Review - Day 1

The turnout for the day one of the festival is noticeably weak and it is bereft of atmosphere right up until headliners New Order. The Dresden Dolls open up the main stage proceedings, playing to barely two hundred people. Try as they might, not even a cover of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs is enough to stir up the lethargic crowd. Before their set is over the heavens open, meaning Boy Kill Boy get an unexpectedly large audience over in the Xfm tent. Although nothing to rival the floods washing away tents at Worthy Farm, the constant rain is enough to extinguish any last embers of hope for the afternoon and it’s a shame to see The Psychedelic Furs treated with such waterlogged apathy. Not even the memory of Molly Ringwald in legwarmers, summoned as the band crack through 80’s staple ‘Pretty In Pink’, is enough to get the party started.

‘Take the money and run’ seems to be the unspoken ethos for Graham Coxon’s curiously subdued main stage performance. ‘Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery’ and ‘Spectacular’ generate minimal head nodding, yet it’s not until finale ‘Freakin’ Out’ that the crowds decide they may as well try and enjoy themselves.

Next up, Sam Endicott, The Bravery’s leering lead singer, looks like Morrissey’s cool younger brother. Yet unlike the bequiffed Mancunian, these NY synth-punks are anything but miserable. Despite almost every song sounding like ‘Blue Monday’, the sheer energy and perfect pop synthesis of their performance finally shows the crowd that there is some fun to be had in this almost empty, rain-soaked field.

With our spirits renewed, it’s over to the Xfm stage to see if Fischerspooner can in anyway overcome the humiliation of their money-burning career to date. The eccentric live-show, complete with multiple costume changes and flailing dance theatrics hints to greater things, yet for all the spectacle of their performance and the realisation of a couple of overlooked gems in the set list (‘Emerge’ still sends crowds into frenzy), it’s impossible not to feel that they’ve missed their chance and this is merely too little too late.

Meanwhile, back on the main stage, Moby is confused. He can’t work out whether he’s a transcendent trip-hop entity or a plodding rock-riff monster and the juxtaposition between the two styles is at once alienating and ever so slightly dull. But seeing as dull confusion seems to be the order of the day, this could be interpreted as a good thing.

Thankfully, the organisers did make the one smart move of having the smaller stage headliners finish up before those on the main stage, meaning the sublime musical meanderings of The Dears could be experienced by as large a crowd as possible. Their majestic set crowned the moment at which the rain, unfinished stages, corporate harassment and generally weak line-up all sank into insignificance, as the quality and passion of the music shone through to warm even the dampest of hearts.

By early evening every crusty Joy Division fan in Greater London has sniffed out New Order and the crowd suddenly swells to a density more in tune with those found at proper festivals. For all the troubles of the day, the show ends on a high as the Factory stalwarts play a verified greatest hits set, incorporating every song a New Order or Joy Division fan would ever want to hear. ‘True Faith’, ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ and ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ are received with euphoric awe, confirming their legend status and by the end of the night spirits are running high.

As we’re in central London there is no camping option, as it’s assumed everyone will be able to catch the tube home. Despite a couple of fantastic sets, judging by the first day alone it seemed there was far too little to carry this festival to any real level of success. Returning to the haven of a fully made bed afforded the opportunity to consider three more days of this half-hearted corporate nightmare. It seemed impossible.

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