06/06/2018

Arlun Grant

When I heard that the famous Arcadia spider was making its way to London for the first time ever to celebrate Arcadia’s tenth anniversary, there wasn’t even a decision to make – I was going!

On the way to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park there was a discernible buzz in the air as we walked along the canals, soaking up the beautiful bank holiday sun. The excitement only grew as we entered the festival site to see the three majestic stages – The Bug, The Reactor and, of course, the Spider.

Despite all of the hype surrounding the stages, there was actually some music too. The legendary Norman Jay and Groove Armada had us shaking our tail feathers whilst the scorching sun beat down on our backs before we moved to The Reactor stage – set inside a tented area with a dazzling array of futuristic lights. The lights were mesmerising, but so were the hard thumping beats as Boys Noize and Eat Everything had the crowd jumping to banger after banger.

 As night fell we all flocked to the giant Spider, a structure that would not look out of place in a dystopian movie like Mad Max or Robocop. Usually a supporting actor in the legendary show that is Glastonbury festival, today was the spider’s chance to shine as the lead act and it did not disappoint.

For the next half hour we were given an incredible display of aural and visual pleasure, as the spider came to life, with many mini spiders spawning from the main spider’s body and a whole range of acrobatics being performed. The magic continued as we watched a dancer producing electricity from his hands, before an otherworldly light show and let’s not forget to mention the periodic blast of flames that threatened the integrity of my eyebrows on multiple occasions!

All of this was a welcome interlude before the curtain was brought down in impressive fashion with an incredible set from Leftfield, who delighted a crowd that clearly wished this night could go on forever. Arcadia’s first foray into the inner-city was a unique and enriching experience that can only be classed as an absolute success and if the whispers of a sequel are true then consider us sold!