As I rolled out of bed yesterday morning, complete with a throbbing headache and an innate desire to remain in bed for at least another 24 hours, I peaked out the window to see clouds looming over the city. As with any hangover, not a great way to start the day. Little was I to know, however, that the day to follow would be one of the best starts to a year I’ve ever had. Fuzzy delivered a day of pure, unadulterated fun to help Sydney ring in the New Year, and cure their hangovers in the process. This was Field Day, and it was good.
As I made my way into the Domain, I headed straight to The Woods stage to catch the end of The Jezabels – winners of the Triple J Unearthed competition, and one of the best bands Sydney is fortunate enough to have in its possession. Their melodic, gorgeous tunes were a perfect way to start off the day, as I enjoyed a wood-fire pizza and a beer. A good way to start any day, really.
I caught the mash up experience that is Yacht Club DJs next. As usual, I was wholly impressed and entertained by their set, which they performed to the ever growing festival crowd. They were a step above most of the other DJ sets I caught – in which the DJs in question offered few standout tracks, way too much filler, and next-to-no audience interaction. Sinden, The Proxy, The Aston Shuffle and Fake Blood were particular examples of this. When you’ve got acts like Cut Chemist, The Bloody Beetroots and 2MANYDJs (who I’ll get onto shortly) blowing crowds away around the world, I don’t quite understand how artists such as the aforementioned can get away with such average sets. That’s not to say that they weren’t entertaining (although Fake Blood was a major disappointment), but they were far from unique or interesting.
New York up-and-comers Phenomenal Handclap Band followed Yacht Club DJs, but most of the crowd dispersed, heading off to Cassius and Sebastien Leger. It was a pity they weren’t given too much of a chance – for while they started off with quite ambient material, they ended with an incredible track “I’ve Been Born Again” – easily the highlight of their set. That said, the band definitely didn’t live up to their hype – too much of the material was on the average side of the spectrum, and even recent single “15 to 20”, which briefly saw the crowd swell in size and energy, was underwhelming. But they brought the cowbell, and they brought the cowbell hard. And they get at least 10 points for that.
Back at the intimate Woods stage, Burlesque performer Kira Carden entertained with some hula hoops and a few songs about birds, ahead of the one man machine that is Bob Log III. Despite being a frequent visitor to our shores (he probably lives here by now?), this was my overdue first experience of the helmet wearing dude, and it was pure entertainment. The Woods was truly a “getaway” stage from the rest of the festival, and was well catered with a mix of local and international artists.
Surprise act Technotronic impressed on the main stage, reminding everyone that “OMG! These are the guys who did ‘Pump Up The Jam’!” – and how wonderful it was. Architecture in Helsinki, meanwhile, played their standard fodder, and would have divided the crowd – some loving it, others finding it too laid back to accompany their “buzz”. I found myself somewhere in the middle, and couldn’t help but break out a dance to closer “Heart it Races”.
Despite reportedly working on new material, The Presets kept to a crowd pleasing set of their well known tracks – although they added new life to tracks such as “Kicking and Screaming” “If I Know You” and “Are You The One?” by setting off some live remixes. And it was great to see old favourite “Girl And The Sea” return to the fold. This was the largest crowd of the day, and no one would have left the set disappointed. But we can’t wait to hear the new stuff – I have a feeling the new robot-voice-themed opening of “Kicking and Screaming” may be a sign of things to come? Stay Tuned! (And see the full setlist below)
Finally we come to 2MANYDJs LIVE, the Radio Soulwax duo who have been showing the world how DJ sets are done for years now (as they have with the electronic band in Soulwax). And tonight was no exception. In fact, it was the best end to a festival I’ve experienced since Rage blew the metaphoric roof off of the Big Day Out main stage in 2008, and one of the best DJ sets I’ve ever seen.
They walked on stage and tuned a radio, eventually finding Radio Soulwax, which we’d enjoy for the next 90 minutes. They were plagued with technical problems for the first 15 minutes or so, ending with David and Stephen Dewaele walking off stage during their remix of The Clash “Rock the Casbah”. Thankfully, they returned a few minutes later launching into AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds”, and the rest of the set was incident free – in fact it just got better and better and better until my mind was literally blown by just how good it was. It’s hard to put it into words, really.
The set was accompanied by a live VJ mix, with the album cover of the track turned into a live animation behind the pair. Of particular mention was Dizzee Rascal’s “Bonkers” which you can see below (along with a small glimpse of their epic closing confetti party). This really made the show something special, as you were not only transfixed by what was happening on stage, but you couldn’t WAIT to hear what they had in store next, as they jumped from classic track to classic track. Major Lazer would be mixed in with Aphex Twin (AMAZING!), Sweet Dreams with Robot Rock (Daft Punk)… this was a set of such variety that all tastes would have been pleased – and it was done with such skill that I think most would have found themselves dancing along to songs they don’t even consider themselves fans of.
The set drew to an epic climax with a remix of “Breed” by Nirvana, which was accompanied by smoke and confetti pouring over the crowd, making all of us jump up and down, proclaiming – Now THAT’S how you do a DJ set. THAT’S how you end a festival. And that’s how you make a crowd dance their faces off in spite of some pretty uncomfortable weather, and the leftovers of a hangover from the night before.
What a truly wonderful day; a perfect start to 2010.
We can’t wait to see what else the year has in store for us.
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SET TIMES
The Presets Setlist:
Talk Like That / Yippo-ay / Eucalyptus
A New Sky / Girl And The Sea
If I Know You / Are You The One?
Together / This Boy’s In Love
Kicking and Screaming / My People
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