Since news broke last week of the demise of Oxford’s Truck festival, the question on many people’s lips has been which British music festival will be next to fall. In such an oversaturated marketplace it was inevitable that there were going to be casualties and, with other festivals consistently failing to sell out, Truck is unlikely to be the last. With a line-up sporting such variety and consistent quality, it may come as something of a surprise that London’s one day Field Day festival was one of those forced to be selling tickets on the door this year. However, over the last five years Field Day has gained a reputation as one of Britain’s most exciting festivals - something that Truck certainly wasn’t - and with a bit of luck it should be with us for a while yet.
Arriving at Field Day’s site in Victoria Park slightly later than expected, we managed to catch the closing song of London based post-punkers S.C.U.M. who, judging by the reception from the packed crowd in the Shacklewell Arms/Lock Tavern stage, had given an impressive early performance. Moving to the main stage, we watched the tail-end of a competent showing from Willy Mason and, as the first worrying drops of rain began to fall, headed back for a glimpse of Brooklynites CREEP. Poor sound and a completely disinterested performance marred the duo’s set and it seemed the majority of the audience shared in my disappointment, prompting the first of countless “fucking hipsters” comments.
After a fragmented start we settled in at the main stage to watch our first full set of the day, from José González’s Junip. Whilst hardly a groundbreaking performance, the band delivered what was at least a supremely enjoyable collection of folksy numbers, including highlights 'Rope & Summit' and 'Always' from their debut album, and Gonzalez’s vocals were as silky as ever. From one acoustic singer-songwriter to another as we made our way to see Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon, Red House Painters) on the unfortunately placed Village Mentality stage. Situated next door to the Do You Come Here Often? stage, Mark complained it was like “trying to have sex with someone whilst they’re on the phone”, such was the volume of the dance music infiltrating the intimate atmosphere of his show. Despite the noise issues, Kozelek did plough on admirably to give an impressive performance but by the end all I could think was how much better it would be to see him play in a smaller, quieter environment.
A brief peek at the jazz explorations of Sun Ra Arkestra was sufficient to confirm that the group was not going to be my cup of tea and we moved on just in time to stake our claim to a good spot for Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti as the marquee rapidly filled to the point of overflowing. Stripped of the studio trickery that leaves his recordings drowned in a syrupy haze, Ariel Pink’s performance proved that Haunted Graffiti are actually a pretty great live band, and his songs were given a completely new lease of life in the live setting.
Often lumped in alongside Ariel Pink into the very loose genre of hypnogogic pop, Oneohtrix Point Never delivered what was, for me, the highlight of the day. Expecting a routine reading of his recent, synth-oriented recordings under the moniker, I couldn’t have been more surprised as Daniel Lopatin took to the stage without a keyboard in sight. Instead, Lopatin fused all manner of obscure samples (some musical, some not), along with the occasional sample of his own music, into a vast collage of sound. Meandering its way through multiple sections with gradual shifts in mood and density, the set was a continuous piece as technically impressive as it was absorbing. Here’s hoping this points to the future for the Oneohtrix Point Never project.
So, on to what was probably my most anticipated set of the festival. A six-piece hailing from The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Konono No. 1, gave an exhilarating performance of tradi-modern dance music complete with clattering percussion, group singing and more thumb piano solos than you could shake an over-priced programme at. The group wasted no time in igniting a party and soon the entire audience was caught up in a swirl of dancing, singing and whistleblowing; a truly unpretentious celebration of sound, unequalled throughout the rest of the day.
After a brief respite, we watched the hooded figure of Actress perform 'Bubble Butts And Equations' from his latest LP, but, as is so often the case with this kind of electronic music, it seemed there was little to be gained from hearing his music live rather on record. Instead, we made our way again to the pokey Shacklewell Arms/Lock Tavern stage in time to see the “ambitionless office disco” (in the band’s own words), Trophy Wife. With insistent disco beats and slinky basslines at every turn, Trophy Wife gave one of the most enjoyable performances of the day despite most of the material performed being as yet unreleased.
Having been left distinctly underwhelmed by his self-titled album of February this year, I was pleasantly surprised by James Blake’s performance on the Laneway Festival stage. My main gripe with that record was that Blake had seemed to abandon the icy tension of UK dance music that he had mined so fruitfully on previous works, in favour of the warmer climes of Bon Iver et al. However, stripping down some of his more aimless songs into streamlined, propulsive arrangements, Blake restored the fine balance between the human and electronic aspects of his music and reminded me of why he is still such an exciting artist.
Back at the main stage, we managed to catch one song from The Coral, luckily enough the only one I think I recognise, before heading back to the Shaklewell Arms/Lock Tavern stage to see out the evening with performances from Factory Floor and Chad Valley. By now the beer was in full flow and a couple of knocks were to be had as the crowd bounced around the crammed marquee, entranced by Factory Floor’s suitably visceral (and really fucking loud) onslaught of industrial post-punk. Chad Valley served as a fitting end to what had been an exhausting but fantastically enjoyable day of music. Playing a mix of songs from his recent EP, Equatorial Ultravox, and earlier releases, Chad Valley’s performance was full of dreamy, washed out synths and heady vocals. A perfect way to usher in the end of the party and the beginning of the come down.