elrow Town at The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park London, 19th August 2017
Ticket Prices : £40/£50/£60
VIP : £70/£80
Elrow has become one of the most prestigious and wild parties out there, the Barcelona based club has come a long way in the past few years; hosting its extravagantly themed parties all over the globe and drawing in thousands of followers along the way. One of it's hot spots in this time has been the UK, in particular London, where the brand has held parties in some of the capital's finest venue spaces including Studio 338, Tobacco Dock and Building Six at the o2.
With most of the top venue spaces under their belt elrow and London based event organisers LWE chose to look for a new concept...elrow Town London.
Elrow have teamed up with LWE for many of their previous events and with the success of elrow Town Cardiff in May earlier this year and LWE's direction of pioneering obscure and unique day time events; elrow Town London was a no brainer.
Day events have become increasingly popular in the scene over the past couple of years. There truly is something unique about the buzz and energy a crowd brings during the day, match that with an obscure venue or festival style setting and you've got yourself a party. We are certainly with the movement and are excited to see how these day time parties will develop even further over the coming years.
Elrow set out big plans for their day time pop up metropolis, promising a 360 degrees elrow experience, immersing its fans in an open air show filled with performers, markets, inflatables and of course, confetti. The day would comprise of two main themes/stages :
Singer Morning - The main stage holding an open-air party utopia where anything and everything can happen.
El Rowcio - a Spanish inspired carnival fiesta under a giant marquee.
The show sold out in record time; 15,000 tickets sold in only 4 hours demonstrating the large and loyal following that elrow and LWE have amassed. Much to our surprise this led to a further day being added to the event. The second day proved to not be as successful, struggling to sell tickets and with the build up to the weekend being hugely focused on the second day, we couldn't help but feel there wasn't enough love shown to the loyal fans who forked out £50/60 without hesitating, only to then be somewhat forgotten during the build up to the day. Promotions, competitions and line up in our opinion favored the second day. As tickets struggled to sell out releases were also skipped to a higher priced release close to the event which was clearly to try and cover some of their losses.
Venue
Elrow Town was housed in The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, situated in the heart of London, adjacent to Stratford City and around 15 minute walk from Stratford Train Station. The venue space consists of the stadium previously used for the London 2012 Olympics and large surrounding park where elrow Town was based. Having only been used for sports events until 2013 when Live Nation won the rights to stage music shows in the area which has resulted in festivals like Electric Daisy Carnival utilising the space. The specific part of the park that elrow was housed in was fairly deep into the area on the North West Side. Inside elrow Town and you're met with merchandise stalls, entertainment like sumo wrestling and basketball, food stands and and plenty more to keep you busy away from the music. There were three bars situated on opposite sides of the venue, one of which at the main stage could quite easily have taken the world record for the longest bar even seen at a day event! It spanned the length of the crowd and proved incredibly useful to keep the queues down to a minimum, so a big thumbs up from us here.
Drink Prices
As the event was hosted by LWE a token system was in place for drinks. Prices were in line with previous LWE events which meant a beer would cost you 2 tokens (around £5) and the same for a spirit mixer. Water and soft drinks were 1 token (£2.50); a fairly reasonably priced bar. Tokens at this event however were not refundable which was a change from previous LWE events. We hope to see the refundable option returned in future events.
Venue Staff
Bar staff were cheerful, friendly and very patient, keeping queues to a minimum at all times. Staff at other areas like the merchandise and inflatable stands were also always in theme and clearly enjoying the festivities.
Crowd
The crowd present were vast and mixed in age, origin and style. With elrow hosting shows all over the world it was no surprise to see people from a variety of countries come and party together as one. London being such a diverse city gave people from all walks of life the opportunity to experience a party much different from their usual metropolis setting and enjoy the festivities in a positive atmosphere. No trouble or fighting seen at all which was great to see.
Heat
Being an open-air event with overcast warm weather; heat was no issue. There was however incredibly high winds and although this kind of weather can't be controlled we would've liked to have seen some thought put in place around this when the venue was being chosen.
