5 Acts You Need To Catch At This Year's Eastern Electrics

Eastern Electrics, the late-summer one-day festival held in Hastings, is returning for its third year this year (Aug. 6) and the line-up looks better than ever. 

There's a huge raft of DJs and artists that are worth catching: Seth Troxler, The Martinez Brothers, Eats Everything, Hot Since 82, Richy Ahmed, Skream (who'll be hosting the Skreamizm stage at the Big Top), king of kings Derrick Carter, Artwork (as Grain), Groove Armada (who'll be hosting the Switchyard stage), Waze & Odyssey, Breach, Cassy, wAFF, Detlef, Huxley, Shy FX, Oneman, Mele, Bodhi, NVOY, DJ S.K.T., MJ Cole, Spoony, Artful Dodger and Doorly. Oh, and did we mention Idris Elba will be there too?

With such a dizzying amount of stuff to catch at Eastern Electrics 2016, we thought we'd give you a helping hand by sifting through all of this and put a list together of the five essential acts you simply cannot miss. It goes without saying there's tonnes more besides these five DJs that you need to catch, but miss just one and you run the risk of not getting the most out of this insane line-up.

If you've already got your ticket for Eastern Electrics, you probably already know all about Seth Troxler. A larger-than-life character, Troxler has an astonishing number of strings to his bow: label founder, producer, DJ, philanthropist, A&R... we could go on. Impressive though that is, we're here to tell you why you need to catch him live. If you really need a reason, just know that Seth is one of the most progressive, hardest working and astute selectors around. Not only does he bring the wildest, most exciting house and techno tracks, he's also an engaging live DJ who reads the crowd better than most people can read their own names. 

Currently riding high on the success of his XOYO residency, renowned crate-digger Oneman will be hitting the Black Butter stage alongside Monki, Shy FX, Klose One, Melé and the rest. If you're a regular listener to his Monday night Rinse show or if you caught any of the Solitaire mixtapes you'll know that, well... you can't possibly know what you're in for. UK garage, hip-hop, grime, house and more experimental club sounds are all ripe for a Oneman set. If you want to be completely knocked over, blown away and hammered by leftfield choices and curveballs, Oneman is your guy. 

What can we say about the legend that is Derrick Carter? A central figure in Chicago's house scene, right from the very earliest days, Carter's influence and role in the development of dance music globally can not be understated. Every single house DJ ever will cite this guy as a key influence. And that's to say nothing of the esteemed Classic Music Company, the label that has released records from Tiefschwarz, Matthew Herbert, DJ Sneak, Metro Area and of course Carter and Solomun (with whom Carter founded Classic Recordings in 1995). In short: Derrick Carter is going to make you dance until it hurts, broaden your horizons, and probably inspire you to splash out on some decks. 

Hosting the Skreamizm stage, Skream will be bringing Boddika, Artwork (as Grain), Denis Sulta, Waifs & Strays and the legendary Derrick Carter (see above). The sheer fact that he'll be sharing a stage with DJs on that level tell you he's going to bring his A game. Not that he doesn't usually (no matter the show, he always gives it his all), but we're sure you can expect something pretty special from a DJ as versatile and as well-versed in the history and the craft of house raves as Skream. Just know one thing: Skream's set will be one of the most energetic, hedonistic sets of your life. You will be pushed to your limits.

Joining DJ S.K.T., MJ Cole, Spoony, Artful Dodger and the rest at the Star Of EE stage, Idris Elba needs absolutely no introduction. We've all seen him in Luther, The Wire, Beasts Of No Nation and quite a bit more besides. Musically, Elba's a bit of a wild card. A die-hard UKG fan, he's been spinning the biggest and bast garage bangers from early, but then he also collaborated with Skepta on the "Shutdown" remix. At Eastern Electrics, however, you can be pretty sure he's going to be wheeling out the UKG heaters—but then again, we're almost certain he'll find a way to surprise us yet again. Not to be missed. Under any circumstances!