The mou5 may have played but the Jaguar cat ruled Friday at Wireless

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Jaguar Skills

The mou5 may have played but it was the Jaguar cat with his skills that stole the day at Wireless Festival 2012!

I have not been to Wireless since it first started, its grown in that time. The main stage is quite something. I was wondering how one man, even in a very large mouse hat was going to fill it. But that was hours away so we had a look round and planned the day. Two tents, one main stage and so many acts I wanted to see - but you can’t do everything.

There were not that many people around so we followed the crowd that was there and found ourselves watching Zedd. Along the way past the main stage Metric were doing their thing. Sounding and looking more than a little like Blondie I am afraid that I was not drawn in and it did not help that singer looked a little worse for wear like she had already had one too many ciders.

Zedd however was completely on the ball. He has his own following and is one of a new breed of DJ's who are bringing their personality into the mixing. They are not just quietly, seamlessly mixing, head down ignoring the crowd. They want us to notice, to notice the mix, to notice the mash up and most importantly notice them. Its audience participation but not as we know it. I was enjoying Zedd but like I said there was too much else to see.

Amazingly it was not raining, infact I just had to get into a tent cause 'the sunlight hurt my eyes' - See what I did there? I have seen Modestep before and loved them so it was an easy decision to try and catch a few tracks They did not disappoint! Interesting to note that they do actually play musical instruments, they are not just 'twiddling their knobs' up there. Not that there is anything wrong with knob twiddling but Modestep had the only guitars I saw all evening and it did make an impression.

Caught the last couple of Maverick Sabres songs on the way over to Feed Me. Maverick has the most amazing voice, just the right tone for what turned out to be a sunny afternoon in Hyde Park. Got held up at this point by Afro Jack, the set started well and had everyone dancing but with so much else on it was not enough to keep our attention and we carried on to catch a bit of Feed Me. However it was at this point that I realised my phone had been stolen along with a few other peoples as I discovered later while queuing for lost property. The only thing to do was drink more beer, drown my sorrows and head over for what was the highlight of my night, Jaguar Skills.

Jaguar Skills is on a musical journey and you just have to go with him. Right from the start he takes you along with his mad mixes and frantic gesturing Its like he's conducting the audience and you do exactly as you are told because its brilliant. So fresh and engaging, witty, humorous and full of energy. I have since watched some youtube footage of the set and I have to say it does not do it justice at all. If you get the chance make sure you see Jaguar Skills live you wont regret it.

And so to the main man - or should I say Mau5? I didnt know much about him but did do some research and was looking forward to a spectacular sound and light show. In the beginning the whole crowd was jumping and it was banging, but the second half started to slow right down and where everyone had been jumping around they started swaying and then leaving. The set seemed to be the wrong way round he should have done the second half first so we would all have left on a high. I was rather expecting more from the lights too, having looked at the stage when I first arrived and having got quite excited at the prospect of the show, it did not live up to expectation, probably partly because there was still some daylight even at the end. After such an amazing day the end was a little underwhelming.

I really enjoyed myself - the beer did help. This is an organised event , no waiting at bars, really good toilets and one top act after another. But it was blighted by crime, my phone was stolen along with many other peoples. There were fake tickets sold and a lot of disappointed festival goers many of whom would have been teenagers from what I saw of the crowd that were there. Such a high profile and commercial event should be doing more to protect customers who are paying substantial (though not unreasonable) amounts of money to be there. Surely in this day and age there are ways to protect against fake tickets and warn about pickpockets, we are all Wireless these days, how hard can it be?!

Published on 13 July 2012 by Cathi Moore

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