The Strongbow Rooms @ Homelands

Sprawling across the centre ground of the Matterly Bowl, The Strongbow Rooms dominates the Homelands landscape and is by far the plushest venue on site. Steps lead upwards onto its grand, wooden-decked veranda overlooking the Live Arena, from where early afternoon festival fans enjoying the calm before the storm. The structure's rounded, outside-facing bar gives it the feel of an exotic beach bar, which snakes round through the entrance to the main room, a spacious dance floor punctuated by a staggered podium in its middle. The Strongbow Rooms is clearly much more than just 'another tent'.

But what of the music? With eight other arenas competing for the 30,000-odd festival goers present here today, The Strongbow Rooms is going to need more than a nice view and a bit of outdoor seating. It's also got one of the best sound-systems of any of the venues on site. Due to it being much smaller and more intimate than the tented arenas dotted around, its clientele are treated to crystal clear sound - and it's big and loud! But still, that's no good without a few decent music makers. Thankfully, programmer Rob Da Bank has hand-picked an enticing lineup of alternative dance DJs and quirky live acts to help pull in the punters.

Special mention must go to Kris Bones, who's not only the first to get on the decks at 1pm, but also the last to get off them at 3am! He told VF: "I've known Rob for a while and they wanted someone who'd be around to set things up, help DJ, and just be around to sort out any technical difficulties. It's great to be part of The Strongbow Rooms and to travel to all the festivals they're going to be at." Not only is Kris a handy guy to have about, he also DJs like a man possessed, weaving and scratching some (ahem) bone-crunching breaks - and even VJing for the first time in his career. Yes, all at the same time!

But the biggest cheer has to go to French DJ supremo David Guetta, who manages to transform The Strongbow Rooms ambience from chilled bar nod-along into a full-throttle house party, dragging punters in off The Streets and into the palm of his hand over a two hour set where day turns to night seamlessly (8.30pm - 10.30pm). Kicking off with some funky disco following on from the chilled Balearic grooves of Rob Da Bank, the chiselled party host flies through a range of sounds, splicing jacking underground house music with some specially mixed bootlegs that sample the likes of The Killers and Bloc Party, perfectly encapsulating the ethos of Homelands by splintering the border between dance and rock, inevitably ending on a cranked up and filtered down version of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'.

That's not to say that The Strongbow Rooms is particularly lacking in energy before Guetta's storming set. In fact Kid Carpet espouses the energy (and perhaps mentality!) of a five year old child, jacking tunes together with his collection of old-skool '80s kids toys! Self-propelled art punksters Caged Baby throw themselves around stage with verve, however they look a lot cooler than they sound good. Medicine 8 provide the perfect afternoon's warm up, full of acid squiggles and psychedelic breaks, and despite looking like a queue at a bus stop, Hot Chip drench the venue with soulful harmonies and crackpot invention - Daft Punk meets Roy Ayers.  

But it's Guetta's two hours of Gallic showmanship that really prove the watershed and set the standard for the rest of the night. He later reveals how he actually preferred playing The Strongbow Rooms than his earlier showing on the Outdoor Arena. Former Lion Rock supremo Justin Robertson looks just as chuffed to be playing and he continues in the same vein by dropping intelligent, pumping house and electro with breakdowns galore. The Knifes' DJ Coolof steps up next, carrying the electro sound to new levels with acid squeals and squelchy basslines - the Swede reminiscent of Tiefschwarz who play just a stone's throw away in Arena 4.

It's up to Kris Bones to finish things off and he keeps the crowds packed sweatily into The Strongbow Rooms until the final record is dropped. Interestingly, many ravers follow his gaze up to the images that kaleidoscope over big screens, his VJing seeming to occupy more of his attention than the music he's playing (although you wouldn't know by the quality of sound). A personal triumph for Kris, and an all-round great day in The Strongbow Rooms. Bring on Isle Of Wight!         

For more about The Strongbow Rooms visit www.strongbowrooms.com