Field Day – C/T Preview

Live / Words

23 May 13


Field Day, guiltlessly convenient for the masses of East London in Hackney’s Victoria Park, plays host to the one-day festival for the seventh year in a row May 25th. It caters for the best in buzz-band-hysteria and NME top-picks.

What FIELD DAY has on its side is the consistency of a line-up which stringently plays into the hands of its’ public. The result is both an A-Z of Guardian New Music, NME Radar and wider blogosphere tips for the summer ahead, as well as a response to what got the skinny jeans moving over the past twelve months.

This year’s line-up is wide-reaching and typically trendy: Disclosure, Julio Bashmore and Four Tet wave the flag for glitch electro-house, as will Glasgow headline stealers CHVRCHES.

There’s also some great guitar music here – responding to an unexpectedly strong year for Indie-Rock, Parma Violets, Fucked Up and Egyptian Hip Hop grace the stages.

There are more intricate sounds available if you’re after a quite one. Francois and the Atlas Mountains will add their ornate percussion-led cheer, and Mercury Award nominated Django Django will infuse the masses with their funk-laced world-rock.Natasha Khan’s Bat For Lashes will be an undoubted crowd-swelling favourite.

The Haunted Man‘s ‘All Your Gold’ may well get its first post-release festival airing.

Solange Knowles is also dropping an appearance, if Beyonce’s sister is your thing.

FIELD DAY has been accused of lacking foresight, with overcrowded tents being a talking point year-on-year for much of the music media as the festival’s population flock to hear the latest big-thing, in lesser such confines.

Space issues will forever be contentious for an event which brands itself on the near impossible: music-trend-forecasting.

For those less interested in filing into squishy tents for the latest sound bites, there will be ample food and drink offerings, and a ‘Village Mentality’ area with frivolous offerings including a tug of war competition and an egg and spoon race. Dig in.

For more info, check FIELD DAY’s official site. Check out last year’s promo video below.