With a clear sky and the cold creeping in after a soft ambient set from London Grammar, Bestival's Saturday headliners Foals alight the stage with little fuss or presence of entrance.
The arena is bustling with the anticipation and little snakes of people holding hands are making their way through to the front. Even the man in the gigantic box-cum-totem pole is making his decidedly difficult way through, much to the dismay of those who would actually like to see.
With their drummer sporting a feathery capelet and other band members rocking silver metallic leggings, it's nice that Foals are attempting to get into the spirit of Bestival. The songs are interesting and musically sound, 'My Number' and 'Blue Blood' are well received by the crowd but as Foals continue through their set staying true to type, there's a certain saminess that creeps in, and by the time 'Late Night' and 'Electric Bloom' come round the arena headcount has dwindled severley.
With the band expected to now go into an extended hiatus, "This is going to be the last show for about eighteen months" muses Yannis, the band give a deeply soulful set which understandably is missing the mark of drawing in those who are looking to Desert Island Disco tonight.
A pretty poor attempt at crowd-walking during encore finale 'Two Steps Twice' is comedically ironic as one step was all it took for Yannis Philippakis to go straight through the clutching hands of fans to the arena floor, and a huge ticker-tape and streamer explosion snows over the Bestival night sky with a bang.
The quality of the headline acts here at Bestival 2014 is undeniable, but with Basement Jaxx filling the Big Top to dangerous capacity and beyond only an hour later, it's a little confusing as to why they were not main stage, where big beats could go arena-wide for everyone, and Foals were instead in the Big Top where nuances of sound could be enjoyed by fans – which was struggling to come across outside.
Photography by James Bridle, please do not use without prior authorisation from the photographer.