REVIEW: Land Of Kings 2011

Dalston is fast becoming one of the most talked about parts of London, synonymous with everything arty and/or trendy. So much so, in fact, that it’s crossed the line in people’s perceptions from exciting and up-and-coming to snobby and pretentious. But for all those sceptics who think Dalston is all mouth and no trousers, and that to have a good time there one is required to sport dodgy facial hair, charity-shop chic and an elevated sense of self-importance, Land Of Kings festival is here to show otherwise.

Taking place on Thursday the 28th and Friday the 29th of April, the multi-venue urban festival is a prime example of why Dalston first attracted people’s attention as an exciting place to find something a little bit different. The events on offer cover a huge range of attractions that you’re unlikely to find or go to every day, but not once is fun sacrificed for the sake of ‘cool’ or conceptual. I Like Music did our best to take in as much as possible…

Thursday
The warm-up for the main event, Thursday is slightly quieter than Friday but there’s still plenty going on to get our teeth stuck into. Easing ourselves into the evening at Barden’s Boudoir, we take in an exhibition of mixed-media art pieces inspired by the Union Jack before heading downstairs to The Nest to witness Gwilym Gold (ex-lead singer of Golden Silvers) play one of his very first solo gigs; he builds intense and climactic songs using a number of keyboards and a loop-station, coming over as a Perfume Genius who’s been binging on Radiohead’s Kid A.

We then head over to MC Motors - a large warehouse decked out in post-colonial Cuban decadence by Club Havana - to see Vince Vella and the Havana Club Collective. Vella is behind the decks, and his Collective of two percussionists, a trumpet-player, sax-player and multi-instrumentalist provide Afro-Cuban accompaniment as he spins some tunes spanning house, techno, hip hop and more. The combination of a live band with a skilled dance-music DJ is a winning formula; more people should do it!

Next up is Brassroots, the highlight of the night. A brass band who play covers of pop, rock and dance songs, tonight they are set up in a damp and dingy underground bunker divided into a few irregular shaped spaces by concrete partitions. The space that they are playing in is completely unlit, and without a stage the crowd and band are barely distinguishable in the crush of bodies. As they charge through tunes by the likes of Gnarls Barkley, Daft Punk and The White Stripes the crowd spills over into the next-door space. Lit by candles around the edges and echoing loudly with the sound of the band, it becomes an impromptu dance floor.

Going via The Nest for a quick blast of indie/electro tunage courtesy of a DJ set from James Yuill, we end our night at the Arcola Theatre in the Colourworks building. While a DJ spins some classic tunes in one room, visual artist Saam Farahmand has set up a private dancing booth next door, inside which punters get to throw some shapes to a song of their choice while being filmed. Why exactly would anyone want to do this? Because as 2manyDJs take to the decks tomorrow the footage will be cut, looped and remixed to fit their set.

Friday
With a new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge bestowed upon the nation, Land of Kings celebrates with an even bigger night of entertainment than the previous evening. Our first stop is the newly-opened Servants’ Jazz Quarters, in the basement of which bar we find the One Man Destruction Show. Adam J. Harmer makes all the rock and roll noise of a full band, singing and playing the guitar, drums and harmonica all at once. He grips his drumstick in-between the knuckles of his right hand, so that as he strums his guitar he also hits the snare, while his right foot plays the bass drum (a mic-ed up leather suitcase) and his left the high-hat. It’s a genuinely impressive sight, and he has mastered his technique so well that he can even play drum fills and complicated guitar licks without descending into complete chaos.

Having been completely sucked in by the multi-tasking musician we miss most of 2manyDJs audio-visual feast, but are fortunate enough that the small bit that we catch includes our friend pulling her moves on the big screen as the boys work their magic on the decks. It’s a strange sight to see and one that won’t be forgotten soon. After a quick detour via Vortex and the smooth sound of Zara McFarlane’s jazz quartet we arrive at the locally-renowned Efes pool-bar, where many a late night concludes. Electronica trio Jahcoozi are getting the party going with their huge beats, the charismatic frontwoman Sasha Perera owning the small stage and expertly working the crowd.

Back at Vortex Jazz Bar another packed room welcomes Ghostpoet to the stage. He draws his set from his debut album Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam, released earlier this month, and his combination of poetic, stream-of-consciousness lyrics with brooding beats proves winning. Perched at the front of the small stage, he imparts his fragmented wisdom in rueful tones, pumping the crowd up and settling them back down as each moment requires, and ending by jumping in amongst the bouncing punters for an energetic finale.

We move on to The Nest to find Funkineven spinning his Dillinja-inspired beats, combining the bounce of hip hop with everything from squelchy acid synths to pumping electro, before finishing our night in Alibi, where the simply-named Naomi plays…music. By this point we can’t quite remember what kind.

From brass bands to jazz quartets and tiny indie acts to world-class DJs, Land Of Kings has it all, proof that for at least two days of the year Dalston isn’t all poser hipsters; it’s a huge amount of fun.