With an incredible two days already in the bag, Day 3 of Dumfries and Galloways coolest music festival, Electric Fields had a lot to live up to and it sure didn’t disappoint! A momentous weekend for what was the festival’s fifth birthday celebrations and one that was injected with excitement and love from the crowds who were 7,000 strong on Friday & Saturday.
For the third and final day, what was the BBC’s Vic Galloway Presents The Valley Stage on the Friday turned into the DiY Valley Stage on the Saturday, curated by the magazine itself. Opening for them on Saturday was Crystal, bringing back old school rock n roll to an already swelling crowd within the tent.
Glasgow’s LUCIA were up next with their garage-pop mixed with a bubblegum aesthetic, festival goers loved them.
Over at the Main Stage, Vida kicked off the day’s proceedings with their 90s Brit Pop inspired set followed by Paisley art-pop performers The Vegan Leather who went down a storm. Stanley Odd’s masterful blend of hip-hop and social commentary was nothing short of brilliant.
Elsewhere at the Neu Reekie! Stage, festival goers were treated to Scotland’s favourite avant-garde noise makers with Cat Hepburn and Victoria McNulty as standout performances, with fans queuing for Victoria to sign their copies of her book.
EF welcomes adults and kids alike, the Our Kids Electric area went down a real treat with with an abundance of family friendly entertainment on offer including dance parties, special music performances and a visit from the Body Works Tour from Glasgow’s Science Centre.
With the Cabaret Tent merging with the Cocktail Bar throughout the weekend, a refreshing beverage was never far away for the crowd that packed in to watch the top performers of Glasgow Burlesque Festival on the Saturday with music lovers also having their knowledge tested with Jukebox Bingo.
For EF, the festival is much about the setting with its gorgeous surroundings of Dumlanrig Castle, fondly nicked The Pink Palace there were installations dotted around the vibrant main arena in including a stunning hand made wooden wind mill. A colourful brass band players made its way through the arena kitted out in vibrant gold costumes who were not to be missed!
The Sneaky Pete’s stage, with a special new location on site nestled within the woods, made for a unique journey of discovery with Nightwave and Moxie closing the line-up on the Saturday to a packed dancefloor dancing under the lit up trees.
The Arc Stage’s Saturday line-up was jam packed with some of the best up and coming music out there just now including stand out performances from Pleasure Pool, Wuh Oh and Flamingods.
Back at the Main Stage Idlewild played a soaring set, opening with a cover of Frightened Rabbit’s Head Rolls Off, the words of which flowed through the crowds who sang along to every word, a mesmerising moment. Their 60 minute exhilarating performance saw guitarist Rod Jones careering around the stage and their loyal fan base loved every minute of it.
Public Service Broadcasting returned following a much talked about set in 2016. Incorporating samples of documentary footage beamed from the Main Stage and overlaying instrumental and electronic tracks made for an extraordinary performance.
DiY Valley Stage headliners Idles gave what was sure to be one of the performances of the weekend.They are often described as the band of of the moment and with their wild, visceral punk filled slot – they sure cemented themselves at the top of their class.
By the time Leftfield take to the Main Stage for their weekend headline slot, there was a palpable air of excitement within the crowd who are clearly rearing to go. From the first track, they whipped the full crowd into a frenzy with a mix of crunch dancefloor favourites and retrospective airings. Their performance culminated in a rounding applause from the audience with ring master Neil Barnes thanking the festival crowd and the collective of musician and artists who joined him on stage.
Across the weekend EF played host to a mix of big names and rising stars from across the musical spectrum and the non stop cheering from a packed field as Leftfield finished perfectly summed up what was truly an epic festival.
Co-festival director, Nick Roberts, said: “We are over the moon with the huge success of our fifth birthday celebrations across three days. Alex and I are so proud of our impressive team that operate like a well-oiled machine with the same goal to make sure that the audience and the bands have a fantastic festival experience. This year we showcased a new layout which went down very well. It allowed us to add more to the festival while at the same time showcasing the surrounding beauty of the estate, it was extra special having the castle as the backdrop to the main stage.”
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