As our white van meandered up into the hills of Cumbria heading toward the most enchanted of all the realms, we knew Kiddstock England was going to be extra special. The sun was beaming and we could feel the magic of Kiddstock prickling the air as we drove through County Durham, getting ever closer to The Mystic Peaks of Thimbleberry Farm. The vibe was of organised chaos tinged with eccentricity on site on Friday night, crew and production staff bustling about putting the final touches to the five arenas for the following day. Tents were erected, decor was hung, oversized dragonflies mounted, equipment checked and everyone involved could feel the anticipation for the next day's events steadily building. The sun sparkled even brighter the next morning as over 2000 wellie-wearing ravers cascaded through the gates of Thimbleberry from lands near and far. Greeted by a giant shimmering dragonfly, clubbers old and young, from far and wide were all bewitched with Kiddstock fever.
The party started good and early kicking off at 11am in the main Kiddfectious arena with an opening set from Neal Thomas, followed by a storming tech-inspired set from the lovely Amber D. The pace was picked up considerably by Phil York and Dark by Design then Dozer quite literally shook Ground Zero to its core with a powerful hardstyle onslaught. One of the most indisputed sets of the event followed Dozer with a distinct change in vibe - a journey back to the roots of rave, guided by the legendary Ratpack. Tantalising both old-skool and new-skool ravers alike, dance history's first ever DJ/MC duo really got the party started. While Lipmaster Mark dropped classics such as 'On a Ragga Tip' alongside old skool mash ups of Calvin Harris and Kings of Leon, MC Evenson Allen got every loved-up face in the whole arena singing and chanting to create a party
atmosphere like no other.
Meanwhile, the days festivities were well on track in the Clinic Barn courtesy of All Stars boys the Technicians and the North Wales Clinic boys. The open air mini arena hosted by Mayhem was quite literally bouncing from 11am, filling the southern side of the previously placid hillside full of the nastiest and naughtiest hard beats.Kiddstock England endevoured to showcase a slightly different spin on music policy for 2009, with the addition of the quirky Kissdafunk vs Skiddle House Party tent, which was almost like being in your nan's front room albeit for the grass underfoot and the presence of Rob Tissera and friends DJing above the mantlepiece! Kicking out funky and deep house grooves, the House Party did exactly what it said on the tin.
With Em Extreme demonstrating her softer side opening the proceedings, warming up the fireplace for the host himself Alex Kidd and his Essential Mix set, the vibe was distinctly blissed out in the House Party tent. Leeds legend Mister Tissera then graced the decks serving up a healthy portion of the true Kissdafunk sound to the 'front room' full of hedonists.There was no mistaking the Bitch v Mode tent..the bass from the uber cool electro sounds reverberated accross the entire valley from a sound system that quite literally pushed you back out into the sunshine! Any unsuspecting passers-by were entranced by the beats within, causing a radius around the tent filled full of animated dancing, happy faces and wonderful wierdness. 
Back in the main arena, Kiddstock favourites Kutski, A*S*Y*S and Mark E.G had no hesitation in ripping the roof off, taking us through an adventure in twisted hard dance and hardstyle to devour the senses. These fellas know how to work the Kiddstock crowd and following a driving hard techno and schranz set from Mark E.G, the crowd could have been forgiven going for a lie down to recover! There's no rest for the Kiddstock wicked though, and it was time for a special announcement from The Kidd. Literally 12 hours before the gates to the Mystic Peaks were opened, we received notification from Jam, Daniele Mondello's management that due to illness Daniele would not be well enough to fly over and perform. This of course presented a huge decision to be faced with at such a critical point, literally hours before we were due to kick off with our biggest gig of the year. Who could we possibly book and get to site in time to replace such an artist as Daniele Mondello? With some quick thinking, snappy decision making and a stroke of luck we managed to find a replacement in the form of Q-Dance meastro - Pavo. So now over to the boss in the main arena to break the news and introduce our suprise guest! Pavo of course didn't disappoint and brought with him from Holland a generous slice of the Q-Dance sound to our little hillside rave. With an orange moon replacing the sun in the sky, the Kiddstock sparkle certainly didn't go anywhere. As the Organ Donors took over the healm in the main arena, the striking green lasers kissed the fingertips of every reveller in there
Next up, the King of Kiddstock takes to the stage. Opening with his now infamous crash re-edit of La Roux's 'In For The Kill', Alex conjures trick after trick whipping the arena into one mass stomping frenzy.
As the other arenas were drawing to a close, everyone still left partying made sure they didn't miss out on what has now become somewhat of a Kiddstock phenomenon - Alex Kidd playing back to back with the Organ Donors. After last year's imprompru, totally unrehearsed and massively memorable '08 b2b set which closed the event, it could only ever have been these three nutters to close Kiddstock England '09. With their slightly crazed yet undoubtably genious talents behind the decks, they finished off the proceedings with true Kiddstock party spirit. A highlight for many was the Donor's scratch and sampling show over 70's classic Chic 'Good Times'. Indeed they were.
© 2009 Kiddfectious