Festival review: Creamfields 2012

Skiddle braved the downpours to attend this year's ill-fated Creamfields, which was called off on the Sunday due to flooding. Still, at least we had a good time on the Saturday.

Jayne Robinson

Date published: 4th Sep 2012

There was rain, and mud, and lots of it! This didn’t dim the party spirit throughout Friday and Saturday, but as we all know - and with great regret, Sunday was a complete washout.

Creamfields had once again come up with the one of the best dance music line ups in the world this year, and if you’re into house music, this was the place to be this summer.

Whilst most people rose in the early hours of Saturday morning to get down for the 7am campsite opening, those keen for a good tent pitch and eager to get the party started early headed down on Friday night for the silent disco.

Saturday morning, and the campsite was buzzing in anticipation. Did anyone care about the mud? Not when the main stages kicked into action. With those beautiful, uplifting tunes and a crowd of 10,000 people all moving as one to the beat, nothing else mattered. With such a vast choice of tents and DJs, it was just a question of where to go first.

A good set to get us in the zone was Thomas Gold in the ‘Fire It Up’ Arena. Not a new DJ, but definitely becoming big at the moment judging by the size of the crowds. On the Cream stage, his brother Ben was following in his footsteps, playing big tunes of the summer like ‘Hell Yea’ by Tiesto and Showtek. Another popular act that definitely had everyone buzzing was Afrojack on the North stage, a must-see after reports of an amazing set last year.

To shelter from the weather the crowds flocked into the many tents, and those who wanted a break from the house headed to the Radio One Extra tent to see Drum and Bass legend Andy C with MC GQ. Rudimental’s recent chart success made him a huge hit, packing out the tent, with more big names to follow such as prominent dubstep producers Skream and Skrillex. It was acts like these that gave the festival more appeal to those not addicted to the house music.

Late afternoon saw many people back at the campsites, stocking up on alcohol and food to keep them raving until 4am. The great thing for aficionados of dance music is that Creamfields gives you so much choice, and as none of it is miles apart, you can simply wander through each tent or stage, listening to many different acts in a short space of time.

As late afternoon turned into evening the big guns sprang into action, with Judge Jules getting the crowd fired up in the Cream tent, playing a lot of harder tunes than the trance he would normally be associated with. For those who wanted to hear chart anthems, Example was the place to be on the North stage, playing some of his classics like ‘Midnight Run’ and ‘Stay Awake’. There was plenty more to come with Guetta on the same stage, who, instead of banging out the hits, played a lot of uplifting house which helped to get the crowd pumping as night fell and the rain kept coming!

One of the most popular and best acts of the evening was Guetta’s main competition, Avicii. This 23 year old - another successful dance producer from Sweden - has had a rollercoaster ride to fame, and everyone anticipated him putting everything into his set. He did not disappoint, finishing off with his major success ‘Levels’ and more surprisingly, ‘Zombie Nation’ as an encore.

11 p.m. saw the fans piling back in the tents in an effort to dry off a little, after snatching one of the reasonably priced drinks from the bar and getting in on lesser know acts such as An21 & Max Vangelli and Matt Zo. After announcing their break up, it was not surprising that either one of the SHM trio would be eagerly anticipated. With this in mind, thousands packed into the Size Matters tent ready for an awesome set delivered by Steve Angello. The sound system and the lighting across the board was faultless, as good as any festival or club in the world - reach for the lasers, especially in the Cream tent, where they were immense!

Not many acts were left after 3am, so we had the choice of heading back to the camp site in the now torrential downpour or staying and checking out, amongst others, Loadstar - playing some interesting, almost dubstep house and DnB, if that is possible. By the end rivers were flowing into the tents and people were thinking about swimming rather than walking back. It was bad last year, but this year the weather really had hit hard.

11 am Sunday morning saw the site bathed in beautiful sunshine, but two week’s worth of rain in one night forced the organisers to call a halt to proceedings. Looking at the mess the rain had caused it was not surprising. Disappointment for all, but the Saturday had been immense and it would not dull people’s enthusiasm to attend future festivals - and pray for better weather next time.