Leftfield finish Electric Picnic's Saturday night off in style
Electric Picnic 2010 review
Thursday 9th September 2010
Chicago based nine piece Hypnotic Brass Ensemble play a mid afternoon set on the main stage, thankfully the sound issues have been rectified on the main stage overnight and they play a superb set which gently eases us into the Saturday's festivities, with a mix of jazz, funk and soul and with various members on MC duties they play an energy packed set to an appreciative crowd, 'Ballacki Bone', 'Party Started' and 'War' go down especially well on this occasion. Their stage banter is warmly received as they dedicate war to "the few who are controlling the world and messing it up" before getting the crowd to raise their peace fingers in the air.
Radiohead's Philip Selway plays the Cosby stage, currently touring his first solo album 'Familial', just like on the album itself, the tracks never realise their full potential, there isn't anything stand out on any of the tracks and they just seem to amalgamate into one long dull track, I try to stick it out to the very end of the set, but I've reached the end of my tether unfortunately and head over to the Bacardi Bar to hear The Revenge.
The Revenge is just one of the many alter egos of Scotsman Graeme Clark. He weaves his way through a variety of styles in the late afternoon, disco and deep house intertwine always with the objective of having the hoards of people at the Bacardi B Bar moving their feet. Sunshine, Mojitos and classics such as Parliament's 'Give up the Funk' set us up nicely as we move into the evening.
I decide to keep it on a dance tip and head to see Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip in the Little Big Tent, the most consistently packed tent of the whole weekend and it's no different for this electronically heavy hip hop duo. As always with Scroobius Pip his preaching can become a bit tiresome, as it does here with 'Stake a Claim' which is a pretty bland piece of electronic music, fronted by Pip's rhetoric. It's only a minor gripe on an otherwise fantastic set as 'Letter's From God' and 'The Beat That My Heart Skipped' in particular sends the crowd into a frenzy.
Our next stop is The Antlers, at the Cosby stage, they released arguably the finest record in 2009 'Hospice' which tells the story of an emotionally abusive relationship, it's one of the most heartfelt and sombre records I've ever heard and one would think it would be very difficult to translate those songs to a live setting, they add touches to the songs live and it works remarkably well. 'Sylvia' is a building colossus which turns into a spectacular wall of noise, 'Bear' retains the delicate beauty it has on record and one cannot help but be genuinely overcome by how majestic it is live, hairs standing on the back of neck moment. 'Two' is more of the same and although it's a little emotionally draining, they prove to be one of the acts of the weekend.
We definitely need something to lift the spirits at this point, so we head over to The Electric Arena to catch Hot Chip, I must admit I've never been a huge fan of them, but it proves to be a spectacular set, one of those moments when everything onstage and in the crowd clicks together in unison, front man Joe Goddard didn't travel over for the gig due to personal reasons, in his place was his face on a big screen singing along, as bizarre as this was it didn't even detract from the gig, co front man Alexis Taylor did a more than adequate job on his own, 'Over and Over', 'Ready for The Floor' and 'I Feel Better' were just some of the many tracks to leave the Electric Arena bouncing.
We decide to stick around the Electric Arena as next up is LCD Soundsystem, as it was for Hot Chip the arena is packed to capacity and the arena doesn't stop bouncing for the majority of LCD's set, they come onto 10cc's 'I'm Not In Love' before launching into a blistering set 'Get Innocuous' into 'Daft Punk Is Playing At My House' sets the tone for the rest of the set, 'Us vs. Them' and 'Tribulations' have us practically delirious and even the not quite so good tracks like 'Drunk Girls' go down a storm live. They go off stage leaving the crowd baying for more; they come back and duly deliver with three of my personal favourites 'Someone Great', 'Losing My Edge' and 'New York I Love You..' There is a real possibility that we might not see LCD Soundsystem much longer as James Murphy decides to concentrate on other projects, if not then this was a fitting way for them to bow out to their Irish fans.
Leftfield finish the Saturday night off in style on the main stage, an electronic act I've waited for ten years to see and they prove to be worth the wait. Tracks like 'Afro Left', 'Black Flute', 'Space Shanty' and 'Afrika Shox' have a huge crowd throwing all manner of shapes and punching the air in unison, the spirit of the rave is alive and well here. Another aspect to Leftfield set is the stunning visuals they have throughout from epileptic inducing strobes to wildlife visuals, which serve to enhance the experience. 'Dusted', 'Chant of a Poor Man' and 'Melt' serve their purpose as the more chilled side to Leftfield and sound fantastic on the main stage sound system which by this stage is crystal clear.
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