Where and When
Sonic stage, 7pm
Dress code
Gold hoops, fluorescent caps and gun fingers in the air appear to be the lay of the land. Although looking around, it's pretty much as if H&M has vomited all over these poor ravers.
What happened
Following hits from their album, frontman Kwesi roars, "Who likes house?" (the answer seems to be everyone) as the band launch into a host of tracks that feature the dominant tempo in club culture at present. If nothing else, these boys know their market. But despite the unsurprising flurry of pop hits (Waiting All Night, Feel the Love), the real joy of seeing Rudimental live is the inclusion of the other sounds and a real love of live music from all the boys. Their live band includes keys, drums, guitar and trumpets, all playing in a set that sees thrilling inflections of soul, jazz and funk, with energetic scripted and unscripted choreography and an emotional confession: "It's been our dream to play Glastonbury and we are so … happy."
Who's watching
Everyone under the age of 20.
High point
Highlights included a cover of the Fugees classic Ready Or Not and bandmate Amir playing the spoons on their breakout hit Spoons. (The story of the track is that Amir apparently just picked them up and started playing, so they recreate the moment on a mic here.) Really though, what is great about Rudimental is the way they're making their obsessions with live music translate to the dance world: this set is inspired by the Roots and reminiscent of drum'n'bass band London Elektricity, and it really works.
Low point
Just so much beer being thrown around in the tent, which was a mess of glitter, UV paint and sweat. On stage, though, it all seemed pretty good, despite some minor sound distortions and the frontman whipping his top off, prompting a lot of sweaty, skinny teenagers around me to follow suit.
In a tweet
Put down your MC-505 and pick up a trumpet.
