The overhanging air of ‘backout bands’ loomed over the showgrounds, casting a ‘not so complete festival’ vibe over the day. With headliners The Killers backing out and Friendly Fires reduced to a DJ set, Good Vibrations had left the crowd with an “I’ll take it” vibe.

Early on, Art vs. Science energised the sun-soaked younger festivalgoers who appreciated the played-out pop tune, Parlez vous francais? Salt N Pepa are getting on, but they can still put on a show. That’s not to say it’s a great show, but it certainly had nostalgic value. The girls bounced around onstage in some odd, rap-mash-up way, stopping singing ocassionally as the DJ changed beats. It all seemed to confuse the audience.

Disappointed, we left for Dave Seaman. This was the best decision of the day, as a good dance was necessary and a top-class DJ playing during daylight hours is rare. This veteran played a great set, got into the music and was involved in the crowd. Everyone seemed into it and the tent had a great vibe. Dave Seaman is a master of the decks.

Naughty by Nature tried another nostalgic attempt and made the crowd hip hop and hooray, but were overall bland. Also having them on the Roots stage made it difficult to get a good vantage point, especially for the vertically challenged. Armand Van Helden played to the crowd with technical precision, but was almost mechanical in his approach. The talented DJ gave the pop crowd what they wanted, but left out the bang for some of the more deep-seeking music fans.

After a brief debate over Busta Rhymes vs. Plump DJs, a decision to kill it to some breaks was made and our journey took us to the Laundry room. Tag-teaming like world champions, they treated the crowd to a plethora of beats to tear up the grass with. The boys involved the crowd, while providing no shortage of technical proficiency.

Z-Trip is a mash-up kid from the States who somehow mixed very different tracks together extremely well. However, for some reason, after building up a great sounding mash-up, he chose the less involving of the tracks to bring to the forefront and lost most people’s interest. Chase & Status then showed us the basis of drum and bass and dupstep. The live performance was something to behold, with the massive, all-encompassing drum set-up. We left Chase & Status with a good feeling but wanted a proper dance to end off the day.

Enter Chuckie. After hearing nothing but “You gotta see him”, we were not disappointed. We were treated to exactly what you want as a finisher – that is, some cheese, some pop, some dirty tunes and in the end, something to boogie to. Chuckie delivered the goods when the goods were needed.