Live Review: Field Day

The sun was shining at boutique venue The Domain and everyone was keen to dance their way into 2015 at Sydney’s biggest outdoor party. 

To kick off the New Year Acaddamy was up first on Centre stage, having the task of hyping up the weary post-New Year's crowd. He spun some club classics to put us in the mood, but most revellers took advantage of the ample amount of shade around The Domain to rest for later acts. The left stage was favoured early on and into the afternoon for its positioning close to the shade and chairs, which also became the main appeal of the Red Bull Academy stage. 

Beat-maker Kilter began to pull the crowd out of their slumber by spinning some killer remixes of the last year’s biggest club hits. Unfortunately for the Island stage, the music from Centre stage was bleeding into all the artists' sets due to the smallness of the venue, but this didn't deter Australian first-timer Charlotte OC from sharing her ethereal vocals and minimalist style with the small crowd. Although her vocal delivery and passion bewitched, she lacked the engagement to really draw in an early festival crowd. 

Come 2pm and festivalgoers were keen to get the party started and energetic, Aussie hip hoppers Thundamentals were just what they ordered. These guys had such a big 2014 and it's because they really knowing how to work the crowd in their live show — insisting we took our fists and made peace signs during Got Love, and we did. Paying homage to triple j, they played their (Like A Version) cover of Brother, dedicating it to everyone’s ex-lovers, pleasing the crowd. They cruised through Smiles Don’t Lie and topped off their excellent set with Something That I Said.

English folk Glass Animals injected just the right amount of groove into their afternoon set. They commanded our attention from start to finish with their hypnotic, R&B sound forcing our bodies to move and shake, and the silky smooth vocals and goofy antics of vocalist Dave Bayley keeping our eyes glued to the stage. Two songs in they hash out hit Gooey that the crowd laps up and begs for more, only to be treated to percussive Hazey and slow burning Toes, which Bayley dedicated to those with a foot fetish - note: he was wearing only socks on stage. Kanye West cover Love Lockdown sends the crowd nuts as Bayley hops off stage and into the crowd, before saying their final and appreciative goodbyes with an excellent performance of Pools.

German hitmakers Milky Chance infused some fun into the festival, kicking off with recent hit Stunner and following it up with Flashed Junk Mind, keeping the bass pumping and the generous turnout happily singing and dancing. Clemens Rehbein vocals sound exactly the same live as they do on record - whether this is a good or bad thing is up to you - and there is no denying that the duo know how to write hits. They top off their set with one of the biggest songs of 2014, and ultimate crowd pleaser, Stolen Dance.

The festival was in full swing and at full capacity by this point making it almost impossible to get anywhere close to centre stage where Peking Duk (pictured) were absolutely smashing it. They were sampling music from a variety of genres and eras in addition to their own hits, which the massive crowd were getting down and dirty to. Hip hop supergroup One Day had a much smaller but rather enthusiastic crowd, which was met with the same level of enthusiasm and appreciation by the group. The collective nailed it on all fronts, they were energetic, encouraged the crowd to put their hands up and join in, and delivered each song cohesively. Set highlights were SDRO and a mash-up that featured songs from each member’s acts that included a freestyle verse about Field Day and Jackie Onasiss’ Crystal Ballin’, before closing with infectious Love Me Less. 

Rufus took over centre stage with their tropical indie-electro tunes, utilising a number of instruments to take their tracks from great to extraordinary in their live show. Despite having toured ATLAS to death, the crowd still went wild for their set, mustering all the energy they could to dance to tracks Sundream, Take Me, Like A Version cover My Number and extended set closer Desert Night. After this it seemed revelers' energy levels were dipping, with some giving up entirely and heading home as the venue began to empty slightly. But for the many that stayed, they were treated to a flawless set by Bastille (pictured) that included an awesome light show. Being what one could call the only rock band on the line-up, the four-piece owned it. The crowd loved '90s medley Of The Night and, of course, massive hit Pompeii ended their set with a bang. 

Alt-J had to compete with Dillion Francis for both sound and crowd attention, with many choosing to move on by halfway through the set. The band sounded brilliant but they just had no vibe, and it didn't help that their music is hard to dance to. They stood in a line playing track after track accompanied by an amazing light show, with set highlights including Something Good, Tessellate, Every Other Freckle and set closer Breezeblocks. 

Field Day was marred by having only one free water station (that this reviewer could find) and sound bleed between the stages. However, this can be forgiven for the stellar line-up.