IICON

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

Maybe they’ve purposefully booked less ‘mainstream’ acts in that area to spread the crowds round the site a bit more?

We went to IICON in Thursday night and it was great, pretty small crowd but my mind was blown by it.

We then queued for NYC Downlow for apparently 70 minutes, never been in there so figured that would be our chance. The really sad thing is I don’t remember a thing from inside there, nothing. So it was all a waste of time.  

[Nudenut]

Good vibe there Thursday night, my group all enjoyed it... went back Saturday and just wasn’t feeling it, ended up at Greenpeace for Smokin Jo which hit the spot.

[zero000]

I think the bookings might have had something to do with the slightly diminished crowds. Caught a bit of Larry Heard and it seemed more like a chilled 5am vibe, than a 1am party starter. Attempted to make it down to Karenn but a severely sprained ankle put paid to that...

Edited July 2, 2019 by zero000

[eFestivals]

an article on IICON

https://www.musicweek.com/live/read/it-s-about-to-become-an-international-touring-phenomenon-the-inside-story-on-block9-s-iicon-creation/076682

[geoffboycott]

11 hours ago, Tuna said:

But yeah I agree, the block9 folk have been knocking it out the park for ages, they'll have some ideas up their sleeves and more, we're in good hands 

Couldn't agree more, Block9 are on point. 

I was concerned about the loss of London Underground (still am a little disappointed), but the expansion and IICON addition really sets the future up nicely.  IICON was quiet at times, but having that space to dance properly and not be on top of others, really was a relief and pleasant tbh.  And despite my concern over London Underground going, the original field is much better for it, really allowing Genosys to shine.  The queues for Downlow were mad, but it still has it's charm and had a good night there on Saturday for a few hours.

Bottom line, for me, the team behind Block9 really have got it sorted.

[MJP]

Visually impressive but not my kind of music. Hope it gets some great names in future for all you techno people.

[MJP]

59 minutes ago, geoffboycott said:

The queues for Downlow were mad, but it still has it's charm and had a good night there on Saturday for a few hours.

They need to abolish the moustache system in favour of single-night wristbands. Either that, or no re-entry.

People were just passing moustaches through the smoking area fence. By 11pm on Sunday night, the Downlow had reached capacity. I had an argument with the crowd control manager, saying that the re-entry queue couldn't be full if it's only been open for an hour or so, as not that many people could have left and wanted to re-enter.

[Bin Fish]

4 minutes ago, MJP said:

They need to abolish the moustache system in favour of single-night wristbands. Either that, or no re-entry.

People were just passing moustaches through the smoking area fence. By 11pm on Sunday night, the Downlow had reached capacity. I had an argument with the crowd control manager, saying that the re-entry queue couldn't be full if it's only been open for an hour or so, as not that many people could have left and wanted to re-enter.

100% this. 

The Downlow entry system was my only gripe with Block 9. Very little chance of getting in unless either you or a mate are queueing from opening, which on Fri-Sun means missing a headliner at a minimum. The queues would be so much more reasonable if it wasn’t still so easy to cheat the system. 

[MJP]

6 minutes ago, Bin Fish said:

100% this. 

The Downlow entry system was my only gripe with Block 9. Very little chance of getting in unless either you or a mate are queueing from opening, which on Fri-Sun means missing a headliner at a minimum. The queues would be so much more reasonable if it wasn’t still so easy to cheat the system. 

I started being a total unapologetic dick to people who tried to push through the queue to get a moustache. Calling them out to security. I missed a headliner to get there, they just walked up and got in. No ma’am.

Managed to catch the last hour of horse meat disco at the closing party, still paying for it 52 hours later. ???

[Johnnyseven]

Went to IICON on thursday and was blown away by the sound. Unfortunately, due to having technophobic mates, I didn't get to return so missed a load of people I wanted to see ?

[LSTx]

Visually taken and sonically taken back by the stage when I first laid eyes on it.. was genuinely overwhelmed by how engulfing it felt when head on with it in the center stage, however,  I never really caught the vibe there as the music was very minimalist / progressive. I prefer more up beat music you can groove to, this felt like more of a place to just subtlety head bop.

 

Potential is there though.

[Matt42]

Look the secret to this being successful is booking big acts. The big DJs were at the festival but not on that stage. A lineup reshuffle probably would have helped with the teething issues.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Hand the keys next year to Simon Dunmore and the Glitterbox lads.

[Matt42]

1 minute ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Hand the keys next year to Simon Dunmore and the Glitterbox lads.

I think the keys should be handed to the fabric team. Trust me they are all on site all weekend and they can book all sorts of djs for favours.

Just a few big hitters and this could be the best dance stage at the festival.

[Verminkt]

This stage was insane. If Charlotte de Witte, Kraviz, Bicep etc. were booked here it would have been a lot more busy and I think this stage is better for techno than Pangea (although that one was great too).

[devli]

I'm still thinking about how good Demdike Stare and Karenn were. Both huge highlights of the weekend for me. I hope they book the exact same sort of stuff next year and change nothing. 

