Of all the festivals we’ve attended over the past few years, Soundwave is far and away one of our favourites. It’s a meeting of minds between promoters from the north and south of the UK, cut from the same cloth as Outlook and Dimensions but in truth nothing like either one. It’s soundsystem culture, it’s jazz, it’s dub, it’s funk, it’s everything that’s beautiful about contemporary music, distilled and poured over a stunning Croatian coastal resort for 2,000 hungry guests to absorb.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and Soundwave have announced that the 2018 festival, which will be the tenth anniversary, will also be the last. According to one of the festival’s founders, Noah Ball, “Finishing on our tenth year will bring everything together into one last adventure and we intend to make it a fitting climax for the festival and everyone who has everbeen a part of it, from the music lovers around the world who come each year, the artists whoare like our friends and all of the crew involved. It’s going to be a very special few days next summer as we say goodbye to Soundwave, and we are putting together a line-up representative of the festival’s unique sound. It’s certainly going to be emotional – we hope to see lots of old faces and new joining us for this final edition!”
It’s upsetting, but it brings the promise of the biggest, best Soundwave Festival to date, and with it, the most impressive line-up. When I spoke to him at the festival last year, Noah suggested that the tenth lineup would act as a sort of ‘greatest hits’, bring back seminal acts from the festival’s history, as well as some exciting new additions.
Well, we don’t have to wonder anymore, the first wave of acts has been announced, and it’s a doozy. Submotion Orchestra, Jordan Rakei, DJ Marky, Sons of Kemet, Riot Jazz, Channel One Soundsystem and all of the mainstay Soundwave DJs (Rich Reason, Johnny Dub, Gilla etc) will be in attendance. Additionally, club promoters from all across the UK will be bearing down on Tisno, including Peckham’s own South London Soul Train and Manchester’s Hoya:Hoya. That’s just a fraction of the full scope though, and you can bet that whatever’s left to come will be mind-blowing.
It’s a shame to see any festival go, but Noah Ball, Rob Waller, Dan Flynn and the other Soundwave organisers are seasoned vets, and they not only know how to keep a festival from falling apart, they know when to put one to bed. Will Soundwave pave the way for a new event? Who knows, for the time being, all we can do is mark off the last weekend in July, bookmark a page on Skyscanner and start researching apartments in Tisno. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this one.
The last Soundwave will in the Garden Resort in Tisno, Croatia from the 26th to the 30th of July 2018. Grab your tickets here while you still can.
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