Vocal Booth Weekender 2012 is gone. Long live VB2012 !
I really want to put some personal words down about the Vocal Booth Weekender, not from a DJ or promoter perspective but just my own experience.
The VBW dominates my year. Every day I am thinking of ways to surprise and delight the Family that attend and make it the best experience possible… so to try to distance myself from that aspect is nigh on impossible, but I’ll give it a go.
I really have no idea where to begin.
Many of the Family will already know all there is to know about anything I could say about the event, seeing as it was us, as a unit, that created it.
On reflection, each year I find myself drawn more to the new people who attend the event to make them feel as at home as possible, which means that unfortunately I don’t get to sit and talk with the original crew as much as I would like. You all know I love you still.
This year, being a whole 7 days of partying, definitely took its toll on me.
Much of the main weekend, for me, is a blur. That is no exaggeration. The amazing music during the days blends into the total obscurity of the nights in the club. I was there to enjoy myself as much as the next person and I definitely did that!
Seeing Mikey do his thing on the Sunday was one of the proudest moments of my life and I can’t wait to watch it back as soon as we sort the many hours worth of footage out. After he finished, bless him, he sharply retired to the hotel room and slept. He felt the pressure ! I am also in the process of preparing the equal amount of club and pool sets for podcasts.
Wow, too many things to mention in reality, so many special moments, so many hysterical moments, so many drunken moments.
I got a good 7/8 hours sleep each night across the event yet still woke up totally exhausted every morning. Eventually on the Tuesday I hit a brick wall. Throughout the whole week I stay on site at the Montepiedra but I had to be brought home on Tuesday, I had never experienced exhaustion like it before. My body was shutting down and I needed some TLC from the wife. I felt sorry for letting the people down who had looked forward to this night of me playing alone, but there will be other occasions. That was the only negative of the whole event for me. After that, for the rest of the week, I think I had one vodka and one can of cider. I must have been bad !
Back to promoter mode-
This year was definitely the biggest and the best. The monster poolside system was hardly tested to its full capacity and was loved by all, while a few tweaks for inside the club for future events should give us the same quality of sound (working with something like Xairo is always going to be a challenge). The Pressure Cooker room worked as well as I had hoped and has big scope for the future. Elsewhere, the Basement area of the hotel also worked well although with more tweaks here and there, sound system and production wise we are onto on overall winner.
Numbers wise, it was definitely the busiest yet, although it is hard to imagine where all the people were. Consider it a tag team, with many taking turns to feel the pain and miss whole nights due to burn out.
Despite being into the fourth year, lessons are always being learnt meaning every year can only get better. Who knows, next year we might even get every DJ that is booked to turn up for their set !? The relaxed vibe of the event means that there will always be a few rough edges but in my eyes that is what is so special about it. Every DJ performed above and beyond what was expected and my vision of the whole thing was totally satisfied. Almost, lol.
I just want to say thanks again to everyone that attended, it really is a team effort, a Family Affair. Together, we are an unbeatable force to be reckoned with. I genuinely do get a little embarrassed at the amount of praise I am given for the VBW when I feel we all deserve the praise. As I said on one of the many thousand emails or fact sheets before the event, I’m just steering the ship, we are all working hard to power it !
I will get around to collating all of the amazing reviews, words of love, stories from the virgins etc for publication on the website which will get a revamp in the coming months, seeing as I have nothing to fiddle with now every day. Apart from myself.
Remember, as the hype grows every year, so the need to go underground with the promotion is needed. The VB is not an event put on to cash in on your love for all things great, so we will never get to a point where there are too many people or the calibre of people attending is compromised ! For this reason, please be sure to read all the mails you get from the VB mailing list, there will be changes made there shortly that you need to be looking out for to stay in the loop.
I am already looking forward to catching up with all the crew in London on 13th October, as well as releasing details about the 5th year anniversary celebrations in Spain in 2013.
Be sure to join me this Thu 27th Sept at 8pm GMT on Pressure Radio for the Vocal Booth Radio Show, where I will be sharing the opening sets in Club Xairo from Tempo Twins and yours truly… it will be a BIG show.
14 Comments
when you look back at all that has been created over the last four years the outcome .
is a testament to your own greatness. ANDY.
superb day and nights that bring love and harmony to all who attend .
may it be so for many years to come.
and ill try be up to it health wise next year.
god bless you, and the v.b family.
SNOOPZ,xx
loadsa love .
Well done etc etc. Now, where’s that Soul Renegades set??!!!
It was great seeing you relax more and enjoy what you/we have created. Whenever that much entertainment is provided over 5 days and 4 venues something will throw a spanner in the works but everyone pulls together to fill in or lend a hand. That is the beauty of the Vocal Booth, no stress, just get on with it with a smile on your face. You should be very proud to have pulled together so many GOOD people Andy, may we run for many years to come becuase as I said to you it keeps getting better and better. Best two weeks of our lives without doubt. xxx Much Love Brother xxx
WOW!!!What a week was had by all once again….well done wardy for all the work you put in leading up to,during and after “the do”.
