East End Social - The Last Big Weekend: Sunday Review

Things were brought to a close with Optimo taking to the decks for again, only this time they were joined by Jackmaster & Spencer. Track after track had the crowd in the palm of their collective hands after Jeff Mills had set things up perfectly for them.

Review by Alex McLean

Sun was shining, weather was sweet. Perfect for the East End Socials final fling of the summer. After finally working out where Richmond Park actually was, I turned up to find what appeared to be a very relaxed atmosphere with a number of people sitting on the grass taking in the sun listening to Optimo in full flow, their sound flowing nicely out of the marquee.

Upon entering the big tent, it was slightly disappointing to see that there were actually more people outside than inside although the ones who were dancing were certainly enthusiastic. The lack of people though did mean that atmosphere was somewhat lacking when James Murphy came on.
Murphy played a classy disco-infused vinyl selection which clearly pleased the aficionados, myself included, but things still werent picking up capacity wise. Glasgows Jackmaster followed and almost immediately upped the pace, going for a harder vibe taking the crowd into techno territory which had a noticeable impact with more people coming into the tent.

After 3 hours of disco, house & techno with a 4/4 beat things took a decidely different turn when the leftfield beats of Hudson Mohawke took over. By the time HudMo was a couple of tracks in, the tent was about half full with pretty much everyone inside but darkness & rain had also fallen by this time. However, the crowd was generally giving it all they had for Kanye Wests mate. Mohawke is clearly talented & definitely has a following but for me, his set didnt flow or follow well with those who had preceded him.

Normal service was resumed when the legendary Jeff Mills brought on the acid & techno thunder which had the crowd going mental again with a near 2 hour set. I first saw Mills 20 years ago and hes lost none of the power & energy that he had then. He played a powerhouse of a set, and for me was the absolute highlight of the day. Things were brought to a close with Optimo taking to the decks for again, only this time they were joined by Jackmaster & Spencer. Track after track had the crowd in the palm of their collective hands after Jeff Mills had set things up perfectly for them. All in all, it was an excellent way to spend a Sunday in the east end with a quality line-up, and an (eventually) up-for-it crowd.

The party carried on afterwards over at the Sub-Club with pretty much the whole line-up but thats another story. What I would say is that the event had been advertised as being sold-out when the reality was actually very, very different. Even at the peak of the day, with everyone inside the marquee, it was maybe only just over half full, which did mean plenty of room to dance but it did take a while for things to really get going especially after the earlier DJs. It got there in the end, but perhaps not enough people knew the event was actually on in the first place. It would be good to see The Last Big Weekend become an annual event with line-ups like this but it would be a shame if it didnt continue due to a low turnout. Lets see..........

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