Southampton Soundclash: The Beginning

With the main stage hosted by Black Butter Records, Southampton Soundclash’s first year was set to be big. The festival, situated next to Southampton Airport, boasted the biggest and best dance lineup that Southampton has to offer so far this year.

Soundclash made sure they had a bus to deliver festival goers to specific location within Southampton. An added bonus for those not able to get out the centre of Southampton. The festival site is relatively small, but five stages, nonetheless, were slotted in strategically with the Space Ibiza tent placed in the middle, meaning everyone not in it were spread out around it.

Although we spent the majority of our time at the main stage, Soundclash’s drum & bass stage boasted an impressive roster of international talent with Friction, DJ Hazard and DJ Hype headlining. Not only were we graced with these great names, but the local talents and main stage openers BITR8 & K1R3Y held a solid crowd that some opening DJs would definitely been envious of.

I do have to mention Foor too who turned up for a tour de force, treating their 4pm slot as if it were their own headline set. Foor are a South Coast-based group of DJs and Producers who were playing to a home crowd, and rolled out a number of guests during their set, showcasing plenty of brand new material from their first EP.

The festival certainly got their marketing right, and for a first festival it was packed out from the off. The five stages create a buzzing atmosphere, and the stages were set out well as to not get any sound bleed.

I wouldn’t say that Soundclash had the best attention to detail though. The boutique, bohemian festival rise is on the rise and more definitely could of been done to give Soundclash its own unique identity. Maybe, though, this was caused by the small size of the site, giving little room for added content. But as Southampton’s biggest dance party got underway, any criticisms were forgotten, and pictures of the views across the site from main stage would only of taken breaths away.

Night was falling and DJ EZ kept the main stage alive; garage new and old, assisted by MC Majestic. Dropping ‘Feed them to the Lions’ had to crowd sit-down, and then jump back into a frenzy, seemingly not even notice the rain starting to come down.

The VIP area was a healthy sized marquee, visible on the left of the main stage. It had amble space, obviously Soundclash didn’t oversell the VIP tickets, and access all the way to the front of the main stage, on one side, was as added bonus. It wasn’t just a bar and extra area to the festival, though. Guest DJs playing all day alongside the bar added to the live atmosphere of the marquee.

Watching Shiba San, know for their hit ‘Okay’, was special. Seeing their excellent selection of house tunes ensured the Space Ibiza tent was a raucous party, with lasers casting a thin line of light across the space. An LED display accompanied the performance, and although it was only the afternoon the set could well of been at midnight; the tents darkness and strobe affects making the show ever better.

The first Southampton Soundclash Festival was, to put it simply, extremely successful. Overall, organisers were faultless with their bookings; commendable collaborations with the likes of Black Butter Records and Space brought in world-class acts. With such a packed site the atmosphere was electric throughout the festival.

Southampton Soundclash was a resounding success, a brilliant demonstration of what local promoters and artists can achieve. The next Soundclash will be on September 26th and tickets are already selling fast! So don’t hesitate, get yours now, and join us for the party.