The 5th and 6th of February saw the return of London Remixed Festival to Shoreditch’s Rich Mix, providing a lavish offering of music, entertainment, and culture to all present. The sprawling venue played host to 3 live music stages, along with a silent disco café, and the now infamous Disco Lift. We at Folk and Honey were lucky enough to be at the second instalment of the 2-day festival on Saturday 6th, catching some great performances.

For those unfamiliar with the LRF, the festival offers performances from over 25 cutting edge bands and DJs across 4 stages, over 2 days, spanning various genres to create a diverse and buzzing atmosphere. LRF is the result of Continental Drifts/Global Locals (producers of Glastonbury’s Shangri-La stage) in collaboration with Movimientos, Wormfood, Two for Joy, Woodburner, Polka Club, along with newer partners Vibes and Pressure and Arts Canteen.

There were many highlights to the night, but we’ll pick out a few.

Firstly, the venue proved to be very well suited to the festival, allowing easy wandering between stages, and enough space to just get away from it all if needs be. The large performance spaces were largely packed out at most times, usually with an enthusiastic and lively crowd. Face paints and costumes at every turn, LRF certainly seems to spark a creative flare in its crowds.

The Folk Ghetto stage, curated by Woodburner and Two For Joy, was the setting for two of our highlights of the festival, Theo Bard and Honeyfeet.

Multi-Instrumentalist Theo Bard delivered a fantastic band performance, equipped with electric guitar and his Aladdin esc attire. One of the most impressive elements of Theo’s show was his ability to create a full and powerful sound without resorting to distorted guitar, instead opting for a cleaner tone. The result was a stand-out lead guitar sound, accompanied excellently by his band of bass and drums. Coupled with skilled lyrics and characteristic vocals, Theo Bard’s performance at the Folk Ghetto stage was certainly a high point.

Later to take the Folk Ghetto stage, Manchester’s ethio-trad, folk-hop & barrelhouse-pop exponents Honeyfeet delivered a highly energised show. Easily churning the crowd into a frenzy of dance, Honeyfeet’s frantically upbeat music, along with the phenomenal vocals of front woman Ríoghnach Connolly, create a huge sound that will have you dancing before you’ve even realised it. Love songs about killing your husband, with a splash of cannibalism thrown in for good measure, Honeyfeet were simply fantastic.

A stroll across the corridor, the Polka Club stage also gave up multiple brilliant performances from some great bands. One such being Palestinian street music band 47Soul. The 4 piece, now living in London, blend electro-mijwez, shamstep, choubi, performing to speak about the freedom of movement. There was of course no shortage of movement in the crowd, the packed out performance area teeming with flailing bodies throwing themselves around to the powerful sound of 47Soul.

From the street music of Palestine, enter the brass drenched sound of New Orleans. 8 Piece Brass section Temple Funk Collective finished up the night at the Polka Club stage, bringing a fun and light-hearted atmosphere with their brass medleys and easy going stage persona. Burning through all sorts of genres, Temple Fuck caught the crowd with their various medleys, including 90’s hits, hip hop, and even the occasional Disney song. The performance seemed to leave the room littered with smiles and laughs, a great way to end the night.

Overall, the London Remixed Festival was a feast for anyone looking to explore a wide world of music and culture, successfully breaking the walls of genre, opening the event up to a whole new atmosphere and experience. Roll on 2017!