Was 7 days too much??I dont think so(even though i missed my set on sunday night!!)everybody seemed to get through it, (with various degrees of pain)
Anyway,big up the Fam!! see ya’ll in 2013………..
p.s Glenn Thornton is a funny c$%£
A few years ago I read a book called “The Celestine Phrophecy”. It tells the story of a complete spiritual culture of humans on earth. A concept I try to live by, basically connecting with and surrounding oneself with postive people enabling a feeling of euphoria. It was a book from the underground passed around from hand to hand, friend to friend and by word of mouth. I had my doubts as to whether we could ever attain this state completely (maybe but not in my lifetime).
Anyway I was invited by Andy a few years back to attend a little get together to celebrate his 10 years of Vocal Booth (illness prevented me from attending) but when I eventually made it (last year) I felt the positivity and love from friends old and new. At last I had found my Utopia. It was all I needed, it couldn’t have been any better … HOW WRONG WAS I …
Walking through the doors of The Monty on Friday evening I immediately felt the love, the warmth, the positivity. Wave after wave, It blew me away! It was overwhelming, so much so I had to retreat to my room before my heart burst and my soul floated to the heavens. Euphoric indeed! This is the place where the ‘Prophecy’ comes true (well for me anyway). An event from the underground, growing from word of mouth, from friend to friend to friends for life. The next eleven months and three weeks will feel like a week and the week after that will feel like LIFE ITSELF … BRING IT ON!
Still crying myself to sleep that I had to miss this year and wild horses (or my boss) wont keep me away next year.
Well done for another great event (looked great looking in from the outside (even through teary eyes)
Hope to see many of you on the 13th.
Still a VBW virgin but was there throgh the webcam for a vast majority of the proceedings looked like a proper crack would love to be there next year if circumstances allow !!
Well done Wardy & you must have been proud of little Mikey spinning all that old skool greatness !!
Once again some of the guys above put the VB experience far better than my literary skills could.. All I can say us WHAT A F##kin WEEKEND lol..absolutely gutted I gotta wait another year to do it all again..respect to Wardy and all involved 🙂
I was gutted to not be able to make this year’s VBW but it is definitely a testament to those in the family working hard that there were so many ways to stay connected to the proceedings. I jammed out with you all a bit…and am thankful I wasn’t a wounded man doing it (only a little though hahaha). The hard work is noticed, known and greatly appreciated.
It was perfect!, Although I have to do a little critique to improve in the coming years is that on Friday at the club xairo the music was very loud and upset, not so much on Saturday, but the sound quality was very good!!, and another thing I noticed is that in the vast majority of club djs including you andy, lol, is that there is a tendency to electro, I think it would be a factor to take into account for the next year
Everything else is great!, Music pool, the decoration, the new location of the radio, waiters, etc …..
Well I am now wondering why it took me till the 4th year to break my VB cherry as it were.
Such a great location and such fantastic people and the music was generally spot on all the way through – what could be better!!
Cant wait till next year!!
Thanks so much Andy
Quite simply brilliant, the people, the music, the sound system, the weather….everything was perfect for me.
Mind is too hazy to write a proper review and to be honest I don’t think this event needs one, everyone there knows what it’s all about, I will however mention some bits that stood out for me personally.
All the poolside sets but especially A Deeper Groove, Soul Renegades, Bones, Mikey Ward, Clash Of The Titans (Giddy’s opening track had me crying with laughter) and Mr Miggs. These were the highlights but as I say I think pretty much everyone that played poolside got it just right and there was a lovely eclectic mix of stuff from many of the DJ’s. Special mention however must go to The West Midlands Rave Unit (love the t-shirts btw), these boys SMASHED it and the Monday session was the highlight of the whole event for me, tune after tune after flipping TUNE!
As I said before the event, one of the things I was looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones and that was certainly the case, too many lovely people to mention them all individually but you know who you are, special mention to Joey and his lovely wife Kerry who looked after me for the whole week and made me feel so welcome from the minute I met them, two very special people indeed. Sam & Sue for the big big laughs we had on the Monday, that sangria was awesome……although it wasn’t until the Tuesday you told me what was actually in it…hahaha, DJ Roly for getting me home one night…..remember 😉
It was also brilliant to spend some quality time with Craig, Ricky, Neil, Phil etc, people who I only normally see for a couple of hours at best whilst they’re DJing, I have to say that just sitting around and talking about music and other stuff to these guys (and many others) was another big highlight for me. By the way Ricky Reid, you are a legend mate, did you get caner of the weekend…if not, why not?….you were EVERYWHERE….hahaha!
Lastly a huge thanks to Andy for making this happen, your enthusiasm and belief in what makes a truly special event is infectious mate, also the team behind him….thank you all so much.
So, VB2012 was my first time as part of ‘The Family’ ….it certainly won’t be my last, see you all in September 2013 if not before.
VBW 2012 what can I say that hasnt been said by myself at previous weekends or by everyone else. Wheni try and describe the Vibe and what its like to be there the people the smiles the music its hard for them to understand how unique it is and what an amazing event you have created. We call it “The happiest place on earth” and we truly believe it. Thanks for creating the family long may it continue