Superb Suburbia

Last year’s Junction 2 was good fun and so it was with a keen sense of excitement we did the trek from South London to Boston Manor Park - near Heathrow. As our tube approached, an announcement stated that we would be terminating at Northfields, one stop shy of Boston Manor, due to congestion. Much like when Kim Kardashian broke the Internet, it appeared that Junction 2 had broken Boston Manor – a testament to the festival’s burgeoning popularity.

As we all streamed through the suburban surroundings,a discernible sense of anticipation and hype began to build amongst our peers, and who could blame them, with a line up including the likes of Joy Orbison, Nina Kraviz and Carl Cox you’re almost guaranteed a great vibe.

Upon entering the site we queued up for tokens – the only currency you can use to purchase goods on site – before simply standing and admiring the incredible Bridge stage. The Bridge stage is set underneath the overpass of a motorway, the M4 to be exact, and is a wonderfully unique sight to behold.

Making the festival even more unique is the fact that this ultra-urban site is surrounded by woodland, and as we walked through the woods we reached a clearing which felt like another world. Filled with bars, stages and food stalls we walked through the beautiful green space and into the Warehouse stage. The name delivers exactly what it says on the tin and provides us very much with a warehouse rave feel – a dark, warm setting filled with hard beats – it was great!

We left the darkness of the warehouse and, once our eyes had time to re-adjust to the sunlight, chilled on one of the large beach chairs in the large field listening to sounds from the nearby Hex stage. The open field was a perfect area to chill and enjoy the trance inducing beatsand tasty food, whilst people watching and socialising with new people – add in the lovely sunshine and our ice cold beverages and what more could you ask for?!

After filling our bellies we moved on to the Woods stage to see Sonja Moonear going back to back with Nicolas Lutz for a seriously incredible set filled with thumping techno and house grooves for us to step to. We then moved on to see Tale of Us put on an unbelievable performance at the Hex stage, before moving on to the big one back at the Bridge.

The Bridge was absolutely jam packed as we gathered to see what felt like a historical meeting of two electronic music behemoths Carl Cox and Adam Beyer. The two dazzled with their different, but complimentary sounds and styles meshing incredibly well. You could tell the pair were enjoying themselves up there and that fun was infectious as the crowd jumped, bounced and cheered with delight for the duration of their B2B set.

Junction 2 is a very unique experience, one minute we’re in a warehouse, the next minute we’re in the woods and then a minute later we’re under a motorway! All of these elements combine well to give a varied and exciting festival and one I’m sure will have people returning to year in year out. Junction 2 most certainly did techno proud!