The Social Festival 2017, 29th-30th September
One element of the festival which has remained strong from its inception has been the line up. Having world renowned DJ/Producer Nic Fanciulli at the helm has proved advantageous as his obvious links in the industry have helped him curate a popular line up year on year. This year continued that trend with firm favourites across various genres.
This year would also see the introduction of stage hosts from the likes of illustrious event organisers Resistance Music, London's finest underground nightclub; Fabric, prestigious dance music brand DJ Mag and a brand new stage presented by Ibiza Sonica Radio, bringing some further flavour to the weekend.
Venue
The venue of choice has remained the same as the preceding year, housed in the Kent County Showground, Detling. More commonly used as the name suggests for horse riding shows but the multiplicity of the venue due to its large open plan with pockets ideal for stage areas, along with large enclosed structures make it ideal for one off events, including The Social.
Drinks
The Social run a token system, with a reasonably priced bar attached. £1 landed you with 1 token and the majority of drinks including beers, ciders and mixers were all priced at 5 tokens. Water would set you back 3 tokens and for those looking to push the boat out, the Beetle Juice pop up bar offered a fine selection of cocktails at 7 tokens a go. In terms of bars within the venue, The venue featured one main bar in the centre of the festival next to various food outlets (the Chinese place was the perfect hangover cure from day one). Other bars could also be found in The Meadow and The Stables areas which helped to divide the queues and also save you walking a mile with a mouth like the Sahara desert.
Venue staff
Professional, efficient and helpful. Staff all round including bar tenders, door staff, stewards, and people behind the scenes were spot on the entire weekend.
Heat
Day one of the event was exclusively held in The Meadow area; an enclosed structure and often the main stage. With the space packed out the heat did become uncomfortable, however this was identified by the organisers as in day two of the festival further doors of the structure were opened, both for crowd management and temperature control. Additions to ventilation would still be appreciated in this room for future years, even with just a few additional powerful fans added around the room.
Crowd
The festival has a strong local following, being one of the only major festivals in the area, locals flock to the 2 day event for their house & techno fix. The Social also gives back to it's home, hosting a resident stage where locals of the scene are given a platform to perform their skills on a festival scale. This attracts further ravers residing in the area who attend in support of their local performers. In recent years we've seen the audience grow further afield with attendees from further up and down the country, as well as some people flying over from Europe to see some of their beloved DJs curated on The Social's line up.
Festival
For the festival itself we've broken down the two days by each stage to detail the sets we witnessed and the production/sound on offer.
Chris Nottingham, in charge of proceedings used his ever-growing experience in the industry to curate a strong line up of local performers, demonstrating the wealth of raw talent hailing from Kent. Made up of regulars and debutants, it was intriguing to see how they would perform. Debuts from the likes of James Robberts, Tommy Mack and Walkin'Talkz showed they can hold their own on a big stage, retaining fans at The Haystack throughout the day. Whilst the longer standing performers of the area such as the host Chris Nottingham, Benny Ataari and Micky Crist exampled their consistency to deliver with flair and precision on the decks. A strong showing from the residents stage, representing the abundance of talent available in Kent.
The Haystack - Social Residents hosted by Chris Nottingham
The resident stage returned in the form of The Haystack, giving local legends as well as up and coming DJs the opportunity to showcase their talent on a large scale. Consisting of a well sized arched stage surrounded by... you guessed it, haystacks. Armed with a strong sound system to gravitate crowds over as they entered the festival, getting their first taste of the house and techno on show. Good selections of lighting with spotlights and sunstrips on offer to light up the night performances.Chris Nottingham, in charge of proceedings used his ever-growing experience in the industry to curate a strong line up of local performers, demonstrating the wealth of raw talent hailing from Kent. Made up of regulars and debutants, it was intriguing to see how they would perform. Debuts from the likes of James Robberts, Tommy Mack and Walkin'Talkz showed they can hold their own on a big stage, retaining fans at The Haystack throughout the day. Whilst the longer standing performers of the area such as the host Chris Nottingham, Benny Ataari and Micky Crist exampled their consistency to deliver with flair and precision on the decks. A strong showing from the residents stage, representing the abundance of talent available in Kent.
