best & worst of BLOC 2010?

[Morter]

My first Bloc, and I'll definitely be back, had a really good time, met loads of really sound people. I massively failed to see most of the people I wanted to see, but the trade off for that was having a wicked time chatting to mates and wandering around enjoying the novel concept of being off my face in a Butlins.

Best:

McMash Clan - I love these guys, fun set, great to watch and gave me a super energy boost on sunday, had me running from the bar flailing my arms franticly, jumping down the steps to get back to the action.

Noyeahno - Always a pleasure to watch, and the crowd was really going for it, biggups!

Kanji vs Raffertie - Woke up 20 mins before their set, insuffliated a large quantity of "party line" and went wild. He's a good mate aswell, so our entire party of 25 people made it down at the same time which made it even better.

The beach - Climbing around on the rocks in the sun taking in the sea air, I only got 3 hours sleep afterwards but felt fantastic when I got up.

Security - 99% seemed really friendly, I didn't get searched once, anywhere and they normally seemed to be laughing and joking with people.

Chalets - Nice and clean, comfy beds, decent kitchen, ours was quite far away, but I quite like marching about chatting with friends when wasted anyway, so was no problem at all, plus our mates chalet was only 20 metres away, even though we booked months apart.

The people - Lovely, interesting people who were genuinely up for it, and having really good fun without your typical festival "look at me I'm wacky" idiots.

The weather - Standing around waiting for coaches on monday morning could have been horrendous if it was cold and rainy.

Check in - Nice and easy, had to go to the production office cos' we had workers staying with us, so may have been a bit different, but it was a breeze, took all of 2 minutes and everyone was nice a friendly and helpful.

Having today off work - Made post-festival comedown much more bearable, and got to feel smug as my mates text me with updates of their worsening states.

Worst:

Missing loads of people I wanted to see - My fault really, after getting smashed and spending most of my time chatting, would have been nice if things started + finished a bit later as I was on a nocturnal sleep pattern and most people I wanted to see were playing before I woke up.

Butlins staff - Most were fine, but a couple seemed to be on a bit of a power trip, getting snotty and yelling at people trying to get into Joy Orbison...it was really quiet when I got in, and there was no provision made for queue lines.

Sound - Jak:Bloc was wayyy too quiet for the couple of sets I heard, and the volume seemed to vary a bit in some of the other rooms, overall though it sounded fantastic, I'm just nitpicking really.

Not being able to take water back out of the dome - I can understand not taking it in as it may be booze, but I've just spent £1.90 on bottle at the bar, to have to bin it, and then buy another bottle in the Spar 5 metres away just seems like a unnecessary waste for no reason?

Not much more to report for now, respect to all the crew involved in organising it...

Final cheeky plug for anyone from Bristol reading, we're running a night at Timbuk2 on friday with Kanji Kinetic, Stagga + Doshy playing, so come down for a post-Bloc pick me up!!

[Catcore]

best

mixmastermike
grandmasterflash
lukes anger

worst

only seeing the above cause i was far too drunk all weekend and kept falling asleep at about 10 oclock.

[petermangalore]

Best : SUBHEAD

Worst : No Greggs on site

[munglers]

Best:

- Roska kicking off the weekend, and the Spanish guy at the front holding up the wrestling belt every time he dropped a heavyweight tune

- Pretending to be bummed by Bob The Builder

- The films on BLOC TV, especially the woman with the talking vagina and the midget secret agent, who I think has already been mentioned on here...

- Shouting at seagulls

- The guys who kept telling me I was Stewart Lee and took me back to their chalet Friday night to use their ironing board

- Ellen Allien & Adam Beyer on Friday

- Trying valiantly to dance to Autechre

- Playing ring of fire Sunday afternoon and being completely hammered by 7pm

Worst:

- Deactivating my key card by having it in my pocket with my camera on Friday night, waiting half an hour for Butlins staff to let me in my chalet, then going to reception where an amazing man with a hoover took me to get my card recharged. Thus earning myself the 'designated retard' hi vis jacket for the night...

- Spending the whole of Saturday daytime in bed due to Friday night's exploits

- Inevitably missing loads of stuff I wanted to see because other stuff I wanted to see more was on at the same time

- The Tube on Monday in rush hour. Like being shot into the earth's core in a barrel full of miserable people while on some really bad acid.

- The fact that it was over so quickly!

Congrats BLOC organisers, at least as amazing as last year if not better

[Infophisix]

Best

As always I had a great time meeting up with all the sound people and having a laugh. I could happily go to Bloc without the Music and just wander round the place talking shit to people all weekend.

