waterworks 2023
A new favourite jaunt in Gunnersbury Park
As a native Londoner, I have been to shockingly few of the London electronic music day festivals. Until last weekend, I had only Field Day on my list and that was about a month prior. Yet now I feel like I've found one of my favourites.
Waterworks is a small and intimate day festival in Gunnersbury Park in West London. Now, I hadn't been to Gunnersbury Park in many years, 20 according to my mum, so I had no idea what to expect.
Getting into the festival, I was genuinely quite surprised to see how small it was. You could have walked across the whole thing in about 10 minutes. One thing that stood out to me was how low key it felt, of the 7 stages there, none were particularly big. Comparing this to Field Day with its impressive west and east stages, I thought that Waterworks had this close-knit feel that I instantly fell in love with.
Looking out over the site, you could sense it in the air. The atmosphere was electric, the excitement palpable. A sea of giddy faces and the rhythmic, booming bass carrying from every corner of this tiny field had my heart racing.
I'm getting goose bumps now thinking back to it.
We made our way over to Cedar, to catch Vlada in action. Unfortunately, it was also at this point that we found out that the card machines had stopped working. Cash was, of course, not an option in our 21st century world so we were left high and dry for an hour or so. This didn't dampen our spirits and the inevitable bar stampede following the re-functioning of the card machines was funny to watch.
Desertification aside, Vlada's set was thoroughly enjoyable. Cedar was definitely a stage better suited to night time antics though, with hanging flourescent lights over the dancefloor set to make a trippy experience.
Siren was Resident Advisor's stage for the day and we headed over to catch Flowdan's quick half hour set. The stage was gorgeously set in the afternoon sun and Flowdan had the sea of heads moving together making us all feel like kids in the jungle.
Central to the festival was the Water Tower stage. An intriguing 360 degree stage with shapes being cut on every side. We managed to catch the Salute b2b Yung Singh set there. My girlfriend hadn't stopped talking about Salute's set at Glastonbury and Yung Singh's Melbourne boiler room set was easily one of my favourite's so seeing them together was a top highlight of my day.
Later on, Josey Rebelle transformed the Pressure stage into a techno paradise. Her pumping beats rocking me from head to toe. Having only heard her by name before, I was completely taken aback by her intensity and how utterly entrancing the whole set was.
I turned to a mate of mine. "Outrageous", I say.
"Outrageous", he says back.
The party was really on its way now that the sun had set. The festival ground had transformed into a dark and mysterious sea, with islands of flashing lights and deep basslines drawing you in.
The Orbit stage had a unique setup, the stage was comprised of two parts: the booth (where the DJ stood), and the "disco gazebo" (I have no idea what to call this). We were in luck as we caught the end of S.A.S.S's (Saoirse, Peach, Moxie, Shanti Celeste) b2b2b2b set and the disco beats was a welcome and enjoyable mixup from the previous techno stomp.
I was undeniably jealous of those in the disco gazebo.
Onto the final set of the day, I was torn between the closing sets of SHERELLE on the Siren stage and HAAi back in the Water Tower. I opted to go see HAAi in the end and she delivered as she always does. I'm not sure what it is about her sets, but I've enjoyed every single one of her performances I've seen (think I've lost count by now).
So to those who are thinking of going next year, go.
I'm still reeling.