Preview: Field Day

By chloeg Last edited 187 months ago
Preview: Field Day
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If hearing the best of the rest is more appealing than a night on the sofa in front of the X-Factor, you need to make your way to Victoria Park on Saturday for the left-field music event of the summer. Teaming with big names on the alternative circuit such as Foals, Simian Mobile Disco, Mystery Jets, Les Savy Fav, Richie Hawtin, Laura Marling, Lightspeed Champion and Noah & The Whale, the day is a guaranteed rural-style romp for those blessed with more good taste and well-honed facial hair than a cow-pat-packed summer meadow.

Last year’s festival was a bit of a logistical disaster – in spite of its humble name we assumed they might add a few amenities, for example a bar staffed by more than four people and a sound system you could actually hear – but we have been assured that last year’s ‘teething problems’ were just that. They’ve even provided a Village Green area where you can compare the tasty cakes, egg and spoon races and tug of wars to last weekend’s Innocent high jinks.

Unless you stand on your own with your fingers in your ears you won’t fail to hear some high-quality music, but we’d particularly recommend checking out Les Savy Favs (19.30-20.15 Converse/Eat your Own Ears Stage) who might just be the best, most raging live band in the world; the quirky pop-riddled universe inhabited by Of Montreal (17.00 Converse/EYOEs Stage); and a dream of NYC from the brilliant cartoonist/musician Jeff Lewis (15.45, Homefires Stage), worth a trip to listen to his erudite anti-folk and hear him rhyme ‘Will Oldham’ with ‘Bowery Ballroom’. Alternatively why not do your own itinerary-planning-geekery?

The last few tickets are still available online at £26.50, or you can save yourself the booking fee and visit the music-mad folk at the wonderful Rough Trade East.

Image courtesy of DG Jones' photostream under the Creative Commons Licence.

Last Updated 05 August 2008