Live Review: Lovebox 2012

Lovebox 2012 rocked London to the core this past weekend. With acts such as Kelis, Grace Jones, Emelie Sande, Groove Armada and Friendly Fires to mention a mere handful it was a weekend to remember…or barely remember for some Londoners!

Always a treat to be able to take a tube and a bus to a festival rather than dealing with camping and arranging transport, Lovebox is by far one of the best London festivals that everyone looks forward to, so BBM’s team headed down for Day 2 at Victoria Park, and despite the crappy weather, Lovebox 2012 remained a fun day for all in attendance.

Little Dragon garnered a few new fans from what we could make out from the crowd, and having dragged a few people to see them who hadn’t heard of them, they were suitably appeased and wished to hear more. Having been fans of Little Dragon for a while, it was great to see them let loose on the main stage. Lead singer Yukimi Nagano span around the stage, whilst her powerful vocals pierced through the crowd, soaking up admiration from festival goers. Judging on their performance the Swedish band are set to be far more of a household name in no time at all.

Taking shelter from the cold and a break from trudging around in the mud, the Hospitality Tent provided a welcome opportunity to warm up and keep out of the wind. And by that we mean it was fun to go and bump around a tent full of hundreds of people, whilst trying to avoid cigarettes in your eyes, but basically acting like a maniac and blasting our ears with chest-ripping bass. To BBM that is the epitome of a good time…highly cultured we know.

As the day went on, and we managed to find a good spot in which to get our groove on by the main stage, it was time for Groove Armada. The crowd transformed from slightly booze-weary faces to a sea of satisfied smiles suddenly flooding Victoria Park. Groove Armada’s set was a welcome walk down memory lane for the majority crowd of mid-to-late-20 somethings.

After a pie, and a few more beers, it was time for the act that we’ve seen grow up and transform into a well oiled machine over our last few years of festival-going. Friendly Fires. What more can we say apart from wow. They were utterly brilliant, and as the darkness fell over Lovebox 2012, Friendly Fires injected the last bit of energy into the festival-goers that had managed to last the day.

The contrast of the bright stage lights with their newest album Palo blaring out was truly one of those moments everyone at Lovebox 2012 will remember forever. Having gone from strength to strength, and remembering seeing these boys play a small tent at a German festival a couple of years ago, it was a far cry to see them rock a main stage in such a confident way. Friendly Fires performance let everyone know that they have grown up and they’re ready to be future classics.

An awesome way to finish off a brilliant day.

By Hannah Shakir
@hanshak