Another one of the wonderful music gigs at the end of a long line of festivals this summer. Great fun, but different to all the others? Unless you are a great fan of one of the Dj’s at FOM I think it’s a case of ‘different ingredients, same curry’(it was hot after all!). The DJ’s were all up to it, but I still think that the people, with some exceptions of course, are attracted more to the individual songs played than the full set.

At the Smirnoff tent was a line-up that should be crowned: a nice mixture of flavours blended in with the heat pulsating from the centre of the tent.

Smirnoff tent
12-1pm Adam Kelly
1-2pm Riot in Belgium
2-3pm Serge Santiago
3-4pm DJ Falcon
4-5pm Ali B
5-6pm Rex the Dog
6-7pm Oliver Huntemann + Xenia Beliayeva
7-8.30pm Sebastien Leger
8.30-10pm Fedde Le Grand

I unfortunately missed Adam Kelly and got there at the end of the Riot in Belgium set, just in time to see the duo famous for their “Acid Never Lies” track. They seemed energetic, comfortable and professional but unfortunately there was a somewhat lack-of -audience to appreciate their talents.

Next up was suave Serge Santiago, DJ and producer from the UK, most famous for his remixes, of which he played a few as the gardens starting slowly filling up. Following this was a more funky-styled Stephane Queme aka DJ Falcon from Le France, followed by Ali B and Rex the Dog. To the untrained dance-music listener their styles all blended in together, and I found myself feeling a little bit lost in this world that is dance music.

As the evening pressed on, the style seemed to get a bit more what I would call ‘electro’ and ‘simplistic’ starting with techno wizzes Oliver Huntemann and Xenia Beliayeva. Xenia, quoted to be ‘one of the most up-and-coming female dj’s’ in 2006, was a breath of fresh air in partnership with Huntemann, and the crowd just kept lapping up the atmosphere. Later, Sebastien Leger made his appearance, playing some of his own classic remixes.

As the evening started cooling down, so did the crowd, however, in the more mellow atmosphere, the ‘buzz’ did not die down…everyone was eagerly anticipating what would turn out to be the festival favourite: Fedde Le Grand.

I was pleasantly surprised by Fedde: after being so hyped up on the radio over the past few months, I thought he would lose a little popularity as people became a little sick of being made to ‘put their hands up for Detroit’. However, he kept in style and pulled through a very consistent set, showing he has much more up his sleeve than most people would have given him credit for. Why he, who I would have thought would have been one of the headliners, was playing in this smaller tent was beyond me! Unfortunately after nicking out to the toilet I could not get back in the tent, but I could hear that the rest of the set went smoothly and was more than well received by the