One of the most surreal events I've attended. Originally published here.
"“Welcome to Bristol” reads Tats Cru’s convivial doodle above Café Central. The setting is an urban dream. Formerly drab apartment blocks show off their bizarre new depictions and the streets are festooned with deck chairs and fake grass. A whiff of sausage wafts down Nelson Street. Debenhams is only a few minutes away but all this is the perfect antithesis to last week’s riot. A sense of unity and community is prevalent. The jubilation is almost overwhelming.
Whilst DJ Die and Gus Pirelli bring their lively house-via-funky to the main stage, towering over a multitude of early dancers, Nick Walker’s gargantuan bowler hatted figure empties a tin of paint on top of us. It’s a rather distracting backdrop. Meanwhile, wander past Niels Meulman’s bewildering calligraffiti labyrinth and you discover MC Lil Rhys rapping with Youtube sensation Mr Woodnote outside The Galleries. Together they loop and intertwine beat boxing, suave sax, bleepy electronics and slick whiteboy wordplay with a strangely engrossing outcome.
A mix of UK funky and Beyoncé blares out of the Red Bull vehicle outside the Lanes whilst Shambarber plays electronica and does fine beverage vending business. Arguably the most striking of the installations, Aryz’s plump wolf clad in lumberjack shirt and braces looms high.
The crowd now scopes the whole stretch, and pioneering electro-funk maestro Greg Wilson storms an early headline set. His samples span everything old skool, from a throbbing ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ to an anthemic ‘Getting Away With It’. Bolstered with hypnotic bass loops, undulating piano slithers, ringing cowbells and thudding bass drums, they incite sing-alongs and put-your-hands-up moments aplenty. DJ Milo later rocks it. After-parties ensue. Welcome to Bristol, indeed."
