Damian Gelle and Anton Marmot met in London in the 1990s through a shared love of music and enjoying the hedonistic beauty the capital has to offer. They decided to go into business dabbling in event promotion and all things electronic until 2004 when they had their "eureka" moment. What London needed was an electronic music festival in the heart of the city and the location chosen was right on our doorstep: Clapham Common. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Over the next ten years SW4 became London's "biggest electronic festival" and continues to this day to host 70,000 people over 2 days with the crème de la crème of the electronic world providing the soundtrack. Fast forward to 2014 and leaving the old world, Mary Poppins and bad weather behind: the couple have decided to return to their homeland of Australia, and the passion for festivals has proved difficult for both of them to shake. Thus Electric Gardens was born. The large-scale, multi-stage event Down Under in 2016 took place in the lush surroundings of a subtropical botanical garden in the heart of Sydney – Centennial Park on lands that were traditionally in the custodianship of the Gadigal Clan. After strolling past a variety of wildlife that make their home in Centennial Park, including pelicans, black swans, mallards and white ducks, purple marshes and common moorhens, you were greeted by another species : The common drug-sniffing dog and their uniformed Herrchen. Well maintained beer gardens and large chill out areas where people could eat, sit and relax whilst still being able to carry on with the proceedings on the stages was a nice touch and something rarely found and executed in this way at other festivals. Rows of food trucks offered dishes ranging from ice cream to Mexican food to organic Asian food to pizza and burger staples. It was great to see that Electric Gardens was offering healthier, more nutrient-dense options and that with Sea Shepherd Australia, Electric Gardens had found a charitable partner worthy of support. Among the headliners was Bedrock Records founder John Digweed, who covered the Trainspotting soundtrack, playing a set of upbeat progressive house and trance. His punchy character and earthy rhythms also dominated one of the aftershow parties. 50% Grammy Award winning duo Deep Dish in the form of Iranian DJ Dubfire followed with a set of jet black shiny chrome techno, which was a nice change. of pace and mood – starting with technology and evolving into a brooding, heavy yet minimal techno extravaganza. Finally, Norman Cook in his EDM alter ego Fatboy Slim. The former Housemartins smiley enthusiast had the masses gathering in front of the main stage eager for a good shot and the atmosphere immediately escalated. It was what the day was building towards and the anticipation was palpable. Not unlike a dance music conductor with a Hawaiian shirt fetish, he proved himself to be an MC in his purest form, signaling to the crowd the meter and breaks of the big, tumbling beats. Fatboy Slim juggled his signature big beat with more contemporary fare, adding crowd pleaser for good measure. In unison with the visual aesthetic and oversized light sticks deployed, his set created a pulsating mix of sound and spectacle. Teasers and allusions to his hits peppered with an endless stream of classics from all genres formed the basis of his set, including a tribute to the White Duke.