Pukkelpop 2010

[Semprini]

Friday 20th August

I didn't manage to make it to breakfast (for the second year running on Friday morning!) but we still were on site by about 12.30pm which wasn't too bad. This was, however, too late to catch Airship and Villagers but we consoled ourselves with a few beers and settled in at the Main Stage for Kate Nash. She had picked up some kind of disco injury to her wrist (which was in a cast) so wasn't as involved in the music as normal but still put in a solid set. Her boyfriend from the Cribs came on to play the guitar for the last song which was very valiant of him!

I'd moaned a bit about the line up in the Boiler Room prior to the festival but I couldn't wait to see Riva Starr so we hot footed it across the field in time for the start of his set. The familiar rumbling bass and rolling kick drums greeted us as we got near the tent and, although the crowd was quite small, the atmosphere was superb and he didn't disappoint. I did nip off to see a bit of the Cribs in between (mainly to catch the legend that is Johnny Marr) and was surprised to see Riva Starr was still playing when I got back. Turns out Nero never made it so I headed back over to the Main Stage (via We Have Band in the Dance Hall) for White Lies. I completely missed them back in 2008 when they played in the Chateau but they certainly stepped up to the task of playing outdoors on the Main Stage this time round. The new tracks were well received but it was (predictably) 'old' favourites like 'Death', 'Farewell to the Fairground' and my own personel favourite 'E.S.T' that moved the sizeable crowd the most.

I tried to compensate for my excessive drinking over the weekend by moving between the stages as quickly as I could so it was time for another 'sprint' over to the Dance Hall for Magnetic Man. They were one of the revelations of the festival in 2009 (Skream and Benga both also played solo DJ sets in 2007 and 2008 respectively) so they were welcomed back like returning heroes. Unfortunately the LED square was having a night off but the tunes more than made up for it. 'I need air' was obviously the highlight but everything they played went down well, which was the case with all the Dubstep that was played across the site during the weekend.

Aside from a couple of deviations, I spent the rest of the night in and around the Dance Hall. Major Lazer created an excellent atmosphere but it was basically Diplo mixing on CDJ's and Skerrit Bwoy and a female vocalist singing over the top, rather than a full live band (no sign of Switch either?!?!?). I had to sack off Hot Chip to catch some of Aeroplane, who was excellent but played to a criminally small crowd in the Boiler - there must have been 2/300 people in there . Maybe it was just me but the Boiler didn't seem to have the same feel to it as previous years - I went in the next day to see Renaissance Man and the crowd was even smaller

As night drew in, all roads led to the Main Stage and the Prodigy. I love this band and they did deliver on the night, but no more than that. Coming on nearly 20 minutes late didn't obviously help raise the set to epic proportions, primarilly because the old school medley they usually end on was sadly cut. The crowd was massive, with mosh pits kicking off all over the place, and in that respect it was great but I would have liked the full set they were billed for.

I caught bits of Beach House, Four Tet and the xx before it was time to get back over to the Dance Hall for Plastikman. Having watched clips online prior to the festival I knew nothing over the weekend would touch this visually but that didn't prepare me for the aural assault that was to follow. From the first bassline to the last, Richie Hawtin (and it was only him!) smashed the place to pieces. Coming out from behind the LED cage at the end, he fulfilled the role of headliner to the hilt and sent everyone home happy with the feeling that they had witnessed something special. It was always going to be hard to top that but I made my way to the Chateau for Holy f**k who were the perfect ending to another crazy day at Pukkelpop

Edited October 16, 2010 by Semprini