Quick Note:- This is a relatively short review as me & my friend only went on the Friday evening – not on the main Saturday afternoon – when most of the fun is! Oh the photos look gloomy only because it was overcast, and a few hours later, it started chucking it down!
I’ve been to Lovebox for the past 3-4 years when it had previously been held at Victoria Park in East London and always has a stellar line-up across lots of different genres and a real community-type of vibe as they champion a lot of local talent on smaller stages too – this year’s line-up was no exception and, with the new location in the (slightly-smaller) Gunnersbury Park in West London, we were excited to see how this would be this year.
We got there for around 8pm on Friday – breezing through the entry gates after getting our tickets scanned and entered to find a relatively smaller-area than we thought – the FACT music tent was to the right-hand side (specialising in a lot of Dance/Techno, it was rammed solid throughout the night, although I did manage to catch the last bit of Jackmaster’s full-on Techno mix) then around the outside were the smaller food courts, the generally smaller stage areas (with sounds as loud as any other stage!)
Whilst it was deceptively small, there is a pathway in the middle – in between sets of trees – that led to another circular area, much bigger, and brimming with noise – bearing in mind we hadn’t reached the main stage yet! To the right of this was the Noisey stage (managing to catch a bit of Bonobo!) and again surrounded by food/drink stalls, and other small stages.The main stage was further at the back – at a bit of an angle – but honestly the space was huge – almost as big as previous areas – but this was massive – we caught a bit of Diplo’s performance and it was really good
Honestly, myself & my friend were knackered after a pretty hefty week – so we actually decided to chill out by the Corona Sunset stage (which was in the first area when we first walked in) as one of our favourite DJs Kerri Chandler was playing a House set. The vibe on this stage was also really, really good! Soft lights were decorated around, as well as raised areas to get up and dance on – it fitted well with the vibe and wasn’t too packed/busy, just with the right amount of people (and all in good spirits too!)
Annoyingly, the set was cut short at 9pm as there was a LOT of rain that came down & actually caused the equipment to skip. By that point anyway we were tired and had already seen the headline act Skepta a few times already. The Exit was almost single-file back through Acton High Street and to Acton Town Station – through some streets which had it’s challenges – the heavy downpour of rain notwithstanding and the crowds – but honestly not as bad as most festivals/gigs I’ve been to.
The addition of a taxi/Uber pick-up point – separate from the main Exit roads – was a well-thought out as my friend done that and I chose to walk it back to Shepherds Bush.
Nevertheless, it surprised us just how good the evening/night was and – while it was on the other side of London – Lovebox hasn’t lost any of it’s luster due to the cool stages and the amazing acts they got. Will certainly look to go again in Gunnersbury Park next year!
LetsGoToTheDisco.London 