Fifteen Years of Sidewinder @ Bowlers

Photo: Luck and Neat

Since setting up back in 1998, Sidewinder established itself at the epicentre of the grime and UK garage scene in emphatic fashion, setting up perhaps the most vital urban night outside of the capital. With London seemingly having the monopoly on grime, more and more artists keen to make it in the bigger world decided to leave the confines of the city, seeking to sharpen their skills in the wider world. 

One of those destinations became Sidewinder, which had in no time at all built an unparalleled reputation for enjoying the fiercest, most forward thinking underground spirits in the business. Check out what we mean by that above.

The night itself has grown from holding events at an intimate 300 person venue to huge 3000 capacity sites all around the country, with its infamy growing from a flawless run of incendiary line ups that sets it well apart from its contemporaries. Past luminaries to take on Sidewinder includes the likes of Mercury award winnerDizzee Rascal, Lethal Bizzle and Wiley, all hugely influential and successful members of the grime fraternity, responsible for shaping the genre as we know it today.

Its 15th birthday welcomes a reliably mammoth line up hitting the iconic Bowlers venue. Garage legends Luck and Neat (above) top the bill, with Cameo, Pay As You Go Cartel, Martin 'Liberty' Larner and Trudos joining them in the main arena. Bassline heroes Jamie Duggan and DJ Q set up stall next door in the exclusively christened Down:Load arena. 

Exclusive for the birthday too comes the Shapeshifter arena, which welcomes a classy deep house line up including Lance Morgan, Arun Verone and Spice primed to cause maximum devastation with a slew of bass drive, soulful, bouncy cuts rounding off the celebrations perfectly. Head here to check out the full Sidewinder line up.

As birthday celebrations go, this is an absolute beast.

Head here for your Sidewinder tickets.

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