TomTalks #30: MADE Festival 2023 Review (A Sensational Saturday and a Enjoyable Sunday)

 

MADE Festival has a special place in my heart, not only as the first festival I attended but also as it takes place in the homeland that is Birmingham. I have attended every event since 2016 and have always enjoyed the acts and the venues. After moving to Perry Park in Birmingham, then to Walsall and Wolverhampton, this iconic festival returned to its home of Digbeth.

Also, changing this year, it became a three-day event, which while attempted in the past, is a fresh take on expanding the festival. Friday (which I did not attend) was a 16+ rave headlined by Hedex and Bou, with support from the likes of Georgie Riot and Devilman. It sounded like a great opportunity to give some youngsters their first rave experience, and it had a top-class line-up of D'n'B music.

On to Saturday, which remains the main event. The first thing I loved was the wide variety of venues on offer. Whether inside Blackbox or Zumhof or outside at Luna Springs or The Yard, there were ten stages of banging music from house all the way to Grime. The only real issue this caused was the queue to get into Blackbox/The Roof Garden/Warehouse. While mostly easy to get into, when I tried to see Dimension's set, the queue was so long that eventually, I left after little movement. I was disappointed to miss his set, especially as most indoor venues had a queue for 1 or 2 stages. This, I would suggest is something to learn from.

The food on offer was tasty, (in particular the jerk chicken I had on Saturday), but expensive, as was the alcohol. You expect a rave to be pricey, but spirit doubles cost £10-11.50, which for me is an obscene amount. It's not quite as bad as the £15 I spent at the 02, but the rising costs of alcohol and water (£4!) are not helpful to customers, especially when ticket prices have gone up.

Flowdan

In terms of the acts, there were very few complaints. Hannah Laing headlined The Yard, bringing plenty of energy with her bouncy techno sound with elements of house and trance. She knew how to get the crowd going. After the success of 'Good Love', expect continued hits from this Dundee DJ.

Gardna with support from Eva Lazarus brought a vibrant and fun set mixing drum'n'bass bangers like 'Massive' while spitting over the iconic Gorillaz track 'Feel Good Inc.'. Lazarus provide great vocal contributions of her own, and 'Babylon Raid' absolutely went off. It was perfect festival music, and like the sunshine put a smile on your face.

After the disappointment of missing Dimension and some tasty jerk chicken, it was time for Flowdan. Full of 140 BPM bangers and freestyling with a mixture of some recent Skrillex tunes, it was certainly a set that went off. My only complaint, the crowd didn't bring the 'Rumble' when it came to the mosh pits. Then I met up with a mate in Blackbox with Bklava performing. The South London performer brought her usual fun and danceable genre-bending sound. To the joy of the group I was with she even got on the mic and despite the small crowd, everyone present was dancing the night away to this rising star.

Finally, I was missing a bit of U.K. Bass which Holy Goof certainly delivered. A veteran of the scene at this point, he knows how to get the crowd going whether on the VIP of 'Put It On Me' or his recent hit with TS7, 'Over You'. He ended the evening with a bit of D'n'B, a genre he has dabbled in himself, most prominently on his closer 'Tell Me' with Paige Cavell. Finishing the night for me, Australian DJ Luude, who is known for his pop-song remixes 'Down Under' and 'Big City Life', provided a fun set that closed the day nicely.

General Levy

Sunday saw the close to the weekend, as Sean Paul and friends took to the stage of Luna Springs. Sunday cost roughly the same as Saturday, so to only have two stages (Luna Springs and the Car Park) and one VIP spot was rather disappointing. The weather was also awful, due to being a bit of a washout, which was not great either. Also, while DJ sets from Buxley and DJ Danni gave us a fun mix of genres like Reggae, hip-hop, and Afrobeats, for the price I paid I would have liked more live acts. 

General Levy upped the energy and gave us a great mixture of jungle and energy. 'Incredible' was just as great live as out of your speakers and remains one of the most iconic anthems from the Jungle scene. Ending the day was the legendary Sean Paul, who brought a performance full of fun and sweet throwbacks. Whether his recent pop hits like 'No Lie' with Dua Lipa or his certified classics like 'Temperature' and 'Like Glue', he delivered. He was enjoying himself and interacted great with the crowd, even joking about going on past his scheduled time. He didn't want to go and the crowd certainly didn't want him to either.

MADE Festival's first time as a weekend festival worked overall. The Saturday was just great and returning to Digbeth was the right decision. There were plenty of sensational acts of various genres, with top-class rave spots, good food variety, and plenty of bars. Outside of the drink prices and that one long queue, I had little to complain about and had a fabulous day. As for Sunday, I am a bit more conflicted. I had fun and Sean Paul and General Levy delivered, but the lack of other stages and live acts was disappointing. If the prices were cheaper than the main festival, then I'd be a bit more generous, but there is something to learn from here. A fun weekend overall, but it's time to see if they decide to do a three-day event again.

Saturday: 4.5/5

Sunday: 3/5

MADE Festival will be returning in 2024 and is on Instagram, X, and TikTok. Follow me on Instagram, X, and Threads for updates on future content.