Southbeats Festival Finale
All good things must come to an end, and so it is with a heavy heart (but a much lighter bank balance) that I come to what may well be the last festival of the season for us over here at Licklist. It is around this time of year that us festival-loving, article-writing, crap-joke-making peeps start to get ready for hibernation – nest are made, nuts are buried, and we prepare to sleep our way through the rest of the year until the first line-ups for next festival season are announced. But, hold on ! One last hurrah remains; and that is Southbeats Festival in Quex Park, Kent. Taking place on Saturday 24th September, let us tell you why you should most definitely be getting down to the last party of the season.
Curtain Call
Well, first and foremost, it’s one of the last festivals of the season, the last chance to prolong that wonderful festival feeling. Kids are back at school, workers are back at their offices, but you, yes you, have the opportunity to have one last shot at freedom. If anything it is your duty to get down here and have a good time, in honour of all those who have gone back to being held hostage by the 9-5 grind. And, I mean, why wouldn’t you want to do that? Kick back, crack open a cold one, and enjoy a feeling of freedom seldom found elsewhere. Okay, maybe I’m going a bit over the top here, but you know what I’m getting at.
First Time for Everything
Now I was tempted to go down some kind of sexual-innuendo joke route for this paragraph, but then decided it was a) quite horrible and b) would get me fired, so I’ll just have to improvise and see how it goes. Anyway, as the website itself says, ‘For far too long, Kent has been without a music festival it can call its own. That is about to change…’ So, what I’m getting at here is that this is their first time hosting this festival; some of you might think this is a recipe for it being a bit sh*t cos they’re not sure what they’re doing. I couldn’t disagree more! Y’know how student houses try and outdo each other with their house parties? And how the first party is the make-or-break? Well, that’s the vibe I’m feeling. The peeps at Southbeats are gonna be making every effort to make sure their first festival is incredible. Cos if it is, we’ll be going there every year, right? Well then, there ya go. Just gotta think about these things, d’uh.
Line-Up
And by the looks of the line-up, there’s absolutely no reason why Southbeats festival shouldn’t be an absolute cracker to end the season. According to their curators, ‘the event will involve state of the art sound & production, across several bespoke stages, bringing you the best in garage, house, drum & bass, and urban.’ And they’re not wrong. Allow me to just give you a little taster of what’s on offer. They’ve got: Chase & Status, Kano, Wilkinson, Blonde, DJ S.K.T, Lethal Bizzle, My Nu Leng, and TQD, among many many others. Oh and they’ve got some DJ called Draig Cavid – one of the best DJ names I’ve heard in a while. In fact, on further investigation, Draig Cavid are a DJ duo who are based in Kent. So there you have it. Not only have Southbeats managed to get together some of the biggest names in the biz, they’re even supporting local talent. Is there anything these guys can’t do?!
The Practical Stuff
Right, so you’ve been convinced to go on one last hurrah before settling down to your job once more, you’ve banded your crew together, and you’re all excited to get going. And once again, the peeps at Southbeats have come to the rescue. Well, first and foremost, the tickets are dead cheap – less than 50 quid, with a VIP upgrade for only an extra £25. In a world of hyper-inflation and economic austerity, I doubt you’ll be finding a better deal anywhere else in the world, for literally anything. Anyway, I digress. They’ve also got this ridiculously useful app on their website for directions as well; you just put in your postcode and it gives you the exact directions of how to get to the festival, whether driving, cycling, walking, or public transport. Amazing! So yeah, that’s that; cop your tickets here, and we hope to see you there, out on the festival vibes for one last time!
Nick Cooke