Metronomy

“It’s great to be here on what is undoubtedly the most important weekend of our generation.”

SBTRKT

So said Metronomy’s Joseph Mount during the band’s consummate set of synth-backed electro pop on the Eat Your Own Ears stage.

It’s a thought most of the 30,000-odd-strong Field Day massive shared I’m sure – the ‘great to be here’ bit at least.

There was an excellent, eclectic bill this year, the festival’s sixth. The diverse sounds of everyone from post rock legends Tortoise to Cuban and Malian supergroup Afrocubism were joined by a mountain of dance music talent.

The sun even came out for a brief spell – it wasn’t an altogether glorious day and drizzle hit the closing stages, but somehow we escaped the sustained soakings blighting the rest of the Jubilee weekend.

Franz Ferdinand headlined the main stage at Field Day

Scottish beats maestro Rustie was an early highlight of the quality line up in the Bugged Out! tent, the place exploding as a choppy rework of Adam F’s Circles segued into the original’s drum ‘n’ bass break.

Afrocubism filled the Village Mentality stage with a busy arrangement of horns, percussion and salsa vibes before the high-pitched stylings of Grimes drew the crowds.

It’s a perennial problem with festivals that the bands you want to see inevitably fall at the same time, a problem that is amplified at a one-dayer with such a consistently strong bill; there was little time to enjoy the quirky touches, the village green and fairground rides, between performances.

But SBTRKT was a must for many, the Bugged Out! tent bursting at the seams. There were brief issues with the equipment – “Sorry about that, we seem to have blown the power,” – which only stoked the excitement before a triumphant, dubstep-tinged set. As we took cover from a sodden Franz Ferdinand finale on the main stage, Berlin dance duo Modeselektor put in another thumping turn to close the day out.

Whatever your feelings about the importance of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, joining the throng in Victoria Park was a great way to kick-start the party.

Four stars

* Field Day was at Victoria Park on Saturday, June 2.