The Meadow - Presented by Resistance
Production
The main room of the event and it certainly wasn't shy on production. Kitted out with 4 parallel beams angled diagonally, two at the front of the area and two nearer the back. Connected to each of these beams were a range of powerful spotlights, beams, sunstrips and strobes. The positioning kept viewers immersed in the display and looked great when used in unison. The stage featured a large central LED backdrop with a two additional separated panels on either side. This partitioned visual set up we are seeing more and more and when done right, adds a layer of creative brilliance to a set. Each DJ had their own custom visuals displayed providing variety throughout proceedings. One lighting feature which wasn't present this year were lasers, a piece of equipment which can be a game changer for production so this is something we'd love to see return in future years.
Sound
Sound in the meadow was delivered by two stacks of speakers with a whopping 8 speakers on each stack. These stacks provided a strong offering for audio and filled the room for those big bangers from headline acts.
DJ Sets
Nic Fanciulli
Fourth up on the decks on day one following the excellent performance from Cassy was the head honcho himself, Mr Nic Fanciulli. 2017 marked the festival's fifth year in the making developed by the house and techno DJ alongside his own music label Saved Records. Nic’s set was the real pace changer for the Friday, sending some fierce tempo to the Resistance stage but opting to start with a more melodic vibe, drawing on a snippet of the track "Saying" from his debut album "My Heart". This slower paced sound grabbing the crowd's attention with the set slowly growing in tempo, later going on to feature Four Tet's remix of "Opus" by Eric Prydz. The track was welcomed by the crowd with an exuberant cheer when the recognisable build up filled the room excitement.
The Martinez Brothers
Following Nic Fanciulli were two iconic disc jockeys hailing from New York, The Martinez Brothers. Known for their energy and charisma, setting those feel good vibes and selecting fast popping tech beats which never disappoint. Unfortunately one half of the duo; Steve was unable to attend, prompting cousin Jesse Calosso to step in who demonstrated the skill clearly runs in the family. They came into The Meadow with one goal; to get that crowd moving, and boy did they deliver. With tracks such as ’Renegade’ and ‘Get Em Up’ by DJ and producer Shaf Huse; the energy was immense. Popping from start to finish and ending perfectly with Floorplans' ‘Baby Baby’ before a dramatic pause to hand over to the legend that is, Carl Cox.
Following Nic Fanciulli were two iconic disc jockeys hailing from New York, The Martinez Brothers. Known for their energy and charisma, setting those feel good vibes and selecting fast popping tech beats which never disappoint. Unfortunately one half of the duo; Steve was unable to attend, prompting cousin Jesse Calosso to step in who demonstrated the skill clearly runs in the family. They came into The Meadow with one goal; to get that crowd moving, and boy did they deliver. With tracks such as ’Renegade’ and ‘Get Em Up’ by DJ and producer Shaf Huse; the energy was immense. Popping from start to finish and ending perfectly with Floorplans' ‘Baby Baby’ before a dramatic pause to hand over to the legend that is, Carl Cox.
Carl Cox
Step up the one and only Carl Cox, the man in charge of closing the proceedings on Friday. It’s well known that Nic and Carl share a very close friendship, which has seen them play back to back on many occasions all over the world including The Social. It was no surprise to see the addition of Coxy on the line up and picking up where The Martinez Brothers left off, Cox started off with a housey vibe and slowly progressed into his favoured techno side. Within the first half of the set came MK’s classic house track “Burning”, known by every house fan the track was sure to get a great reaction. Met with cheers, applause and people singing along to the vocals it was the perfect way to ease the crowd into his set. Verging into the tech house sub genre, Carl blasted Matador’s remix of Oxia’s timeless classic “Domino” through the powerful stacked speakers in The Meadow, shaking the foundations of the building in the process and pumping excitement into the crowd. As the set went on the techno came out to play, where the legend of the industry shows his experience, taking you on a trip across the techno spectrum and performing a history of electronic music. Another standout set from the legend that is Carl Cox.
Butch
Butch is DJ/Producer who’s been in the game for 22 years and explored many genres delving deep into the foundations of electronic music. Acclaimed around the world for his master music production and renowned for sending his fans on a journey with his unique sound.His set at The Social was no exception, mixing melodic techno and bouncy tracks, creating an electric atmosphere that flows through the crowd. A key moment came when dropping his bomb of a remix ‘Let The Drums Speak’ by Mighty Dub Katz, blasting some bouncy sounds into The Meadow.
