Live Report: Creamfields South 2022

In the 24 years since its conception, Creamfields Festival has established itself as an iconic name amongst ravers up and down the country. Usually held in Cheshire, fans always expect an incredible line-up, with recurring favourites including David Guetta, Calvin Harris, and deadmau5.

This year, the electronic dance festival rebranded itself as Creamfields North, setting up its brand new chapter Creamfields South, taking place over the Jubilee weekend in Chelmsford, Essex. The festival has already announced its return in 2023 after this year’s “overwhelming success” – but the question is, was Creamfields South worth it?

Despite being slightly smaller, Creamfields South still boasted an incredible line-up. Huge names headlined the festival, including Fatboy Slim, Idris Elba, and Andy C. Paired with the gorgeous weather, there appeared little to dampen spirits as bucket hat-clad crowds arrived, chattering excitedly and ready for the weekend ahead. That is until the crowds realised they would have to queue for hours in the blistering heat to enter the front gates. What’s worse, for campers in the “VIP Gold” area, an hour-long trek to pitch their tents awaited them.

Much of the staff were sympathetic, with some reporting they were walking up to six hours a day back and forth to their stations due to the badly laid-out campsite. The main issue with the festival did seem to be the poor organisation of the space, echoed by staff and punters alike.

Yet once inside, the excitement made the subpar organisation feel like mere teething problems. “Ladies to the right, men to the left,” boomed the entry staff. Shuffling through I half-heartedly wondered if we’ll ever reach a point where gender categories aren’t restrictive. Until, breaking through to the main arena ,I was pulled away by a tidal wave of exhilarated energy from the hundreds of ravers in front of me surging towards Skepsis’ set.

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3.30 pm felt like a ridiculously early set for the bassline DJ. Nevertheless, the Sub_Aural tent was rammed with ravers thrusting hands in the air and sunglasses on their faces. Skepsis played a smattering of the most famous samples (Endor’s ‘Pump It Up’ went particularly hard), sufficiently warming up the crowd for the weekend ahead.

The DNB tent was also graced later on by Holy Goof. The Coventry-born DJ was the star of Creamfields, spinning tracks with ease and queueing drops without a dull moment. The energy during his set couldn’t be topped, propelled by an A4-sized inflatable kangaroo being bounced around the clamouring crowd. The Sub_Aural tent was definitely a highlight of Creamfields South. Its only downside was the repetition of samples. There are only so many times one can hear a remix of JVC’s ‘Heads Will Roll’ before feeling tired. DNB heroes Sub Focus were sampled so many times I felt like they were actually there. Nevertheless, proffering a satisfying assortment of new and established DnB acts, Sub-Aural hosted some absolutely raging sets.

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In fact, the curation of acts across the whole festival was masterfully done. Each stage was organised by genre and flowed smoothly between acts. Some attendees could be heard complaining about performance clashes, but scheduling conflicts are perfectly natural for a festival overflowing with talent.

Over on the main stage, Becky Hill’s early evening slot had everyone dancing. Hill is the sort of star who has so many bangers, I found myself surprised at how many lyrics were buried deep in my subconscious. The same could be said for David Guetta’s set, which pulled arguably the biggest crowd over the weekend. The pyrotechnics can only begin to describe the flames that the French DJ created whilst showcasing his impressive discography.

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Although the music was fire, the staging throughout the festival was lacklustre. Creamfields North’s favourite, the architectural fantasy Steel Yard Stage, was cancelled early on for the Southern chapter due to “logistical supply chain issues”. This meant the striped tents and basic staging structure were the best the festival had to offer, a slight disappointment in comparison to its northern sibling.

Some acts, however, such as house DJ Eats Everything, utilised the minimal staging to their advantage – showcasing a flurry of lights amongst pulsating beats for an astounding performance. Eli Brown and Sosa’s back-to-back sets at the Warehouse stage offered a similar level of top-quality visuals.

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Being Gold campers, we had access to the ‘VIP Hospitality’ area and took some time to relax on the Saturday amongst the uncrowded bars and sprawling sofas. What luxury! The “proper toilets” were a breath of fresh air in comparison to the usual quality of festival toilets. Consistently clean and well-stocked throughout the weekend, I didn’t even feel the need to hover. The food throughout the festival had a range of options, including vegan wares at a range of prices.

Closing the festival’s main stage and soundtracking my vegan churro was Calvin Harris. Pulling a mighty crowd which I’m devastated I didn’t catch from the Cinch viewing platform, Harris delighted fans with blue hues, a laser light show, and a selection of well-known classics.

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Creamfields South really came alive at night, despite its 11 pm curfew, but the festival admittedly isn’t a patch on Creamfields North, both in size and design. “Well at Creamfields North…” became something of a refrain over the weekend. Yet the festival’s phenomenal selection of music more than measured up to expectation. It’ll be interesting to see if organisers Cream manage to work out the kinks for their 2023 series, or if Creamfields South will fizzle out just as quickly as it appeared.

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Words: Gem Stokes

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