Music wise Model 500 was the highlight for me though - Also enjoyed EDMX, Jerome Hill, Bass Junkie & Dexorcist, Placid, Joe Hart, Channel One - Gutted I missed Alden Tyrell, Matt Whithead and NoYeahNo, but you can't see em all eh.

Worst

Artist wise I thought this was the weakest Bloc to date - Loads of people I knew that would normally come didn't bother this year which I thought was a real shame. Considering that Bloc have sold out every festival in the past through good Techno and Electro acts I found it a shame that there was a lack of real Electro this year. Hopefully next year Bloc will ditch the novelty acts as some of it was a bit Radio One roadshow for me.

Compare the atmosphere at Bloc from having someone like Ben Simms and Tyree Cooper Jackin it up Acid House Style, to having Grandmaster Flash shouting "Clap your hands Mutha Fukkas" every 30 seconds over Blur songs this year - I know what night I prefered.

Sorry to moan Bloc - I'm getting Old - Overall thanks for a great weekend !

[PLEX]

Yes

Highlights:

• * Matt Whitehead - proper bruv; musically the best thing of the festival imo
  * Brackout - nice one to all those who turned out for it. It was brilliant. Ben would've been well embarrased at the attention!
  * Joy Orbison - some incredible tunes in there
  * Instra:mental - I dunno what you call what they were playing, but I loved it
  * D-Bridge - Pretty good D'n'B styles...
  * Whupping everyone at Sega Rally
  * Pints with B'Stard and c minus and co
  * Hanging out with nice random peeps what I met on the Friday/Saturday morning
  * Filling in for a late DJ Hype and getting to play Jungle to 1000+ peeps in Red:BLOC
  * Generally, the vibe of the whole festival... seemed really nice and chilled this time around
  * My chalet buddies (aww)

Lowlights

• * Feeling totally knackered and achey on the Sunday... so much so that all attempts to catch the music I wanted to hear failed (either by lateness or lethargy) and I finally ended up watching Silent Hill on the telly
  * c minus accidentally spilling a half-pint of vodka and orange in my lap while climbing across the Sega Rally screen in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent me whupping her at it, then going back to change into some other jeans and missing T++, Surgeon, Luke Vibert, and Congo Natty by falling asleep. FAIL
  * Some 23 year old knobhead repeatedly demanding we "don't hate" when we slated Grandmaster Flash for being (in the words of Simon) 'the George Lucas of hip hop', and generally a rubbish DJ
  * Missing cheese and wine vibes due to destructedness
  * Slashing my hand up on the Monday while tidying up the chalet
  * The state of Strepsil and Carla on the way back to Taunton

Generally, I had a really brilliant time though next year I am deffoe not going to overdo it on the Friday so much that I'm not bodily capable of sorting it out properly for the other days. Well done George and Alex and all the Bloc crew. Top work guys, done did it again!

[Warpiggy]

best:

Ae
AGT (again )
Congo Natty
16bit
kelpe (finally)
dj planet mu cos he dropped meinheld at the end of his set
Alden Tyrell
The water park
RAVE GRENADES

Worst:
mix master mike was pish
arrivin at 12 for hype and findin out he was finished. can't remember who we went to instead but they were playin really borin techno....not the way i wanted to finish bloc at all
missin the water park every day after the friday......plus, the lack of music in there....a bit of rave goin down that black hole slide would've been a treat

all in all...an absolute belterBLOC
cheers folks.....till next year xxx

[Warpiggy]

Compare the atmosphere at Bloc from having someone like Ben Simms and Tyree Cooper Jackin it up Acid House Style, to having Grandmaster Flash shouting "Clap your hands Mutha Fukkas" every 30 seconds over Blur songs this year - I know what night I prefered.

i have to agree with you there...the sundaynightBloc hasn't been as good since the acid night 2 yrs ago, but in fairness that'll take some beating (i'm gettin all warm inside just rememberin the rave up we had that night). but i have to say the lineup from 7.30 on the sat this year was absolutly crakker for me. music....non-stop

[rolo]

First of all: a big THANK YOU for everyone involved in organizing BLOC 2010. I was there for BLOC 2009 and had some remarks about the festival. On every single remark you have made serious improvements, which is awesome. Especially the security improved, although unnecessary queueing would still happen.

Best of 2010:
- the crowd (even better than last year)
- Radioactive man (worth queueing for)
- DJ Rush (he never fails to deliver)
- AGT Rave Cru
- Salt 'n Pepa (just funny)
- the nice weather
- drinking beers watching football downtown on saturday

Worst of 2010:
- the guy friday who bumped into me so I got my T-shirt all wet
- me spilling large amounts of beer on saturday so I got another T-shirt all wet again
- the 11 hour drive home monday
- Grandmaster Flash
- Mixmaster Mike

[the svelte one]

I missed last year's Bloc, but was glad to be back again this year.

