Festival Overview: Field Day 2010

These New Puritans on the Adventures In The Beetroot Field stage

With a multitude of acts over five stages and just £33, Field Day promised to offer great value for a one-day festival. Truth is though, you can have too much of a good thing - with so many different stages and acts packed into so little time, performances were too short and clashes were all too common-place (take note, future festival organisers!). So whilst I was hoping to tell you about No Age, Atlas Sound and Esben & The Witch, this little lot will have to do:

Memory Tapes: Playing as just a guitar-drums duo plus a laptop, Dayve Hawk took a more live approach to his Seek Magic material, which gave him ample opportunity to showcase his way with a Cure-esque guitar lick. Unfortunately the toning down of the electronic side of his music meant that some of the craft of his songs were lost, making for a somewhat hit-and-miss set, though it did improve as time went on.

These New Puritans: The most visually interesting set of the day, featuring two oboes, a set of chains for secondary percussion, and a singer in chainmail, These New Puritans focused on their dazzling second album Hidden, but an all-too-short set meant there was sadly no Attack Music or Fire-Power. Arguably though, the highlights of the set came from their energetic performances of earlier material, suggesting a band still getting to grips with their new-found ambitions.

The Fall: The latest incarnation of Mark E Smith's post-punk institution made their way out onto the stage one by one, culminating in the appearance of the great cantankerous one himself. The years have not been kind to Smith - he looks old enough to be the father of any one of the other members - but he still knows how to rant incoherently over whatever racket the band throw at him. And whilst you wouldn't be able to pick out any of the other members in an identity parade, musically, they're a tight, muscular outfit. No wonder the reviews for Your Future, Our Clutter have been so positive.

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble: Playing in the background as we took time out for nosh, the 9-piece Chicago output certainly gave a rousing show, with instruments big enough to take your eye out even from distance.

Caribou: Dan Snaith brought along three other guys who played in a close-knit circle in the centre of the main stage, and provided unquestionably the highlight of the day. Sticking purely to material from his new album Swim, Snaith & co. concocted a dazzling display of trance-inducing music, culminating in a mesmeric performance of album highlight Sun. Outstanding, and a lesson to Dayve Hawk of Memory Tapes on how to bring bedroom music to a live setting.

Silver Apples: There was a very warm reception to Simeon Cox III and his home-made synthesiser, the remaining living half of seminal electronic group Silver Apples. And whilst his quirky synth loops and lyrics about oscillators seemed rather quaint, they also seemed strangely contemporary.

Finally, a special mention to the brass band that seemed to play non-stop for the entire day, playing everything from Ricky Martin to Journey.

Not just smoke and mirrors, Caribou blew everyone away. One fan expresses
their pleasure with a wellington boot containing foliage and an umbrella. Naturally.