BLOC Weekend relocated to a new home for 2009, and evolved into a even bigger beast of a dance festival pumping out the finest beats to one of the friendliest crowds. Based at Butlins in Minehead from Friday, March 13th to Sunday, March 15th, the beachside resort was transformed into a serious ravers paradise as the big guns of dub, techno, acid, old skool, dubstep, electro and more shook its foundations for three days of fun with Frequency 7, Egyptian Lover, Aphex Twin and The Hecker, Afrika Bambaataa and Altern8 keeping the crowds wrapped around their sonic vibrations until the end.
Approaching Butlins late Friday afternoon, a white tent-like structure known as the Skyline Pavilion appeared on the horizon: the epicentre of BLOC Weekend 2009's entertainment. Inside promised to house all manner of musical goodness, but first my party set up shop in the chalets surrounding it — ideal holiday homes for an early spring festival. Offering full protection from the elements, a proper bed, bathroom and much-needed heating, these made for the perfect place to get set to go out and relax after a dancefloor session. Those really laughing enjoyed the luxury of a kitchen and lounge area to chill in. After mulling over the entertainment on offer across the five stages in the pavilion for the opening night, it was time to make our way to see the first acts of the weekend.
A white tent-like structure known as the Skyline Pavilion appeared on the horizon: the epicentre of BLOC Weekend 2009's entertainment.
Heading straight to the main arena, DJ Qbert was in full flight showing off his formidable turntablist skills. Scratching away to an upbeat crowd warming to the new venue, his fingers worked the mixer and desks with ease, shown in close up by the huge screens flanking the stage. CENTRE:BLOC was all set to house the biggest party for all the biggest acts, while over in RED:BLOC Friday night the theme of the evening was dubstep. Sampling the bass-led sounds, Plastician dropped heavy-hitters "Kick Snare" and "Where's My Money" to the delight of the crowd before Rusko made his live debut chock full of wobbly beats. Turning my attention to one of the headline acts of the weekend, I headed to see The Future Sound of London at the CENTRE:BLOC who were performing for the first time in 10 years.
Disappointingly, The Future Sound of London proved to be less than the exciting act from yesterday everyone had been hoping for. Not actually present on-stage, instead choosing to ISDN their set in from a studio somewhere as they used to when they performed "live", seeing them twiddle knobs and press various buttons on the screens simply lacked any audience engagement and fell flat as the crowd merely swayed along with the bleepy sounds. Granted their obvious closing track and arguably their finest creation, "Papua New Guinea", brought whoops of approval, yet even its dreamy vocals and well-known beats weren't enough to dispel an air of unfilled expectation. Taking a much-needed rest from the action so far, the pavilion had become alive with activity. Some were outside smoking, many had headed to the many bars for drinks and those looking for more competitive fun were on the various arcade machines or hitting pucks around the air hockey tables. Consulting the programme I realised my evening had taken in only a fraction of what was on offer — indeed, anyone trying to see everything would spend more time between stages than on them — with Appleblim, Rob Da Bank and Drums of Death, Ed Rush and Optical all doing their thing. My next move was to opt for a dash of techno to round off the night with Daniel Bell followed by Frequency 7, the collaboration between Surgeon and Ben Simms, boshing out the 4/4 to a wild crowd until 6am.
Saturday was greeted by a much-needed rest period before a wander around the pavilion to see what BLOC at daytime was all about. While the resort itself offered crazy golf, a waterpark and fun fair, the SKY:BLOC hosted a digital funfair and graffiti wall which saw an impressive battle jam between street artists Cheba and Lokey to the sounds of Tapes on the decks. After a browse at the records and clothes for sale, I found myself in a fight... at the hand baked arcade where a Megadrive running Street Fighter II was begging to be played. In what is a clever bit of programming, BLOC resist the urge to get the music started too soon on the Saturday and Sunday so their guests don't miss out on seeing their favourite acts, but 4pm ticked round and it was time to get back into the swing of the party.
Egyptian Lover, complete with dancers, shiny suit and his trusty 808, seduced the main room using temptatious rhythms.
