Festival Preview: Field Day

Tuesday 1st May 2012

Victoria Park, 2nd June 2012.

The thing I bloody love about Field Day is that you know you’re going to get an excellent line up. The attention to detail is the best it could be – and so it should be, with promoters Eat Your Own Ears on board.

The idea is still to stick with a ‘Village Fete’ mentality, and it’s royally themed this year – what with a certain member of the UK royal family having been on the throne for a good long time and us all getting a bank holiday in honour of it. Think winkle picking contests, head of state coconut shy and pin the lead on the corgi.

With pretty much all the new acts I want to see this year on one lineup, it’s hard to know where to start if I’m honest. Perhaps with Kindness, who’s filtering classic disco sounds into current pop songs that sound utterly modern. Or Jessie Ware, who, as they’re fond of saying on TV talent shows, could probably sing the phone book and it would sound great. Helps if you have Julio Bashmore producing your songs though (oh, and he’ll be stopping by too)…:

The inimitable Grimes, whose odd vocals and danceable beats have to be heard to be believed, will definitely make my day.

With Franz Ferdinand closing out the weekend and the one-off performance of Afrocubism (folks behind the Buena Vista Social Club working with Malian artists) bringing some international vibes to the event. Oh and did I mention Metronomy? And Beirut?

I don’t even know what else to say, guys. Check out the line up for yourself. Hey Queen, looks like someone’s trying to outdo your birthday party over here!

This year’s Field Day takes place at Victoria Park, London, 2nd June 2012. Tickets are £45 and are available online and at selected record shops and pubs.