Festival review: Cocoon in the Park 2012

The outdoor Cocoon showcase has become one of the most popular daytime events in the region and has attracted some of the world's most triumphant artists, with the likes of Ricardo Villalobos, Steve Bug and Luciano all having thrown their beloved label's spread onto the beautiful Temple Newsam grounds.

Headlining once again would be Cocoon owner and label legend Sven Vath, joined this year by three of the fabulous four of the Detroit faction Visionquest (Seth Troxler, Shaun Reeves and Ryan Crosson). Joining them was Coccon resident Cassy, and of course arguably the most wanted DJ on the planet; Loco Dice. This time due to weather restrictions the site was moved to the top of the hill in case the proverbial mud bath showed its face.

The Visionquest trio dropped new beats from the likes of Laura Jones and Andre Crom to a faithful crowd. Hands in the air moments were already ten-a-penny as they turned up the heat perfectly for Cassy to grace us with her presence. Cassy, fresh off the back of her amazing Cocoon compilation and playing The White Isle, was never in doubt of pushing the boundaries of the outdoor soiree, bringing the classic sounds of Cocoon but also keeping it fresh for the younger clientele. The highlight for me.

Loco Dice had attracted a large portion of the day's audience, and as always he didn't let anyone down - even throwing in a Craig David lyric over and acid tinged bass line ('When the crowd say Bo-Selecta'). Yes - this was no joke - I think only Dice himself knew he could get away with doing that. However as the crowd was on such a high as at this point and the sun was shining, he could have played anything. As it was, his set was packed full of fresh Desolat goodies and even some of his own works from previous years.

Anyone into marathon sets? Well you had no choice here as Sven Vath came on at around 6pm to explode into his vinyl orientated set. Second track of the day was the huge hit by wAFF which has blown away most dance floors in the last few months, and this was certainly no different. As his deep and increasingly warming techno ploughed through the happy West Yorkshire crowd, the weather started to deteriorate into a storm and only the SAS could dodge these rain drops. A lot of people staggered out of the site from the 9pm mark to take cover, only to find that there were no taxis. Sven like a true gent kept the stompers going right to the bitter end, which is a true testament to everyone involved.

The organisers, technical staff and punters all deserve huge props for their efforts in making Cocoon in the Park of 2012 as good as it was in the face of difficult weather conditions - every effort was mustered to create the perfect atmosphere possible, and it goes to show that hard work does pay off. Roll on 2013...

Words: Zoe Hamilton

Photo: Hannes Windrath

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