Things I Overheard at Field Day

All photos by Chris Bethell

Alcohol makes clever people say dumb things. Sentences that wouldn't exist without alcohol include: "Everyone come back to mine", "Lots of chilli sauce" and "Just make sure you pull out".

I like hearing respectable humans say silly things; it’s really important for my part-time misanthropy career and it's especially fun in the confines of a all-day music festival where people who own companies roll around on the floor by mid-afternoon. So this weekend I went to Field Day and used one ear to listen to hot new talent and the other to listen in on people’s conversations. This is what I heard and saw:

“I think my drugs are wearing off” – at 1:30pm

“I don’t even know who any of these bands are”

“If you zoom in on the Camel logo, you’ll see a small child having a piss”

“I really want to see John Wizards – they’re from Africa”

“I want to get a Shoreditch House membership – but only to go and eat the pic’n’mix”

“My dad’s my dealer”

“I’m going to go and see Todd Ter-jay” “No it’s Todd Ter-yay – I read it in the Guardian”

“This is so much more fun than Metronomy” – a girl outside the Resident Advisor tent, lying on the floor, wearing sunglasses, playing with a packet of crisps.

“What is the point in Future Islands?". “They’re meant to be like Elvis Presley but weird”

“Mate, I’ve got so many things hanging out right now”

“The camera loves focusing on Kim Deal” – while watching Pixies, of whom Kim Deal is no longer a part.

“SOPHIE melted my brain and now I am an ice cream”

“The balls look so appealing right now”

“I’ve got a massive stinky g of mandy – let’s get Barry Manillo’d”

“I bought a bag of something inside – I’m pretty sure it’s sugar”

And this is what I saw:

Sky Ferreira – although she played to a relatively small-crowd – was brilliant. You can say what you like about her. But then swiftly re-think everything because she released Night Time Is My Time – one of the best records of the year – and you’ve only released a stream of vitriol into a comment section.

Jaako Eino Kalevi has the best press-shots in existence (trust me) and I couldn’t believe it was possible to be as genetically blessed as he appeared. But it’s true - he’s beautiful in real life too.

SOPHIE is incredibly hard to enjoy mid-afternoon. It was an assault on every sense. I’ve got twenty-five photos saved on my phone and they all look like I'm having a stroke.

If we are ever going to succeed in creating perpetual motion then we're goig to need help from Neneh Cherry, who has the same, if not more, energy as when she first showed up on The Young Ones 30-years ago in punk oufit Rip Rig and Panic. She probably got the warmest crowd reaction of the day, while Four Tet, the producer of her latest record, watched side of stage with a toddler on his head.

Jackmaster and Oneman teamed up to do a thing called Can U Dance - it’s not a new ITV show; it’s a tour and Field Day was the debut. Lots of people came and proved they could dance by oscillating every limb.

Todd Terje played the best set of the weekend. He proved it’s not just “Chelsea Dagger” that can get a massive crowd singing syllables – the entire patronage of the Resident Advisor tent could be heard chanting “Inspector Norse” like they were at some sort of pre-football game rave in a giant tent in a field in a park in London.

It felt like a homecoming set for Dev Hynes. He played the first ever Field Day seven years ago, moved to New York, and now he’s back in in Hackney playing in a park around the corner from his old flat. You can’t hate Dev Hynes (unless you write for the Vagenda) – and his set basically made everyone with a partner make-out and made everyone else wish they had someone to make-out with.

Jon Hopkins was alright.

Erol Alkan was more than alright. A 40-year-old guy – a rare specimen of human at Field Day – was stood in front of me. Unless he was having some sort of seizure I will assume that he really, really, enjoyed it. I can’t wait to get old and have someone write about me.

Danny Brown looks incredibly healthy at the moment. Old is his best work and his songs were suitably turnt up for the late-night slot.

SBTRKT had a massive dragon on stage. It was really interesting to look at – you don’t get many bands bringing mythical creatures on the road with them. “Wildfire” was incredible – although it always makes me think about Gorillaz “Starshine”. Am I kidding myself or have they used the same riff?

“Wildfire” was SBTRKT’s last song and it was time to leave. Field Day 2014 had finished - I returned on the Sunday to watch Future Islands, The Horrors and The Pixies but Saturday had the bulk of the line-up.

It’s a great festival – the line-up is a balance of established acts (The Pixies, Metronomy), new artists (Fat White Family, John Wizards) and electronic music (Ryan Hemsworth, Todd Terje). “I had fun”, I said to myself as I walked home. Fun is the best outcome; and Field Day succeeds on most levels and I award it four gold stars out of five.

Oh – and I also watched the Noisey DJs kill it on the Noisey bandstand. If you've ever wondered how grime instrumentals, Trini soca and niche 90s indie mix together, the answer is not well at all.

Follow Ryan on Twitter: @RyanBassil

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