 Well, British summer time is here again, which means its festival time! I know what you're thinking - strong wind, torrential rain, over-priced drinks and poor sound systems? No way - not at Escape Into The Park 2008! Read on to find out more....
Escape Into The Park 2008.
Venue: Singleton Park, Swansea, Wales.
We took the 168 mile drive down from Coventry to Swansea, and all the way there, we were talking about how good last years event was, and how we were hoping the weather would stay sunny and warm for this years festival. We also reminded ourselves that Escape Into The Park is the only dance music festival in Britain to have never suffered from rain. 2008 was no different - again, the weather was sunny and pleasant, which meant everyone was in good spirits for a fantastic day ahead! As we arrived at the park, we could see masses of people dressed in cyber gear, bikinis, shorts and fancy dress. Amongst all of those, there was a noticable police presence, which is always a welcoming sight. Escape Into The Park is, as far as i'm aware, the only dance music festival in the UK which allows under 18s. Anyone under the age of five is allowed into the festival - hence the heavy police presence. One thing I like about Escape Into The Park is the amount of organisation that has gone into it. All of the tents have superb sound systems (unlike most of the other festivals, which often suffer from poor quality sound). The site layout is well thought out too - tents are spaced out enough so that sound doesn't leak into surrounding tents, but they're close enough to walk around the site easily and quickly. The best thing of all about Escape Into The Park is that you always feel safe. Due to the high police presense, you don't keep constantly being asked if you want to buy drugs, and because the bars check everyone's age (even those that are clearly over 21!), there aren't lots of young drunken people walking round causing a nuisance. The whole festival has a really friendly atmosphere, and everyone gets on with everyone else. The kids also look like they're enjoying it too, which is nice to see because they're our future clubbing crowd and DJs. This festival is ideal for those because, being so young, they possibly don't get to hear as much dance music as most of us do. They're not old enough to go clubbing, and because most dance radio shows are on very late at night or at unsociable hours in the morning, they don't get to hear much dance music on there either. Their only realistic way of listening to dance music is either via CDs they've bought, or through listening to mixes on the internet - so its great that the organisers of Escape Into The Park are giving the younger generation an opportunity to hear dance music from a clubbers perspective. Once we were in the site, we had a wander round to familiarise ourselves with the layout, and then headed over towards the main stage to have a brief listen. The main stage had a fantastic line-up - with Ferry Corsten and Underworld being the two headline acts. Once we'd finished at the main stage, we headed over to the Godskitchen tent, which was where all of the Trance DJs were playing. Upon arrival, Big Al was half way through his set, and he'd already got the crowd fired up! He played a very good set which, considering it was supposed to the warm-up set, was very fast and energetic. Big Al is very popular in Swansea because he's the resident DJ at their main Trance club, which, ironically, is also called Escape. The tent was about three quarters full, so its clear just how loyal his supporters are! Following on from Big Al was Godskitchen's resident DJ from Air in Birmingham, Mark Eteson. Mark Eteson made an instant impression, continuing with current crowd favourites such as Heatbeats bootleg of Supermode’s ‘Tell Me Why’ and Vardren’s (aka ‘Sonicvibe’) bootleg of Fatboy Slim’s ‘Right Here, Right Now’. 
Mark Eteson playing in the Godskitchen tent
Next up was Sean Tyas – a DJ that I’ve seen so much positive feedback about, yet a DJ that I’d never managed to see before. Right from the start, it was clear to see just why he gets so much positive feedback. His set was by far the best of the day, and he genuinely loved his set. He took the time to sign autographs and talk to the crowd after his set – and in his words “it was f**king awesome playing up there”. Dave Pearce was the next DJ to play after Sean Tyas. Dave Pearce was the highlight of Escape Into The Park last year – he played a superb set. Unfortunately, this year I felt he was a little off-form. Some of his mixes were a bit sloppy – although he did play some nice melodic tunes which were perfect for that time of the day. Dave is very popular down in Swansea due to his long-standing partnership with the Escape club down there, and it was obvious he has a large fan base down there because the tent soon filled up when he played. Following on from Dave Pearce was legendary BBC Radio 1 DJ, Judge Jules. Unfortunately, I only caught around fifteen minute of his set due to a pre-arranged interview with Ferry Corsten – but just before I left, I managed to catch him playing ‘They Always Come Back’ by Arnej, which is one of my tunes of the year so far. I popped back to the main stage for a short time to see Ferry Corsten. The main stage was very well laid out, and was equipped with a superb sound system – ideal for a few hours in the sun whilst listening to Ferry and Underworld! From there, it was a return back to the Godskitchen tent to catch Eddie Halliwell. Eddie has always been one of my favourite DJ, so it would have been rude not to join in with the ‘Eddie!, Eddie!, Eddie!’ chants upon my return! The first tune I heard him play was a superb bootleg of Fatboy Slim’s ‘Star 69’ – complete with Eddie’s trademark effects and scratching. Eddie played a very impressive set. Next up was Sander van Doorn – a DJ that has had a tremendous past three years. Three years ago, he was fairly unknown to most clubbers – and yet now, he’s shot into the top 30’s in the DJ Mag top 100 DJ’s poll. He started off with Mr Sam vs Human Resource’s ‘Dominator’ – a tune so fierce, it nearly blew the sides out of the tent! Finally, to round the day off, Marcel Woods had the honour of closing. Marcel seemed to start off quite slow, but within half an hour, he soon got into the swing of things, and then got the crowd going with some of his own productions – including ‘Lemon Tree’, ‘Advanced’, ‘Cherry Blossom’ – plus his remix of Three Drives’s ‘Greece 2000’. 
The Escape Into The Park crowd!
Overall, it was a fantastic day out. Great weather, a friendly crowd, superb sound system, and very well organised. If you’ve never been before, I recommend making the journey down to south Wales next year – you won’t be disappointed. It’s a fantastic day out, and compared to the pricing of other festivals and some club nights, its excellent value for money! We certainly enjoyed it – bring on Escape Into The Park 2009! |
