Live Review

Creamfields – Daresbury, Cheshire

• 6th Sep 2010

Hiking up the already muddy hill to the camping area I could see this was going to be an experience. The campsite caked in mud, sea of tents, flags and booming full of smiley excitable people. All anticipating the great music that was before the weekend ahead. Knowing I’d hardly be sleeping in the site (that my pathetic pop up tent would flood) and that I’d be merely absorbing the music… I felt better to know the mud fest that was my tent wouldn’t spoil my weekend.

Renowned for being thee dance festival of the UK, Creamfields always delivers an exciting blend of A-listers and emerging talent from the dance scene. Set in tranquil greenery between Liverpool and Manchester, the festival is tucked away neatly and in a perfect location for such an event. The walk from the campsite to the main area wasn’t too far and with already muddy footpaths I knew it was going to be very entertaining on the way home… and after the massive downpour slipping over in it was inevitable.

All the stages and tents were a stone’s throw away from each other with each area offering a diverse kind of dance music and level of trance, electro and house. It was blatantly obvious that Creamfields knew exactly what their punters thrive from and this line up was certainly no exception. Headliners David Guetta, Tiesto, Paul Van Dyke, Calvin Harris, Deadmau5 to name but a few of the acts, had listeners packed right back to where to loos and the bars were. It was so busy but even though I was apprehensive about the kind of person that went to this festival, we met some chipper people only making the experience all the more superb.

Trying to lap up as much music as possible it was extremely hard as Creamfields had so many on at any one time, so trying to cheekily catch an earful was hard. There were a few who stood out for me and evidently the more commonly known artists. David Guetta, had a great set, I was interested to know if he would stick with his normal chart pop-dance we know or branch out. There was a lot more of a trance feel to what he showed us (even though staying close to the recognized). Never the less it went down very well with the audience who all started chanting his lyrics back at him. Deadmau5 gave everyone a set beaming full of electro house beats, certainly bringing the top mixes they could, utterly making them hit. We swung into one of the tents to catch two-time Mix Mag DJ of the Year, Eddie Halliwell after spending his time for Cream in Ibiza. He was most certainly an all round performer and a credit to the festival.
Leftfield and then Tiesto on the final night, made the most spectacular event even better than could be imagined. Leftfield delicately graced us with a more mellowed big beated heavy tuned set, shortly followed by Tiesto who was certainly no stranger to this picture and absolutely knew what he was doing. Providing nothing but astounding whipping beats, he was one of the biggest crowd pleasers making the weekend come to an end on an astounding climax and ending on an astonishing note.

Considering this was my first experience of Creamfields, I can honestly say I will 100% be coming back next year. If you even slightly like some form of dance music this music event is fantastic. Some key acts, teamed up with high energy and a buzzing atmosphere it certainly does what it says on the tin.