Secret Garden Party 2015: Friday

25 July 2015, 14:10 | Written by Kathleen Prior

(Live)

(Jungle) (Hinds) (Public Service Broadcasting)

It’s raining. Relentlessly raining. Secret Garden Party is very wet. In keeping with the childlike theme, the weather has created a water park with paddling pools and puddles to splash in... It’s a mud pie of a festival.

The ostentatious fancy dress that is usually mandatory amongst the festivalgoers - or “gardeners” - is absent. The crowd merges into a sea of anoraks. Spirits are not dampened though. Mini cluster parties form under umbrellas and anything that has a roof is inundated. Mid-afternoon at Toad Hall and the packed crowd are treated to a fun mix of garage and urban, with a witty airing of Missy Elliott’s "I can’t stand the rain!" getting wry smiles.

Always so beautiful, once again, the garden’s design and visuals excel. It’s speckled with child paraphernalia; building blocks are scattered around the main stage and the Dance Off is a giant robot with LED eyes. The centerpiece of the lake is a tugboat bath toy, with a team of quaintly dressed Cambridge punters ready to take you across so you can clamber inside a surreal dancefloor pulsing with fidget house.

At Living Room, dreamy nu-folk fourpiece Marine shine with loveliness. Their voices dance teasingly around each other, a sumptuous array of mellow hums to delicate trills. The cushioned lounge is converted into a basement jazz café by their smoky sexy sound.

An interwoven arch of branches and vines forms the Where the Wild Things Are stage, giving it the illusion of having grown organically from the ground. Best Fit favourites – we billed them ones to watch for 2015 at the end of last year - Hinds bring their Madrid born garage rock to the otherworldly venue just after dusk. The crowd bound to their rickety punky guitars. Distorted low fi and wailing vocals are a strangely beguiling combination. On stage they are vividly pumped: “This is the best gig we have ever done!”.

At the Main Stage, Public Broadcasting Service’s retro electro and archive samples are dished out in front of black & white TV screens. The euphoric funk of Jungle follows - their opulent synths and lavish falsettos offer a welcomed warm glow that cuts through the endless drizzle.

Whilst the weather has washed us out… sunshine and sparkles are due tomorrow. It seems the best is yet to come.