Face paint, rain and murder mystery mayhem at Standon Calling

Face paint, rain and murder mystery mayhem – this perfectly sums up the second day of Standon Calling's 10th anniversary festival in Hertfordshire.

I arrived late on the Friday night and immediately realised that the set-up from last year had completely changed – walking through the tenting area to find a camping spot it was apparent that everything was more spread out and the tiny intimate camping area from last year was now an impressive spread out affair with 'quiet camping' at one section away from the arena, and solar showers as well as a lot more toilets dispersed throughout the campsite.

Saturday had a quiet start, as the acts didn't start until midday and considering this is one of the few festivals that have multiple DJs playing until 6am, I can safely presume that a lot of sore heads were being rested in their tents.

My group and I wandered into the main section to get our bearings and I was really pleasantly surprised – I have to admit that when I realised the campsite was bigger, I was very worried that the boutique festival I had fallen in love with last year had gone down the commercial road and lost its charm.

This was not the case – in a nutshell, a lot of thought had gone into the evolution of the festival this year and it was as if they had stumbled upon the perfect equilibrium between Alex Trenchard's 25th birthday party that the festival had spawned from 10 years previously, and having a functional festival with facilities to suit both kids and adults without losing the intimate charm.

As the theme this year was 'Murder on The Standon Express' a fake little town had been set up within the festival including a functional Sweeney Todd's barber shop and a Baker Street style stage tent.

There was actual theatre interaction going on as people were given clues to solve a murder surrounding the case of 'Lord Bingham'. I didn't get involved in working out the mystery that surrounded the weekend but we saw other people on the lookout for clues and it all seemed very exciting and well thought out!

I caught Revere first, a band I had never previously heard off, which turned out to be one of my favourite acts of the weekend. They have a very current sound which isn't boring – the lead singer often sounded like Tom, the lead singer from The Editors with his theatrical, deep voice. The band also had traces of Arcade Fire sounds throughout their set, making a lot of their tunes sound quite epic – definitely one to look up if you like the above acts.

Delirium Tremens was up on the main stage and I was immediately attracted over because I could see a beautiful lady in an emerald green corset swinging on a huge swing onstage covered in flowers and plants. She was a pleasant addition to a drizzly afternoon but her music was very specialist. I think the best way to describe her sound is dark folk music but she definitely did her best in putting on a show although there was a very small audience.

I wandered up past the outdoor swimming pool, which was surrounded with lounging bodies bopping along to the poolside DJ's tracks, despite the dark skies and gloomy weather. It was about 3.30pm and the festival site was really starting to fill up, giving me my first real glimpse of the crowd... and what a beautiful crowd it was this year!

Today was the fancy dress costume day and I have never been to a festival before where so many people have got involved with the theme and really dressed up. The effort and intuition that had gone into some of the outfits was brilliant, and gave the event a buzzing vibe.

I noticed there were a lot more kids this year too, right down to tiny babies but it never seemed a problem and as there was a specific painting area, as well as the 'Little Den', which was filled with a Punch and Judy Show and children's activities, it seemed like I was witnessing some of the happiest kids I have ever seen.

Plants and Animals were playing to a packed tent of seated and standing people in the beautiful structure of the Crooked House tent. The 3-piece Canadian band weren't on the programme but I managed to find out from one of their fans there who they were. They had a very chilled vibe with slow beats and drawn out melodies, which was perfect relaxation before the evening's frolics. However they did up the ante on their last track and played a fast-paced indie banger, which had bodies bouncing around in the tent; the lead singer's vocals really reminded me of Johnny Borrell from Razorlight.

When the guys finished I was starting to feel out of place as I ambled out into the festival because of my lack of costume so a quick visit back to the tent ensued and I emerged as pink panther, feeling a lot more in tune with proceedings.!

Back in the main arena, my group and I took a well deserved break with the other weird and wonderfully decorated people under The Tree Bar (which is my favourite permanent feature of the festival by the way), and ten minutes later we realised we had made a brilliant decision without even knowing it, as the heavens opened up.!

As the rain beat relentlessly down, more and more people huddled under the safety of the massive Oak tree. We were all relatively dry and quite happily mingled together chatting to each other until the rain ceased.!

Scottish group The Phantom Band played to a packed tent and really got the night kicking off to a rocking start. They had so many instruments onstage that I couldn't keep up, and their music was mixed with fast-paced beats, differing pitches and theatrical sounds – quite frankly it was a sterling performance, which was aided by the lead singer being completely charming. This band is really musically talented and had the tent going wild. They've definitely gained a fan in me and I have a strong feeling that this is just the start for them.!

The Magic Numbers were onstage next at the smallest tent (Crooked House), which surprised me, as I thought they would have been on the main stage. However, once they started playing to the tent that was full to the brim, I actually thought this was a great choice of venue for them because the 2 pairs of brothers and sisters worked well in the small space, which allowed their strong guitar beats and floaty folk sounds to fill the whole space. !

I have to give a special mention to the girls in the band because they really know how to rock out and looked every bit the part with their dark denim and leather boots. They gave a great show which was received well but it wasn't the most 'pumping' of music for the Saturday night.!

British Sea Power was my final band of the day in the medium sized Twisted Licks Stage. The boys are well known for being quirky and for their great love of nature, which was shown with the stage being adorned with shrubbery and leaves, as well as many audience members waving about parts of plants and trees!

They thrashed out a rock-heavy set to the overflowing tent and injected a massive dose of heavy sounds into the night air – if you're not into thick, indie-rock sounds then this definitely would not have been for you but I loved it and their performance of 'Lucifer' was a definite festival plus.!

I ended the evening in the cowshed club, Camp Alcatraz, and I loved that they had completely changed the set-up of the building to last year although the DJs were still above the crowds looking down. I actually spoke to someone I know after the festival and he (Pete Wheeler & Wellsy) was djing while Buena Vista was on and described it as his best DJing experience ever.!

The dance floor of Camp Alcatraz was full with thriving bodies but my favourite bit was the kitsch decorated side rooms, including a black room with white cell bars completely covered with feathers and comfy seating. !

Needless to say, me and my boyfriend stocked up from the bar, plonked ourselves on a comfy sofa and nodded our heads to the beats of Radioproof who was playing an eclectic mix of old and new dance tracks.!

A middle-aged gentleman commented that we looked like the most comfortable, content people on earth, and he couldn't have been more right!

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