Barclaycard Wireless Festival, Saturday 3rd July 2010

After the abominable ending to the previous night that results in us leaving early, we return to Hyde Park with higher hopes for today. The line up is far superior, the weather is glorious and, after discovering they’re not frisking people upon entry, we weigh ourselves down with hip flasks and miniatures in every conceivable (clothing) orifice.

Which is why we’re left confusingly disappointed after The Big Pink’s performance. It’s not bad, not by any means - they’re an accomplished live band with a great album behind them. It’s just that the music they make is so atmospheric and dark, playing on the main stage mid-afternoon in searing heat is just about the worst setting for them. The waves of sound that can be created in a venue can’t be achieved and the light show is rendered insignificant. Here in lies the main problem not just with today but with Wireless as a whole - the scheduling and the order of the acts playing is truly bizarre. New Young Pony Club play in a darkened, claustrophobic tent when their sound is arguably as upbeat and energetic as any act playing today - why on earth weren’t The Big Pink headlining (or close to headlining) one of the tents? They soldier on but you can tell from singer Milo’s expression that he is acutely aware of this failing. ‘Velvet’ is stripped of it’s power by the circumstances, and it is only ‘Dominos’ that retains any of the usual punch.

The fault of this scheduling is highlighted further by Sub Focus’ set in the Pepsi Tent. Knowing exactly what he is there for and what he has to do, his set is a great mix of singles and the more energetic tracks from his back catalogue - ‘Splash’ has Coco Sumners’ vocals intercut with his live MC who consistently gets the crowd hyped up for each drop. The issue we have, however, is that for the most part Sub Focus is obscured by his stage set up (and on a smaller note, he doesn’t play ‘Airplane’ - for us, one of the defining DnB tracks of the past five years). After his work on Example’s ‘Kickstarts’ and success in his own right, he would have been far more fitting between Example and Missy Elliot on the main stage, instead of The Big Pink who felt woefully out of place.

So to Missy Elliot herself. Arriving onstage over 10 minutes late (rumours abound through the crowd, ranging from a vital part of her stage set up being delayed in the travel from France, to her refusal to go on stage without a hearty jerk chicken lunch in her) she too is more than experienced enough in engaging with a crowd and getting them pumped up. She uses all the cheap pops in the book, referencing her love for London several times as well as the ‘are y’all having a good time? I SAID I CAN’T HEAR YOU’ staple. Credit where it’s due, her dancers are exceptional and ‘Get Ur Freak On’ incites a huge reaction early on in the set. Her bizarre decision to introduce her ‘protege’ for 5 minutes of miming comes back to bite her in the (substantial) arse when the sound is cut a third of the way through ‘Lose Control’ as she’s overrun her time slot. The crowd are MEGA pissed and start booing, bottles are thrown and she quickly scampers off stage. If she could only keep time as well as she can wear Adidas (both outfits she sports are head to toe) then she would have been great. As it is, her set ends to a lot of bitching and ill will.

No such problems for Snoop Dogg. Emerging on stage to a compilation of film and music video performances, his laconic walk and drawl are matched by the crowd who light massive spliffs in unison. The main contrast between Snoops performance and Missy Elliots is Snoops preference for a live band. This changes the dynamic of his set, the bass in particular has a foreboding presence throughout the songs - of which all the classics are performed. ‘Gin And Juice’, ‘Ain’t Nuthin But A G Thang’ and ‘What’s My Name’ slide into the set as seamlessly as newer material ‘Beautiful’ and ‘From Tha Church To Tha Palace’ (highly underrated and one of his best songs). A cover of House Of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’ that leads into ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’ receives the biggest reaction from the crowd but his entire set is filled with crowdpleasers. The man’s been around long enough to know what a festival set requires and he delivers. Missy take note.

2ManyDJs take things up a notch though. As ill equipped for the weather as the Big Pink were, this suits the Dewaele brothers down to the ground. Their 90 minute DJ set incorporates a mixture of old funk, disco and soul with newer sounds such as electroclash, techno and breakbeat. Whilst not recognising all the songs that are played, the skill with which they are spliced together and the accompanying visuals combine to create an atmosphere that many have labelled Wireless as being incapable of achieving. That is, of people dancing their arses off with pupils dilated as far as they can go. When their set finishes, many decamp to the tent where Magnetic Man are headlining. Skream & Benga’s new project has been receiving a lot of attention from the media in recent months - this will no doubt continue come the release of ‘I Need Air’, a song they play tonight which melds dubstep basslines with a more commercial, housey sounding melody. It is going to be MASSIVE. The rest of their set has a harder edge, the metallic grind of Skream’s ‘Filth’ getting a familiar outing as the tent throbs and heaves for the majority of their set.

LCD Soundsystem headline. Read that again. A day which has seen Snoop Dogg and Missy Elliot perform is headlined by LCD Soundsystem. To be fair, James Murphy seems as surprised by this as anyone - he’s never been the most comfortable performer on stage but he appears nervous. This is only compounded by the reaction they get from some of the crowd when playing ‘slower’ songs, when they’re bottled. He makes reference to the bottling throughout the set as he eulogises on his need and desire to win the crowd over. Unfortunately, this largely doesn’t happen. To a crowd that have been hearing solidly uptempo party music for the past few hours, the effect of ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’ is muted - normally the most charged song of their set, tonight it receives cheers of recognition but not much more. ‘All My Friends’ similarly loses it’s emotional punch and gravitas when faced with such a largely unappreciative audience, one gurner behind us pointing out ‘this isn’t fast enough for me man, I need to hear some funky or drum n bass’. It’s only really with ‘Yeah’ that the crowd truly get into what LCD are about - the adding of layer upon layer of sound to a final crescendo working, the throbs of bass and stark keys at last garnering a reaction from the crowd. When the finale of ‘New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down’ reaches it’s climax amidst an explosion of glitter, the relief is palpable for both band and audience. It’s a shame. LCD as a headliner was an intriguing prospect, but ultimately they were just too niche for an audience used to the mainstream.