Homelands: festival season arrives
FESTIVAL REVIEW
We Love... Homelands 2005
Matterley Bowl, Hampshire
Homelands, or in full, ‘We Love... Homelands’, has been running for over five years, and in that time has built up a reputation for being one of the best dance festivals and the opener of the season.
The deal with dance festivals is slightly different to the rest, being held over one (very long) day and through the night until the next morning. That said, some promoters do run weekenders at holiday camps, and Godskitchen’s ‘Global Gathering’ event at the end of July is this year spreading the mayhem across two days.
When I first saw the lineup for Homelands 2005, with around 80 acts and DJs across ten separate areas, I was literally drooling. It was as if the organisers had been watching me to find out all the DJs I rate or have enjoyed over the past couple of years so they could book them all. I couldn’t have forgiven myself for missing out on this, so booked up my ticket nice and early to avoid disappointment and provide me with some light at the end of the cold, dank tunnel that is final year exams.
The event started at 12.30pm, with live acts such as Babyshambles, Audio Bullys and even the likes of The Bravery and Beck there to provide early entertainment before the onslaught into the night. We tried to get the as early as we could, we really did, but events conspired against us – engineering works on the trains, and a bus replacement driven by a proper chump who took us past the site and on into Winchester.
From the road we had trek up a hill and then past Operation Cheesefoot. Operation Cheesefoot? Allow me to elaborate. Hampshire Constabulary were having a day out as well, and they’d brought their sniffer dogs with them. Before even getting to the entrance to the arena, we all had to file past this lot. There were a lot of very nervous clubbers, and rightly so – the police were pulling so many people that there was a queue of delinquents outside the police tent, all waiting to be ‘examined’.
At events like this, drugs are almost inevitable, but the police clearly didn’t want to give that impression. I read later that they made about a dozen arrests, but from what I heard from fellow revellers most people got away with having their stashes and tickets confiscated (though more were on sale) and an informal caution.
The location, the Matterley Bowl (a natural dip in the Hampshire countryside), was perfect. All you can see around you are hills and trees, and I doubt any noise from the site gets very far. By the time we’d got inside, it was actually pretty late. The sun was dipping, and I just caught the gruff tones of Roots Mavuna finishing his set in the live arena with Witness.
Having got some cider down my neck and done a bit of exploring, it was time to assess the situation. Sadly I’d already missed a few good acts, but the night was still young. We enjoyed some of Steve Lawler’s chug-chug beats at the outdoor stage, before heading into Arena 1 to catch Digweed. Playing a typically stalwart set, he picked us all up.
One strange thing to note about the layout of the arena is that, since it’s in a bowl, there’s a slope up towards the stages. Whilst this did keep the crowds from getting packed, it made it a little difficult to keep an even footing. After Digweed, we hung around to check out Richie Hawtin (aka Plastikman). His style of minimal techno is tight, subtle and deep. Next generation technology give this man a very special edge. One of my mates tried to drag me elsewhere, but I was staying put.
By midnight, things were on a roll and we spent the rest of the night moving between the different arenas (some of which looked way too similar, depsite being totally different sizes), losing then finding each other, and talking to other party people.
By 5.30, when Danny Howells was rounding up the event, we had all over-exerted ourselves somewhat and made a start on getting back.
The train was a sight to behold – all the seats and passageways were full of messed-up, danced-out ravers, snuggling, sleeping and drooling on one another. Bless.
Despite taking ages to get to, and a fair bit more than the usual amount of random shit occuring, Homelands was most definitely a cracker.
Summer is here, and if Homelands was anything to go by, it’s going to be great.
