Editing & page design Mike Mannix

Words, Jeff Dobson ‘Bleep’ Columnist for Iconic Underground Magazine

Now as hard to believe as it is, I get invited to many a festival. Some, I even play for an hour or two, which I usually decline in my simplistic, gracious way. Why? Well in all honesty I have no interest in seeing that uninspiring 5 names that over the last few years seem to have become unavoidable out and about.

Gavin Co-Founder leAF

No interest also in that airport motorised floor soundtrack that backs these kinda things. That monotonous bpm that has an A and B but nothing in-between. So why hang my hat on LeAFs hook?

Well after chewing the fat with the creators and main promotion duo, (who incidentally don’t come across like your regular one) Gavin Black and Cindy Dalgleish over a Bovril and a crisp sandwich in a layby just off the M6, I got the feeling this project was coming in at a different angle and for different reasons as the aforementioned template parties.

Cindy Co-Founder leAF

As Cindy outlined

L.e.A.F is a celebration of the street culture that brought us to this point in time on the electronic scene. Our ever-changing tastes in fashion, art, and of course music shaped what we see today and we’re here to give it the credit it deserves”

A Welcome return to the ethos of the early days of Party over Profile surely can’t be a bad thing in this smoke and mirror industry can it?

Resisting the pull of loading the lineup with the usual cash cows, live curator Gavin Black has taken a sprinkle of household names and merged them with the next wave of artists established in their sonic field, encompassing 52 artists across 6 areas is no mean feat when you take into account the number of agents, brands, and labels to be dealt with.

“We could have gone down the usual route with the line-up” explained Gavin “but after the last couple of years of what the industry has gone through with closures and lost earnings,

we wanted to put a little something into the pockets of artists who’ve felt the pinch more.“

So what can we expect on the night? Prepare yourself for a panoramic view of the electronic scene laid out with rigorous planning and meticulous attention to the sights and sounds that for over 30 years has shaped the industry.

In layman’s terms ” a right good boogie” with friends we haven’t met yet and memories still to be made!

Editing and page deslign Mike Manni