Wireless Festival review
The sun was scorching, the crowd was screaming and the music was blasting. The scene was set for 2009's Wireless Festival in London's Hyde Park.
The two-day extravaganza featured some of the biggest names in dance music and hip-hop. Saturday's dance driven line-up had over 35,000 attendees while Sunday's hip-hop dominated line-up had 40,000. Each day was sold out.
"It's a great honour to play one of the best festivals of the season," remarked Felix Buxton of Basement Jaxx. The group played a succession of old favourites, mixing in some tracks off the new record 'Scars' and threw in a bunch of surprises, including Kings of Leon's 'Sex On Fire'. Basement Jaxx's hour and 30 minute set wasn't enough for festival-goers who were entranced by the group's mesmerizing set.
Paul Oakenfold was the first major act to spin on Saturday, and hit the Tuborg stage to play a blistering 80-minute set. Oakie had heads bobbing and people dancing their heads off, mixing in old jams with new tunes, keeping the festival crowd on their toes.
The Streets took to the second stage to a past-capacity crowd. Mike Skinner, however, was visibly irritated when fans left to see Dizzee Rascal perform on the big stage.
Australia's Sneaky Soundsystem closed up shop on the second stage and after New York hip-hop legend Afrika Bambaataa's set, he was met by a surprise fan: Prince Harry, who even posed for a few photos with the man behind such classics as 'Planet Rock'.
Sunday's line-up featured Kanye West, Q-Tip (who played a crowd-pleasing killer set mixed with solo and A Tribe Called Quest classics), Daniel Merriweather, Calvin Harris and Kid Cudi.