Debbie and I have a couple of prinks before tubing to Mile End then a short walk to Victoria Park where there's no queueing at either the All Points East gates or bar. We wander a bit and happen to catch the last couple of songs of MSPAINT who are a sort of punky rap band and I will try to catch more of them at EOTR. Wandering around a bit more we stumble across the start of the Pixies set which is OK but after Monkey Gone To Heaven it sort of peters out and we go for something more upbeat instead. Which we find at the Radio 6 stage and an up tempo funky house set by DJ Tennis also attended by Annie Mac who Debbie spotted earlier and she's obviously overly impressed by Pixies either. Next we see The Kills who I thought would be good but again too downbeat. We happen, again, to be at the west stage where Jai Paul is starting up and with a steady stream of punters coming our way we stay for a listen but it's a bit so what. A bit more meandering getting drinks (bars are getting busier) some chips (queues for food) and to relieve myself. I only mention this for future reference; urinal queues are long so I nip in through the "out" exit but far better than the crazy queues for the portaloos. At least there are screens around the urinals unlike at Leeds Festival where I believe it' been a bit breezy. Then we take the plunge into the crowd for the headliners. As the other stages have finished everyone is at the main stage for LCD Soundsystem. They start with a brilliant version of Us v Them cranking up the dance beats so that everyone is bouncing and grooving in a NYC style. What a way to start and they just keep the pace everyone song a banger. At times the tempo drops into a more soulful groove and there's a moment of pathos where James mentions a close friend of the band who's died recently and a couple of the band shed tears. It seems to be one of those summers. Soon enough they are smiling that sort of sad happy smile and let's get on with entertaining that big east London crowd and there may be a lot of ageing hipsters out there who may be losing their edge and let's celebrate that with a song. Seminal. By this time our little dance spot is overridden by later arrivals and Debbie and I decide to go back a bit for a bit of room to groove in. And the bar has no queue. Back here with space most around us are dancing with a respite for New York I Love You which is spine tingling, Murphy's voice is magnificent at times, and then soon enough they are off with no encore and we're left with the walk to the tube (urinal update... conveniences on the way to Mile End which saves the local parks) and an entertaining tube carriage with a group of obviously drunk youngsters singing badly and loudly and dancing even worse. Ah, London I Love You and you're not bringing me down. So a great evening and I forgot to mention the giant disco ball that LCD played under.
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