Production/Sound
Production
Famously known for their production, this is a department right at the heart of elrow and a key part of what makes their shows so unique. Even with their previous experience hosting parties at some of the world's biggest clubs, this would be a big feat to live up to in an open air setting surrounded by 15,000 people. Thankfully they came fully prepared with armies of fantastically eccentric dressed stilt walkers, giant inflatable creatures, and huge hand made puppets flooding the crowds. Elrow was all around you throughout the proceedings, keeping you immersed in the experience. Both stages had their own unique spin sticking to their themes. The main area; Singer Morning being displayed by a busy house shaped stage, complete with large screens either side of the house showing a view of the DJ and crowd. The other area El Rowcio was found in a large marquee covered in Spanish themed bunting and signature objects.
Famously known for their production, this is a department right at the heart of elrow and a key part of what makes their shows so unique. Even with their previous experience hosting parties at some of the world's biggest clubs, this would be a big feat to live up to in an open air setting surrounded by 15,000 people. Thankfully they came fully prepared with armies of fantastically eccentric dressed stilt walkers, giant inflatable creatures, and huge hand made puppets flooding the crowds. Elrow was all around you throughout the proceedings, keeping you immersed in the experience. Both stages had their own unique spin sticking to their themes. The main area; Singer Morning being displayed by a busy house shaped stage, complete with large screens either side of the house showing a view of the DJ and crowd. The other area El Rowcio was found in a large marquee covered in Spanish themed bunting and signature objects.
Both stages had a good selection of lighting with many components of the stages containing vibrant and colourful lights. The main stage also had multiple strobes well placed across the structure which were effective during big moments of the night. As no surprise there were multiple famous elrow confetti drops which looked stunning, combined with giant inflatable balls launched into the crowd with all the other production on offer. We just feel sorry for those having to clean up! One thing we would like to see is elrow produce new ways of getting their famous confetti drops further into the crowds should they continue to hold large open-air style parties.
Sound
Sound quality at both stages was good but not mind-blowing. The main stage featured twin line arrays of speakers on each side of the house which provided some booming sound when in close proximity of the stage. Outdoor events are always tricky to get the sound right as you're fighting against the elements and also do not have the benefit of walls to bounce the sound waves and reverberate the noise around the venue space. One way to tackle this is adding additional speakers above the crowd which unfortunately was not present at the main stage. The second stage El Rowcio did however feature some additional speakers within the crowd, positioned on pillars inside the tent.
Sound quality at both stages was good but not mind-blowing. The main stage featured twin line arrays of speakers on each side of the house which provided some booming sound when in close proximity of the stage. Outdoor events are always tricky to get the sound right as you're fighting against the elements and also do not have the benefit of walls to bounce the sound waves and reverberate the noise around the venue space. One way to tackle this is adding additional speakers above the crowd which unfortunately was not present at the main stage. The second stage El Rowcio did however feature some additional speakers within the crowd, positioned on pillars inside the tent.
DJ Sets
Eats everything
The man from Bristol has had a very busy year ranging from our local
festival in Maidstone, The Winter Social to Ultra in Miami and everywhere in between.
It's no shock to see this guy playing so frequently and consistently smashing
his sets. First coming to prominence in 2011 with his release "Entrance
Song" on Pets Records, he's followed up with huge releases on Dirtybird
and Hypercolour. Although quite arguably his most popular track would be "Dancing (Again!)"
which came out in 2015 and set the house music scene alight! Having seen Eats a
couple of times before we always knew we were in for a treat and this set followed suit being our favourite of the
day. His track selection is on another level, when he plays there's not a
single body that isn't dancing along to his set. A favourite of his right now
is "Waze & Odyssey - Down With Tha", featuring prominently in his
sets. Another great track we had to pick out was "Sick Fantasy - Get Your
Hands Off My Man", a big bassy banger.
