16/06/2022
Another year, another GALA festival to start my summer of festival bliss. This time no need for annual leave thanks to Liz and her “PlattyJoobs”, or whatever the kids are calling it, and I was more than ready to let loose in celebration of one of my favourite festivals of years gone by.
Founded in 2016, GALA is an independent, three-day South London festival that celebrates dance music’s lineage and encapsulates the bright and dazzling pizzazz that festivals are known for. The fact that it feels like it is in a hidden alcove of Peckham Rye Park only adds to its Alice in Wonderland-esque magic.
The sun shone gloriously on day one, as we ambled around the site just soaking in the atmosphere. There were five stages – Patio, Beacons, The Dome, Neighbourhood and the ‘main’ GALA stage - each with their own vibe and mystique.
Day 1 was more about the live performances, one of the highlights of which had to be Manchester’s own ‘Children of Zeus’. I have seen the duo live multiple times and, as always, Tyler and Konny did not disappoint as they had us swaying through their soulful catalogue of grooves, perfectly mixing the influences of Hip Hop, R&B, Reggae and Lovers Rock and leaving us with good ‘Vibrations’ – see what I did there?!
Following on from Children of Zeus were another incredible British talent, the jazzy Joe Armon-Jones, whose melodies take you on a beautiful journey that makes you just want to close your eyes and vibe out - just be careful not to get too lost in the vibe and lose balance!
You’d think that GALA was trying to send us into a trance, as next up was Brixton’s multi-instrumentalist Mansur Brown, whose surreal instrumentals coupled with the cooling light show continued right where Armon-Jones left off and carried on the mesmerising journey. His music is so meditative he should be labelled a hypnotherapist!
After being wowed by Mansur Brown we floated over to the Neighbourhood tent, which was presented by Hennessy – one of my favourite tipples. Here we saw Charisse C whose Amapiano set was just what the doctor ordered, that hybrid of deep house, lounge and jazz was just absolute VIBES and Charisse C is definitely a DJ we will be looking out for in future.
The legend that is Goldie took to the stage in The Dome and lit the place on fire – “cool story, bro” moment here but I saw Goldie backstage and was itching to go and talk to him but he was eating and we all know festival rule number 34 is “Do not disturb a reveller when they are eating”.
Closing the show on day one was Swedish electro royalty, Little Dragon who dropped some heat with including some of their more recent hits ‘Where You Belong’ and ‘Another Lover’. I must say Yukimi’s distinctive and unique voice alongside the relaxing vibes was the perfect way to see out day one.
Day 2 was a slightly different affair and more geared towards DJ sets and dance vibes. The weather was good, but not as beautifully sunny as the prior day, but no rain, no pain is my motto.
I must admit I am not as familiar with a lot of the DJs that were on hand for us on day 2 but the sounds were a perfect backdrop and gave us that TFI Friday feel. One of our highlights had to be Soichi Terada’s bouncy, funky house set that had us stepping and bobbing our heads like we were in a warehouse rave.
At one point the water ran out, making it a hand sanitiser day, which would have been nice to know before I went toilet and ended up with soap all over my hands and no water to wash it off with – I know, first world problems, right. Anyway, this wasn’t a huge issue as hand sanitiser has now become one of the standard items in our inventories, thank you COVID.
Gilles Peterson put on a great show in the Beacons stage before we took in another one of our highlights, DJ Harvey on the main stage. DJ Harvey closed the show with an epic mix of Garage, House and Disco complete with giant, and I mean GIANT, orange balloons floating around (I may or may not have taken one home) and left us wanting the show to never stop.
The only lowlights of our weekend were the drinks prices, which felt a bit steep, and the fact that one of our friends had her mobile phone taken out of her bag in one of the tents. However, that is not any fault of those behind GALA and the staff in attendance were fantastic in their support.
Overall, GALA’s sixth festival in eight years, thanks again COVID, was a blast and I cannot recommend it enough. The festival has a fantastic selection of artists from local areas and abroad as well as up and comers and established legends, what a mix. The crowd encompasses all age groups and is always super chill and friendly and a few of the crew that were at GALA with me attended for their first time and have become full blown converts, so GALA be ready…you’ll be seeing us again next year!
