Outbreak Festival 2014 – Ricoh Arena, Coventry

Once we had recovered from Friday’s mortifying hangover, piecing together the highlights of the night and had finished the remainder of our pre-drinks, we rocked up to the Ricoh for round two of Outbreak! On this occasion however, we arrived nice and early in order to catch the very best of what Saturday night had to offer. We began the evening’s antics in the Main Stage North room where Patrick Topping, a highly rated young talent residing from Newcastle, opened the show in tremendous style. The Hot Creations artist featured some of his hottest releases including “Boxed Off”, his latest release “Too Much” and one of the biggest tunes of the summer – “Forget”. This was extremely popular amongst the Topping faithful and it got feet tapping on the dance floor. A set equal in terms of quality compared to the ones he performed at DC-10 in Ibiza.

Following an exciting opening from Patrick Topping, the night could only get better. We decided to explore the Ricoh further taking in the music along the way and simply preparing our ears for the brilliance that awaited ahead. An hour later, Darius Syrossian was setting the Main Stage North alight with his God gifted ability behind the decks producing the very best house music has to offer. Having interviewed Darius in the past, I know the mastermind behind Tribal Sessions was very passionate about each and every single one of his performances and this showed during his set on Saturday night. Syrossian played some of his best work from Sankey’s in Ibiza and even threw in some of his latest mixes just for good measure. Two of my favourites had to be Todd Terry’s “Bounce To The Beat” and Simion’s “U+I”. Such tracks ushered in a tornado of new attendees sweeping across the dance floor making it seem as if the Ricoh was already at full capacity by 10pm.

We then switched rooms into the Main Room South to catch the second half of Heidi’s set. The Jackathon veteran laid it all on the line and like sheep following a lone wolf, young clubbers followed the crowd to watch Heidi spin her magic. She injected and unraveled countless amounts of breath taking energy into each beat she dropped allowing her loyal followers to get lost in the moment and appreciate her works of art. She was sure to be followed up in exquisite fashion by Russian favourite Nina Kraviz. Having played her trade at Richie Hawtin’s ENTER. night at Space in Ibiza, this techno torpedo has taken the world by storm in the past five years and she didn’t stop at Outbreak. Kraviz impressed thousands with her unique and creative sounds which provided elements of hypnotic and intimate degree. Her voice was an even bigger pleasure to take in and the Siberian artist excelled yet again.

Midnight then struck and the night was still young. Raptures of fans flooded back into the Main Stage North in order to catch a glimpse of one of the most high profile acts of the weekend, Secondcity and I definitely wasn’t going to miss out on this one. This Londoner had been a dream to watch in Ibiza and I expected him to deliver again following his recent success this summer. Originating from both Chicago and the UK, Secondcity ensured all Outbreak party goers were at the peak of their enjoyment playing such favourites as “I Enter”, “I Wanna Feel” and his new release featuring Ali Love entitled “What Can I Do”. Such eccentric house beats led to a dance floor full of uncontrollable shufflers throwing unbelievable shapes which didn’t stop there.

Route 94 was given the task of following suit in attempting to replicate such an eye catching display. Therefore with all expectations resting on his shoulders, Route 94 needed to shoot out of the bois fast and that’s exactly what he did. Showing no signs of intimidation having experienced success worldwide, he continued in the same manner and picked up where Secondcity left off – with the entire attention of the audience to play with at the very tips of his fingers on the decks. The crowd went wild when they heard the famous summer track of “My Love” blare through the speakers. Then with more arms and hands raised in the air, Route 94 was completely in the zone dropping hits such as “Freak” and his latest track, “Forget The Girl”. One of my personal favourites.       

After experiencing two straight days of house music, we switched gears and entered the Tomb Stage for some hard and heavy hitting drum and bass. People literally threw their arms and legs wherever they pleased with no care in the world as they embraced the loud, escalating culture produced by D&B. The Tomb Stage featured some excellent acts including The Prototypes, Drumsound & Bassline Smith and Grooverider. The DJ’s weren’t the only ones causing hairs to stand on end as MC’s such as Youngman & Toddlah utilised their voices and lyrics to the maximum to renovate further atmosphere into an action packed room.

Following an extremely sweaty few hours enjoying the high tempo sounds of D&B, I rung out my shirt and returned for the grand finale of my Outbreak weekend in the Main Stage North. The legend that is Seth Troxler was already half way through his two hour set by the time we ventured into to see him and from what friends were telling me, I missed one hell of a first hour and was damn certain I was going to be there for e duration of the second. Described as a baller by definition, Troxler treated fans to some of his most popular mixes which has made him such a big attraction at Circoloco of a Monday night in Ibiza. It was no secret with the majority of the capacity of the Ricoh in the Main Stage North, Seth was indeed in town.

Following Seth’s captivating performance was a surprise special guest. This was none other than Anabel Englund. The 22 year old ensured Outbreak loyalists went home with smiles on their faces and her lyrics drilled into their heads by concluding the show with tracks such as “Electricity”, “Reverse Skydiving” and “Emerald City”.

With the show being closed by the voice of an angel, Anabel Englund, that was it – my heavenly Outbreak Festival experience was now complete and the journey had came to an end. I had seen a variety of incredibly gifted talents over a weekend of non-stop drinking, two stepping and utter admiration for extremely ambitious individuals climbing that musical ladder of success. I had seen some of my favourite acts from the summer. I had seen names I had never heard of before that I now wouldn’t forget in a hurry. I also saw legends leading the way by example. But most importantly, I saw a community united by music in what was arguably the best weekend I’ve had since I returned home from Ibiza.

The only thing I’ve got to do now is download all my favourite tracks from Outbreak. I just hope my iPhone has the storage capacity to accommodate the music.

Words: Matty Adams