Labyrinth Presents Anjunadeep Open Air on the Thames: Event Review
On Sunday August 9th, Labyrinth Events were set to continue their annual Summer residency at the Old Royal Naval College, UNESCO World Heritage Site which has already featured Adriatique, The Kooks, Dom Dolla and more this year with Anjunadeep Open Air for another ‘Sunday Fun Day’.
Independent music promoter Labyrinth Events curate electronic dance music and live music experiences with a unique selling point of snapping-up exceptional venues, merging sound, light, and art together to create a an unreal experience for attendees. They pride themselves on booking emerging talents and world-renown headliners, and for the second year running they have secured another massive summer residency at the historic Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich with a 9,999 daily capacity.
Anjunadeep is a major London-based independent record label founded in 2005 by the electronic group Above & Beyond and their manager James Grant. It focuses on Melodic House, Deep House, and Progressive electronic music, growing from a club-set side project into a global music community which boasts over 600 releases and global flagship festivals. The lineup for their day on the Thames featured the talents of Catching Flies, Dosem B2B HANA, Eli & Fur, Ezequiel Arias B2B Marsh, James Grant & Jody Wisternoff, Maty Owl & Romain Garcia.
For the event, I travelled up from the Coast, near Brighton, and once in London [direct train to London Bridge], travelling through London to get to the Old Royal Naval College, UNESCO World Heritage Site was really simple; it was a direct train, two stops, to Greenwich Station and then a 10 minute walk, and en-route to the venue you get to see the historic tea clipper Cutty Sark boat, which is permanently docked at King William Walk, right next to the River Thames and Greenwich Pier.
Ticket options for the event included general admission, VIP, which includes access, to the Painted Hall with a premium VIP bar and food, premium views from the Painted Hall balcony, dedicated chillout area with tables and furniture and VIP toilets, you could also upgrade even more, to a backstage ticket which further backstage access to the main stage, offering 360° views of Open Air and a view of the crowd from the DJ’s perspective.
Access to the Paint Hall is well worth the upgrade, it is aesthetically beautiful, painted by British artist Sir James Thornhill between 1707 and 1726. It took 19 years to finish and it encompasses nearly 40,000 square feet of walls and ceilings, approx. 200 painted figures include kings, queens, mythological creatures, and astronomers. The paintings celebrate British maritime power, scientific achievements, and political history.
Early set highlights from James Grant & Jody Wisternoff and Romain Garcia included ‘Jody Wisternoff, James Grant, Kiskadee, Ren Ocean – Friendly Fire (Extended Mix)’ which is smooth Melodic House, blending driving percussion grooves with warm synth layers and emotional, front-and-centre vocal hooks, ‘deadmau5 – Not Exactly (Rinzen Remix) where the iconic melodic lead line of “Not Exactly” is re-engineered using deeper, more resonant synthesizer patches, making the melody feel more locked-in, hypnotic, and atmospheric and also ‘Romain Garcia – Digital Diva (Extended Mix)’; Deep, Progressive, and Melodic House characterized by melancholic piano arrangements, warm analogue synthesizer lines, and a slow-building, high-energy peak designed for live sets.
Eli & Fur showcased a peak-time energy and emotion; a mainstage worthy performance through ‘Domersky – Soul Sacrifice’ which features a prominent, infectious, and bright saxophone riff, combining classic Jazz with Tech House and French House bounce, Hotlap’s ‘Recall’ featured Melodic House & Techno vibes, featuring warm, deep analog-style synthesizer pads and a driving, hypnotic melodic rhythm, whilst Eli & Fur’s ‘One That You Love’ pivots toward a more driving, Progressive House profile showcasing Eli & Fur’s signature vocal-led songwriting and overlaying emotional hooks.
Marsh B2B Ezequiel Arias is a B2B of two artists producing different styles of music under Anjunadeep, and it provided a lot of energy and emotion through ‘Ezequiel Arias – Psychodelia’ which leans heavily into a dark, club-driven journey via hypnotic percussion, progressive driving bass and acid-tinged and modulated synth’s, whilst conversely, ‘Marsh – Home’ blended the emotional nostalgia of early 2000s Trance with Cinematic, Deep and Progressive House vibes, whilst the also teased 3 unreleased tunes in their B2B set including ‘Marsh – Too High’, ‘Ezequiel Arias – Estimulo’ and ‘Safari Duo – Played-A-Live (Marsh Remix)’. The future looks bright for both artists.
My favourite set of the day came courtesy of Dosem B2B Hana, and their set included Dosem – Levitize (Extended Mix), oozing Progressive vibes and a smoothed vocal hook that add emotional depth without overpowering the rhythm, ‘Hana, Durante – Away Home (Extended Mix)’ which is emotive Melodic House that masterfully blends classic Trance influences with modern, transcendent soundscapes, ‘Animal Picnic, 19:26 – XX (Original Mix)’ a dark, driving Melodic Techno weapon built around an aggressive, rolling bass groove and sharp, metallic synthesizer arpeggios that constantly modulate, ‘HANA – Solidground (Extended Mix)’ which unlike her warmer, purely Melodic tracks, this production centres on an insistent, heavy synth bassline, a more industrial club aesthetic whilst the showstopper in their set was ‘Madonna – Ray of Light (Dosem Remix)’, a high-energy club rework that bridges the gap between William Orbit’s iconic 1998 electronic pop production and Dosem’s modern, 90s-influenced progressive Techno style.
What I also appreciated about the Anjunadeep crowd is that it attracts people of every age, but also particularly an older, more mature crowd who are passionate about the Anjuna imprint. This is due to nearly two decades of Anjunabeats developing and growing a loyal fanbase through fans discovering the Anjuna brand of Trance and Progressive House in the early years, and then transitioning from this sound to Anjunadeep’s cerebral, Melodic Deep House vibes too.
Overall, I would rate my Anjunadeep Open Air via Labyrinth Events as a top day out based on the ease of access in/out of the venue, the venue itself is a historical landmark, and the sound system, stage design and the lazers and smoke create such a unique vibe for a venue, whilst the upgrade to VIP also offers better views from afar, you see the historial artwork in the buildings, and have quicker access to the bars and toilets, and lets not forget the main reason we are the – the music, the lineup really showcased all sides of Dance Music with Deep, Progressive, Melodic and Peak-Time vibes all complimenting each other and taking attendees on a musical journey, kudos Labyrinth Events, kudos Anjunadeep!
