Live Review

Creamfields – Daresbury

• 30th Aug 2011

“Flippin’ heck! Harry Hill’ll ‘ave to extend his show by forty minutes to fit in all the footage of revellers goin’ arse over tit in this swamp field.”

This quote from one of the dance hungry revellers making their way across scarily dicey mud and scuzz-addled field summed up the thoughts of many, concerning the obstacle facing their entrance to the sold out event. It would have meant Andy Dufresne would have still have been in Shawshank had he had to get across this field to freedom, instead crawling through a sewage-pipe.

The rewards for navigating the mud swamp were immediate and satisfying. Futuristic synth manipulator Sonny Moore aka Skrillex, doles out a post-trance, futuristic old skool and industrial rock influenced, mosh-pit inducing set. The part-paranoid, part ghoulish ‘Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites’, is received with such varied dancing, you think you’re at a silent disco. It makes for the perfect energetic, yet wandering and delving start to a festival that is well and truly under the post-riots microscope.

Spellbinding atmospherics over on the Clublife Stage, fail to distract you from a largely lethargic set of electronica from the Philly based Diplo. Tired beats create a laboured feel, but revellers are still determined to make the most of it and a few ‘whoop-whoops’ provides some needed relief and humour. A distorted vocal laden, philistine groove kicked, nourish interludes set from Jack Beats on the Annie Mac Stage, awakens the demons in you. The set highlight is the devilish mash up of Wolfgang Gartner’s ‘Menage A Trois’.

Several people are already regretting their decision to choose designer trainers over sturdy wellies. Spirits are still high though and, the atmosphere remains friendly and upbeat. This, you sense, is the main victory; the music could be crap and it wouldn’t matter. Good job it isn’t, though.

After a largely disappointing headline set here in 2007, the Chemical Brothers have some making up to do. It’s almost as though Ed and Tom are aware of this, as from the off they have oodles more energy and presence. Transcendent beats set off waves of energetic dancing, as a sturdy, tempo rising set kicks in. Anthemic classic, ‘Hey Boy, Hey Girl’ sets the place ablaze and the more down-tempo ‘Don’t Think’, caters for the ranging moods of the sizeable crowd.

You wouldn’t expect anything other than an eclectic set of jungle through to trance and a few stops in between, from the lady fast becoming dance music’s answer to John Peel; Annie Mac. Still it’s none the less fresh and invigorating when it does arrive. It’s a tough job for her to top off an impressive line-up on her own stage, but the lady done good.

A packed ‘Size Matters Stage’ bounces to a disco merging, mesmeric lights inclusive and hardcore spiked headline set from Steve Angelo. Creeping ambient building and crushing chorus inclusive ‘Save The World (Knife Party Remix)’, re-energises the crowd and they are eating out of his hand. This is the perfect time for a soaring mash up of ‘We Are Your Friends’. Easily justifying a headline slot and sending revellers out into the night with that buzzing feel-good feeling.

Photo credit: Marc De Groot