July 12, 2024 |
The anticipation leading up to a festival is always a little bit brutal. Despite all that time spent rallying the troops and eagerly counting down the days, you still somehow end up embroiled in a last-minute rush to sort a tent, travel and some budget cereal bars before you set off. If you’re anything like us, you’ll have spent the last few weeks willing Field Maneuvers 2024 ever closer with all your might, perhaps thoughts of inebriated field-frolicking have even tortured you in your dreams, beckoning you forth with the promise of a good time – and plenty of beers.
In just over a month – kicking off August 16 and running until the 18th – 1,500 lucky revellers are set to descend on the fields of Norfolk for a self-described ‘NO FRILLS RAVE’ like no other, headlined by the likes of HAAi, Josey Rebelle x Ben Sims, DJRUM and more. This year marks the festival’s 11th edition, having just returned from a three-year hiatus during the Covid years (sorry for the reminder!). But this year is special for another reason, as the team behind the lavish spectacle have announced FM24 to be the last of the festival on the scale we now know it…
With a clear view of the festival gates now on our horizon, we suppose it’s time to think about who, and what, we’re going to see while we’re there. With such a delicious line-up, dripping with flavours of heady tech, punchy bass and good few diva vocals, we’ve gone to the liberty of selecting a couple of our must-see productions. Shall we begin?
FAFF
Riding high from the recent release of their majestic Final Fantasy EP, a dual-effort with French producer Submarine FM via BDE Records, expect a bounty of silly and euphoric cuts from husband and husband duo Elliott and Orny. Speaking with 10 Magazine earlier this month, these tried and tested FM regulars teased “an energetic, sunshine-filled power hour of love,” during their set at this year’s offering, so expect the in-crowd horn to spike off the charts. And wear some comfy shoes – because you’re about to dance your socks off!
THC
There’s nothing quite like a bit of hazy Tania Humeres Correa to help you get your groove on after a day filled with dancing. A founder and resident of blazing Berlin club night La Noche (alongside DHC and Byron Yeates), your average THC set is a steady build of hearty booty bangers, filthy organ house and squelchy acid basslines that’ll send heartbeats racing and preserve a spirit of all-out hedonism on the floor. Rolling through to FM24 on a solo mission, we can’t wait to hear what the Bogotan-born selector plans to unleash on the rolling hills of the East Midlands.
Josey Rebelle x Ben Sims
Putting the capital T in Techtastic, catching London’s Josey Rebelle behind the decks is a guaranteed good time at any festival Team 10 seems to end up at. As one of this year’s FM headliners, Rebell is teaming up with heavyweight-DJ, producer, radio show host and general musical behemoth, Ben Sims. If we know anything about this dynamic pairing we’d say the stakes will be pretty high and the shellings will be gargantuan. You can find us at the foot of the DJ booth, hanging on to every morsel of sound we can get our hands, or likely our ears, on.
Angel D’lite
If you’ve ever set foot in the dance while Angel D’lite is playing, you’ll know all about her knack for nailing camaraderie across the dancefloor. As a true pioneer of the diva breaks genre, with selections running the gamut from euphoric house classics to the campiest of Danni Minogue x Dead Or Live remixes, D’lite is truly a master at crafting those sweaty environs where her acolytes can break free of life’s more troubling elements and live inside throbbing basslines for an hour or two. Expect the heat to be brought, and for things to get very, very gay.
Tasha x Josh Caffé
And finally, another jaw-dropping pairing in the form of Tasha and Josh Caffé. The former is a radio host (Rinse.FM) and label owner (Neighbourhood) with a penchant for grinding techno and cuts of classic drum and bass, while the latter, a frequent fixture of the European club and festival scene, doubles as a producer-vocalist with releases on Fabric, Polari Sounds and Shall Not Fade. Banding together for a night of pure jubilation, we can’t even fathom what kind of trip these two have in store for the FM crowd. Hopefully a festival bum bag is all we need to bring with us.
