It may not have been a Bank Holiday in Scotland but the TDK Cross Central festival had too much of a pull to be ignored and it was early on Saturday morning that an intrepid yet hardy bunch made their way down from Glasgow to catch the event.
With the galleries of the previous year's event showcasing a site that seemed functional and intriguing and a crowd that looked extremely up for a good night, the excitement had been building all week. Okay, with the Carling weekender taking place at the same time there was never going to be too much media coverage but with a line-up that straddled folk, electro, techno and even dipping its toe into what the NME is hailing as New-Rave (its not new though...or ravey), the line-up had a little something for everyone at a price that was extremely fair.
Upon entering the site, it was evident that it was a warehouse and freight depot but the buzz of a normal festival was there (or perhaps that was the catering stalls) and on venturing further in and into The Cross venue building, the layout and sound system was superb. With plenty of room at either side to catch up and chat or a sizeable dance floor in the middle, this venue was soon packed to the rafters with acts such as Alex Smoke and Ellen Allien serving up some impressive sets.
Further adventuring found The Canvas rooms, which confusingly were all inside and linked onto each other, meaning to get to Canvas 3, the first two had to be traversed (of course, as is always the case, an easier route was found much later on in the evening!)
Not that it mattered by then as after Ladytrom concluded their blistering yet extremely dark set, the room was barely able to let people move such was the jammed up nature. It was great that as many people could get into see Ladytron as possible but there was a desperate need for air by the time their set concluded.
And where better to catch a breather but still keep the music coming but on The Terrace which was superbly decorated and rammed with as many bars as possible. With the resident dance experts (and all-round great girls) of the group, Cat and Jill both proclaiming The Terrace "to be the equal of anything they had encountered in Ibiza", that was enough for this writer and there was no arguing it was a breathtaking venue.
Getting back to the music an early highlight was walking back from the bar and seeing King Creosote saunter by with four drinks in his hands. Being casually reminded that a favoured artist was due on stage by him wandering by you is as good a wake-up call as any and although it may have seemed he was out of place on the line up, KC ruled OK with a set that wowed and thrilled a busy room. The gruff Fife vocals of Kenny Anderson may have sounded like a foreign language to some of the London inhabitants but there was a wondrous charm to them and the band seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves.
With Spankrock holding up their end of the bargain in merging electro with hip-hop, attention turned to djs for the remainder of the evening. Local hero Andy Weatherall turned in another blistering set which had this writer dancing for the entire time, only pausing to capture a picture of the great man on his mobile man and then Glasgow heroes Optimo turned in a jerky classic set that appeared to ram as many people into one room as possible. No matter how many times Optimo have been seen, theres always an interest or spark about them. There are some nights where it doesn't click and theres certainly been a few Sunday nights in the Sub Club that haven't worked for this writer but when Optimo are on form, there is little to compare.
Optimo were on form.
And lastly for the Saturday night but certainly not least, came Ivan Smagghe. The uber-cool French dj who has traversed electro and techno found himself in the headline slot and playing to a room where the floor was lighting up as the patrons danced and bounced over the top. The best compliment to pay the man is that after 12 hours of the festival, no one was in many mood to leave as his set wound up, and many begging for an encore...or a pass to any given after party.
On nights like this, it easy to get carried away with the euphoria and perhaps the lack of sleep was kicking in but on leaving the festival, the only disappointment was that our group was only down for the one day and that we would be back home in Glasgow long before Sunday's event kicked off.
However, there is always next year. Yes, the TDK Cross Central may clash with the Carling weekender but there wasn't anything there that couldn't be found elsewhere in the year. The TDK Cross Central event felt like a genuine one-off combining a fantastic venue with a stellar music line-up and a crowd who were genuinely up for it with a great atmosphere.
All the major festivals release a batch of tickets for the following years event just as the the current years ends but there is the feeling that many will be pencilling in the TDK Cross Central Festival for the same time next year.