The Stables - Presented by DJ Mag
ProductionEnter the woodland playground and you're surrounded by a forestial scene littered with disco balls and bunting hanging from the trees. Lighting consisted of various multi coloured spotlights and sunstrips situated inside the stage itself; a large enclosed hut representing a stable. The area was also lit up with standard halogen lamps during the dark hours of the event.
Sound
Sound came in the form of two line arrays either side of the stable which kept the crowd moving. Further speakers towards the entrance of the area would be a great addition to this area for next year as the sound can become quieter as you reach the back of the crowd.
DJ Sets
Jackmaster
His set followed that of Black Coffee and continued a similar mix of vocal and groovy tracks, keeping the outside vibe of The Stables alive and locking the viewers into the forrest. Gracing the decks were tracks such as Mark Jenkyns new release ‘Sirens’ on the Hottrax label, providing that groovy feeling which had fuelled the stage for much of the day, with smiles all round.
The Caravan - Presented by Ibiza Sonica Radio
ProductionQuite literally as it states, this stage comprised of a small caravan located at the helm of an enclosed section of trees. Creating an intimate atmosphere within this smaller set up, the stage's production consisted of a few bright coloured par lights which illuminated fluorescent sections of the caravan - a nice original touch. Whilst this area provided a contrast to the bigger stages, further lighting and production would benefit the set up and atmosphere should the stage return next year.
Sound
The sound system on offer wasn't ginormous but due the area covering much less space, a stack of 8 speakers here would've overpowered the scenery and left everyone's ears ringing into the after party. Two large speakers either side of the caravan did the job well.
DJ Sets
Sante B2B Sidney Charles
Headlining The Caravan stage were the firesome duo of Sante & Sidney Charles. After the success they've had over the past year, continuously featuring on elrow line ups all over the world and among countless festivals, we believed the two to be a great addition to an already line up. Beginning the set with their usual bouncy tech house vibe, the smaller crowd took to it well and danced along till the very end. System 2's "Home Time" was met with cheers from the crowd with it's fast paced beat. Moving on to the latter stage of their set, Paul Johnson's timeless classic "Get Get Down" was a brilliant way to slowly bring their set to a close, getting everyone dancing in high spirits.
The Barn - Presented by Fabric London
ProductionOur pick of the production, dubbed the Techno Barn and boy did it suit the name. From the moment you enter you're met with an aura of darkness and intensity. Props to the lighting team for creating an atmospheric techno abyss. Lighting ran in perfect sync with the beat, complementing the track selection brilliantly. In terms of lighting on offer; a row of large lamps behind the DJ, strobes which filled the room with blinding light, along with various spotlights and beams. Production took us on a rollercoaster ride throughout the DJ sets, flowing and building with the tempo of the music from one solid colour to a frenzy of strobes, spotlights and lasers. Topping this all off was the constant mist, which filled the room and area around the DJ, setting the murky vibe all night long.
Sound
Not only our pick of the production but the sound system was supplied by the room hosts; Fabric. The Social installed the same sound system used in DJ Mag's number 2 nightclub in the world. The Pioneer XY3 system rumbled the walls of The Barn for those all important bass heavy techno drops.
DJ Sets
Nina Kraviz
We closed our Social Festival weekend with the Russian techno goddess that is Nina Kraviz. Nina has an edge to her sets which make her one of the leading artists in the industry. Distinctive in the way she spans across the techno and other electronic genres, delving into the acid and hard techno sub genres frequently, whilst also mixing this with her love of tech trance. Expect the unexpected comes to mind when you think of Kraviz. Arising from the eerie misty setting, Kraviz was welcomed by a rapturous cheer with screams of “We love you Nina”. Leading her on to orchestrate a set that would send any techno fan into a state of euphoria, blasting her unique sounds through the pioneer XY3 sound system and commanding the dance floor with her gloomy, yet exhilarating style. This was certainly a set to keep you on your toes with not one still body in the room.
The crowd took to Nina’s set instantly, drawing them in with long build ups followed by hard hitting, high tempo drops sending the crowd into frenzy. A certain track that followed this standard was Pulverturm by Neils Van Gogh with its fast paced trancey beat and gentle vocals. Kraviz showed her love for high paced hard techno tracks when she dropped “Russian Roulette – Believe (Manu Kenton & Nicolas Clays remix)” a track with unbelievable pace behind it and when combined with the lighting masterclass on show, had the crowd pumped beyond belief. In our opinion, the stand out performance of the festival.
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