Saturday 06/08/11 Field Day @ Victoria Park, London

Since its inception in 2007 Field Day has been besieged with problems with everything from sound issues to availability of toilets angering the festival goers. This year promised one of the strongest line ups of the summer season with the best in forward thinking, exciting music on a bill positively bloated with stellar names. Only one nagging doubt stood out ahead of the impressive bill however: What will go wrong this year?

The answer was obvious upon arrival with the sheer volume of people on site having been increased to uncomfortable level, as a tent packed the the brim for Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti early afternoon set testified. Though peeped from a distance, 'Before Today' cuts such as the inimitable 'Round & Round' impress and show there is more to Ariel's talents than sort of inventing chillwave. Similarly impressive were Louisiana newcomers Givers. Their perky brand of indie pop got a tiny tent bouncing especially to song of the Summer contender 'Up Up Up'. Zola Jesus was the first of many to suffer at the hands of playing a tent with barely the capacity of a portaloo however, packing out the Bloggers Delight stage from front to back and then some. Whether Nika Danilova needs a cavernous stage to match her bellowing vocals remains to be seen, but this up close and personal look into her forthcoming second album was patchy, despite being genuinely impressive in parts.

The over crowding inevitably led to a slow trudge between stages and the eternal albatross around Field Day's neck of long queues for amenities. However, none of the issues were more frustrating than a flaccid set from Jamie Woon who could not even get feet tapping during the normally excellent 'Night Air'. Far better came from James Blake however, who, after batting technical faults, delivered a floor shaking set including the heartbreak wobble of 'I Never Learnt To Share' and 'CMYK'.

Warpaint provided the soundtrack to the sun setting over Victoria Park, wowing with hypnotic renditions of their psychedelic pop. Often indulgent in their own live shows, the time restrictions of a festival slot prune the excess from the bands set, leaving nothing but golden perfection. The Horrors and Wild Beasts headlined their respective stages with the latter providing a warmth and heart that the former can't quite match. More technical problems dogged The Horrors set but, ever the fighters, they come out swinging with new album highlight 'I Can See Through You' dominating. It is Wild Beasts who end the day with a kiss though, slowly seducing their audience with a set comprising their three brilliantly individual albums. This years 'Smother' is pillaged for the slinky 'Bed Of Nails' and the yearning croon of 'Lions Share'.

Crowding and queueing can be frustrating but as we watch a band of four misfits from the Lake District headline a major festival with songs as weird and wonderful as 'Devil's Crayon' and 'Hooting and Howling' we can't help feel that Field Day is edging ever closer to the moan-free success it desires.

Field Day Festival 2011 - Photos