Event Review : 51st State Festival, London

North London played host to the best house music has to offer…

 
It is testament to the team at Found that this event sold out in a month, in only its second year, that is a monumental achievement. The heritage on display throughout the line up and the nostalgia they bring for their punters is clearly a major driving force behind their success.
 
Set back in the idyllic Trent Park you enter the festival site and immediately recognise that this is a day for the Kings and Queens of house music – a diverging crowd of young and old dancing together in the mid August sunshine.
 
Entering into the We Love Soul tent we first saw David Bailey – his energetic MC’s and soulful sounds making the packed tent move, when he reached the climax of his set dropping Sister Sledge “Thinking of You” he set a benchmark for the rest of the festival – even in these early hours.
 


On the booming main stage, American house legend Todd Terry arrived. The sound throughout the whole festival was triumphant and this is testament to the fantastic organisation. Opening up a ‘hit’ packed set Terry’s highlights included a spin of Frankie Knuckle’s “Move Your Body.” The mob in front of him engaged, smiling and singing along.
 
The excellence of the sound didn’t end with the main stage – within the Groove Odyssey tent you could feel and hear the bass booming. Firstly the Basement Boys and then Dimitri From Paris using this to full effect – unleashing “Right on Time” to a energetic and adoring crowd.
 

Roger Sanchez (straight off the plane from Ibiza) was perhaps the highlight of the day. His excellent set sounded immense as the late evening sun began to sink over the park; particularly front and centre of the stage where the pounding beats were echoing out over of the park.
 
Finally, we headed to see American, Kenny Dope – his soulful and funky sounds, spinning out onto Chic’s “Everybody Dance” – fittingly the main message of the day from an memorable festival!
 

Words By: Tom Wiltshire

All Photos by: Marc Sethi