United Festival

United Festival 2015 Review

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Looking for a rave in London, then look no further than United Festival, a dance music festival which brings back the legends of the British rave culture!

Taking over North London's Finsbury Park, a day after hosting Ceremony Festival, this single day festival returned in 2015 on a bigger scale with 8 arenas and over 150 artists.  Heading to the festival, there is a sense of old skool rave culture as we hit Finsbury Park station with festival goers dressed ready to dance.  Out of the wardbrobes have come the fluro coloured tops and pants, glitter makeup and sneakers, all accompanied with the lazer light protecting shades!

Bringing Drum & Bass, Old Skool, Jungle, Uk Garage, House Classics, Hard House, Trance and Hardcore, there was something for everyone.  Our first stop is the Frantic arena to check out a good friend of ours, Masif head honcho Steve Hill, who has flown all the way from Sydney, Australia.  With smoke pouring out of the tent, it was obvious that the Frantic arena was full of energy as 100's filled the tent to bounce to Steve's notorious hard trance sound.  Hosting the likes of Andy Farley, Lisa Pin Up and more, the hard house / trance lovers had plenty to keep them going all day.

The main stage is the place to be for Drum and Bass lovers.  Sunday brought together the best of old skool with Fabio & Grooverider, Baby D, Ratpack, DJ Hype & DJ Marky keeping the tent packed the entire day.  Complete with a massive l.e.d screen and lasers, the tent illuminated up as the sun fell down over Finsbury Park.  

One of the other highlights of our day was the TwiceasNice arena where DJ Luck & MC Neat, Ironik, Pied Piper and more of UK Garages finest lined up.  It was great to see these legends take to the stage all in one place. Luck & Neat's performance of one of the biggest known garage tunes With a Little Bit Luck had the crowd going crazy!

Elsewhere at United Festival 10,000 people had arenas like Promised Land which hosted old skool house with Brandon Block, Arkoss, Philgood & Ram and more, Mental Asylum Records where you could put your hands in the air to Trance, One Nation and Moondance which shared mixture of rave, drum and bass and more ensured that all your musical tastes were satisfied.
 

United Festival add DJ Marky, Oxide and Neutrino and more

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Following a colossal sold-out debut last year, United Festival returns to Finsbury Park on Sunday 13th September to close the summer for the second year running. Celebrating over 25 years of British rave culture, United have enlisted leading instigators of a movement that resonated across the globe to shape the face of modern-day club culture. Eight stages of music will feature sets from over one-hundred-and-fifty acts including DJ Hype, 808 State, Lisa Lashes, The Ratpack, Force & Styles, Fabio & Grooverider, DJ Hazard, Randall & DJ Storm, Slipmatt, Kenny Ken & Jumpin jack Frost, DJ Luck & MC Neat, Pied Piper, Robert Owens, Marshall Jefferson, Graeme Park, Mark EG, Andy Farley, Baby D and many, many more… 

 

Representing an ideology that traversed the boundaries of convention and defined a new generation of sonic revolutionaries, British rave culture is now recognised as one of the most iconic movements in recent cultural history. Setting out to reinforce this ethos, United Festival will be the fifth and final event in the epic summer festival Found Series – produced in collaboration with essential rave luminaries, Slammin' Vinyl. 

 

United's Main Stage will host an electrifying line-up, with multi-award winning drum & bass and jungle producer DJ Hype taking headline duties to showcase his revered Playaz sound. The original Queen of Dance Lisa Lashes returns after a memorable set at last year's festival, whilst seminal acid house collective 808 State will make their United debut. Drum & bass stalwart Harry Shotta will present The Harry Shotta Show, showcasing the best of his new album, whilst Force & Styles are to play an exclusive, one-off set celebrating the world's biggest hardcore classics. 

 

Old Skool lynchpins The Ratpack and Fabio & Grooverider will also be in session alongsideDeckajam and a flurry of live PAs from British dance music icons Baby D, Jungle legend General Levyand old skoolers Shut up & Dance. MCs GQ, IC3, Harra Shotta and Whizzkid will keep the main stage hyped throughout the day, with a further two very special headliners still to be announced.

 

Showcasing the best in drum & bass, Slammin' Vinyl's flagship party brand One Nation will host United's second arena. Fabric regular DJ Hazard heads an impressively expansive bill that will also take in sets from SASASAS, The Prototypes, Bad Company UK, DJ Guv, Sly & Logan D, Brockie, Majistrate, Cabin Fever, Inter & SLB, Kezman & Terry M and Whiley One – all hosted by MCs Eksman, Skibadee, Harry Shotta, Shabba D, Stormin, IC3, Evil B, Trigga, Bassman, Det, Felon, Grima, Azza, Deefa and Funktion. 

 

Old skool, jungle and drum & bass classics will be on show in United's third arena hosted by revered party brand Moondance, who have assembled an eclectic crew of leading rave personalities includingRam Records's Hamilton, Randall & DJ Storm, Mickey Finn, Top Buzz, godfather of old skoolSlipmatt, Kenny Ken & Jumping Jack Frost, Billy Daniel Bunter, Uncle Dugs & Nicky Blackmarket, Ashatack, Twitsta & Trix, Sense and Genetic & Dan Rewind – plus MCs Moose, Fearless, Five Alive, Ragga Twins, Whizzkid, Mad P, Charlie B, Shockin B, 3Flow, Cutter, Fusion. 

 

 

Representing UKG, seminal 90s garage hub Twice as Nice host United's fourth arena with a live PA from scene originator Robbie Craig. Further sets will also come from MOBO award-winning DJ Luck & MC Neat, Dreem Teem, DJ Ironik Woody, DJ Jonezy, Pied Piper, DJ, Junior Buzz and Redlockwith stage hosts Creed, DT, CKP, Unknown, PSG, Dr Psycho, Minx and Kifa. 

 

Classic house will be the order of the day at Promised Land's arena, with a headline set from one of the scenes most modest and unassuming talents in Robert Owens. Chicago jacking house originatorMarshall Jefferson will spin a driving selection, with pioneering house producers Graeme Park andBrandon Block & Alex P bringing the focus back to British. Further sets come from Huck Finn, Philgood & Ram, Arkoss, Mark Rushton and EZM. 

 

Showcasing the darker side of trance, Indecent Noise will roll up to United with a host of key players from much loved label Mental Asylum Records, including Jordan Suckley, Will Atkinson, James Dymond, Standerwick, Jase Thirlwall, Robbie Van Doe and a live PA from Noire Lee. 

 

Unarguably one of the hardest dance offerings in the UK, Frantic are set to host one of United's most popular arenas with a no-nonsense programme of hard trance, hard house and hard dance headlined by Frantic favourite Lisa Pin Up. Mark EG & M Zone with MC Ribbz will pay homage to infamous rave institutions Bagleys and The Sanctuary with an exclusive, one-off hard trance set, and hard trance legend K90 will perform his new live PA 'Reboot'. Celebrating 25 years behind the decks, hard house pioneer Andy Farley is also scheduled to appear, with further sets from Steve Hill, Lucy Fur, JP & Jukesy, A vs B Live, Ashley Waters, Wayne Smart & Jake Martin, Skol & Aaron James andStewart T & Jon Hanley. 

 

For those seeking to party in style, United are offering a VIP Classics arena headlined by Slipmatt – who will play an exclusive old skool house and trance set – plus a garden seating area, VIP toilets, private cocktail bar and a selection of gourmet street food. 
 
The £17.50 first release tickets sold out in records time, second release tickets can be snapped-up for the very old skool price of just £20 for standard entry and £45 for VIP.