Field Day opens in a London heatwave

Field Day 2015

Saturday 6th to Sunday 7th June 2015
Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets, Greater London, E9 7BT, England MAP
Sunday only available £38.50

Daily capacity: 25,000

Field Day couldn't have landed at a better time, in the midst of a London heatwave it's the perfect weekend for the two day spectacular. The Saturday has now become a more electronic orientated affair and we indulge in it from the get go.

Daniel Avery, and Andrew Weatherall play back 2 back in the Bugged Out! tent and it's very much like seeing the master and his apprentice as the seasoned veteran and (relatively) new kid on the block treat us to a mixture of bass filled acid house, Detroit techno, big beat and all other manner of funk driven dancefloor concoctions that just hits the sweet spot and starts the day off on just the right note.

Clark brings his live show to Field Day and provides a shift away from the more dancefloor orientated electronica he is sandwiched between. The dystopian like techno still packs a punch whilst veering down many weird and wonderful tangents yet still keeping the attention of the mass of ravers in attendance. The live show even has his own dancers complete with stockings on head look providing a weird and possibly unnecessary component to his live show.

5PM is a strange time to have Ben Klock, and Marcel Dettmann play back 2 back. This is the kind of music suited for a darkly lit nightclub at 4am in the morning. The two mastodons of techno bring an electric vibe to the Bugged Out! tent packed out with elated ravers many of whom dance like they are squeezing out every last morsel of energy like some kind of techno underlings aiming to please their two techno deities. It's pretty much a techno onslaught with one banger quickly followed up by another one and with those two guys that's exactly what we want.

tUne-yArDs: Field Day 2015

We decide it wise to take a break from the rave and seek out tUne-yArDs at the Crack stage. However, I was probably unaware of just how dance-y Merrill Garbus' show can be. Rich in African rhythms she and her band of helpers use everything from drum loops to ukulele to create a fervent atmosphere that captivates the entire tent.

Todd Terje brings his live show to Field Day on the main stage and whilst most live electronic acts is essentially someone on a laptop noodling away this has more pomp to it and is a spectacle in itself. Terje's music is great with loads of earworm disco demanding that you dance. The show had Terje with a cavalcade of keyboards and dancers helping to make the gig an immersive experience. Unfortunately it was slightly tainted by the sketchy sound that seems to have riddled the main stage on the Saturday.

Run the Jewels headline the Resident Advisor tent coming out with a cover of Queen's 'We are the Champions' and trawling through a set largely made up of their critically acclaimed second album. Killer Mike and EL-P's ability to ramp the atmosphere up is something to be admired and I've seen it in full effect before. It saves a set that is riddled with poor sound issues and taints what had the potential to be one of the weekend's most memorable gigs.

Caribou's live show is widely lauded and has been the stand out performer of many live shows all across the world so it's with a great sense of excitement to see him at Field Day as Saturday's headline act. Disappointedly the sound on the main stage is even worse than it was for Run the Jewels. In the many festivals I've attended throughout the years I can't remember the sound being so bad for a headline act. It's barely audible in large parts of the crowd even when you are fairly near the front. Caribou runs through a set made up of tracks from his last two albums - Swim and Our Love - the gig experience isn't a slight on him. It could very well be noise regulations in effect from the local council and if that where the case it may be beneficial to shift the festival to a new sight or end the festival a little earlier as Caribou was a totally redundant experience for many of the crowd.

review by: Paul Mullin

photos by: Federica Pacifico