Renaissance: Wild in the Country Review

Renaissance have never hyped this as an outdoor festival - not a chance as they know what they're up against. However the clubbing community seems to have made this natural comparison themselves (maybe we just can't wait for the season to begin), making the job for the organisers that much harder.. Renaissance, providing the cream of the crop when it comes to Progressive style house and trance are going to have to work hard to pull this event off… let's see how they got on…

Lord Litchfield's stately home of Shugborough hall was certainly new to most of its newfound guests. The older crowd skipped the dinner party but were positively wetting themselves at the prospect of House music's big guns: Sasha; Diggers; Dave Seaman, Audio Bullys -  plus a live performance from the men and women of the moment: 'The Scissor Scissors'. Spread across three main arenas: 'Wild', 'Pacha Ibiza' and 'The Shadow Lounge' organisers had anticipated the British weather with wooden flooring throughout. Just as well when the majority of the ladies arrived with high heels strapped to their ankles (we're not inside the mansion girls!)

Overall the music was fantastic. Audio Bullies, James Zabiela, Infusion we all on top form with their technical abilities shining through. The old Renaissance masters that are Sasha and Digweed provided quite a range of music styles, and dropped a few classic tunes from past Renaissance gigs. Some tunes would have been lost on people new to the scene, however a good mix was provided for all.

The atmosphere in general worked very well. Maybe due to the 'In the Country' rather than the 'Wild', there were only a handful of scallies to be seen, which is always welcome. Event organisation was also impressive for an event of this scale, except for a few complaints by the girls - left standing in the 'Ladies Only' queue for a while (or maybe they just got stuck with their high heels on?)

At times there was something a little lacking I feel. Perhaps the problem for me is that the music styles were quite similar throughout the Arenas. At the moment many new breakaway music genres are making a name for themselves and forthcoming event lineups seem to be taking note of this. Renaissance provided quite a traditional rollcall of DJs this year, which may have been a slight downfall for them when trying to appeal to such a wide group of people.

Sound issues later into the evening, presumably due to local complaints, did put a dampner on the night for some people. We spoke to John Digweed at the end of the night, who summed up the experience as 'Quiet'. Whilst respect has to be had for the local residents, it is not often that Stafford has an event such as this, and some tolerance would have gone a long way into ensuring the night could continue without any complaints.
 
So in summary a very nice welcome to the early summer scene. Fitting into their trademark sound niche, Renaissance delivered what they promised, if only a little quieter than expected. Maybe next year the organisers will broaden the music policy to appeal to a wider audience? But maybe not - after all Renaissance has made a name for itself as a unique 'brand' of clubbing.