Best:

• Autechre - of course.
• Luke Vibert - always great, but excelled himself this set
• Rob Hall
• Digitonal \ DJ Planet Mu double on the Sunday afternoon followed by
• AGT Rave Cru
• Placid
• Matt Whitehead
• Ms Dynamite - always been criminally under-rated, she was fabulous
• The sound in Red Bloc
• Visuals in the Dome Bloc - big up RFID
• The lighting everywhere

Disappointing:

• First half hour of Derrick May, thankfully it picked up after 1am
• Kode9 vs Martyn - too deep and dull and I'm a HUGE Kode9 fan
• Surgeon's visuals
• Salt n Pepa - though Push It made EVERYTHING OKAY
• MJ Cole
• Missing Model 500 cos twas up against Autechre :( Gutted.
• Rugby rather than football in Hot Shots
• Missing Yimino cos it clashed with AGT Rave Cru
• Visuals in general - excellent equipment, rubbish content. Please don't bring back the VJ who kept playing the MC Hammer dancing clips or the one with the extreme yoga poses

Other comments:

• Please can we have a Bloc TV guide next year?
• And some more electronica - maybe an ambient \ chill space? The Dome was good, but not open when you really need it (5am :D)
• It's out of your control, but some decent cider would be nice

I did a lot of tweetin' over the weekend, check the link below if you wanna see.

tso

[chopstickkk]

+ Best

* Everyone's already named the musical selections but I will mention --
---- ROB HALL (me and my mate are gonna book him for our (respective) funerals)

* The midget ninja film on Bloc TV Saturday (I don't think anybody didn't see that!?!)

* Partying from music close on Sunday til check out time on Monday with the (aptly marketed) 'Block Rocker' speaker blasting Ancient Methods/Wu-Tang/Inner City/etc.etc. (Conor 'Glynn' - man of the match)



* Playing Talking Heads 'This must be the place' on same 'Block Rocker' in the carpark on Monday - bittersweet.


- Worst

* My abysmal flakey performance on Saturday night. For shame. Tut tut.

[defucto]

First Bloc for me. Will go next year if the music improves a bit.

Best:

D. Bridge ( wish he was put on in a bigger room though! Got a bit packed in there )
Yimino ( never heard their stuff before. Was really glad I randomly walked into the dome when they were playing! )
Congo Natty ( Proper jungle, just wished I had more energy to dance )
Salt n pepa ( very surprised I actually enjoyed them, love when acts don't take themselves too seriously. Was laughing the whole time.)
Skeam and Benga ( first half of the set )
Mix master mike ( I know lot of people were complaining about his selection being to cheesy/ commercial but I expected this and he had heaps of energy and was fun to watch )

Worst:
Roots Manuva ( Was seriously disappointing! I have been a fan for years been waiting to see him for years. His set lacked energy and he played all of his shit tunes. I had to leave early it was that bad. )
Luke Vibert ( Again I am a fan but thought his set was way too boring )
Autechre ( complete wank imo, random noises and beats do not sound good or impress me and I usually like this genre of music )
Grandmaster flash ( what an ego this guy has! Liked some of the tunes he dropped but he successfully ruined them all by yapping over the top of them.)
16 bit ( horrible dubstep imo. No groove or flow

Way too much boring dubstep and techno this year for me. Not enough dnb or breakcore.

Oh and why was Breakage advertised on the line up but was no where to be seen on the actual line up?? Am I the only one who noticed this? I mean the organizers obviously knew he wasn't coming when they printed the program so why no mention of the reason he wasn't there?? Was really looking forward to seeing him.

Why was Wiley only scheduled to play for 20 mins? Missed him because I though he was on for an hour

The only other complaint I have is that my girlfriend's wristband came off and was denied entry to two arenas even though she had the wristband with her in hand. Being told she needed a replacement but not being told where to get one. Then going into another arena mins later without any problem. Seriously we paid money for these wristbands being denied entry just because it wasn't on the wrist is very anal imo If you're going to deny entry because of this you really need to tell people where we can get a replacement when they ask.

Other than that I had a good time. Glad I went

Thanks Bloc!

[Stephy]

Great to hear about all the good times had. For me personally, it was nothing compared to last year... although we had a ball none the less.

Issues - There were too many empty dance floors, poor sound quality, samey music, dubstep (ugh!), bland beats, boring techno (I love techno, but the stuff being played was so monotonous). Last year there was a much richer choice of music in every sense, with acts like I.F, Green Velvet, Egyptian Lover, Rob Hood, Apex Twin, Qbert, Afrika Bambaataa and many more, all playing music with thrilling build ups that excite and take you on a journey. The atmosphere as a result was the best I’ve ever experienced at a festival. You can’t please them all, I know that. My lesson learnt is not to buy tickets based on last years efforts (before seeing the line up!).

