Wireless Festival 2012
Friday 6th to Sunday 8th July 2012Hyde Park, London, W2 2UH, England MAP
£49.50 for Friday, both Saturday, and Sunday sold out
Daily capacity: 30,000
As soon as their set was finished all I could hear was bass and cheering, and instantly I knew that this had to be Flux Pavilion creating a scene. I rushed over to the Pepsi Max tent to be welcomed by a sea of people, blinding lights, and an amazing dubstep remix of the instantly recognisable 'Gold Dust'. His whole set followed in the same vein, remixes of songs that everyone knows with those huge beats that Flux is so well renowned for, dropping at the end of each track and introducing the next with a force that was the musical equivalent of being knocked off your feet. Coupled with an incredible lightshow that matched the whole set beat for beat, the tent filled with an atmosphere that was almost palpable, a must see for all the dubstep aficionados out there.
Rizzle Kicks were another highlight on the main stage that day, Bouncy, fun, and energetic are the least that can be said about seeing these guys perform live. Tracks such as 'Mama Do The Hump' and 'Down With The Trumpets', accompanied by, of course, a multitude of massive sounding trumpets, were always set to be sure crowd pleasers. They had everybody skanking like an early 90's Ska concert, but they really pulled the hat out of the bag with a dubstep remix of the James Bond theme, and a Rock version of the White Stripes anthem 'Seven Nation Army'. A fantastic and most importantly fun set from the Brit School duo.
Finally we had Rihanna, and even though once again, although I wouldn't call myself a fan, she put on a genuinely enjoyable set. Walking out onto an Egyptian themed stage with an array of excellent backing dancers the crowd was already in hysterics before she even started singing. Starting off her set with the instantly recognisable 'Only Girl In The World' accompanied by huge tribal drum beats only aided to boost the atmosphere and had everyone in the crowd singing along. By the time 'Umbrella' came around it was a treat to see that a few thousand people had come prepared and brought their own Umbrellas to put up during the track, just concreting how enjoyable the whole set was. Ending with 'We Found Love', a fireworks display, and a barrage of confetti and giant Rihanna Balloons being fired far into the crowd; the weekend ended in epic fashion, perfectly rounding off a great weekend of music.
review by: Lawrence Wheeler
photos by: Lawrence Wheeler
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