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The Skiddle Showcase Arena Comes to Wickerman
26th Jun 2008
SKIDDLE.COM SHOWCASE ARENA @ THE WICKERMAN FESTIVAL
25th-26th July 2008
In the Summer of 2003, skiddle.com embarked on an adventure to pastures unknown, Scotland in fact. Armed with what can only be described as a garden marquee, a 10k sound system, a handful of DJ friends and a good idea, the first Skiddle Showcase Tent was born. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't exactly nice to us, it rained a lot and the tent nearly blew away. Undeterred and excited about what we had achieved, we took 2004 off so we could create the perfect master plan, and throughout the last 2 years we have hosted a much larger and louder tent, with special guests Sonny Wharton, Yousef, Mango Trasher and our resident James Ryan helping us along the way.
Now, as The Wickerman Festival 2008 is nearly upon us, we can look forward to our most special year yet! For starters, we have increased the capacity of the Skiddle Showcase Arena, and firmly cemented our relationship with good friends TRASHED & UBER. In our opinion these two parties have provided some of the best nights out in recent years, and we are more than happy to partner with them for our main arena.
The result isn't disappointing, as alongside our usual mix of residents and guests we are able to introduce to The Wickerman Festival no less than 4 superstar DJ's!
With their dazzling six deck DJ performances that used effects-ridden mic performances from Ashley, CD-players and basic samplers to send crowds wild, XPRESS-2 are a name familiar to many. Some may remember them for their 2002 classic 'LAZY' - a track that perfectly summed up the mood of the nation. Released in April 2002 and charting at number 2 in the national. It became the biggest airplay track of the year and won them the coveted Ivor Novello award. Many though, will remember them for DJ sets gone by, where they literally own any room (or tent) that they enter, making them one of the hottest acts in house music. "We like a bit of a challenge and it certainly creates something of a potent atmosphere", says Rocky. "Its like a jam, really, its not rehearsed, were inspired continually by the shenanigans on the dance floor". Whoever's playing the tune coming out the speakers, the other two can cut in effects, beats, acappellas. It becomes like a wall of sound."
Mr C was originally most famous as the front man of The Shamen; the techno-rave outfit that scored huge hits and notoriety in the 90s with tracks like Ebeneezer Goode. But Mr C's progress, before and after he gained global fame, has been characterised by a devotion to electronic music and a solid DJ career that sees him playing around the world plus running the underground Superfreq night both in Ibiza and in The End's lounge on Sunday nights. After opening The End in London, they even managed to launch their own genre: tech house. The phrase - which can mean anything from house and techno, to breaks and tribal - signifies more of a mindset that a type of music. Says Mr C, "it's an attitude. Like acid house was an attitude". The DJing style he has become best known for in recent years, however, is underground-electro-acid house, which we will be expecting a lot of at The Wickerman Festival, as joining MR C on the decks will be none other than Tim Sheridan!
Tim Sheridan. What can we say. He lives in a hut in Ibiza and grows beards at competition level for fun. If you meet him come say hello, he won't bite. But he may gnaw a little. He's responsible for some NastyDirtySexMusic and some VeryVeryVeryWrongIndeed parties with his favourite places to play beingBack toBasics/ Be Yourself/ Dc10/ Superfreq/ Somewhere/ Space/ and anywhere weird and unusual that isn't a club. It sounds then, that the skiddle.com showcase arena is just the place to be for Tim this July. Playing back to back with MR C, this promises to be a summer special of epic proportions, before Tim shoots off to grow another beard.
Rounding up our superstar line-up is Sankey's resident and Manchester's favourite Greg Vickers. A pioneer of Tribal sessions, our relationship with Greg has grown over the years with our work at Sankeys, which has led us to witness some of the finest dance floor moments through Greg's sets. Therefore, we are very excited to have Greg play in our own showcase arena as one of the final sets of the festival, in fact we couldn't think of anything better.
Alongide the superstars will be a heady mix of residents and guests, including our very own Sonny Wharton & James Ryan, alongside The Beat Monkeys, The Organic DJs, Andrew Johnson and lots more! The full line-up, as always is below.
