By Emma Gregory
The sun shone down once again over Bristol for LSTD 2016, it seems the change in location to Eastville Park has certainly brought them luck with the dry weather, something that always keeps festival goers happy. A fact reinforced by the happy faces all around us as we descend into the park for Day 1 for some amazing music. But it is not just the incredible line up that we have to look forward to though, there is so much fun to be had all around the site. Fancy getting ‘married’ in an inflatable church? No problemo…
We loved getting our glitter on and shopping in the Boo-Dior tent with labels such as Puckoo Couture on sale, this was one place not to miss. Shay Malt was on the decks and aptly dropped Whitney’s ‘ Love Will Save The Day’ as we passed through.
We headed to Shambarbers and caught some of Bristol DJ Waifs & Strays’ set, who as usual went down a storm with the ever up for it local crowd before getting in the thick of it with Skream and DC10 residents The Martinez Brothers – the Bronx duo closing the Cloud 9 stage in full effect.
The Main Stage as per usual had it’s strong and popular line up, we were loving Everything Everything and Hot Chip who closed with a cool selection of their big hits before closing with a synth version of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Dancing in the Dark’. Day 1 ended with a bang.
Day 2 brought us yet more sunshine and in true festival style, more weird and wonderful things to do. From a dance off in a boxing ring to roller booting around the Bump roller disco. Has to be said though, my dancing partner was having non of it…a combination of heavy excess on Day 1 and his two left feet saw more floor action than Strictly.
Loved catching some of Bristol based group Laid Blak who are always a crowd pleaser with their urban, reggae based sounds and big ups to Shy FX on the Cloud 9 stage. Total respect.
One not to miss was Goldie who performed on the spectacular Arcadia Afterburner before the always memorable Chase & Status closed things up on this impressive stage. On yet another day with strong lineups, the choice was hard to make.
We plumped for Stormzy and then Dizzee Rascal…totally the right decision. Dizzee absolutely smashed it purring out all his hits… ‘Fix Up Look Sharp’, ‘Dance Wiv Me’ and ‘Bassline Junkie’ sending the Bristol crowd into raptures. Hey, the boy wonder even managed to break up a scuffle between two guys down the front, stopping mid way through ‘Just A Rascal’ telling them to break it up – and in his words “Oiii listen! It’s all about peace and love, I don’t want no one to get hurt”. Cue crowd adulation, rewinding the track and off he bounced to a sea of arms! Moments later he came back for his encore, we knew what was coming and yes, it sure was ‘Bonkers’.
After the lights went down and the final bassline dropped, party goers headed to the many Love Saves The Night after parties all across the city. Full credit to Team Love who are building up a Bristolian empire with this two day festival continuing to grow and wow.
Their superior line ups and brilliant organisation have got people from the city and beyond all raving together once again. For many of us, it’s the official start to the summer…
