Over the last eight years, London’s Junction 2 has become one of the hottest electronic music festivals the capital has to offer. Renowned for its immaculate programming and innovative stage designs, the festival, which normally runs across two days, returned to Boston Manor Park this year for a new three day line-up packed full of international DJ’s.
A perfect hybrid between city life and the leafy rural countryside, Boston Manor Park proves to be a strong location for any music festival. From the huge pharmaceutical glass buildings right behind the Grid stage and the busy M4 motorway stretching above the park, to the Woods stage located in a forest, Junction 2 offers much more than an empty field. With thousands of party-goers entering the festival from Friday 12pm, basking in the Sun and humidity of the London summer, the line-up was looking strong for this year’s edition. Each of the three days focussed on a different shade of the electronic spectrum, from Friday’s deep house vibes, to Saturday’s heavier techno sonics and Sunday’s melodic house, there was a guaranteed to be a DJ for everyone.
Ready for some harder tunes, Saturday served up a belter of a line-up, promising sets from a slew of international techno DJ’s, it was VTSS’ 90 minute set at the Bridge which really kickstarted the day following a tight techno display from Rene Wise over in fabric’s tent. VTSS brought her A-game, flicking between hard techno hitters and high-octane maximalist sounds much to the crowd’s delight, as the sun rays pierced through the trees either side of the Bridge. Not one to shy away from cheeky edits, and sharp drops, the Polish DJ/ producer made sure to brandish plenty of surprises, including a bouncy edit of House of Pain’s classic “Jump Around”.
The Bridge stage has swiftly become one of Junction 2′ selling key attractions, and as a first timer at the festival, it certainly didn’t disappoint. With a huge B2B between Daniel Avery and Sama’ Abdulhadi swiftly following VTSS’ set — packed full of punchy kick drums and powerful bass kicks — the soundsytem was truly put to the test. Thanks to the semi contained, narrow nature of the stage, which stretches back about 200 metres, the sound didn’t disappear into the atmosphere, instead it was channeled straight down the underbelly of the M4.
This year, however, there was a new stage in town called The Dome, which was hosted in association with TicketSwap. Appearing as a fully enclosed, intimate, pitch-black rave tent, The Dome boasted a 360 degree soundsytem which pointed inwards towards the centre of the dance floor, as well as providing four dance platforms and a 20-metre-wide lighting rig for full immersion. Promising the best listening experience at the festival, it was no surprise the likes of FJAAK and Richie Hawtin were invited to play here. With only one half of FJAAK — Aaron Röbig — travelling to play, it made little difference as he laid down essential techno groovers before the legendary figure of Richie Hawtin appeared to close out the day. The sound within The Dome was crisp and sharp, and provided an intimate club experience.
Also closing out Saturday was a techno masterclass between two of the most esteemed DJ’s in their own right, DJ Nobu and DVS1. Thanks to fabric’s 360 degree stage set up, dancers were able to surround the decks and get up close and personal to the two techno titans as they weaved in and out of industrial heavy-hitters and more melodic rollers for over two hours. Having met over 13 years ago when DJ Nobu invited DVS1 to play Future Terror in Japan, the pair’s dynamic was immeasurable, making DJ Nobu play with “more concentration, intensity and technicality than usual”, according to his recent Instagram post.
Sunday too promised a huge line-up and was met with a massive amount of anticipation as it easily proved to be the busiest of the days. With the temperature clocking in at 26 degrees, and thousands of Monday’s booked off work, Anna Wall and Bobby provided a monumental B2B on the fabric stage, running for four straight hours. Continuing the B2B theme, Christian AB and OK Williams took the reins over for a sleek house-fulled vinyl set. Two of the capital’s hottest emerging talents in their own right, with Christian AB recently releasing his The Nu Life LP and OK Williams clocking a BBC Radio 1 Guest Mix, the pair seamlessly flipped between bouncy house cuts, peak-time bangers and acid-tinged heaters. Remaining at fabric’s tent, Craig Richards graced the decks — not much needs to be said about the way he meticulously mixed unearthed gems plucked from his bag of vinyl. One of the mainstay’s of UK electronic music, Richards is a must-see for any newcomer.
One of Sunday’s highlights took place over at The Dome stage at 18:00, as salute took to the decks. The multi-hyphenate comes fresh from his mesmerising debut album, TRUE MAGIC, which contains fourteen intoxicating dance tracks, from high-octane banger “lift off!” featuring UK dance legends Disclosure, to the house beats of “luv stuck” featuring piri. Having touched base with salute earlier this summer, it’s clear to see and hear the amount of talent they possess, and it was a nice moment when, early on in the set, “saving flowers” blasted through the speakers to a rapturous response from the crowd.
Special mention must go to one of the festival’s hidden surprises, The Woods. Tucked away in the forest of Boston Manor Park is a bunker-like stage set-up with just four speakers in each corner and room enough for about 200 dancers. An intimate yet simple space, the likes of Francesco Del Garda slotted perfectly into the DJ booth, delivering over 2 hours of minimal house rollers and chuggers.
With plenty of other key sets across the weekend from the likes of techno master Jeff Mills, disco/ house connoisseur Honey Dijon, in-demand multi-hyphenate Barry Can’t Swim and LSDXOXO, this year’s Junction 2 was a true success. With little to no trouble across the weekend, the vibe was immaculate. The weather held, queues for the bars were minimal and of course the music was grade A. The range of stages from the trademark Bridge set up to the brand new Dome was impressive, and the soundsystems seemed high-grade throughout. A must visit for any budding electronic head.