Photo: Kylie Keene

Those of us keen enough to wait at the gates for this year’s Summafieldayze are a little unlucky; the wind and rain has turned The Spit into an outdoor washing machine drenching everyone – including the crew who are still furiously putting up shelter in the moments before the event.

Luckily, garbage bag ponchos were only fashionable for the first moments of the festival; punters quickly had the chance to venture to the outdoor Summadayze and Field Day stages and check out the likes of Scott Walker and Ember respectively – both are giving the well-tuned sound systems a good shake.

A sticking point for some is the no-show of Eric Prydz, presumably stuck on land somewhere in Europe due to his fear of flying. Why he decided to make his maiden flight a long-haul trip to Australia I’ll never know, but trance fans are happy as the Summadayze stage instead hosts extended tenures of Dutch stars Ferry Corsten and Armin Van Buuren, both producing crowd-pleasing sets. Paris Hilton’s cameo appearance on-stage during Corsten’s performance has tongues wagging; some over the surprise of her appearance, others possibly because she’s not much of a dancer.

Though they’re certainly in a different class to the bulk of the music at the festival, Underworld still managed to draw both long-time fans and curious punters to the Summadayze stage. The sequin-jacketed Karl Hyde is a whirlwind of energy; twirling a camera around for the big stage screens, together with instruments and computer monitors all facing towards the crowd, it provides transparency for, and interaction with, the audience.

It still doesn’t look like they’ve completely sorted the outgoing transport as organisers attempt to block outgoing pedestrian access in favour of the eighth wonder of the world – the Summafieldayze bus queue. And, you just might be better off buying your own portaloo next year. But of course, the day isn’t going to be remembered for little annoyances like that.

SCOTT HARMS

Be first to comment on this article

Write Comment
Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*