As the Friday descended upon us, party-goers from across the UK & Ireland slowly began to fill up the hotel rooms and chalets allocated to them indulging in pre-drink party sessions before the main body of the action was to kick in. The line up on the Friday was exactly what was needed to get things going, with B-Traits, Kurupt FM, Groove Armarda, George Fitzgerald, Paranoid London and the legendary Joy Orbison b2b Gerd Janson. No doubt that all ravers, young and old alike, were eagerly anticipating a memorable set from DJ EZ, expecting to hear classic EZ dishing out old skool UKG with his quick hands manipulating the sounds distributed through the speakers. Sadly we were disappointed as rather than hearing what we were looking forward to, we were treated, well unwillingly given a set that consisted of UKG infused with Grime and subject to hearing Drakes ‘Hotline Bling'. Definitely not House & Techno but the ever impressive Hannah Wants was on hand to play saviour. Hannah was overly impressive and she delivered a set slightly different from her usual sound. So much so that even the hardest of die hard techno heads would have to stand up and say ‘I really enjoyed that’.
Things were in full flow and the rest of the weekend had a lot to live up to considering that Erol Aklan and Boddika did what they did best and left the Bugged Out massive wanting and needing more. The day time programmes consisted of pool parties hosted by Jackmaster on the Saturday and Ibiza Rocks with Bicep respectively dropping arty classics. Just to the side of Burger King for those that were aware Skream played a ‘secret’ evening set before joining Jackmaster, Eats Everything, Armand Van Helden for a ‘Bigger than Jesus” showcase with each artist going b2b and playing a solo set. Eats Everything didn’t disappoint. His bass driven style which appeals to so many had the room rocking from back to front, ending his set with a truly fitting David Bowie edit, paying homage to the musical great that inspired Kraftwerk, therefore he inspired techno music.
one) would have gone to Catz n Dogs. The Pets Recordings label bosses took to the stage like true bosses and performed a masterclass. A solid hour and 45 mins of a style that oozed rhythmic grooves and round basslines, quality techno with a real Berlin-esque feel to it. To close the night House & Techno great Kerri Chandler completely bossed it. A real ground hugging performance picking up from where the the queen of jackin house Heidi had left off, taking the floor on a real journey through sound. Kerri had us all within the palm of his hands as he stood a mere few meters away from a room full of dishevelled ravers who had, through the sheer energy and quality of the track selection, mustered enough energy to party right through to 3.30am on a Monday morning ending the Bugged out weekend on a high. We’re already looking forward to more of the same next year.
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