For the third year running, Love Saves The Day took over Bristol’s Castle Park to bring the party to the people. Now with a full Saturday and Sunday lineup spread across eight stages, there was a lil sumthin’ sumthin’ for all concerned. Saturday’s big names included Eats Everything and Nina Kraviz, whilst Sunday’s stars were SBTRKT and Jamie xx. Now freed from the shackles of student bondage, we were finally in the privileged position of being able to attend both days of this fine festival. And so the fun began.
A sell-out Saturday was met with the opening of the heavens, which made the rest of the weekend a rather muddy affair. This did little to dampen the spirits however; a little rain can’t scare the Brits away. Heading to see PBR Streetgang on the Futureboogie stage, we knew the fun had well and truly started as the crowd danced along to an edit of Bill Withers – Who Is He. Next up, we couldn’t miss the chance to see Fabric legend Craig Richards on the Just Jack stage, then back at Futureboogie, Crazy P kept the energy up with an enigmatic set.
A stroll through the castle grounds allowed us to catch Annie Mac’s stellar last song choice: another Bill Withers treat with Lovely Day. STW favourites MCDE (who even managed to fit in some George Duke) and Todd Terje then rounded off the night with a rendition of Whitney Houston – Love Will Save The Day. As the day’s events came to a close the crowds went their separate ways to enjoy the various Love Saves The Night parties at Motion, Lakota, and Blue Mountain. The sensible ones of the bunch headed to bed to stay fresh ahead of Sunday’s events.
Sunny Sunday had one up over Saturated Saturday, with significant meteorological assistance. A much more dub-heavy lineup gave us a thirst for bass that was sated by the Teachings in Dub stage. Tucked away in the corner of the festival we soaked up the last of the sun’s rays, listening to the positive vibes of Aba Shanti-I.
Another hidden pocket of the festival was the Shambarber stage, with smaller names paving the way for maximal merriment. Our songs of the day were played here, with a little Paul Simon and some Soulphiction too.
We wanted to catch Jamie xx on the main stage, but felt that he would’ve been better suited to one of the smaller tents, and so we headed to the Crack stage for John Talabot who played a nice set to bring our LSTD weekend to a close before sneaking off for the beginning of our own afterparty with Mr KS. Bigger and better once again, we look forward to what Team Love will be bringing in 2015.
