16/09/2018
South West Four –a regular staple of my pre-carnival diet! Now in its 15th year SW4 has become one of the biggest names in the London festival calendar and with good reason. Each year thousands descend upon Clapham Common and for one weekend only the yummy mummies are outnumbered!
Once primarily a dance music festival, SW4 has embraced the ever increasing popularity of urban music, as evidenced by Dizzee Rascal appearing as the afternoon headline act on the Saturday. Alongside Dizzee were luminaries such as Chase & Status, Craig David and the phenomenon that is Marshmello, all stamping their mark across both days.
Saturday began with the weather proving indecisive, one minute sunshine, the next minute a spattering of rain yet sadly not a rainbow in sight - unless, of course, you count the two shirtless guys with multi-coloured leggings that we came across! I love festival craziness!!
After bouncing around between stages and food stalls for a bit it was time for the afternoon headline act, Dizzee Rascal. Personally, I’m a big fan of having a big name headline during the afternoon as it ramps up the hype early and challenges you to carry it on for the rest of the festival.
Dizzee appeared on stage behind a chorus of Big Ben sounds before launching into his extensive library of hits. As always Dizzee brought an electricity and energy to the stage that suitably infected the crowd who screamed his lyrics at the top of their lungs, our voices were hoarse by the end and to think…there are still more acts to see – how exciting?!
Our next port of call was the Heldeep tent, curated by Oliver Helden where Low Steppa was due to do a B2B set with Idris Elba. A fellow Londoner, Idris Elba, is more well known for his acting skills but has been becoming increasingly ever present on the festival scene and we can certainly see why, as he hung with Low Steppa to provide us with one of our favourite B2B sets of the year!
One of my favourite songs as a youngster was Armand van Helden’s “You Don’t Know Me” so I just HAD to stick around to see him perform and he did not disappoint. Van Helden’s music brought an almost rapturous energy to the festival and proved to be one of my highlights of the day.
The absolute highlight though has to be reserved for the headliner Marshmello, who was here for a rare UK performance. Donning his infamous marshmallow mask and providing some of the best visuals we’ve ever seen at a festival, Marshmello brought the house down with an incredible, eclectic set that ranged from classic electronic to hip hop, fully symbolic of the evolution of SW4 as a festival.
Unfortunately this year I was only able to attend on the Saturday, but I had an absolute blast! The atmosphere was electric, the toilets and bars were efficient and the music was on point – what more could one ask for?!