After a couple of days of overcast weather, the sun shone brightly on the fields of the Bluedot Festival causing a number of sun burnt casualties but no one was complaining as the festival returned for 2018 and Manchester’s own Chemical Brothers headlined the Lovell Stage for the final night of the festival and to debut their new UK show right there at Jodrell Bank.
The Chemical Brothers arrived on stage to rapturous applause and cheers and kicked straight into their set. Showcasing some of their earlier work to start with it provided a base ground to build upon and build upon it they did. By the time they hit “Hey Boy, Hey Girl”, which was relatively early on in the set, the crowd was in a state of higher consciousness. The hits kept on coming in the first half of the set with New Order’s Temptation and Star Guitar keeping the audience bouncing and whooping for more.
They second half of the set slowed down the pace slightly and the introduction of 2 giant robots on stage with lasers shooting out of their eyes, enhanced the performance but I found it brought the crowd down and slowed the pace of the show itself. The brothers redeemed themselves with the latter part of the show with tunes like Galvanize and Block Rocking beats bringing the set to an end.
Elsewhere in the day we had Hello Cosmos on at the Nebula stage bringing their indie, punk alternative cross to Bluedot. Led by Ben Robinson, who is actually a co-founder of Bluedot and Kendal Calling, they drew a sizeable crowd and with singles like “Raise the Dawn” they managed to enrapture the crowd and keep them.
Meanwhile on the Orbit stage the Acid Mothers Temple were providing festival goers with an experience into minimalist composition and ear shattering improvised music. A cacophony of sound emitted from the tent and there seemed to be no escape from it. A sensory overload on a unique scale.
Little Dragon on the Lovell stage provided a more relaxed and chilled vibe to the day. With their fourth album, Nabuma Rubberband, they have entered a turning point in their career. With slow jams and Prince-esque beats, it was the ideal set to just sit back and relax on the grass and allow the escapism of the music to take you away.