The Midweek Mix – 03/06/15 – Field Day Special

This week’s Midweek Mix is a Field Day special. Assuming that any sensible Field Day-goer is already excited about Patti Smith, Caribou and Ride, here are five non-headline acts not to be missed:

Shura – 2Shy

As any regular Midweek Mix listeners will know, I have been raving about Shura for quite a while. I’m so excited to finally see her live.

Eagulls – Tough Luck

Eagulls have got some anger and they’re not afraid to show it. Behind the jingly opening of Tough Luck lies an aggression that will hopefully translate into a killer performance on Sunday. I’m not sure the early afternoon main stage atmosphere will suit them entirely, but I’ll be jumping around at the front shouting “touch wood, tough luck!” regardless.

Savages – Shut Up

Ohhhh, Savages, how excited we are to see you. Shut Up blew me away when I first heard it and I can’t wait to experience it live.

SILENCE YOURSELF.

Django Django – First Light

I actually know very little about Django Django, so I’m very grateful to Field Day for giving me a reason to listen to them properly. They are a perfect festival act and should bring the feel-good, psychedelic influenced sound that Temples delivered last year.

Yak – Smile/Distortion

I’m disappointed to see that Yak’s set overlaps with Savages, but anyone who happens to be in possession of time-turner should definitely see both. As noted last week, Yak have to be seen live to be truly loved. 

If you’re heading to Field Day this weekend, do shout your must-see recommendations at me in the comments below.

Reasons to be excited about Field Day #2 (Sunday)

So you’ve had a fantastic Saturday and are wondering what musical delights will greet you on Sunday? Look no further:

1. The Wytches

Heavy surf-psych rolling out of Brighton sets the mood for Sunday.

2. Pond

Keeping up the psychedelic feel, it’s Australian band Pond for fans of Tame Impala. Too cool.

3. Temples

Do you feel like you’ve stepped into a kaleidoscope yet? Time for retro Temples.

4. Drenge

The cure to any sleepy Sunday afternoon and an overdose of psychedelia, the true sound of grunge in 2014 is brought to you through the medium of Drenge. With previous gigs being described as ‘an organised riot’, you better come prepared for some serious crowd action. These Castleton brothers are going to be wild.

5. The Horrors

It’s been a dream of mine to see The Horrors ever since I read about them throwing black paint at their crowds in NME as a teenager. While I expect there will be a serious lack of paint involved and (much to my disappointment) their hair has drastically decreased in size since 2006, they should put on quite a show.

6. Future Islands

A relatively new discovery for me, let’s hope the sun shines for the beautiful sound of Future Islands. 

7. Pixies

Finally, the conclusion to the weekend comes in the form of Pixies. Get ready to shout ‘where is my mind?’ with all your lung power.

Tickets still available from http://fielddayfestivals.com/line-up/london/. I promise they didn’t pay me to say that, I just want to party with you.

Reasons to be excited about Field Day #1 (Saturday)

WARNING: The following Field Day schedule may require a time machine.

Get down to Victoria Park early on Saturday afternoon for the wonderful Arthur Beatrice, whose single Midland has been keeping me headstrong and determined for months. A fitting start to this East London weekend:

Then immediately find yourself wishing you had a time-turner to hand, because you inevitably just missed Charlotte OC’s vocal chords dancing all over Colour My Heart. But alas, with a weekend as good as this, you’re going to miss some brilliance:

Over on the main stage, you’ll then be surprised to see that Sky Ferreira is donning her sunglasses despite the British weather, and after an infamously shambolic gig in the basement of a London hotel earlier in the year, is now almost certainly on the way up. Either way, Everything is Embarrassing surely sounds fantastic as a precursor to the mighty Simian Mobile Disco, who really get the party started over at the Crack Magazine stage:

Naturally, you’re getting a bit tired after hitting out some serious moves to Audacity of Huge, so the chilled electronic beats of SOHN are very welcome:

Time to get your running shoes on, because your Field Day experience is nothing until you’ve caught Teleman, Hackney’s very own version of The Beach Boys, over at the Shacklewell Arms stage:

You are now pumped for Blood Orange, aka Dev Hynes, aka Lightspeed Champion, aka one half of Team Perfect with Florence Welch, aka all-round genius producer and writer:

And then you can even squeeze in a bit of Jamie XX before Warpaint. Yes, YOU ARE GOING TO SEE WARPAINT LIVE. You can listen to their recordings all day long, but nothing compares to their live performance. Hold onto your hats, Elephants is coming at you:

Once you’ve recovered from that, you wander on over the Shacklewell Arms stage. Inevitably, you are sad to miss Woman’s Hour but joyful at the sound of Courtney Barnett’s deadpan ramblings about growing radishes, drinking green margaritas, and touching a little tongue:

You finish the evening with a new discovery, Manchester’s MONEY, and Saturday headliners, Metronomy. Bop along to Love Letters until the sun goes down…

You now probably can’t wait for Sunday, right? Right.