[Bin Fish]

In general I thought Iicon was one hell of an impressive addition. Not quite what I was expecting from the first descriptions (I managed to avoid spoiler pics) but beautiful nonetheless. From a scenic art point of view it looked like a hell of a lot of fun to build/paint too, very operatic. I’d love to know who designed it. 

My first couple of visits were hit and miss musically. It never got too busy, and the few hours I spent there Saturday for Hessle didn’t really click with me as much as it could’ve. Impressive variety, but I wasn’t feeling it as a set and stayed for may fucked up mates more than the tunes. 

Sunday though, for Karenn. Man that was something else. They were everything I wanted them to be, and dancing down there at the front with loads of room right under the head was mind-blowing. 

I agree with what a lot of people have said about needing more big hitters to draw the crowds and really create some atmosphere, but as a new venture I’d say the Block 9 team knocked this one out of the park! Would love to see it tour!

[aidenlangan95]

Was there for like 3 nights in a row with each night getting progressively better and better.

Thought the Saturday night here after the Chemical Brothers was exceptional. Was there from like 1 to 4.30 non stop dancing. Went for an explore of the rest of the SE corner and ended up back there for a last half hour before me and my mates were getting to the point of over-tiredness. 

[geoffboycott]

2 hours ago, MJP said:

They need to abolish the moustache system in favour of single-night wristbands. Either that, or no re-entry.

People were just passing moustaches through the smoking area fence. By 11pm on Sunday night, the Downlow had reached capacity. I had an argument with the crowd control manager, saying that the re-entry queue couldn't be full if it's only been open for an hour or so, as not that many people could have left and wanted to re-enter.

Ah, now that is crap, totally agree, that's not on.  I think maybe stop re-entry, just operate like any other club; 1 out, 1 in.  Tbh, I only went on Saturday to see some friends who were DJing, so joined the queue about 9.15pm, which is daft, but by half past it was snaking out of the entrance to block9.

[Skoo]

I loved IICON, was great not being completely rammed in. Went to the flying bus to watch Richy Ahmed and was essentially pressed into someone's armpit, not fun at all, so left half way through.

Definitely up for more big spacious dance areas like IICON.

Does anyone else get completely confused and lost in the SE corner after dark? The one way system and different areas really mess with my sense of direction and because it's so crowded in there, it makes wandering around and discovering stuff really not pleasant at all.

I do kinda wish they'd just bin the lot apart from one or two big stages like IICON, all the crowd crushes and queues make me just not want to bother with the area at all, even though there are DJs I really want to see - just can't face being all hemmed in with a load of spangled teenagers on ket. I remember the days of being able to just walk around Glasto at night and not constantly end up in a crowd crush, or find yourself trying to walk in the opposite direction to a mass of traffic going the other way. Those were the days!

 

 

[LeeHC]

 

4 hours ago, MJP said:

They need to abolish the moustache system in favour of single-night wristbands. Either that, or no re-entry.

People were just passing moustaches through the smoking area fence. By 11pm on Sunday night, the Downlow had reached capacity. I had an argument with the crowd control manager, saying that the re-entry queue couldn't be full if it's only been open for an hour or so, as not that many people could have left and wanted to re-enter.

Something really weird was going on with that on Sunday night- even the back entry through Maceos wasn't letting people through (I've never had the magical wristband needed to go in that way!).  Security were having to push people back as some were really not happy about not being let through.

Ended up just dancing in Maceos weird container dance floor since was pointless even queuing for Downlow proper at that point.. 

[Zoo Music Girl]

Another one in favour of IICON here - I've avoided the SEC for the last few years as I can't handle the crowds but we ventured there randomly on Thursday and Saturday this year and were pleasantly surprised to be able to to move and breathe! The AV show was ace, but that was all I saw much of there besides some of Larry Heard. I thought the stage itself, the sound and the space in the field were all great, though. As we left I saw a mega crush getting into Shangri La (for Bicep?) so that does definitely still seem to be the big draw.

We also spent some time at Genosys, which was a first for me. Thought it was great and again not as busy as I'd expected. 

Can't remember the last time I attempted DownLow. Probably like 2009/2010? Queues are just so offputting.

Edited July 3, 2019 by Zoo Music Girl

[Magma]

I loved The London Underground - but queueing to get in was an absolute bitch. Loved the fact that replacing it with big outside stages in Block 9 meant there's no chance of one-in-one-out for a lot of stuff there now... really improved the area for me.

I entirely failed to get into the Temple every time I tried... but Samula was such a good Plan B that it never bothered me.

[blutarsky]

On 7/1/2019 at 7:27 PM, Rubber Soldier said:

Was dead every time I went by it. 

Was busy for Larry Heard on Saturday. 

[dccool]

So much potential for IICON. Looked amazing, sound was up there with the best on site, asy to grab a drink, fantastic visuals and enough room to dance around it was a joy to behold.

Personally never spent that long there because I always seemed to be passing with half an hour to spare before I went on to the Temple (best place in the SE corner for me easily). 

Brilliant to have such a massive field at Glastonbury to rave in. Would be interesting to find out when it was at its busiest and if it ever actually reached maximum capacity.

Wanted to see Karenn on Sunday but had hit the wall by then. 

Helped spread the crowd and I didn't think the SE corner was anywhere near as congested as previous years.