MINISTRY OF SOUND CLASSICAL - LIVE REVIEW

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Ministry of Sound Classical feat. Paul 
Oakenfold + Judge Jules + Danny Rampling live @ the Wyldes, Bude - 16/06/2023

For the second year in a row, the fine people behind the Wyldes managed to coax some of the world's all time greatest DJ talent into a field in Bude along with an Orchestra and burning car. It should never be underestimated just how impressive and incredible that is. Our evening got underway with a sample of Danny Rampling soundtracking our entry to the festival along the illuminated walkway. The beats and bass throbbed through the trees and in to our bones and those that arrived early were already well into their groove for the evening. With minimal fanfare, Rampling gave way to Paul Oakenfold and the vibe kicked up a few notches as the crowd warmed to his peerless remixes of bangers by the likes of the Killers, the Rolling Stones and Madonna. Along with the cartoon strip visuals on the screens and the darkening skies bringing sunset to the party, Oakenfold's set showed he has been the DJ of choice to open for mega stars the world over. 

A lesson in slick preparedness next as an entire orchestra was seated and ready to begin as Oakenfold left the crowd in raptures. A few voxpops on the big screen from the great and the good of the Balearic scene explaining to anyone under 30 just why we were all there (spoiler alert, it wasn't for the beer) and then we were ready for Ministry of Sound Classical to begin. With a sense of the dramatic, we were swept away on a musical odyssey taking in the likes of Fatboy Slim's 'Right Here, Right Now', Robert Miles' 'Children', 'Sunchyme' by Dario G, and Daft Punk's 'One More Time'

There was an emotional, slowed down version of 'You're Not Alone' by Olive that was dedicated to the hardworking staff of the NHS, complete with on-screen NHS choir, which had everyone swaying in unison, flashlights waving in the air and lumps firmly in throats remembering the recent past when we couldn't gather like this en masse. 

The set was, of course, brought to a perfect climax with an instrumental version of the Faithless anthem 'Insomnia' with the recent passing of Maxi Jazz making it all the more poignant and fittingly left open for the crowd to chant back those immortal words; "I can't get no sleep". I would urge anyone of any age to go to one of these orchestral shows because the power of the orchestra mixed with the brilliance of these genre defining tracks makes for a truly euphoric experience and no drug on this planet does that better than experiencing music in a physical place with other people experiencing the same thing. 

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