Town Hall Parade’s Electric Brixton is set for a ‘1920s speakeasy’ glitz and glamour takeover as BoomTown Fair brings a taster of its outlandish festival to the district this month.
For one night only on Saturday 21st March, BoomTown’s electro swing Mayfair Avenue will be transformed into a smaller scale event in the 1700 capacity venue, a far cry from its usual grass and woodland festival surroundings at Hampshire’s Matterley Estate dairy farm.
BoomTown Fair, which began in 2009, is a 4-day carnival-esque unique array of walkabout performers, fringe comedy, fancy dress and theatre, setting it apart from other UK festivals as one of the more ‘arty’, individual and diverse events of its kind. Its town-like set up is divided into several themed districts each with their own camping ground, including ‘OldTown’ for pirates and gypsies, and the reggae and dub world of ‘TrenchTown’.
‘Mayfair Avenue’ one of the most popular ‘districts’ of the festival, is the chosen theme for this month’s show at Electric Brixton with its cabaret vibes. With beauticians on hand at the show, much like at the festival, a ticket to the show will give you the chance to have your very own 1920s makeover. Dance group Molotov Jukebox will be headlining the gig.
The event is known to attract a specific demographic of hippy-like ‘raver’ and ‘hard-rocker’ festival-goers with its lineup ranging from ska, folk and country and western to dubstep, hip hop and drum and bass acts.
The announcement of the Brixton show has generated mixed opinions from BoomTown festival regulars, some of whom believe holding the event inside a venue will damage its original character and individuality.
“Putting it in an indoor venue kind of takes away from the community ethos of the festival, I think. BoomTown brings people together through music and arts in a way that I’m not sure would work unless it was outdoors in a field like normal,” said 20 year-old Ellie Chambers from Clapham, a regular at the Hampshire festival. “It just won’t be the same.”
Another fan of the festival, Alana Macleod, 23, from Wolverhampton, believes that the concert will not be a true representation of the festival’s atmosphere, telling us “I don’t think it will be the usual crowd that go…the festival is full of proper hippies that just want to go wild in a field, not go to an organized event in a city setting like that.”
Locals, however, share a different outlook on the festival being brought to the area.
Brixton resident and regular BoomTown attendee Brad Davis, 25, shared his excitement about ‘Mayfair Avenue’ coming to London: “I think it’s great promotion for BoomTown. The music fits in well with the area demographic so I reckon it will pull in a big local crowd because it’s arty and trendy. Lots of Londoners already go to BoomTown too so people will come from all over the city,” he told us. “Brixton is a pretty well-established name when it comes to music venues as well so it would be great to have the BoomTown name associated with the area.”
Davis added, “I definitely think they should make this an annual thing. It’s a few months before the real thing, so if they had it every year it would just help to build the excitement with a little taster to remind people of what was to come. Maybe they should do another smaller indoor show between March and August in a different city or town like Brighton or something.”
Elliot Bobin, 26, another Lambeth local and avid BoomTown fan, suggested that the concert would help put Brixton on the map within the rave music scene and would attract more tourism: “People will be booking hotels, looking for places to eat, going to local bars, making a weekend of it, bringing more people to the markets and local businesses.”
For more information on ‘BoomTown Presents Mayfair Avenue’, visit Electric Brixton’s website here. Third release tickets are priced at £18.
