The fourth edition of the Underage Festival took place on the first weekend of August 2010. Mind-blowing music, 110% festival atmosphere and the very best artists guaranteed an amazing festival experience. Only festival-goers between 14 and 18 years old rocked Victoria Park. Red Bull Reporters Bianca Manu and Tim Easton headed out to report on their day there!
A splurge of Doctor Martens, Converses and Vans decorated the grounds of Victoria Park in anticipation of this year’s Underage festival. With a plethora of performances from the likes of Chiddy Bang, Darwin Deez, M.I.A and Ellie Goulding it was no surprise adolescent music enthusiasts were omnipresent.
Now in its fourth year, the festival which is exclusively for fourteen to eighteen year olds gives young people the chance to experience unadulterated music without the restrictions of adults and age. An amalgamation of acts including, You and What Army who performed on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam Stage managed to induce spontaneous outbursts of mosh pits and madness through impressive stage positioning and serious bass and electric guitar sections. Don Broco, who also featured on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam Stage last year, acted as catalyst for hysteria by hurdling T-shirts into the appropriately named whirlwind mosh pit, the ‘Hall of Death’.
Over at the Tango stage, a swarm of arms garnished the skyline during headline act, Tinie Tempah who preformed Channel U classic, ‘Wifey riddim ’ and of course both hit singles ‘Pass out’ and ‘Frisky’. After his commendable performance, a simultaneous stampede started, with over four hundred individuals marching, dancing, running (and occasionally moon walking) over to the Topman Ctrl stage in anticipation for the ‘man of the moment’, Professor Green. Despite the wait, Green’s rendition of ‘Just Be Good To Green’ and new favorite, featuring Maverick Saber ‘Jungle’, made amends with the audience for the half an hour wait.
Vocal goddess, Rox preformed a cover Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ as well as her reggae influenced track ‘Rock Steady’, ‘My Baby Left Me’ and ‘Breakfast in Bed’ amongst others in anticipation of her new album ‘Memoirs’ which will be released in September.
Grime favorites Ghetts and Scorcher preformed on the community stage whilst ‘Dagenham boy’ Devlin did his thing over at the Converse stage alongside the super talented DJ/producer/presenter/superwoman Annie Mac, who’s set had everyone in awe or envious of her aptitude and bouncing brown hair.
Closing the festival looking extravagant as ever in white lycra leggings with red and yellow striped prints, the one and only, M.I.A made the crowd insane by performing ‘Paper Planes’ and ‘Born free’. After M.I.A’s performance it would seem biologically impossible not to have experienced an endorphin rush. High on adrenaline, young festival revelers left Underage feeling ecstatic and grateful of (in many cases, their first) festival experience.
With the success of this year underage festival which seamlessly brought together some of the best in homegrown, international and modern music, who knows what’s in store for the future? Maybe even a three day festival – fingers crossed!