The TEC:BLOC arena was the first to really get going with Ulrich Schnauss performing live and Rob Hall of Skam Records playing his brand of mixing up the formidable beats ahead of Split and Tilted Disco's techno takeover featuring Robert Hood, Steve Strawberry, Alex Downey and James Ruskin. Yet, such is the strength of BLOC's line-up, my attentions were drawn towards CENTRE:BLOC once more following a dabble with Warp Records' Clark who was dipping between his more blissed-out tunes from Body Riddle and brutality of Turning Dragon. There I found Ed Banger head honcho Busy P putting the finishing touches to an electro onslaught met with applause from the crowd before Egyptian Lover, complete with dancers, shiny suit and his trusty 808, seduced the main room using temptatious rhythms and whipped up a frenzy when playing on his Roland TR-808 shouting "Eight, oh, mutherf**king eight."
The atmosphere was rich with anticipation following Egyptian Lover's masterful working of the crowd: next up was festival headliner Richard D. James, AKA Aphex Twin, joined on stage by sound artist Florian Hecker from the Mego label. What followed was two hours of sonic destruction as the pair blasted a packed stage which had queues leading outside clamouring to get a piece of the action. Those who did were treated to a light show featuring all manner of lasers, some of the most bizarre visuals including the sight of an autopsy, surround sound effects and genre hopping from electronica to techno to old skool and back to the harshest techno heard all weekend concluded by a wave of distortion in the vein of My Bloody Valentine's epic closures. By the sets end it was clear those who had been present would be talking about this set for the rest of the weekend, however those who caught Modeselektor or DJ Godfather who were on at the same time spoke highly of their choices too: once again, BLOC succeeded in programming effectively for everyone in attendance, giving them plenty of choice. As the main party night wore on, beatboxer Beardyman, Richard Divine and Otto Von Schirach saw out the Overkill hosting of RED:BLOC, while CENTRE:BLOC again turned its attentions to techno. Missing Green Velvet after a little post-Aphex recuperation, I caught the end of a Billy Nasty set which was failing to inject much life into the main from for 5.30am on a Sunday morning. Thankfully, Jerome Hill made amends in the JAK:BLOC, Butlins' very own miniature Jumpin' Jaks venue no doubt played techno for the first time in its history. Last year Jerome's 7.30am slot was a highlight for the afterhours people who should know better and again he got the crowd pumping. Sensing the need to finally get some sleep after a long BLOC session, I exited the pavillion to beautiful sunshine and a warm glow of satisfaction among me and my peers.
BLOC Weekend has upped the ante for dance music festivals again this year.
Sunday was mostly spent recharging for the final push, something the BLOC organisers understand implicitly. Reducing the music to three stages and kicking off late afternoon once more, there was easily enough time for sleepyheads to get their rave boots back on — especially as Sunday at BLOC is fancy dress day. Granted there had been sights of smurfs, frogs, fairies and other wild and varied costumes, however the theme for Sunday was Miami Vice 1980s disco so Butlins was awash with Detectives Crockett and Tubbs at every turn, big hair, neon clothing and shades aplenty. Mad Professor eased this wacky crowd in with dub at RED:BLOC and dubstep heroes Skream and Benga went back-to-back too, then the pace changed to hyperspeed as old skool legends Altern8 brought the 1990s back before Bizzy B and 4Hero kept the classic rave tunes coming. Anyone who thought they had run out of energy soon forgot about any aching pains here — there was no choice but to go full throttle on the dancefloor.
Over at CENTRE:BLOC the last act I caught before Carl Craig closed the festival was a interesting set from Afrika Bambaataa who produced disco sounds such as MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This", The Human League's "Don't You Want Me Baby" and Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It". A few mutterings of discontent could be heard, yet these were ideal for the theme of the day and the mood of a festival which until then had almost been bordering on too serious at times. Leaving CENTRE:BLOC to the few brave enough to carry on until the bitter end, I retired to my chalet with a huge grin on my face thanks to BLOC, and, after a much needed sleep, a trip to the beach before the drive home to London.
BLOC upped the ante for dance music festivals again this year, their programming for the three days perfectly suited to the mood of the crowd. If you can't wait for March 2010 to get another helping of BLOC, check out Glade Festival in July where BLOC will be bringing the biggest names in world techno and the cream of UK underground dance to its Vapor Stage.
For more information about Glade Festival go to www.gladefestival.com.
Photography by Olga Dubrova. Republished August 2026.