Photo: WENN.com
Thousands of people trudged through the mud at a transformed Hyde Park for the opening day of Wireless Festival 2012. The line-up boasted a bunch of heavyweights and with acts split across three stages audiences were spoilt for choice. Bursts of sunshine made an appearance but for the most part it rained - leaving festival goers soaked and mud splashing everywhere. The site was considerably less packed than anticipated.
Proceedings kicked off when the beat of Childish Gambino’s opening track 'Freaks and Geeks' echoed through the park seeing swarms of people flocking across the grass to the Pepsi Max stage. A highly energetic set followed with track 'Heartbeat' getting the crowd going, complete with a live band. The rapper’s unique rendition of Adele’s 'Rolling in the Deep' had the audience screaming along word perfect and taking his shirt off mid-set frenzied screams rang out in appreciation of more than his lyrical talent.
On the main stage Maverick Sabre effortlessly crooned his way through an extensive soulful set. Beautiful vocals complimented a lone backing singer and band with a standout moment being his performance of new single 'These Days'. Despite the downpour sending people running for cover a strong audience stayed swaying along. Sabre did a great job keeping morale high and engaging the crowd well and even had revellers dancing around in their ponchos.
A brilliant set by Santigold on the Pepsi Max Stage brought the incredible energy of her songs to live action performing songs predominantly from her newest album. Accompanied by an oddly and brightly costumed band and a pair of almost identical dancers her insane performance put smiles on the faces of all watching. A standout moment from the entire day was when Santi called up about 30 people for 'Creator' to dance with her, even going so far to have a bum-shaking battle with a guy centre stage. In a bizarre twist during Diplo produced track 'Look at These Hoes' a costumed horse appeared with her dancers animatedly mimicking equestrian movements.
The Roots graced the main stage with a stellar performance combining thoughtful intelligent hip hop with classic instrumentals with a dose of jazz, funk and soul thrown in for good measure. Taking the audience on unique musical journey of pulsating beats rapper Black Thought and the band powered through a set cutting through the poor weather conditions with 'The Seed 2.0' being a standout track.
After her break from music Ms Dynamite was well and truly on top form reminding the packed- out tent at the Unwind Stage what they’ve been missing. Hyping up the crowd with a strong set of old skool garage classics including 'Booo', 'What You Talking About' and recent single 'Neva Soft' getting everyone shouting and skanking along from start to finish.
Superstar DJ and headliner Deadmau5 captivated a massive crowd with visually astounding and well crafted 2 hour performance. Ground shaking bass and bright lights illuminated the stage during 'Strobe' and the first few seconds of 'Raise Your Weapon' had the crowd going absolutely mental. During 'Sofi Needs a Ladder' a surprise appearance from the lady herself had from saw the audience erupting in cheer and Deadmau5 jumping off the decks to greet her. Coming out with an ‘I love Haters cap’ for the majority of his set he donned his trademark head that depicted a different face every 5 minutes on its screen. Standout tracks were the ethereal 'I Remember' and 'Ghosts n Stuff' among a strong set that did not disappoint.