A big well done to the security who had to deal with a fair few nob jockeys, funny that there seemed to be less agro last year, the music attracts a different kind of crowd that’s for sure.

And what’s with taking bottles of water off you when heading back to the chalets, I can understand booze (I guess) but paying £1.90 for water to have it taken from you when you want to nip back to your chalet is a piss take and didn’t happen last year?

Over all honestly rather disappointed. Will I be going next year? Who knows, I’d love to but we’ll have to wait and see.

Oh yeah, the stage hand with the T-Shirt that said “DubStep Is Shit” on the back in HUGE letters…. funny as.

[powkin]

Best:

Autechre
Kelpe
Pinch b2b Distance
Appleblim b2b Peverelist
2p Machines... man I love those.
2 really cute rabbits outside our Chalet
The guys dressed as Dumb and Dumber in orange and baby blue suits - amazing.
The weather
Thought the security peeps were much nicer than last year.

Disappointing:
Feeling old...
D:Bridge & Instramental being on 3-6am on Friday - I'm old, I work and I don't do drugs so was too shattered to stay up
MJ Cole - where was the fucking Garage????
Mc Mash clan/Brain drop - I can't stand them - went to one of their nights at Scala and they treated Current Value like SHIT - no one treats Tim like that
Felt the atmosphere was a bit weak this year - felt really quiet/empty at times??? Maybe that was just me...
DJ Hype can get the hell out of there - why was he on the lineup? Jump up, clown step, wobble shite.
Oh and the RAFFLE!!!!!! Worst idea ever. What a waste of time!!! They gave away 2 bloc tickets, 2 t-shirts and a hood and that took almost an hour!

Overall didn't enjoy it as much as last year, but it's still my favourite festival because I get to sleep in a bed and they fucked up electronica like Autechre... can't argue with that.

Would like:
More GOOD drum n bass... maybe some old skool junglist action.
Bio-rhythm on the lineup...
http://media-db9abd14b033612f.soundclou ... lism-vol-1

See you all next year

[robbie against]

Highlights

Organisation was spot on again lads, well done! Registering, getting in and out was so easy.

Opening the chalets on Thursday night was a superb call. Meant the flight prices were cheaper for all the people coming from Ireland because it opened up another 3 flight options on the Thursday. Also it meant on Friday we were all in, settled and dancing nice and early.

Music that had me jumpin…

Subhead
Nathan Fake – surprise of the weekend, he can really lash it out
Flying Lotus – amazing sounds
Luke Vibert – loving that acid
Jerome Hill
Martyn V Kode 9 - got us bouncin
Debasser – kicked things off nicely

Yet again the weather came out for some morning/afternoon drinking in the sun. It seems to be getting nicer every year. We will be down having a rave on the beach by 2015!

The dome was cool. I know it would probably never happen but Chris Cunningham would be amazing in that thing.

Low lights

The music was just not loud enough sometimes, especially in the Centre Bloc and Techbloc. Sometimes it was brilliant in the Redbloc but very inconsistent An example was during Rob Hall the sound levels were incredible and then Flying Lotus came on and the levels went right down which was such a shame.

The most disappointing thing was Derrick May’s poor effort at finishing off the weekend, he left everyone hanging. Last year Carl Craig didn’t offer enough energy, it was a similar story with May this year but with less crowd pleasers to keep a buzz goin so it was quite dull I thought. He played a few stabs from strings of life at the end and stopped the music so everyone was a bit let down when he didn’t play an encore and just walked off. If it was my choice I would steer away from the Detroit guys for the last set of the weekend. Someone banging like DJ Rush/Ben Sims is what everyone needs at that stage of the game. Defo need to get something better going for the last set of the weekend next year.

From what I saw Adam Beyer was a terrible choice to finish up with on Friday night in the centre bloc. Years ago he was good but he has lost his energy these days. Please stay away from booking the minimal techno DJs. Its not the Bloc festival vibe. Or if you must book those type of DJs explain that the crowd will re-act better to something harder or more underground, no doubt they will be more than happy to give something a little different a go for a change.

Questions??

Was there an increase in price at the bar this year?

Did Youngsta play? When I went in N-Type seemed to be playing instead?

What was the story with the tech bloc evacuation on Friday night? I felt so sorry for subhead because most people left and he ended up playing a stormer to nobody.

When is Squarepusher gonna play??

Is water bad from the taps in the chalet cause so many people i know were sick?