out and Out Fierce line up for Sunday for the Gaymers Stage are Italian Disco duo Retro/Grade, Disco House posers Monarchy and model/singer/songwriter/stylist Viktoria Modesta.
Sunday on the Relentless Energy Drink Arena will be taken over by Jodie Harsh’s Circus, where she will be bringing her famous parties out of the warehouse and into the park. The London icon and life and soul of the party will be joined by an immense line-up of friends, including “Sultan of Scando techno” Style of Eye, DJ Fred Falke, synthpoppers Filthy Dukes, DJ/Producer Kris Di Angelis (live), twisted house–master Tom Stephan, Bowski, Warboy and performances from Eat Your Heart Out and host Scottee.
Futher arenas confirmed for the weekend include a who’s who of some of the most important labels, DJs and promoters out there. East London radio station Rinse FM, recently granted an FM license after over a decade of underground service, will be bringing their FWD>>Rinse club night to Lovebox as arena hosts, marking their first London festival performance. Sticking to familiar territories of Hackney and Tower Hamlets where the widely acclaimed statio Rinse first came to prominence, FWD>>Rinse will be bringing a selection of prime acts from the grime, dubstep and UK Funky scenes that the station anc club night helped birth. The Horse Meat Disco will also bring a heavy dose of Disco house.
LINE UP TO DATE, MANY MORE TBA:
FRIDAY: GAYMERS STAGE: THE WOMBATS EXAMPLE METRONOMY BEARDYMAN ED SHEERAN ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI
RELENTLESS ENERGY DRINK ARENA HOSTED BY ED BANGER: BUSY P SEBASTIAN CASSIUS UFFIE CARTE BLANCHE (DJ MEHDI & RITON)
FWD >> RINSE FM ARENA SKREAM MS DYNAMITE ROLL DEEP – DJ AND MC SET KODE 9 P MONEY ROSKA PLASTICIAN JAMIE GEORGE ZINC & TIPPA
VICE ARENA: HUDSON MOHAWKE LIVE FLYING LOTUS LIVE HERVE PHOTEK LIVE
SATURDAY: MAIN STAGE: SNOOP DOGG PLAYS “DOGGY STYLE” (+ DAZ DILINGER, KURUPT, RBX, THE LADY OF RAGE, JOE COOL + GUEST STAR WARREN G) JESSIE J SANTIGOLD KATY B FENECH-SOLER ZIGGY MARLEY BAG RAIDERS JESS MILLS MAVERICK SABRE
GAYMERS STAGE: THE DRUMS LYKKE LI THE JOY FORMIDABLE CHERRYGHOST DRY THE RIVER THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION FOSTER THE PEOPLE VIOLENS MALPAS
RELENTLESS ENERGY DRINK ARENA HOSTED BY HOSPITALITY: HIGH CONTRAST DAVID RODIGAN LONDON ELEKTRICTY (FT ELSA ESMERELDA) DANNY BYRD NETSKY SHY FX CAMO + KROOKED STARKEY LOGISTICS (FT NATALIE WILLIAMS) NU:TONE SIGMA WAH WAH 45’S SOUNDSYSTEM MC’S – DYNAMITE, WREC, AD, SP:MC, STAMINA
PLUS: AME APPLEBLIM ART DEPARTMENT DRY THE RIVER ELECTRIC MINDS FLOATING POINTS GEDDES GROOVE ARMADA PRESENT RED LIGHT MARK E MOTOR CITY DRUM ENSEMBLE MULLETOVER RBX ROSS ALLEN SEBO K SETH TROXLER STAMINA WARM
SUNDAY: MAIN STAGE: SCISSOR SISTERS 2MANYDJS (CLOSING MAIN STAGE DJ SET) BLONDIE BETH DITTO MARC ALMOND AZARI & III HARD TON FERAL AKA MC KINKY JONNY WOO DR NOKI FASHION SHOW
GAYMERS STAGE: ROBYN KELIS MEN BLACK DEVIL DISCO CLUB PLANNINGTOROCK RETRO/GRADE MONARCHY VIKTORIA MODESTA
RELENTLESS ENERGY DRINK ARENA HOSTED BY CIRCUS: JODIE HARSH’S CIRCUS STYLE OF EYE FRED FALKE FILTHY DUKES KRIS DI ANGELIS TOM STEPHAN BOWSKI WARBOY SCOTTEE EAT YOUR HEART OUT
PLUS: HORSE MEAT DISCO featuring: JAMES HILLARD JIM STANTON LUKE HOWARD AKA FILTHY LUKA SEVERINO TENSNAKE THE SHIT ROBOT SHOW LIVE
