As I approached the Flemington Racecourse, the clouds darkened and gradually the rain began to fall. Heavier and heavier it got as I stood bouncing along with the rest of the crowd to mixes provided by the veteran Grant Smilie. As good as he was, I couldn't help but notice the murmur of anticipation that surrounded me. Sudden swigs from previously-concealed Smirnoff flasks, frequent glances to the unrevealing stage and shrieks of excitement from girls who looked somewhat more like oompa-loompas than people.
When Ke$ha finally strutted onto the stage, the crowd erupted and for the rest of her set, remained in a state of drunken awe. It didn't matter that her microphone was barely switched on and her singing was masked by that of her backing vocalists. It didn't matter that her gold underwear seemed, at times, to be only millimetres away from revealing her own 'blah blah blah'. And it certainly didn't matter that her finale consisted of about a dozen apparently-random members of her entourage, dancing around dressed as nuns, brides and giant male appendages. Her audience knew every word to every song and they were in the presence of one of the world's biggest pop sensations. What else could they ask for?
After Ke$ha's performance, the rest of the day felt comparatively rather dull, although Pendulum and MGMT both played impressive sets. Dizzee Rascal was also entertaining as always, but his lack of new material was somewhat noticeable. The highly-anticipated Chemical Brothers amazed me more with their lighting and visual effects than their actual music.
To their credit, the organisers did a great job under the circumstances. There was a large security and police presence, the lines for toilets, food stalls and bars weren't outrageously long and the layout of the event definitely worked. It was a shame for them, if anything, that the rain put such a dampener on the day.
This year was my first attending Future Music Festival and I suppose the main difference I noticed between this and other festivals was that the artists were largely electronically-dependent. Of course this was to be expected, but it did mean that, for the most part, there wasn't a great deal to actually watch. You could listen and dance to the music, and of course this is important, but there were few crazy performances, outrageous costumes or inappropriately humourous artist-crowd interactions. Sometimes these are the things that make the day most memorable.
See you in the crowd!
S
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