The Strongbow Rooms @ Creamfields

United Kingdom | | 27 August 2005

Advancing through shades of autumn with another diverse DJ lineup, The Strongbow Rooms at Creamfields may mark the end of the summer festival season - but try telling that to the those inside!

It's early days and it's difficult playing out to an empty room where only the seating area is full, but DJ Skitz & MCD manage to complete their set valiantly amidst the straight-faced partygoers resting up for the long night ahead. The Strongbow Rooms are set to run for 13 hours non-stop in total, so at 3pm when the gates finally open it's no wonder the crowds are in no rush to get a sweat on. The seating area is full of head nodders, foot tapers and people playing table football to the addictive hip-hop basslines resonating around, which ultimately morph into a slowed down funk foundation for 'Rappers Delight', Radioslave's opener. Slowly, lone dancers appear in their many splendid costumes, egged in by the shift from playful remixes to pumping transient house beats. Now we're getting warm..

Despite the name guff on the laminate, "Rod" Rob Da Bank manages to pull in a crowd of people anticipating the eclectic style of the Radio 1 DJ. As New Order's 'Blue Monday' plays loud, and the comfy yellow seating pads get taken up, this really is where the night begins. All the stomping room is cleared in time for Josh Wink's tech house classic 'Higher State of Consciousness', met with an astounding reception. Next, Kris Bones plays to a ram-packed Strongbow Rooms, proving his place as house residents and confirming to Creamfields his essential role in the summer success of The Strongbow Rooms.

By the time Ivan Smagghe takes to the decks, looking not so far removed from Grizzly Adams with a cigarette appendage, the 'Rooms heave and Mr Muscle robotic dancers line up to the decidedly breakbeat electro floor stomp that's expected from one half of Black Strobe, notorious for tasting the darker side with their gothic-industrial influences. More noticeable now in the dark are the screens and column central to the room where visuals are displayed in time with the music. A controller is now a permanent fixture in the booth; organising interloping hypnotic imagery supporting the sound of the sets.

Next up, what starts sounding like an ordinary house set, quickly turns into the most diverse mash-up of the evening, hosted by The Glimmers. Throwing live drums about as if they were toys, bending punked up vocals and general grit into the works, and constantly changing the tone and direction of the music throughout the set, works in sending the crowd up into a frenzied sing-a-long. From a sped-up version of LCD Soundsystem's 'Tribulations', an obvious nod to the band who hours earlier kicked it in the Chibuku Shake Shake arena, to The Rolling Stones' 'Rocks Off', their old namesakes when they did the rounds as the Glimmer Twins, the dynamics of the set motivates the crowd and gets praise from all around the venue. It's a heaven sent set, which ironically ends with AC/DC's 'Highway To Hell'!

Brimming with excitement for the next act - the ambiguous headliner - silence falls before the collective anticipation blows its lid and the crowd sound off in a collosal roar. We all know what's coming. Felix Da Housecat, with his unique use of the quiet intro allowing melodies to be played solo before machine gun snares interlude the tempo change in a killer progressive fashion. Green beaches and planetary visual add to the mystique and suddenly Felix Da Housecat has the crowd at his fingertips, easing the tempo right back in his own direction. The crowd, somewhat bemused by the change, try to dance to the post-disco electronic track and, racing through soft clouds, the set marks the start of a journey imposing restrictions on what you can see or hear. This music is a drug guaranteed to open your mind and leave you with that festivalised spiritual feeling long after summer. The best was most certainly left until last.

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