ABSTRACT
Sunday afternoon, 4:30 p.m. As I stand at the brow of the hill, I am presented with a myriad of musical choices: to my far left lies the Project Storm tent, playing out a thunderous concoction of drum and bass, techno and hard trance. Next along is the Tribe of Frog trance arena, organised by Bristol’s premier psytrance organisation of the same name. Directly in front of me is the Archangel stage, for most of the weekend presenting a selection of breaks and dubstep, but today offering the signifi cantly more chilled sounds of dub reggae. To my far right is the Main Stage, a hive of eclecticism all weekend, the small crowd currently being entertained by the roots reggae grooves of Nucleus Roots. Behind me, free festival veterans Ozric Tentacles are preparing for their performance in the Gaia Chill area, while people in the adjacent cafe sit drinking to the ambient sounds of Red Earth. Finally, the soothing sound of acoustic folk drifts from elsewhere on the site, providing an odd accompaniment to the otherwise electronic onslaught that surrounds me. A small number of people drift around from stage to stage, making sense of what is presented to them.
