Going Out Of 'Left Field' at Field Day 2016
The headliners don't always make a festival special. At this year's Field Day, we picked out three of the more low key artists who impressed us on the day.
It was an absolutely beautiful day for FIELD DAY this year, with not a single cloud in sight. Upon arrival at the festival gates, punters were immediately greeted by unusually friendly security guards who were encouraging people to smile - a commendable gesture which ensured a positive beginning.
It is not always the headliners who make a festival special. Although the majority would unsurprisingly label Disclosure as their highlight, we decided to dig deeper, to talk about some of the more low key acts who we were particularly impressed by this year. These artists all had something in common, they performed before 7pm on the very shady and intimate Left Field stage (pictured above), which is the second smallest of the festival. This stage is known for its rather niche line ups, as opposed to the bigger draw cards on the other two main stages.
Previous years we've seen some incredible sets at this location by Late Of The Pier (2009), Trentemoller (2011), Jamie xx (2014), Todd Terje (2014), as well as Fred Falke (2010), who even had people running over from the other stages following their closure, to see what all the fuss was about. I will never forget the amazing vibe when Falke performed his timeless remix of The Whitest Boy Alive's 'Golden Cage'.
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This year, the Left Field stage played host to a diverse range of acts such as Boys Noize, Snakehips, Luke Million, Com Truise, Daniel Avery, Set Mo and many more. The following artists were not only our highlights of that particular stage, but also of the entire festival.
After witnessing Com Truise's excellent live performance at Goodgod in late 2014, I was eager to head into the festival early for a second dosage. Backed up by visuals consisting of what appeared to be interactive versions of his album artworks, he played his signature style of futuristic bass music, including his killer tracks 'Open' and 'Futureworld', to a well up for it crowd. Bringing out the best and worst of dancers, his music was (as always) so on point that he had many people moving around at 2:30pm, which isn't an easy time to find motivation the day after New Years Eve.
SETH TROXLER
Emerging in a typical Seth t-shirt displaying the words "I <3 Touch", Mr Troxler had the crowd in the palm of his hands from start to finish and was an entertaining sight to see on stage. Early in his set, it was obvious he was feeding off the audience having a great time and he was often seen smiling at party goers as he discovered their silly antics. With a great track selection, professional mixing ability and a real "show man" type appearance on stage, Seth Troxler played the perfect late afternoon set, ensuring the crowd was hyped for the headliners to follow.
THE AVENER
The biggest surprise of the day was without a doubt the French deep house artist The Avener. It wasn't clearly specified anywhere whether he'd be playing live or DJing so we just assumed the latter, but after he stepped foot on stage it was obviously not the case, as a smorgasbord of electronic equipment could be seen behind the mixing desk. The Avener showed an impressive amount of energy on stage as he progressed his way through live renditions of his reworks including 'Lonely Boy' (The Black Keys) and the instant classic 'Fade Out Lines' (Phoebe Killdeer & The Short Straws). I knew very little about him before his performance, but he certainly proved he is an artist we should all be keeping an eye out for in 2016 and beyond.
Words by Tony Kingston
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