WETLANDS!

Leftfield,Ian Brown and Moby brave the rain...

This year’s HOMELANDS ENGLAND, the first major dance festival of the summer, fell foul of the English weather, but the torrential rain failed to dampen the festival spirit. Click here to read a full review and round-up.

The event – the second following Homelands, Ireland – held yesterday (May 27) at The Bowl in Winchester, featured live performances from Public Enemy, Leftfield,Ian Brown and Moby, as well as DJ sets from Darren Emerson, Groove Armada, Carl Cox, Dave Seaman and Jon Carter. This year’s event also saw Reprazent stage their first live performance since disappearing into the studio to record the follow-up to the Mercury Music Prize-winning ‘New Forms’. Disastrous weather conditions reminiscent of the Glastonbury Festivals in 1997 and 1998, meant all major thoroughfares became waterlogged with up to six inches of mud, and some places became totally unpassable. By 11pm, the rain had broken through the canopy of the main arena, unleashing rain on both equipment and fans.

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Another female fan, dressed in nothing but a furry black and white bikini added: “I live for clubbing – my mother says it’s all I do. That, and have sex!”

Ian Brown made his second Homelands appearance of the year, following up a show at Homelands Ireland last month. Opening with the single ‘Be There’ which he recorded with UNKLE, Brown then concentrated his set on dance reworkings of his latest album ‘Golden Greats’.

However, like his performance in Ireland, Brown suffered from technical glitches, and was forced to take a five-minute break after only four songs when his computer equipment failed.

Reactions to Public Enemy‘s set were mixed, with one fan saying: “It was just like seeing Johnny Cash at Glastonbury, you know what you wanted to hear, you just didn’t quite get it.” However, other fans weren’t quite so unforgiving. One said: “They seemed happy to be in England, it was good to see a band tonight with some personality!”

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By 2am, there was a steady stream of people leaving the site, with cars becoming trapped in the festival car parks because of the deep mud.

Visit nme.com throughout the week for exclusive video interviews with Flavor Flav, John Carter, Jacques Lu Cont, Faithless and Groove Armada.

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