Chase & Status and Modestep are the highlights of day one of We The People

Arriving as the gates opened on the Saturday, we quickly scoped out the layout and days set times.

As expected it was going to take time to get started and with more bar staff than drinkers, my photographer and local guide suggested we visit UPfest urban painting festival.

After an hour admiring local and international art and having seen Dub Mafia before, I was really keen to get back and catch their set. So keen in fact that we flagged down a passing rickshaw and sped back to the site.

(Aside from the fact Rickshaws are possibly one of the most environmentally friendly modes of transport available, I still felt extremely guilty as our driver traversed the hilly streets of Bristol with us in tow). Set in Bristol harbour, We The People is a dance festival based over 2 stages and 2 days, with after parties in Bristol town centre.

With Lloyds amphitheatre providing the dramatic urban backdrop and surrounded by some of Bristol's more modern but no less breathtaking architecture. WTP had a lot to live up to.

Back on the grounds and the revellers were already there en masse, from the look of a lot of the Saturday crowd, I was unsure if the rickshaw was actually an undercover Easy Jet flight that had dropped us outside Playa d'en Bossa rather than Bristol harbour, as we seemed to be surrounded by clubbers rather than the usual assortment of festival dwellers.

That is not to say that WTP didn't have its fair share of weird and wonderful as big bird and friends set up nest front and centre of the main stage and stayed there until the slightly disappointing finish time of 10:30pm (Council restrictions apparently forced the organisers to reschedule and cut acts to meet these curfews, much to the dismay of the ticket holders).

First set of the day for us was Dub Mafia, They kicked out a solid live set combining d'n'b, dub and world music, which had everyone dancing.

Next up was a surprisingly early set for Example. Being one of the biggest names at the festival, I had expected him to be one of the last acts of the night. In hindsight, the organisers made a good call as his set, while getting the crowd going would have looked mediocre at best compared to the night's headliners Chase and Status.

The general crowd reaction to Example was good, but being a fan of the days when he mocked the mainstream music industry, and watching him sing structured but none the less standard dance/pop songs like Watch the Sun Come Up or Wont go quietly left me despondent to say the least.

But Bristol legend DJ Derek renewed my spirits as we were taken through some old school reggae, dance hall, ska and soul.

I feel the need to mention that DJ Derek is 74 and of the old school style of DJing, Rather than the seamless mixes we get now, picture John Peel narrating stories or music history between tracks and you'll get the idea.

Interface (live) were in full swing when we arrived back at the main stage, blasting out some heavy bass lines over a mix of d'n'b and dub step with some world music rhythms thrown in for good measure.

Redlight & MC Dread followed with an equally heavy electro/afro-beat sound that had the crowd stomping.

Back to the tent and one of my festival highlights had to be seeing Modestep.

While I generally prefer the faster tempo of drum and bass, Modestep's Dark low-pass bass with melodic vocals had me hooked from the start and for the first time that day I felt that the Dance tent really lived up to its name.

For WTP they performed a DJ/Mc set but after a bit of research, I discovered that they go out as a live band, aiming to do for dub step, what Pendulum did for drum & bass. They will definitely be on my list for this summer's festival season.

(To further enhance the lengths the Saturday crowd were going to, after dragging ourselves away from the dance tent to see Annie Mac. We witnessed a girl produce a desktop sized adjustable mirror from her handbag and proceed to re-do her make-up, I was waiting for a new coating of tan to be applied but she seemed to give up when she couldn't find anywhere to plug in her GHDs. Either that or the friend she was using as a dressing table got fed up and wandered off to buy a burger and beer.)

I can't deny it, Chase & Status were the main reason I wanted to come to the festival as I have heard so many good things about their live show.

The fact that they were the only band to really get the full benefit of a light show only helped reinforce their reputation as one of the UK dance scenes heavyweight champions.

Their set of crowd-pleasing floor fillers were full of energy from the get go and my advice to anyone who gets the opportunity, is to go and see them.

There were a few points that I could go over with regards to the organisation, artist change overs etc but as It was a first for WTP I'm not going to bother whining, And despite the overcast weather, the crowd's energy and eagerness to party certainly made the day a success in my book.

All in all, it was a great day and we left to go and hunt down the after party, its there that my memory gets a little hazy, but that is a different story.

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