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We are back in my locality for the latest edition of Lazy Days Festival!
Last year was my first time going and from a music perspective, it was great. This year turned out to be better, not just with the music but overall the quality went up.
Except the one water station with sus water quality…
I took an initial walkaround to get my bearings. The mapping was different, the placement of everything was different & even the stages were different.
On that latter point, we have a new stage! The Break Water stage to showcase new & independent talent. I didn't expect to frequent this stage but I ended up discovering some solid artists there.
Coincidentally, this is where we begin our journey. Starting with optimistic poet Sam Mac & Saxophonist Nat Cartier.
We then move to The Common Stage (Main Stage) for a Club/Sax fusion set from Ellie Sax. Literally just bangers from the DJ with Ellie hyping up the crowd and busting out some Sax. Was perfect for an early afternoon crowd.
Didn’t have to wait long for the next set from the one & only Professor Green! An artist that I wasn’t into when he was popping but as a live act, great energy and finished on his collab with Emeli Sande which is always a W in my book.
After taking a stroll around I ended up back at the Break Water for Indie-Pop artist Matilda Pratt.
I took another walk around to get shots of everything – which I will unveil at the end – ending back at Break Water for my favourite discovery of the whole weekend: Fusion quartet Future Dub Orchestra.
But was they were killing this D&B/Dub rendition of Roy Ayers' “Everybody Loves The Sunshine”, I quickly had to beeline to the next act @ the now larger Big Hop Stage: Lisa Maffia & Romeo.
The highlight acts were coming thick & fast at this point, the penultimate for this day on The Common was Little Mix alum – now solo act – and pregnant Leigh-Anne.
But before I finally checked off something I’ve been wanting to do for 16 years, we darted back to Big Hop for a quick look at legendary Garage act Artful Dodger.
And before we get to the final act – the one I’ve been waiting over a decade & a half for – it’s time for the bumper pack of vibes. The People, the attractions and scenery of this beautiful setting I was blessed to cover throughout the day.
Highlights include:
A Mr. Bean cut-out.
A cartwheeling kid.
Two fire rides.
Bumping into some High School friends. (Thanks Seth for the one photo of me.)
& a lot of smiling faces.
And now for the last act.
From 2010 to 2015, my favourite artist was undeniable. His trendy flavour of what I can call in hindsight Pop-Rap had me in a choke hold.
He was the one artist I wanted to see in person at that time in life where I wasn’t even old enough to hit a live show without an adult.
Since 2016 I have been to countless shows (I should really try to actually count how many I’ve been to in the past decade…) but 14-year-old Charlie still wanted that one artist.
And not only was I able to see him live finally, I also got to take pictures of him.
To finish what was a solid day out, Tinie Tempah came through…
I must credit Lazy Days for really checking off some artists I’ve been wanting to see for a long time in the past two years. Even giving me artists that I’ve known but didn’t even think of wanting to see live.
All of that in my back yard.
And we still got Sunday to go…
Charlie Taylor
chillicharlie.taylor@gmail.com
Born in Camden, North London.
Bred in Leigh-On-Sea, Essex.
Screenwriter/Podcaster/Photographer/
Hip-Hop Student.