Robot gods
Just a small entry for Thursday. Went to my normal karate class with my sensei announcing it would be all kumite (sparring). Usually I pick up minimum injuries such as bruises but this time resulted in one bloody nose from the sensei himself and one very winded stomach from a higher grade - its supposed to be non-contact.
Getting up to the Global Gathering site took forever thanks to the traffic north of Oxford and the M40. Luckily Kerry found a back road and we were soon parking at around 5:30pm. Walking towards the entrance was slightly dodgy seeing a younger bloke on the ground being kicked and punched by two larger guys. Even worse when he somehow got up to leg it then chased and shouting for help. Everyone stood amazed as the two other guys laid in more hard punches shouting out to not do it again then he ran off again. Very scary.
Queuing up was no way as bad as last year thank god and the searches were very relaxed until we spotted the sniffer dogs. Lucky for us one had identified a bloke right in front of us so no hassles. The site itself was virtually the same as last year though nearly every other stall or fairground ride had a soundsystem to pollute the air with happy hardcore. A new addition we'd noticed was the Laptastic tent with lap & pole dancers. £10 got you in each day or you could get a 2 day pass at £15 - bargain. Other distractions were the stilt walking and midget demons posing for the camera.
The Electric tent was our main haunt where Daft Punk would eventually play. King Roc was doing an amazing job getting everyone dancing and predict him to be really big soon. Digitalism were next were ok but were conserving energy. The Punk's stage was shrouded with a huge black curtain so we knew we were in for a treat. Erol Alkan was supposed to be the last DJ before the main event and as we were dancing and sussing out our final viewing position, two French guys stood near us looking extremely cool, one quite short the other lanky and a cowboy beard. Was it Daft Punk in non-robot costume? I had to ask, "are you Thomas?" to the lanky one. No (bugger). A confusing message displayed on the screens saying Daft Punk would be playing in the main arena at midnight not 11pm as advertised. This confused a lot of people who left the tent but with the huge curtain we knew they were here. Erol's set came to very uninteresting way lasting about 20 minutes of non-descript bleeps and whistles then Justice came on - the same two French guys we stood right next to. Now I like their Waters of Nazareth but their set was just ear pain with no real substance. Another hour of waiting and the crowd was swelling up.
Finally they came on with the most amazing sight and sound ever. It was jaw dropping even a religious feeling about it. Their pyramid stage looked like they'd landed there with a Dr Who/Matrix style UFO. Near the top were the two robot headed performers who hardly moved or used their light-effect helmets but that didn't mind. Every tune played had a different visual effect using a mash-up effect of their classics with never a dull moment. The crowd were going crazy and cameras everywhere. What got annoying was those right in front of us getting on friend's shoulders blocking the view. There's plenty of photos and video on my other sites. Check it.
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Getting up to the Global Gathering site took forever thanks to the traffic north of Oxford and the M40. Luckily Kerry found a back road and we were soon parking at around 5:30pm. Walking towards the entrance was slightly dodgy seeing a younger bloke on the ground being kicked and punched by two larger guys. Even worse when he somehow got up to leg it then chased and shouting for help. Everyone stood amazed as the two other guys laid in more hard punches shouting out to not do it again then he ran off again. Very scary.
Queuing up was no way as bad as last year thank god and the searches were very relaxed until we spotted the sniffer dogs. Lucky for us one had identified a bloke right in front of us so no hassles. The site itself was virtually the same as last year though nearly every other stall or fairground ride had a soundsystem to pollute the air with happy hardcore. A new addition we'd noticed was the Laptastic tent with lap & pole dancers. £10 got you in each day or you could get a 2 day pass at £15 - bargain. Other distractions were the stilt walking and midget demons posing for the camera.
The Electric tent was our main haunt where Daft Punk would eventually play. King Roc was doing an amazing job getting everyone dancing and predict him to be really big soon. Digitalism were next were ok but were conserving energy. The Punk's stage was shrouded with a huge black curtain so we knew we were in for a treat. Erol Alkan was supposed to be the last DJ before the main event and as we were dancing and sussing out our final viewing position, two French guys stood near us looking extremely cool, one quite short the other lanky and a cowboy beard. Was it Daft Punk in non-robot costume? I had to ask, "are you Thomas?" to the lanky one. No (bugger). A confusing message displayed on the screens saying Daft Punk would be playing in the main arena at midnight not 11pm as advertised. This confused a lot of people who left the tent but with the huge curtain we knew they were here. Erol's set came to very uninteresting way lasting about 20 minutes of non-descript bleeps and whistles then Justice came on - the same two French guys we stood right next to. Now I like their Waters of Nazareth but their set was just ear pain with no real substance. Another hour of waiting and the crowd was swelling up.
Finally they came on with the most amazing sight and sound ever. It was jaw dropping even a religious feeling about it. Their pyramid stage looked like they'd landed there with a Dr Who/Matrix style UFO. Near the top were the two robot headed performers who hardly moved or used their light-effect helmets but that didn't mind. Every tune played had a different visual effect using a mash-up effect of their classics with never a dull moment. The crowd were going crazy and cameras everywhere. What got annoying was those right in front of us getting on friend's shoulders blocking the view. There's plenty of photos and video on my other sites. Check it.
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