Introducing to our area this year is what can only be described as our Disco Dome, an inflatable structure housing the best underground sounds that we know of. Kicking off proceedings is Northwest Future heros, ForNoReason, who for the past 2 years have brought us parties of mammoth proportions that always leave the crowd chanting for more.
Their seriously silly twisted tech delivers is at one with the underground at the moment, with their headline act Adam Shelton a major player in the underground scene, his Birmingham based BELOW parties are one of the most talked about events in the uk, taking place in their courtyard warehouse! ForNoReason residents Liam Rielly and Clark Kent make the journey north to deliver the antics, alongside a whole array of guests from around the UK.
On day two of we work some magic and deliver a Dubstep & Drum & Bass Dome, a platter delivered by "MUTANT FREQUENCIES". North East faves Funkethics, Dynamix & Aems are sure to stir up a storm along with Cumbria's own Hereldeduke who is set to stir things up over and above anyone's expectations.
Anyone fancying a bit of Madchester in their life should head over to the Hacienda tent, where Peter Hook, Graeme Park, Bez, Herbie and Chris Crooks all do their thing to bring back another twist in the 20 years of acid house adventure.
A real mixture of music across the weekend creates an adventure worth any journey, and with weekend tickets only £75 for the weekend (Thursday - Sunday lunchtime) it makes it one of the best value festivals on the circuit. KT Tunstall, Gary Numan and The Cuban Brothers headline the main stage, whilst around the site Skiddle faves The Lancashire Hotpots, Annie Nightingale, Meat Katie and Alabama 3 give us a collection of sounds to twist, funk, bounce and nod too.
Wickerman Festival Tickets are on sale now priced £75. You can buy them online via the skiddle.com e-ticketing system, which means this year we will email them to your inbox, for you to bring along on the day - saving on all those postage costs or waiting impatiently for the postman.
What's more, the festival is only 3 hours drive from Manchester, and to make your life even easier skiddle.com are running a Magic Bus, with pickups from Manchester, Preston, Lancaster and Carlisle. Full details of this, can be found by visiting www.skiddle.com/wickerman or calling 0844 884 2920
>>> Skiddle.com showcase arena, in association with Trashed & Uber
Xpress-2
Sonny Wharton (Trashed)
Mr C vs Tim Sheridan (3hr summer special)
Greg Vickers (Tribal Sessions/Sankeys)
James Ryan (skiddle.com)
Andrew Johnson
Martyn Van Taylson
Matt Hinde
The Organic DJs
The Beatmonkeys
Chris Lockie
Mango Trasher LIVE
>>> skiddle.com presents FOR NO REASON
Adam Shelton (Below)
Dave Sandford (Dirty Disco)
Paul Kaminska (mono_cult)
Tom Craven (BackToFront)
Matt Long vs Brad Mercer (mono_cult)
John Baker (Language)
Liam Rielly (for no reason)
Clark Kent (for no reason)
>>> skiddle.com presents MUTANT FREQUENCIES
Funkethics & Dynamix & Aems
Tim Forrester & Lee Smith (Lockdown)
Hereldeduke (Rife Records)
Johnny Sharpe & Johnny Hetherington (Lambhuna)
Phil & Ben (The Flam)
Chris Emerson (Holy Are You)
Lucy
The Daytripper
Johnny Thieves (Olde Time Religion)
General Irritant (Bass Militia)
Damian (Lost + Found/Bwaap)
Chairman Blau (Rehab)
Club Olio
Sam P.
Gamma Jack & Knowing Flame
Fran Collinson
>> HACIENDA
Peter Hook
Bez
Graeme Park
DJ Herbie
Chris Crooks
>> OTHER HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE
KT Tunstall
We are Physics
The Cuban Brothers
Digital.is
Dodgy
Alabama 3
The Lancashire Hotpots
Annie Nightingale
Reggae Tent / Headphone Disco / Psy Trance Arena / Punk Tent
Hot ticketsWe're an official outlet for all the following events, plus our tickets are guaranteed the lowest price!
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Comments about this news item
RichSkiddle
i think thats the best lineup of acts we have ever put together. Cant wait!