Victoria Park in East London, UK brought the summer vibes last weekend as Creamfields kicked off the summer festival season with a double header. Eric Prydz presented a groundbreaking live show on Saturday, featuring a 3D hologram and video art set to perfectly compliment his vast array of music. Keeping it in the Swedish family, Axwell and Ingrosso returned for round two on Sunday, having headlined when the Steelyard mega structure was brought to Liverpool last November. Despite unfavorable weather on that Sunday, spirits were high and the mood among the crowd was positive.
London based duo Third Party, playing on home territory and fresh from a mini tour of Asia, drew a big crowd early in the day. They unleashed a suite of tracks off their debut album ‘Hope’ including ‘Veins’, ‘Waiting’, ‘Have No Fear’ alongside some older tracks such as ‘Real Sound’. The duo took one of their set staples and one of my all time favorite tracks ‘Everyday of My Life’ and mixed it with ‘Hurt’ a track off their current album which was a sheer joy to hear.
Third Party were followed by the DJ and producer behind Faithless, Sister Bliss. I’m sad to say that I was a little underwhelmed. There wasn’t the same level of variation in her set as the other artists performing and it felt a little monotonous to me. I’m also one of those people who think Faithless isn’t Faithless without Maxi Jazz. His vocals are haunting, so emotive and truly legendary.
Don Diablo opened his set for the UK crowd with a shortened version of his current track ‘Children of a Miracle’. The Dutch future bass king brought a carefully curated mix of drum ‘n’ bass, vocal and rock tracks alongside some of his own production including ‘Anytime’ and ‘Chemicals’. He also treated fans to a sneak peak of future releases by dropping many new ID’s throughout his set. We think this track is about to drop soon.
Don made a touching tribute to the city of Manchester and the victims of the recent terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena. He reminded the crowd that music is a powerful, uniting force and dedicated the next track ‘What We Started’ to Manchester.
Unfortunately, Martin Solveig was hampered by travel delays and technical issues which caused him to miss his set at the Steelyard. Not to be left wanting, the crowd was treated to an extended set by Don Diablo which he closed out with one of his most recent releases ‘Echoes’, the theme song for the upcoming sci-fi blockbuster Kill Switch due for release this summer. This track is a true testament to his diversity as an artist stepping into the world of film and expanding the reach of electronic music.
Rising through a circle of glistening white lasers just before 9 PM, holding hands high in the air, Axwell and Ingrosso took to The Steelyard stage for the second time. The pair, sporting their new retro merchandise, leaped from a platform to the thunderous instrumental drum beats of one of their freshest tracks ‘How Do You Feel Right Now’. Not taking the foot from the pedal for a single second, this was swiftly followed by ‘Barricade’, ‘Dream Bigger’, ‘Dark River’ and some live drum action courtesy of Axwell.
Axwell /\ Ingrosso’s recently release four track EP featuring ‘More The You Know’, ‘Renegade’, ‘How Do you Feel Right Now’ and ‘Dawn’ were dispersed carefully throughout the set alongside some of the classics such of ‘Antidote’, ‘One’ and ‘Greyhound’ that sent the Swedish House Mafia fans in the crowd into a frenzy.
Amidst a sea of yellow confetti falling from the sky, the Swedish duo dropped ‘Something New’ followed by ‘Calling (Lose My Mind)’ mixed into Third Party’s collaboration with Martin Garrix ‘Lions in the Wild’ which was most definitely a crowd favourite.
‘Dawn’, a delicate progressive house track loaded with strings brought all the feels together with a stunning mix of ‘I Love You’, The Weeknd’s ‘StarBoy’ and Ingrosso’s anthem ‘Reload’. This mix heralded the beginning of the end. What was to come was a collection of tracks that would take the listener on a musical journey from the SHM days with ‘Save the World’ and ‘DYWC’ to the new era where the ‘Sun is Shining’ right through to the present moment of ‘More Than You Know’.
Steelyard London was an exhilarating and enlivening experience, a reminder of the happiness music can generate within your soul and an example of how strangers can be united by a common love.
Images courtesy of Creamfields
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