Back to Hyde Park, and in 24 hours, the weather had changed completely from nice to utterly awful, with huge black clouds looming overhead to make it almost completely dark at 5pm.
Nevertheless, I made it into the venue in time to see The Others start their set - although they fairly obviously played their normal indoor set, with the music only stopping once or twice, it had nothing like the same effect outdoors - with much of the sound getting lost by the wind swirling around the venue, and the distance between crowd and band too great for any interaction.
Soulwax had been promoted from the tent to the main stage, as the billed "Special Guests" did not materialise, presumably because of a lack of budget to book anybody else! They played for 45 minutes, but struggled to keep the interest of the audience for all that time - a set for more committed Soulwax fans only!
After Soulwax, there was a decision to make - whether to watch 2 Many DJs in the tent, or brave Babyshambles on the main stage. I took the 2 Many DJs option, and made my way into the already heaving tent, where Ladytron had just started playing. During the wait for Babyshambles outside, it started teeming with rain, which sent hundreds of people towards the tent trying to get in. Unfortunately , the bouncers wouldn't let anybody else in, which was slightly irritating for anybody that needed to step outside the tent for the toilet, being completely unable to get back inside.
Not waiting for Babyshambles seemed to be the wise move, they showed up 45 minutes late, and played for only around 25 minutes - less than a minute for every £1,000 they had reportedly been paid, with Pete apparently looking at his most strung out and useless.
2 Many DJs are well known for playing amazing DJ sets, mixing rock and dance music together into a compelling new sound. At Glastonbury a couple of years ago, I saw them play a set that bowed to the Indie kids in the audience, and had some great riffs in it. Not so this time, with a predominantly dance set, and comparatively few moments of rock mixed in.
Kasabian came on and it started raining!! They sounded good, but the wind was blowing the sound around far too much, and the PA wasn't loud enough to contend. A great set, but the weather was just too awful to make it really go off with a bang - a real shame because it wasn't the band's fault.
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