On paper, and on previous performance,
Sunfall 2017 was assured to be one the most necessary dates in the festival
calendar. Showcasing the very best of dance and hip-hop underground, with a
real community feel, including the likes of The Black Madonna, Jay Electronica,
Move D, and Madlib.
Being at Eastern Electrics festival last
weekend, my tolerance for queuing was pushed to its absolute limit with a
two-and-a-half-hour wait – this time around, despite myself being granted
backstage access, many attendees had the start of their day unacceptably
truncated. Alongside receiving texts from the outside stating that queues were
approximately three hours long, and getting to quite dangerous safety levels, I
found myself facing further serious queues just to buy booze for my friends to
soften their pain (and that’s even at the VIP bar).
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| Photo from Twitter: @ieattothebeat |
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| Theo Parrish |
Luckily for them, not much really happened
in the opening couple of hours. Romare flirted with his live set, bringing some
early smoothed out funk in the sunshine - the set seemingly too neat, and
didn’t really get the crowd going too much. Similarly, Roy Ayers seemed rather
passionless and going through the motions. On the other hand, an undeniable
success was Theo Parrish. Outwardly drunk, either on excitement or booze (who
can blame him, his set was 4 hours long), his selection of funk and wacky disco
edits oozed confidence and were even heard over on the main stage at many
points (e.g. with Outkast – SpottieOttieDopaliscious). Tirelessly and
typically, he worked on the EQs like a flair bartender.
It was now (circa 4.30pm) for the first time that Sunfall
2017 was seeming like a proper festival; where the echoes of overcrowding and
queueing were beginning to subside. People were enjoying themselves, as the sun
came out, as if it all had never happened - despite the constant onslaught to
organisers on social media for refunds. Maybe that was down to the dreamy
pairing of Palms Trax b2b Antal. Sound systems aside (I was actually
disappointed by this stage’s system, considering the praise the festival gets),
the effortless nature of the duo brought one of the best reactions to the day –
with punters relentlessly dancing throughout. After taking in the sunshine, and
checking out the record fair, Motor City Drum Ensemble kicked off in the
background. Despite being described as a DJ who never really leaves his comfort
zone, his main stage set worked its way through classic disco anthems to acid
house back to euphoric cuts, including the likes of Moodymann’s ‘Don’t You Want
My Love’.
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| Floating Points |
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| Larry Heard |
Highlights elsewhere saw Madlib bring air
to some J Dilla cuts alongside his own dusty, ill-defined style, and Princess
Nokia break up some monotony with her Foxy Brown-esque flow. Despite only
seeing her for a brief time, her set was packed with powerful bars, assured
twerks, and farfetched freestyles.
Passing up Ben UFO and The Black Madonna
seemed irresponsible at the time. But with the preferred sound at the main
stage, it was really a no brainer – the night ended with a live set from
Floating Points which boasted nerdy-like confidence, and some new material
(shock). And as the sun went down, bodies were warmed by the unforgettable,
much-anticipated set from Larry Heard (a.k.a. Mr Fingers). The Chicago producer
was joined on stage by Mr White, who was on vocal duties, and the two whizzed
through all the classic including Robert Owens’ ‘I’m Strong’ and Heard’s 1999
track ‘Missing You’. It was ‘vibes’ personified. A spiritual trip
through the house ages. Theo Parrish was even spotted with his head in his
hands at shear disbelief by the monumental quality of the selection of tunes,
and at the sound of personal favourite ‘Amnesia’. The human touch can sometimes
be lost in dance music in and amongst the machines, however the duo had a
unique knack of bringing the two together - thanking the crowd on
multiple occasions. And it was now that people really acknowledged the
brilliance of Sunfall.
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| Instagram: @richmaver |
In the hope that the organisers sort out
the queuing problems (frankly it's because the size of the site was too small
for 10,000 people), then I'm sure Sunfall is a must-go-to event next year - the
quality of music just speaks for itself.
Written by // Richard Maver