5 pictures of Bicep AVDJ at the On The Beach festival 2024

We ended the hottest day of the year on Friday on the beach for one of the hottest artists in the scene at the moment - Bicep.

The Irish electronic duo cannot be defined by any genre but instead carved their own taking hints from techno, drum and bass and breakbeat throughout the night.

Andy Ferguson and Matthew McBriar on stage (Image: Mike Burnell)

We arrived at the festival site in Madeira Drive quite late and headed straight for the bar - 25 minutes later we finally had a drink in hand and went to find a spot to spend the rest of the night.

Looking around, the festival was full of young, successful types glammed up wearing sticky sequins on their forehead.

The crowd earlier that afternoon (Image: Mike Burnell)

Bicep walked onto the stage and got to work on the decks. Not that anyone would have noticed, given the sound was so quiet.

Crowds surrounding us were still talking easily amongst themselves and there was no need to shout to be heard.

We could feel the bass but none of the intricacies of the duo's rich sonic tapestry. It was as though we were standing in the smoking area outside a club.

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It had all the hallmarks of a noise limiter imposed to stop neighbours nearby from complaining. 

The crowd noticed this too. Chants of "turn it up" began, but at least we could see the stunning abstract visuals on stage...

Our view of the stage (Image: The Argus)

Oh.

After around half an hour we made the decision to move somewhere else to see if it sounded any better.

We cannot understate just quite how packed it was in the site. There was hardly any room to move.

We settled down by near the fence closest to the beach, much closer to the stage this time.

The sound was still poor, but the bass was significantly reduced so we were able to hear some of the complexities of the tracks.

Stick with me here.

At around 10pm it felt like the set had restarted given an arguably disappointing first hour.

They kicked off with hit track Glue which sent the crowd wild.

The visuals were some of the best we've seen (Image: Mike Burnell)

Thick haze pumped into the sky which combined with the laser show gave the effect of a rainbow cloud above the crowd - perfect for such an unforgettable track.

Bicep picked up the pace for the last half an hour and we finally felt as though we could get into the music and enjoy the visuals on display.

Tracks from Bicep's Chroma project stood out as experimental but in no way out-of-place and made for some of the night's highlights.

As with a lot of things, Bicep saved the best until last - although it was not a track of their own.

When legendary London venue and former Evening Standard press Printworks closed last year, Bicep were the last act to play at the venue.

One of their final tracks was 5ives by Sully. A seriously impressive tune which goes from one extreme to another with deep bass and plucky strings and an impressive drop.

A fitting end to the first night of On The Beach.