Creamfields 2004 Review

Creamfields 2004 Review image

Saturday 28th August Bank Holiday Weekend
Old Liverpool Airfield, Speke, Merseyside, 3pm - 6am

Having attempted the 6-8 hour drive from Brighton straight up to Liverpool before, the opportunity to stay at a mate’s in Sheffield over the weekend was much appreciated and quickly snapped up. Feeling fully refreshed on the big day was always going to help our stamina test of northern clubbing about to ensue.

Inside we caught a glimpse of the overly dressed, thong-brandishing funky fools the Cuban Bros kicking around with MTV… We wave hello (whilst protecting our privates with one hand from unwanted groping) and headed to the security blanket of Judge Jules on the Radio 1 stage to warm us up! A few Jayne Wonder style stretches to ‘Adagio For Strings’ by Tiesto and a fresh ATN Remix of Safri Duo’s ‘Rise’ and we were well on our way.

The rollin trance continued with Dutch jock (DJ) Ferry Corsten securing the radio guest spot mix as well as a special feature in the recently released Cream DVD! High-beamed energy blasts all around with tracks like ‘R.E.S.P.E.C.T’ by Push, Airwave’s ‘Last Flight To Gaia’ and finishing off with his own, very cool ‘It’s Time’ on Positiva!

Over to the Essential Mix arena for the host Pete Tong to give his very own welcome set, it did just that. Carl Kennedy’s massive 'The Love You Bring Me' and Michael Gray’s ‘The Weekend’ got everyone smiling from ear to ear in another memorable Tong mix. Just outside a phat-as-you-like 1973 pimped out Gurn.com bus compact with DJ’s hanging out the roof and all was blaring a wicked selection of anthems from all genres, old skool, drum & bass, house, trance, attracting a good 100 plus bodies for most of the duration.

Over on the main stage the anticipation of the oober electro freaks Scissor Sisters, had the crowd it’s very own ‘tits out’ competition being filmed for the big screens - result! Talking of lovely fairy cushions, a Dolly Parton sounding re-edit plays as they finally come on, all camped up. As a man walks past me dressed a large banana, I realise there’s a full moon out tonight, explains a thing or two round here.

Beach balls fly about in air to the sound of some electronic punk with heavy guitars riffs before the female vocalist grabs the mic, and during a retro loving speech screams ‘You are all from disco’! Pumping up the funk, they continue with ‘Laura’ and ‘Comfortably Numb’ getting all 8000 odd members of the audience clapping and shouting!

A brief stomp to US dons Deep Dish, with their recent massive success ‘Flash Dance’ getting another huge festival response… Dashing back for the almighty Chemical Brothers, ‘Hey Boy, Hey Girl’ was being blasted out across the open field, the sky pierced with lasers and crazy graphic equalisers lighting the night sky. Their live improvising skills combine infamous block rockin’ beats such as ‘Out Of Control’ with extra hypnotic chemical sounds and groovy 70’s riffs leaving us all searching for that continued high.

As the brilliant Brazilian Marky is ripping it up in the Chibuku Shake Shake tent, the Subliminal Sessions CEO Mr Morillo is getting all sexed up. Techy, chunky flavours with upfront classics like Eric Pryde’s ‘Call On Me’ again reaction, reaction for Erick.

No rest for the wicked as we bounce along to Van Burren in the Cream Goodgreef arena in association with Mixmag, he scored the highly respectable No 3 Top DJ in the world by DJ Mag’s Top 100 last year and it’s easy to see why he’s so popular. Talking of Mr ‘peoples choice’ Paul Oakenfold was next to grace the decks, always a pleasure and never a chore to catch his deep and melodic classic festival sets.

Keeping the vibe alive, Paul Van Dyk takes control as the whistle and horns posse show their undying appreciation! By this time the crowd were going so wild, sweat started dripping from the inflatables on the ceiling!

In the wee small hours we headed for Audio Bullys, always one of the most energy filled sets of the nights I was buzzing at the thought… Just as they started laying in to it, someone started laying in to me - well sort of! I felt a blow to my lower kidneys at the bottom of my back, I yelped a little and turned around expecting to get an apology off someone - oh no, instead I’m faced with a drugged up scally taking the piss and laughing with his mates (up to 8 or 9 of them). While I was mentally digesting what had just taken place (I had just been punched in the back for no reason whatsoever?), Suzie grabbed my hand and we walked out of the tent. I felt considerably lucky that I hadn’t just received a massive kicking off a bunch of scallys for no f*cking reason! ARGH - what a nightmare!

Needless to say this brought us down a peg or two and brought the end to a premature close. Quite unbelievable though it may seem there are actually a small minority within our scene, who are quite frankly tw*ts. Unfortunately I will always look back on Creamfields 2004 as the festival where I was assaulted for no apparent reason, this doesn't of course happen to everyone - but it happened to me. I have a duty to report it.