WELL Boomtown, you worked your magic yet again. For those of you who have been reading my reviews over the years will have heard me say that I have doubts they will be able to top the ones before, but believe me when I say Boomtown 2014, chapter six by far surpassed the ones before.

I loved the new stages, like the new folky old mine stage which brought a whole new vibe to Boomtown with the likes of Tinariwen, Bellowhead, Joe Driscoll & Sekou Kouyate, Dizraeli & The Small Gods, La Chiva Gantiva, 3 Daft Monkeys and Beans On Toast to name a few.

We were lucky enough to be given live in vehicle passes this year, which I was so so grateful for during the storm. We parked our van in the Whistlers Green area, which was just near the newly improved Kidztown and close to the Old Mine Stage. 

We had a gorgeous view of the Wiltshire countryside but still could hear the sound of pulsating, spine tingling, heavy bass to keep us yearning for more.



On our walk through KidZtown we stumbled across a great little stage - The Sandcastle Stage which at that point had a stage full of very talented beat boxers just improvising and making amazing music from just there mics and creative sounds. Also we got the chance to witness a freestyle from none other than the incredible Dizraeli.

I enjoyed seeing more families at Boomtown this year, everyone seemed to look after each other which was nice to see. There was an amazing procession through Kidztown on Sunday where people of all ages were involved, also the warm sunshine returned for us.

We spent most of Saturday afternoon getting down to the filthy beats of the Leisure Centre DJ's. Everywhere we looked, people were genuinely happy and there was a feeling of unity and camaraderie for our shared love of music.

The dress code seemed to be everything and anything goes, massive respect to the lady in a one piece suit with a what I can only describe as a large piece of human anatomy attached to her forehead!

Even during the hurricane weather that Mother Nature descended upon us, the magical, electric vibe shone through massively with everyone giving it all they had. The amount of effort all the Boomtown crew had tirelessly put into this years event was admirable and incredible. So much attention to detail, we made sure to explore all the hidden nooks and secret raves going on in each building.

The Lions Den stage was as epic as last year, with artists such as The Wailers, Raggasonic, Chronixx & Zinc Fence Redemption, The Skints, Benny Page and Trojan Sound System and many more who all smashed it. It was such a shame the rain came though as a lot of revellers took cover beneath the surroundings trees. Massive respect for the artists for not letting the torrential downpour affect their performances.
How could I not forget Arcadia- "A place where anarchic metal monsters meet total sensory dynamite, where lasers pierce the darkness, drum beats ring out through the silence and flames engulf the night sky."

The show sends dancefloors hurtling from tingling anticipation to rampaging euphoria in 25 minutes as the vibe ignites, magnetically drawing people in from every corner of the festival. 



We enjoyed memorable sets from Aphrodite & Junior Red, Opiuo, Rockwell, Atomic Drop, Vandal, Audio and my personal highlight- Slamboree Soundsystem. Mike Freear, Kathika and crew absolutely smashed their set. 

The band mixes up genres spanning from Balkan to dub, classical to drum & bass and breakbeat to electro-swing. An ensemble of orchestral and brass performers push the energy of the live show one step further, while the performance is brought together by synths and driving electronic beats created by producer Mike Freear. Another unforgettable highlight was the shiny new Dubtendo stage found in deepest Chinatown. 

The courtyard was rammed with their relentless bass heavy music keeping the magic alive. Even with the swamp of mud for a dancefloor no one seemed to care and the atmosphere was electric. We heard sets from the Dubtendo DJs, Rawkus, C@ In The H, Boundary, Hepple, Trinity Lo Fi, Chicken Brothers, Toby Spin, Freear, and Captain Flatcap.

There are so many stages to mention I am going to struggle to tell you all about each one (which means you best start saving your pennies for chapter 7 next year!) but one mythical, magical and purely beautiful stage everyone needs to experience is the Hidden Woods which even has its own beach bar. It hosts all the best Dub, Reggae, Dancehall and Hip-hop live bands with acts such as Ed Solo, Hollie Cook, Laid Blak, Jacky Murda, One Roots, Liondub and many many more.


I loved every single minute of my time at this years Boomtown, I'd like to thank the lovely Anna Wade for all her help, and also all the hard working staff, crew, performers and most importantly of all, the legendary people that invested their hard earned money to be part of it all this year. Everyone goes on this journey at Boomtown where we all go to an alternate, illusive, fictional, fantasy land. It's a festival like no other and we all have memories we will hold forever, bring on Chapter 7.