Cougar Microbes

As we headed towards the O2 arena for Smirnoff Sensation 2011 there was a evident buzz on the tube to the venue with everyone already making friends and getting hyped up. Once we arrived we were escorted to the press area but we could admire the insanely long cue of people dressed in white ready to go crazy tonight.

We enjoyed a complimentary drink from our vantage point in the highest tier of the o2 and were shown where we could get the best view which at 9:30 looking down was admittedly still pretty empty. As the venue visibly filled up including the deluxe area -a white castle amongst the stands- we could see the long queues we had spotted earlier gradually trickling in.

As we begun mixing with the crowd one hour lateral and there was a lot of anticipation in the air. It was great to see that Sensation had brought it’s trademark scenery to London. We were able to admire a ginormous jellyfish hanging from ceiling, vast underwater scenery and a spaceship like 360-rotating DJ platform with bubble-like lights sticking out strategically positioned at the centre of the venue.

Nothing was missing from this night that fans wouldn’t recognise from either a previous event or the youtube videos. Close to the launch hour, although not completely full yet, we were ready for the count down which hit us with a repetitive boom. There were fireworks, fountain works, crazy lasers scanning the crowd and the deep echoing recognisable voice of Sensation.

Mr White kickstarted the night injecting the place, which was really filling up now, with dancing fuel. He offered a good electronic beat, deep house with powerful beats. As we moved deeper into the dance floor, we observed (and appreciated) all the kinky and fun costumes. Swans , angels, aliens, carnival, masks, t shirts with puns e.g ’ this is a white t-shirt’, white sunglasses, wigs and all sorts were on display.

Powering on from Mr White‘s performance came Eric E who offered more electric beats to keep the mood going. To be honest the biggest attraction of this set were the huge glowing colourful balls that were tossed around to stimulate the crowd. We tried to get in the mix but it proved really tough to reach up with everyone else.

Joris Vroon & Nic Fanciulli were on next. Their set tick-tocked its way on to the dance floor quirky electronic sounds. First offering the strong beat from Alex Kenji’s ‘Something About You‘ before carrying with classics from Junior Jack, Daft Punk and Groove Armada, as well as more quirky minimal techno from Plastikman. These guys did not disappoint offering one of the best sets of the night in a lot of peoples’ opinion.

The Smirnoff Mix entailed a mashup of well known tracks like the never failing Benny Benassi ‘Satisfaction‘ mixed with unexpected oldies like Depeche Mode‘s ‘Personal Jesus‘. This was a fun set to that entertained and surprised us. By this point I think everyone in the entire arena was wearing a Smirnoff ring. With its LED light you could see all the grooving hands shimmer looking really cool from the distance

Fedde Legrande opened his set with Madonna music. This electrifying start was magnified by fireworks and Cirque de Soleil style dancers coming down from the ceiling- for me this was the best moment, you actually had to stop and just watch. Again, a great set was delivered on the same level as Nic Fanciulli earlier. You could tell that everyone was ecstatic at this point screaming, wolf whistling and yelling with excitement.

Martin Solveig turned up with his trade mark sweat band around his head hitting with his latest tune ‘Hello‘ right at the beginning of the set. All in all, even if was the DJ we were most looking forward to seeing , he was a bit disappointing as rather commercial on the night. he pleased the crowd with some floor fillers that have rocked our us since our teenage years but we might have found it a bit outdated.

No worries though because Sander Van Door managed to lift the spirits much higher after Solveig set. He too dropped some classics like Zombie Nation with ‘Old School‘ but the beats were a bit more lively. Spectacular fireworks appeared again for the ending followed by a deafening round of applause from the whole arena. Of course there was an encore last smashing tune, and no one dared to leave till it was actually all over and the lights came up

What can I say, Smirnoff Sensation 2011 was truly sensational and I didn’t want it to end. The good news is the mc ended things by saying ‘see you next year’. I think I speak for everyone in saying: I can’t wait!

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Post by Scarlett

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TRACKS:

NIC FANCIULLI – Green Tea (Syndrom)

Everything But The Girl – Missing (Fedde Le Grande Remix)

Martin Solveig feat Kele – Ready 2 Go (Billboard remix)

Sander van Doorn- Daisy (Tintdeejay`s Remix)

A few months ago we ran a competition giving Cougar Microbes readers a free copy of TuneUp to fix their music collection.

We asked the question: If you could rearrange/fix/change any musical moment that has happened in history what would it be?

This was the outstanding in our books by a guy called Blue:

1. Light Aircrafts
Ban them. They took Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, country star Patsy Cline, John Denver, Otis Redding, Big Bopper, half of Lynrd Skynryd, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ozzy guitarist Randy Rhoads, and Aaliyah to name but a handful. No wonder the tour bus is such a popular transportation option.

2. Finding God
Once the Big Guy gets under an artist’s skin the work tends to suffer. Al Green went from making the sexiest music known to man to making gospel albums known to nobody. P.Diddy protege Mase quit hip-hop for the ministry, and when he came back his skills didn’t. The less said about Bob Dylan‘s born-again albums the better, and just picture Jehovah’s Witness Prince proselytizing door-to-door in purple pumps. Esther (née Madonna) caused quite the mishegas by hopping onto Kabbalah’s New-Age-Judaism bandwagon. And Cat Stevens loved Islam so much he named himself after it when he converted, then quit the music business in 1979. Silly rock stars — you’re supposed to be the ones being worshipped!

3. “Colonel” Tom Parker
Before Suge Knight, Lou Pearlman or even Allen Klein came the “Colonel” – inventor of ruinously exploitative rock management. Getting his hooks into Elvis in 1955, the Dutch con man artfully steered the King away from making music and towards the likes of Clambake, Kissin’ Cousins, Kid Galahad, and about 30 other Hollywood forgettables he made instead of recording or touring for most of the next decade.

4. Electric Violins
Say no more

5. Nearly Every Hip-Hop Video
We get it. Your ride is pimped, your crib is a castle, you sip “Cristal” and have a queue of semi-naked hoes lining up to get into your jacuzzi. Congratulations to a generation of hip-hop video directors for making decadence seem so boring.

6. Braided Goatees
Just grow those chin whiskers out a foot, part in the middle, and weave pube-like braids. Tragically, the resulting blood loss to the head severely lowers IQ levels, resulting in guttural vocals and misspelled band names.

TuneUp are currently hosting a holiday sale so click here to get a 20% discount on “the perfect holiday gift for music lovers”

TRACKS:

The Amplifietes can be considered a sort of supergroup having shared production work for the likes of Kelis, Madonna, Grandmaster Flash and fellow Swedes Peter Bjorn and John. It is on their own effort that the 4 piece have successfully married up a skilful blend of electro pop and punk that will have you flocking to the chapel this year.

At first play the electro popiness of ‘Something New’ , clearly the stand out track, draws comparisons to Miike Snow‘s dynamism whereas ‘Whizz Kid’ manages to drive through both Elvis Costello and Kraftwerk in just over 3 minutes. Their debut single ‘It’s My Life’ has an element of Gorillaz production to it and boasts a freaky robot tripping chorus that would lead any hedonistic urbanite to the dancefloor.

With a happening sound and lyrical wit The Amplifetes are a true delight so be sure to expect more and more of them this year, in the meantime wrap your chops around their latest EP, ‘Somebody New‘, out now.

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Post written by the patient Ruby

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TRACKS:

The Amplifetes – Somebody New