Edinburgh Connect Festival 2022 kicked off for the first-time last Friday and banged on for 3 days. With a shy start and low numbers on the first day we got a bit worried and couldn’t grasp why so as the amazing setting and great ambience of the locale were only more than inviting. Low attendance not for long though. The crowds did not fail on the second day of the fest. Saturday saw the event’s organisational success in the making. Literally! Caribou and Bonobo among other artistes warmed the scrambling crowds fair and square.
Set within the Edinburgh Royal Highland Centre grounds, just by the Airport’s landing strip, yeah, planes were taking off in the background while the gig was cooling their engines’ sound with its acoustically well-balanced volume. The party was ON big time and we felt it the moment we set foot there. One to mention here as a pinnacle is Moses Boyd, taking crowds on a jazz fusion trip on one of the smaller ’Guitars and Other Machines’ stages of day one.
As the sun set across the Connect festival perimeter for the second night, fans were ready for something special as the legendary duo, The Chemical Brothers, made their epic appearance on The Grand Parade (main stage). With the atmosphere electric, the steely, magnetic groan of ‘Block Rockin’ Beats’ echoed out into the crowd, with a roaring cheer revellers swayed as if waves crashing into shore – a sight to see. The set was laced with nostalgic bangers from ‘Go’ and ‘Dig Your Own Hole’, to a sensational cover of New Order’s ‘Temptation’. Yells of ‘Don’t Hold Back’, ruptured as an encore of ‘Galvanise’ boomed; a shower of balloons falling as the first note hit, what a way to see out Saturday at Connect.
The Brothers were a visual feast, a trip, joy and most importantly an overwhelming feeling that hey, we might have just struck gold here and will achieve a wonderfully organised, big, well managed festival in Edinburgh. A serious contender to many other UK based large scale gigs.
Despite the fact that Chemical Brothers were our absolute favourite there, we did notice and enjoyed the fantastically prepared Speakeasy tents and a smaller ‘Unknown Pleasures’ stage on which Rebecca Vasmant journeyed enthused crowds through day three.
Also, on the third day of the event, we at the reviewsphere mag received a highly anticipated email, saying:
We are delighted to announce, that due to the success and overwhelming positivity from Connect 2022, the festival WILL RETURN for 2023.
We support this progress wholeheartedly and are still in awe of the festival’s vibe, friendliness, comfortable lightness of being and the very much needed musical chill.
Don’t miss the chance to experience Connect and its wild eclecticism again next year, from The Grand Parade heavyweight headliners, to red hot up-and-comers destined one day for main stage greatness at Guitars & Other Machines and Unknown Pleasures, the culinary triumph of the Chef’s Table, to the Rest & Be Thankful tent where festival revellers can kick back and relax between sets.
reviewsphere recommends and remains CONNECT ‘ed
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