Friday at Alchemy promises much for the rest of the weekend

First impressions on arriving at this charming little festival's new site at Scholey Park near Conningsby in Lincolnshire were very good. Security and traffic control at the gate was very well organised and helpful and we soon found our way to a camping spot right next to the Kaplick Solar Stage and got set up for the weekend ahead. Just looking around at this stage it was clear that the organisers had taken on board some of the points made last year as to possible improvements and that the new site had a far better feel to it with its gorgeous wooded areas and the riverside running alongside.

I had an early chance to check out the musical offerings as The Defekters took to the Kaplick stage as I was putting my tent up, playing a brand of reggae and ska with a political edge. This was a fine way to begin my festival experience and was swiftly followed by Skiprat energetic punk as discovered at the warm up weekender earlier in the year.

The break in the music gave me an opportunity to wander the site and realise that the wide open spaces of last year had gone making the arena feel far better lit and easier to negotiate in the dark than it had been with a constantly burning fire circle as its focal centre point. At the opposite end of the site to the Kaplick I discovered the dance tent known this year as the Mushroom stage and the delights of Zetan Spore. The Didgeridoo element makes Zetan Spore's take on Psy particularly interesting and the assembled crowd certainly loved them.

Next up, on the Liberty stage which was also home to the bar were New Groove Formation who got the whole tent up and dancing to their ska and beats fusion and deserve to become a festival circuit staple on this showing and their subsequent set on the main stage on Saturday night. 'Turkish Delight' was a particular highlight of the set. The bar set up within this tent was very reasonably priced which is clearly a good thing, however the lack of real ale seemed to be a disappointment to many in attendance.

So, it was left to Imperial Leisure to close the Philosophers Stone (Main) stage and they put in a superb set filled with energy and a fitting end to the day musically. Beyond this I took a last wander round the site as a whole taking in the Psychedelic Breakfast tent for a chilled dance and a cup of tea before settling down round the fire and relaxing with friends to the sound of drumming and the occasional bit of strumming from assorted musicians assembled there. All in all an opening day that promised much for the rest of the weekend.

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