Field Day Festival Diary - Saturday

Embracing the hippest music of all colours cracking off in the coolest music scenes today, Field Day remained on top form this year with an extra day added to extend the indie fun in the sun.

And, oh, it was so bloody sunny. The poor unfortunates who only had wellies to last them the weekend were soon stumbling around in mini foot saunas and dubbing them ‘hell boots’. The rest of the festival seemed to be enjoying the rays however, and Warpaint on the main stage certainly soaked up the solar energy into their set. They smilingly swung through classic ‘Undertow’ into hits from the new album and even a Bowie cover, grinning at some private joke between them throughout the set.

A quick jog over to the Shacklewell Arms tent to catch the last few songs of Courtney Barnett proved why she’s the hot tip on everyone’s lips at the minute. Sounding supremely confident onstage, she even treated the crowd to a few new songs. These new contenders sounded heavier than A Sea of Split Peas yet they keep all the punk-minded playfulness that makes that EP so compelling.

Field Day did have some problems with sound, however. While Simian Mobile Disco’s minimal electro was pitched absolutely bang on in the Crack Magazine stage, Jamie XX was done a complete disservice with a far too quiet and shallow sound over at the Bugged Out! tent. There have been ringtones on the quiet carriage of a train that have made more of an impact than the tinny sound that was dealt out from the deceivingly large speakers.

Back on track, Metronomy were predictably fantastic in a gleeful set made particularly special by Mount’s forever rubbish onstage banter. A marvellously energetic mix of hits old and new made a sunny evening shine even brighter. Not for long however- back to the Shacklewell Arms stage we go for a dose of a demonically-minded Fat White Family. A bad attitude from the crowd even before the band got onstage forecast what was to come: a moshpit that wouldn’t have looked out of place at the apocalypse. It’s interesting that Fat White Family are such a talked about, polarising band when their music doesn’t seem to break any new ground to speak of. Everyone in the place seemed to be having a banger however, and any band that can do THAT to a crowd has to be worth the lip service.

So winners and losers on Saturday, and thanks to that extra day it’s still all to play for on Sunday. Our money’s on the biggest crowd at the burrito van again.

Get swept away with a bit of Warpaint right here: