by Uncle Sevo
Just got back from Leeds after a quality weekend. After arriving in Leeds Saturday and having a bit of a nightmare finding the travelodge, we finally ended up at cocoon in the park for the last hour of Loco Dice's set. He had the place rocking!! After worrying about the weather all week there wasnt a drop of rain all day. Villalobos came on and carried on where Loco Dice left off, Villalobos was also quality as always. Then came Sven! , I wasnt feeling the start of his set at all, dead repetitive, boring techno, didnt have the crowd going at all. Then the longer his set went on the dirtier and dirtier it became. I can honestly say it was the best set I've heard from a dj for a long time, he then had the crowd going nuts to every single tune he put on. To make things better as well the clouds disappeared and the weather was perfect, really warm as well.
All in all I had one of the best clubbing experiences of my life Saturday! Cocoon in the Park is such a good event you have to see it to understand! I was gob smacked, I'll be defo returning next year if there is one.
Only bad thing I had to say about it was it was a nightmare getting home, the security watched us stand in the taxi queue for 1 hour only to be told when we get to the front that no more taxis will be coming. But I'd had such a good day I wasn't too assed to be fair.
I also thought Sven could of made more of an effort to thank the crowd when he finished his set, everyone was cheering one more tune and he just walked off. Bit shitty I thought. A quick thank you Leeds would of been enough.
Still give it 10/10 though! I'm gutted it's over.....I want it to be Saturday again :-(
by Boon
This event was top to bottom amazing. It managed to exceed last year even.
Getting in - a breeze. More entrances, not much queue at all and security a lot less 'hands on' this time meaning everyone got through faster. Barcode tickets worked brilliant. 1 hour 15 mins last year! 5 mins this time.
Weather - looked certain for rain but managed to be glorious all day. Rather humid though.
Sound - what can you say about a Funktion 1 on this scale. Even though there was a fair wind it sounded crystal. So loud but not ear-piercing. Wicked light show as well as 2 huge screens showing (some rather cheesy at times) visuals. Dancers, fire cannons, smoke, fireworks - the lot!
Lineup - perfect really, long sets were ideal. Superb opening from Loco Dice, the place was banging at 1pm! Set the stage for Villalobos to bring it down in the middle like only he can for 2 hours. He's mellow for ages then out of nowhere drops in a killer bassline, its crazy. He built up for the last hour into Sven who quite frankly destroyed the place - techno at it's best. He dropped Knights of the Jaguar right near the end and I was so happy I could have cried.
Crowd - funny really but everyone was spot on. Yeah there's posers, clones, All Saints lot but everyone was in good spirit and very sound. Saw Clinton Earle there, that Leeds kid off Snog, Marry, Avoid. Ha. Some right states though, empty shells at 1pm. It's a festival though so what do you expect, and I was one of them come the end!
Drinks - £4 for a half litre beer so not disastrous. Enough bars/staff to get served quickly which was nice. Free water taps were a god send in the heat.
Getting home - nightmare last year but planned it perfectly this time. Booked a taxi from the main road for 40 mins after the fest. Bit of a trek but couldn't believe our luck when just as we got there it turned the corner. No other taxis in sight! £8 back to town, just the ticket. Brilliant
Afters - went to Stinkys / Back to Basics whic was perfect. Much more chilled than Mint would have been. Didn't do much dancing - was pleased just to sit down after being on my feet all day!
Summary - quite an expensive day overall but so worth it. Really don't need to change much at Cocoon or expand at all in my opinion. Everything just works! Great times.
by Scottish-Helen
We also had a great time. Thought Loco Dice was the best music of the day, Villalobos pretty decent also but come about 8pm we were sitting down while Sven was on. Didn't think much of him at all. We did leave early and I heard he got a bit better though.
Thought the sound was ace, the setting was really nice and the weather held up. Quite a lot of sunburnt people by the end of the day.
I thought it was a really good idea that if you collected 20 empty bottles you got a free drink.
I'd defo go to Cocoon in the Park again next year.
