Carving out a solid reputation as one of the UK and Ireland’s most exciting and dependable acts, DJ and Producer Mark Blair has gone from strength to strength in recent years. With a consistent stream of club ready hits and international parties building him a strong following and promising much more to come. Building up a prolific string of defining releases such as ‘I Miss the Old Kanye’, ‘Biggie was a Jazz Fan’, ‘This is Acid man’, Mark has continually shown himself as a gifted producer with a finger firmly on the pulse of dance music. Coining his own signature style of bombastic house, indebted to the golden era and refitted with modern production techniques, the artist has created his own brand, one that’s in high demand.
Across June 3rd and 4th, 2022, the AVA Festival invites international icons from the live and electronic worlds to the heart of Belfast to play alongside the grassroots Southern and Northern Irish talent that inspired the event from day one. Today Mark Blair selects 10 bangers ahead of the festival.
1. Andrea – Machine
“This is probably one of the more special festival tracks for me. This was played by Phil Kieran during the first Belfast boiler room at AVA and it was pure euphoria. You can actually see me in the boiler room video on somebody’s shoulders losing my mind.”
2. Janice – Skip Mahoney – Northern Soul
“This was played as one of the last tracks at Dekmantel Festival 2017 by Hunee & Antal. I was hugging my friends & the strangers around me. It’s not a track I would normally listen to, but in the context of the festival, it was a very memorable moment.”
3. Floorplan a.k.a. Robert Hood – Never Grow Old (Re-Plant) – M-PLANT
“I could make a festival tracks list without including this one. I saw Floorplan play live at AVA Festival in 2018 and he certainly lives up to the hype that he rightly receives.”
4. Joy Orbison – Hyph Mngo
“A track that has received “meme” like status, just from the fact that so many people love it. This was released 12 years ago and still gets played regularly by most DJ’s at festivals all over the world. Timeless.”
5. VTSS – Fruition
“Bringing it back to the heavier stuff, this track was rampant during 2019 at a large majority of festivals and always got a crazy reaction during peak times. I remember hearing it for the first at one of the smaller stages at AVA Festival in 2018 and it always stuck with me.”
6. XTC (MMM Remix)
“Man oh Man. This was released in 2017 but only started hitting the peak time festival slots a few years ago. One of the most ridiculous remixes I’ve heard. I still play it in my most my sets today and it still gets a massive reaction.”
7. Special Request – Make It Real
“This one flew a bit underground but I always thought it be great to play at a large festival. That intro with the MC Ribbz sample would really get the crowd worked up.”
8. I:Cube – Transpiration (HQ Original Mix)
“This track was released 10 years ago, and would not be out of place if it was released again today. A staple of any festival DJ’s set list.”
9. Shygirl – TASTY (Boys Noize Remix)
“This track was only released last year but has already seen a massive influx of plays at recent festivals. I included it in my AVA Festival set last year and the crowd loved it.”
10. Soichi Terada – Do It Again
“If you haven’t seen the video of Soichi Terada performing this track live at Crave Festival in 2018, I’d advise you to go watch it. He’s probably the most wholesome man in the music industry and his track “Do It Again” deserves eternal status.”
AVA Festival Belfast will take place on June 3th and 4th, 2022. Grab your tickets here.
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