Electric Fields brings best of new Scottish music to D&G

From Sid Ambrose, Wigtownshire Area Arts Convenor

As area convenor for Wigtownshire I’m really interested in doing all I can to highlight the efforts of everyone promoting the arts this part of the world. So it’s with real pleasure that I’m able to write about the new Electric Fields music festival in the grounds of Drumlanrig Castle.

It’s very much the new kid on the festival block offering a one day adventure in the stunning Victorian-style parkland which makes up part of the Drumlanrig estate. Like a flock of migrating birds sporting their best plumage and following unseen magnetic force lines, around 1500 people made a pilgrimage to this celebration of Scottish musical excellence. Many people stayed overnight and duly constructed their temporary canvas and carbon fibre nests in the roomy camping fields.

A short flutter from the campsite took attendees into the heart of the event, where a wall to wall carpet of entertainment was provided with 40 acts playing four stages over 12 hours. The festival herd included a few music industry heavy hitters such as Radio XFM’s Jim Gellatly and Ally McCrae was also spotted flying the flag for BBC Radio 1. When asked to share his thoughts on the festival Jim replied: “This is my dream festival line up, with so much amazing emerging music from Scotland being featured.”
Ally was similarly kind when he commented: “Honestly, what a day, the line-up was strong, the two main stages worked a treat, the weather, the people, the setting … ah, it was awesome.”

Highlights for me included a surprise appearance from Alex Kapronas of Franz Ferdinand fame with his old ska comrades the Amphetameanies and of course the well-chosen headliner Fatherson.

Image credits: Kevin Sloan at KSSimages

Event co-founders Alex Roberts and Chay Woodman were keen to thank both the audience for their good behaviour and the staff team for all the hard work they put in to give the Electric Fields debut. They also added: “We’re delighted with the overall success of the first Electric Fields. The weather was kind and the festival goers were in great spirits.
“We feel that we’ve created a family friendly event that stands out from everything else in Dumfries & Galloway particularly the line-up which has a strong emphasis on emerging talent. “The feedback has been overwhelming; with the majority of ticket buyers came from outside of the region. It is fair to say we are very keen to bring you the second instalment of Electric Fields back at Drumlanrig at the end of August 2015.”

Needless to say l now have a diary entry for Electric Fields in 12 months’ time.