Review: Sunday at Wild Life

Photo: Wild Life Credit: Liam Simmons

This year saw the debut of a new festival in Brighton, curated by UK dance royalty Disclosure and Rudimental. Taking over the fields of Brighton’s City Airport for a two day bonanza of world renowned artists, animal themed memorabilia and unavoidable grass stains; Wild Life hit the UK festival scene with an unforgettable bang.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather to lounge around in a field, and feeling the effects from Saturday’s Field Day in London; it was all we intended to do. Travelling from London Bridge to Brighton, we took another train to Shoreham­-By-­Sea before finding ourselves in the midst of a field with hundreds of other festival goers.

The disparity between newcomers and weekend ticket owners was clear, with a sea of Wild Life hoodies, tired eyes and bottles in hand trekking through the grass. We were greeted by a marching mardi gras complete with inflatable giraffes, marching drums and a surprise appearance from Manchester based brass band Twisted Tubes.

From animal masks and face paints to sax players serenading the crowd, the parade itself was worth waking up for. Familiarising ourselves with the multiple tents and stages as we followed the parade, we found ourselves at the main stage to catch the end of Lapsley, who sent the crowd into a trance with her hypnotic live performance of ‘Painter’ (above), before finishing in true Merseyside style and demanding the crowd had a “fucking sick time”.

Annie Mac was hands down the highlight of the day, with Redlight’s '9TS' (below) sending the crowd into a frenzy. Manchester’s Warehouse Project were the method behind the madness at the WHP Presents stage; bringing Eats Everything, Seth Troxler and Jackmaster along for the ride.

Disclosure opened with ‘White Noise’ before smashing through the top tracks from their 2013 album Settle. Whether you love or hate them, we can’t say we've ever seen two people have that much of an impact on a crowd before. As soon as ‘Latch’ began, an infestation of festival goers we had no idea existed, ran from one side of the field to the other to join the main stage’s crowd.

Also playing new tracks from their upcoming album Caracal including ‘Holding On’ featuring Gregory Porter live, the duo brought new meaning to the term ‘crowd pleasing’. After their main performance, they continued for a closing set at the Night Tales tent in the VIP guest area.

All round, we had a really positive experience of Wild Life; and certainly not the last. The cost of using your card in one of the cash machines was way too pricey, but luckily London's Patty & Bun burger vans were on hand to provide the ultimate meat feast with no minimum card spend.

Wild Life ticked all the boxes on Sunday, with our urges for a culminating experience met. Having already expressed their wishes to take the event worldwide, Rudimental and Disclosure aren’t far from breaking WL globally. An impressive debut for a festival and the first of many.

Follow Louisa on Twitter: @luluunewton

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