Features / Reviews
Review: Love Saves the Day 2021, the Downs
Love Saves the Day felt like it was welcoming in the beginning of summer, not greeting the turn of autumn.
But there can be no doubt whatsoever, as 25,000 people got together at the festival’s sun-soaked home on the Downs, that Bristol was ready to dance once again.
Whiteladies Road became a party as festivalgoers hiked up and down to and from the festival site adorned in the shiniest of glitter, the most glorious of colour and the most garish shirts this city has seen in the last 18 months.
is needed now More than ever
First Bus even threw their own fiesta-shaped baton into the mix with the ‘Love Bus’, a shuttle service packed to the brim with punters from around the country and hearts lit up across its front display screen.
Crowds of 25,000 gathered for the largest Love Saves the Day festival yet – photo: Plaster
Headliners included names such as Mahalia, Kings of the Rollers and Slowthai – photo: Plaster
Across six eclectically designed stages, headliners such as Mahalia, Kings of the Rollers and Slowthai absolutely dominated this first September weekend.
Electricity practically crackled through the crowd every time an artist or MC hollered: “Bristol – can you please make – some – noise?”
The jewels of Saturday’s drum’n’bass crown shined straight forth from The Blast’s Brouhaha stage, including highlights such as Call Me from renowned drum and Shy FX, a wild set from Barely Legal back-to-back Chimpo, before drawing the first night to a close with the legendary Kings of the Rollers.
Flava D, however, perhaps stole the show, as the garage and bassline DJ dropped some of her biggest tunes, including Now or Never and What You Mean 2 Me.
What started off as an average sleepy Sunday morning in BS8 ushered in yet another dazzling day in all senses of the word, with a jam-packed hip-hop lineup on the main stage, Brouhaha dizzy with disco and centre stage taken over by the sounds of drum’n’bass.
By the evening, friendship groups were torn apart by the split between headliners Slowthai, Honey Dijon, Ivorian Doll and Hybrid Minds, as every stage drew huge crowds of fans.
Over at Centre Stage, Bristol favourite, Hybrid Minds played their opening bars of Supernova with thousands of lights from phone torches lighting up the crowd.
As those first liquid bass beats dropped, we were all filled with a renewed hope that even after the last year and a half, love might just really have the potential to save the day.
Main photo: Plaster
Read more: Review: Idles, the Downs: ‘A triumphant homecoming gig’
Listen to the latest episode of the Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
