Review: S2S Festival at Victoria Warehouse

Photo: Ms Dynamite 

Landing on the Easter Bank Holiday, S2S Festival boasted an impressive line up, primed to destroy Manchester's Victoria Warehouse in much the same manner as was achieved at New Year's Eve.

Adept at matching the old skool with the freshest sounds in bass and house, the night starred formidable names such as Becky Hill, Mark Knight, Martin Ikin, Kove and Cause and Affect across five arenas and one VIP area.

Ahead of the night, Katy Thomas caught up with S2S bosses Lee Drake and Joe Wilson to find out more about the whole S2S experience, relive some of their favourite moments, and get some hints as to where the brand is heading.

Can you describe what to expect for somebody attending an S2S event for the first time?

(Lee) Expect huge production across multi arenas with music to please everyone.

How much time goes into organising an event like this?

(Joe) Three to four months goes into planning and promoting for each S2S event.

What are you looking forward to about the night?

(J) The best part of the night is looking out from the main stage and seeing thousands of people enjoying themselves. 

(L) I always look forward to playing as I DJ but as Joe said you can't beat looking out from the stages and seeing thousands people appreciating your hard work.

Who were some of your musical influences when you were growing up?

(J) I was really into my garage acts like DJ EZ, Matt Jam Lamont and MC Creed

Can you name a favourite track that never fails to lift the crowd?

(J) For me its got to be Robin S 'Show Me Love' (below).

(L) Julie McKnight's 'Diamond Life' always gets the crowd going - it's one of my favourite tracks that I play in my sets.

Is there a venue or place that you haven’t hosted an S2S event at yet but would like to in the future? 

(J) We would really like to do something in a field or a forest, we are looking into a few things at the moment.

(L) I would love to take S2S abroad but at the minute we just don't have the time to even look at it. But you never know what the future holds.

Are there any other upcoming projects you can tell us about?

(L) We have a new project in Blackpool on the North Pier called Pier Jam, with some huge acts line up

If you could go back to one epic night you have organised and re-live it again what would it be?

(J) New Year's Eve at Victoria Warehouse is one that stands out to me, the atmosphere was amazing. 

(L) Mine would be September Blackpool North pier when we got 5000 on the pier with an electric atmosphere from start to finish, there's something about partying on the pier in the sun with the sea around you...

What advice would you give to any upcoming artists or DJs trying to get established today?

(J) Just keep trying, don't give up and play as much as you can even if its for free

The night itself did not disappoint. On arriving at Victoria Warehouse the place was already buzzing. It was a massive turnout with a varied taste of music that catered to everyone's needs. The main room was heaving, the lazers were incredible and atmosphere electric. A highlight was Ms Dynamite sending the crowd into a frenzy with her hit track “Lights on”.

The Retro room also went off with some massive old skool classics. Brand overseer Paul Taylor as ever stole the show with a masterful set that particularly stood out.

Wandering around exploring the six arenas, appreciating the music was a blast. A welcome feature was the VIP room where if you had access you would get to see DJ Luck and MC Neat amongst others. It was also really handy to have a drink and little chill out.

The whole event was well organised the security staff were friendly, and the crowd had a really good vibe and even towards the end of the night it was still pretty rammed. The only downside to the night was was that it seemed to go so fast.

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