Warwick Summer Party

Everyone from freshers to finalists broke the tense exam vibe and descended onto University House field for the penultimate weekend of term. The one day festival is the highly anticipated climax to the SU’s program of events and the Boar was there to capture all the action.

The Summer Party is an eclectic mix of music, amusements and alcohol (no festival would be complete without a crisp Kopparberg in the not-so-frequent British sunshine) and attracts students from all across the Midlands for a jam-packed line up. However the stages aside, the events team at the Union put on an excellent show that combined everything from the teacups to henna tattoos to get the authentic festival feel. And luckily for us, the sun stayed out and our sunglasses stayed on.

With record numbers of students making it to this year’s Party, there was plenty of great music to listen to, but the highlights for us came from some unexpected places. We all know how successful the Coffee House Sessions at Curiositea have been this year with many up-and-coming artists using this famous campus favourite to boost their student following. In this way, the Coffee House tee-pee tent stood out against the skyline and delivered some absolutely mesmerising performances. The pick of these were the inimitable Nick Brewer and understated, yet fantastic Josh Record.

The first time I stumbled across Nick Brewer was when he performed some impromptu spoken word at a gig night in an underground bar just outside Dalston. I found out he lived about 10 minutes away from me and was hoping to run into at some point. I didn’t until the Party. His own brand of ‘homegrown hip hop’ has slowly been making tracks leading to the release of his forthcoming EP, Flat 10 that is due for release later this year. His unmistakable Essex accent and fast rhymes made him one of my favourites because it brought something different to the table – and having already collaborated with hot-property George the Poet, we predict bright things for this 24 year old.

When we asked him about performing in front of the Warwick massive, he said he relished the challenge: “I love performing to students, they always want to have a good time. You can sometimes get tough crowds, but these guys were really friendly and it was cool man.” It is just a shame that we couldn’t get more of a crowd for the guy, but I can assure you, if anything it made the gig more intimate.

For me, this was the biggest revelation of the day – and not just because he gave me a free download. I was actually dragged by a friend to see Josh Record, and being the headliner of the tee-pee, I had high expectations. He did not disappoint. Nor did he let down the other hundred or so people that crammed themselves in and around the tent. His renditions of ‘All for Love’ (popularly covered by London Grammar) and ‘Find Her Way to Me’ literally left our mouths agape. He really stripped back the best parts of the album, Bones, and moved many of us that were listening to him for the first time. With such a unique vocal, it was difficult not to be intrigued.

Yet, it was not this that struck me. He graciously allowed us to interview him, and speaking about fame, he was very open and honest. “The thing is, I never tried to ‘make it’. It was never my intention to pursue music as a career, it just sort of happened. That way I can enjoy the fame now and gigs like this because it was never an expectation, it is a blessing.”

Not only this, but Record comes from very humble beginnings as an artist: “I moved into South London [Brixton] when I was a teenager and I was working with young offenders and gang members. I have been threatened with my life twice before. Both with knives. It really shaped my life and the music that flows through me.” Good on ya, Josh! And we are glad you survived. The album’s beautiful.

Headliners

Moving onto the main stage, the line-up was not to be missed. It began with the acoustic ruggedness of Nick Mulvey, who refused to have an interview with us even when his management said yes. He turned out to be the ONLY act the entire day that we did not get a chance to speak to. I guess his schedule was too busy. Yeah… it was probably that. Do we have time to discuss his set here? No, unfortunately we are too busy. Anyway, onto more interesting acts…

Possibly one of the hottest artists in popular music at the moment (in more other ways than one!) the very talented Foxes was the next to grace the stage. In short, she was absolutely ridiculous. Opening with ‘Home’, tired students got up from their sitting circles on the grass and started to elbow their way to the front. It is sometimes difficult for sole performers to get the right amount of intensity to get the crowd going, but she was a complete natural. A mix of hip-shaking, spontaneous skipping and powerful singing were enough to get the crowd below to go absolutely mental.

Then she smashed out ‘Youth’ and it went to a different level of noise. Also, looking around in the crowd you could see the occasional girlfriend shove the occasional boyfriend for staring a bit too intently at the performance. And how could you blame them? The atmosphere was electric for all involved and it was building the excitement for the rest of the acts that were on their way to perform.

Catching Foxes backstage, she was in tremendously high spirits: “I have never had anything like this…funfairs and all of this stuff. I thought this just happened in America.” And she has been busy. She is on her way to tour with Pharrell Williams and recently won a Grammy – not just a pretty face at all. On winning the award, she said “A brown box arrived…and I thought it was Ikea parts that I had ordered on the internet. I have kept it at my mum’s…I don’t trust it being back at mine.” And for the record, close up, I can confirm that she has an incredibly pretty face. It isn’t fair.

Without a doubt, the Cambridge band Clean Bandit were the reason why about 80 per cent of the crowd turned up. As the sky turned a warm crimson, they turned up the heat with their electro-pop vibes. They have become a Warwick favourite after being a permanent part of Disco Dave’s set list at Pop on a Wednesday and they had the whole crowd singing the words and jumping to ‘Rather Be’ by the end of the set.

The thing that impressed me with the performance was the amount of covers that they managed to cram into 45 minutes. They covered a lot of classic, Ibiza-esque 90s dance remixes twisted into their own style with Luke Patterson having a lot of work to do on the fiddle. Even though their summer hit has put them right at the forefront of pop music this year, they have actually been making music since 2009 and you could sense that they were having some real fun out there. When they started playing some Bashment, I could not get rid of the grin off my face. And yes, I did skank a little too hard.

Having just come from a headline show in Wembley, they have had a very (understandably) busy summer which has taken them all the way to Glastonbury. However, when we asked the band where they would rather be if they weren’t at the Summer Party, they replied: “Bed.” Well I guess the schedule is more hectic than we thought!

To finish off a fantastic day, a Warwick favourite made his second consecutive appearance at the Summer Party, and took us into the twilight. Having seen Zane Lowe him do a live set in Kasbah only a matter of weeks ago, we were absolutely buzzing to see him take to the stage and claim it. Before you could see him, you could hear him. As the decks started to light up, the speakers roared well into the darkness. A fitting finale for those that had now completed 12 hours at the festival.

The great thing about Lowe is that you don’t just get a DJ behind the decks, but because of his previous music pedigree and standing, you get a performance that puts all the others back in the shed. The undeniable energy and electricity of his set makes it impossible for you not to jump up and down on your feet and throw your arms towards the stage. His mix of popular EDM tracks and hip-hop influences make him the ideal climax for a student crowd. When he mixed Apache with Jay Z, I can’t remember a single person standing still. Although it was difficult for me to observe…as I was going absolutely mad at the front.

After we turned the mikes down, we got a chance to speak to Zane before he jetted off straight to Ibiza for his next gig. “You know, this place is certainly one of the best places we go on a regular basis and whenever we come to Warwick it is always amazing! We were here last year and it was brilliant, but this was even better!” Leaving the proverbial roof well and truly blown off the joint, the lights came down and everyone made their way to the Copper Rooms for the Afterparty.

The Warwick Summer Party 2014 was exactly as Zane Lowe put it, brilliant and even better than last year. It brought together some extremely promising young artists mixed in with some established headliners to create an atmosphere that was exciting at every turn. I know it sounds like a cliché, but there really was something for everyone. And hopefully they all left with either a new person to follow on Spotify and/or a euphoric sense of relief as the year ended on a high! Shall we do it all again next year then?

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: A massive thank you to Lauren Briner and Bethan McGrath for helping out on the day and taking photographs; and RaW 1251AM for providing the transcripts for some of the interviews.