credit : Here & Now
Marc Maya
Next up was a man you could call "Mr elrow", having been a resident since the very beginning way back to Row 14, one of the best clubs in the city of Barcelona. Pulling in weekly crowds of over 4000 people to every show, this is how elrow Sundays was born. Marc has been with the team all the way through, playing for them all over the globe. Growing from strength to strength, he and his elrow family took over a residency in the DJ Mag Number 1 club in the world; Space Ibiza. Marc's style is full of the grooviest rhythms which makes him perfectly suited to elrow. His latest release "Alac" on elrow Music is a strong sign of him sticking to this funky music culture which elrow has spread onto dance floors worldwide. Stepping up after Eats Everything, Marc certainly had a task on his hands but he dealt with it exceptionally well, bringing us a popping upbeat set. Dropping bombs like "Cristoph - Cozen" & "Electronic Youth - Gotta Be", we were given another stunning performance.
Next up was a man you could call "Mr elrow", having been a resident since the very beginning way back to Row 14, one of the best clubs in the city of Barcelona. Pulling in weekly crowds of over 4000 people to every show, this is how elrow Sundays was born. Marc has been with the team all the way through, playing for them all over the globe. Growing from strength to strength, he and his elrow family took over a residency in the DJ Mag Number 1 club in the world; Space Ibiza. Marc's style is full of the grooviest rhythms which makes him perfectly suited to elrow. His latest release "Alac" on elrow Music is a strong sign of him sticking to this funky music culture which elrow has spread onto dance floors worldwide. Stepping up after Eats Everything, Marc certainly had a task on his hands but he dealt with it exceptionally well, bringing us a popping upbeat set. Dropping bombs like "Cristoph - Cozen" & "Electronic Youth - Gotta Be", we were given another stunning performance.
credit : Nachtschaduw
Jasper James
Now baring in mind this guy is only 26
years of age, his musical talent is something else. The Glaswegian has been
very busy as of late playing for huge brands Circoloco, Paradise and Zoo
Project in Ibiza as well as his yearly residency at London's Phonox where his
all night long sets have gained huge respect for his diverse range of talent.
He is continuing his ascent into the higher echelons of the electronic music
scene and is showing no signs of stopping. His production is an additional key
to his rise with his unreleased track "Keep On" being a personal
favourite of ours. His set at elrow Town started off in a funky disco style and
slowly progressed towards the tech house sub genre. "Earls Booom - Thank
You" was a great track to bring the vocal house vibe to his set
aswell as having a heavy baseline to it. He also played a crowd favourite,
Garrett & Ojelay's Bootleg of "Sandy B - You Make The World Go Round.
Overall this was a quality set from the young Scot and we cannot wait to
see him play again.
Riva Starr
Now we switch our attention to the El Rowcio
tent with the legend that is Riva Starr. Hailing from Naples in Italy, Riva has
made London his home since 2008. Along as running his own label, Snatch and
being the family man that he is, he still manages to fit in 200+ gigs a year.
Walking into the tent just before his set started, Man Power finished off with
the extravagant track Bamboleo by Gypsy Kings. Riva's set was very true to his style and full of big baselines. A personal highlight of this
outstanding set was when he played one of his latest releases "The
Basement Shit", a track so versatile that it has seen countless remixes by artists including Skream. Another great
set and another strong addition to the day.
credit : Here & Now
The Welsh born Paradise big boss was in charge of closing duties and brought some high tempo beats to the crowd matched with some big elrow confetti drops as the night drew to a close. In our opinion this wasn't the set we were expecting from Jamie. With the elrow vibe being strongly focused on funky and pumping sub genres we were expecting a more of this rather than a moodier underground set. His set the following day however, B2B with Seth Troxler followed a more vocal and funky style.
Overall
Elrow's Town debut in London was a good experience, seeing a much loved brand which has primarily been club based in such a large scale shows its versatility as a party. The effects, themes and production were brilliant. There are however elements to build on for future elrow events of a similar scale. Additional speakers to boost sound quality, new ideas to grow their famous elrow signatures like the confetti drop further into the crowds and above all else, ensuring they do not lose sight of their loyal fans before giving all the attention to an additional day that has struggled to sell tickets. 7/10
credit : Nachtschaduw
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