Friday 8th to Sunday 10th July 2011 Pwllheli Inner Marina and Abersoch Beach, Abersoch, Pwllheli, Gwynedd, North Wales, WalesMAP £125 with camping
Friday kicked of in the West tent with the Welsh speaking beat box king Mr Phormula who got a great response from the few hundred punters who had dragged themselves into the arena by 5pm, mixing up dub step classical drum and bass and impressive lyrics Mr P got the weekend of to a flying start.
Whilst West showcased some great bands, The East stage was mainly piled deep with big names from the dance music scene. Rizzle Kicks followed by YasmIn, setting the scene of what was to come in the booming East tent, swiftly followed up by what could only be described as a magnificent set by radio 1 dance supremo Kissy Sell Out, who single-handedly manipulated the crowd with his set of flat out anthems.
A little walk around the arena, (which is very compact ,you could take in all 3 stages and the pool gap wakeboard demo pools in 4 minutes) to see what is going on is rewarded by some top quality 'pool rail gapping', which is so entertaining we miss the start of Wolf Gang's set on the East stage. The pool rail gap is a wonder to behold in itself , two portable pools set up with a mechanical rail above the pools to thrust along the boarders, with an interesting jump and rail system for them to pull off a mind boggling array of tricks in flight between the two pools, it really has to be seen to be believed.
When we arrive into the West tent Wolf Gang are putting on a show of electro pop, quite reminiscent of the Editors, really well received by the thousand or so watching. They are closely followed up by Neon Trees from Utah, which turns out to be a highlight of the weekend, as they bring their own swagger and self confidence to the Penrhos site in abundance, with a good solid catalogue of singalong 80's infused alt synth rock they could forge a good carrier if they keep knocking shows out like this one, lead singer Tyler Glenn struts round the stage with aplomb working the crowd like a lion tamer. He brings the performance to a rousing end by singing the last track 'Animal' in the crowd after jumping the barrier, much to the disdain of the very uptight and over zealous security.
Next on is Lethal Bizzle who brings his own brand of UK Grime to Wakestock, the crowd get behind him when he drops the signature 'POW 2011', it's a short powerful performance, there follows a mass exodus of the tent as most the young crown run to see Chiddy Bang in the East tent, Huw Stephens plays a DJ set to a nigh on empty tent for 30 minutes before Kids in Glass Houses come on stage to a half empty tent, during the crossover period of acts, the band really throw themselves into the performance but it still doesn't seem to appeal to a crowd mainly staking out a good spot for the following Ellie Goulding.
She draws one of the biggest crowds of the weekend, mainly flooded with young teenage girls, waiting for a glimpse of their heroine, and she does not dissapoint them. starting the show on the drums for parts of the first track, she has the crowd spell bound with her mainstream pop smash singles from her debut album, with the crowd singing their hearts out.
There are welcome alternatives outside for those who don't really find the pop ballads their style with Danny Byrd followed by DJ Fresh, and Dynamite MC on the tiny outdoor south stage going down a storm.
The whole evening is brought to a rousing finish by Chase & Status with their anthemic mix of drum n bass and dub step sound sending the tent into mass mosh pits, with the security wading in at regular intervals splitting up flash points of trouble, though these are mainly small and isolated incidents. Many guest MC's help cap this off as a truly triumphant set leaving nobody disappointed, apart from the security, who were more than happy to winge about them setting up a wall of death mosh pit.
