My Chemical Toilet

In-Tents Questioning: Field Day – Laura La Rue

Our latest festivalee likes to keep a bit of a low profile and has more than a passing resemblance to an L.A. IT Girl. Here’s her experience of the Field Day festival, minus the entourage.

1. Kindly tell us your name, age and where you’re from. Now.

Laura La Rue, 22, London.

2. Which festival have you recently attended?

Field Day.

Field Day review - organisers need to mind their pee queues

Last Saturday saw Shoreditch throw up and splatter Hackney's Victoria Park with more wet-look leggings and asymmetrical haircuts than you could shake a stick at - it was the inaugural Field Day.

The festival featured the best of London's live music scene brought together in a big old village fete-style festival by top promoters, including Eat Your Own Ears and Adventures in the Beetroot Field.

The concept is great, the line-up was great, the atmosphere was great. The one problem however was with the fact that there were only two bars and two sets of toilets which made it feel either rather sober or like queue day in the park.

With most bands playing sets of only half an hour, queuing for an hour for a pint of overpriced cider only to have to go straight to the back of a queue for the piss-ridden hole of doom that is the festival toilet was just not hot! The organisers however have issued an official apology promising to at least double the beer and defecating facilities next year.

Last Weekend's Festival Round-up: Day 2

It’s day two of the comedown from the sunniest festival weekend so far, and here’s a full round up of the goings on.

- The first ever Redbourn Festival didn’t exactly set the Herts County Showground alight, according to the Herts Advertiser. It suffered from technical glitches, bad planning and a low capacity, blamed on bad organisation of ticket sales. But hey, at least the sun shone for Feeder and co.

Festivals round-up: Field Day and Underage festivals hit London

- The Telegraph's correspondent is somewhat bemused by the mature behaviour of those future Telegraph-readers who attended the Underage Festival

- Punters at the inaugural Field Day faced lengthy queues at the bar and bogs. But at least the organisers quickly acknowledged the fact and promised to do better next year...

- MTV, meanwhile, concentrate on the music from the event, which went down pretty well

If you attended any of the UK's festivals this weekend let us know what you thought by applying to complete some In-Tents Questioning!

Field Day 2007

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What do you get if you cross the WI, the finest of London’s live music scene and 5000 excitable festival goers? Field Day that’s what!

Field day, London’s New Psychedelic Summer Fete is the coming together for the first time of London’s top music promoters, including Eat Your Own Ears, Adventures In The Beetroot Field, Bugged Out, Homefires, and Marcus Weedon to showcase some of the best emerging talent playing at the moment. Held in Hackney’s Victoria park, the village fete themed festival will feature cutting edge acts such as Adem, Gruff Rhys and Vetiver alongside coconut shy, Morris-dancing and tea and cakes.

Following a spectacular performance at this year’s Glastonbury, Nationwide Mercury Prize nominated Bat for Lashes will be wowing the crowds with the unique and mesmerizing sound of debut album Fur and Gold.

Also topping the bill are quirky indie crooners Absentee. After their debut album made it into NME’s top 50 last year, Absentee will be belting out their Leonard Cohen tinged indie-pop from the spectacular Scmotime.

The line up also features Laura Marling, Four Tet, Mystery Jets, Pull Tiger Pull, Alberta Cross and many many more.

Let’s hope this year’s festival is the first of many!

Posted by Laura Silver on August 10, 2025 2:39 PM in Field Day
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Field Day, Underage Festival, Bloom, Redbourn - this weekend's festival preview round up

The weekend is nearly upon us and the sunshine looks like it’s going to last right through! So I thought I’d give you a round up of some other good news about the next batch of festivals. Here goes…

- The Underage Festival – the UK’s first for under 19s – is gearing up for its launch at Victoria Park in London at midday today. Mercury Music Prize nominees The Young Knives are set to perform, alongside just-announced acts Lethal Bizzle, Jack Penate and The Maccabees. There’s so much info there’s a whole separate post about it on this site!

Bat For Lashes - MCT's favourite tip for the Mercury Music Prize

Natasha Khan It’s not often I advocate gambling, but in the case of Brighton’s Bat For Lashes, I know I'm onto a winner. Seriously, I've been rambling on about the sheer amazingness of this band for so long nobody will actually talk to me anymore. Still, you'd be best off forgoing that round of beers after work tonight – instead, head to your nearest branch of William Hill and put that tenner on the ethereal group to win this year’s Mercury Music Prize. Read my lips: Bat For Lashes are making the most stunning music this side of 1990.

Fronted by the band's songwriter, the extremely nice Natasha Khan, this four-piece made one of the best albums of 2006 with their nominated debut, Fur and Gold. Fizzing with theramins, haunting lyrics and the sort of tunes you’d sell your own mother for, it’s testament to its spine tingling beauty that I spent an entire day in a weird state of hypnosis listening to four 50 second clips when the review copy failed to materialise.

From the melancholic beauty of 'Bat's Mouth' to the sexual Duracell that is 'The Wizard' it's impossible to pick a favourite. Oh go on then, 'Prescilla'. No, 'The Horse and I'. Damn.

The most ridiculous band names on the festival circuit: Sportsday Megaphone, The Trouser Trumpets are just the tip of the iceberg

Remember how stupid you felt when you tried to make your mates buy tickets to see a random teenager called Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly? Or when you raved about the unknown New Young Pony Club? Or you heard somebody snigger when you tried to tell them that the Victorian English Gentleman's Club is actually a group of teenagers?

Yes, they're ridiculous names, but I can now reveal that next year's successful-yet-stupidly-named band will feature the words tree or monkey and / or be called Dave. Honest.

So if you're off to a festival and you arrive early, I suggest you check out these bands or DJs. I've got no idea if they're any good, but it's worth a snidey snigger at their name now, and possibly a smug smile and getting to say "Oh yes, I saw them live last year. Keep up" when they make it big.

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