DJ darling Fred Again... took to the main stage late in front of a crowd so full you couldn’t have crowbarred in an extra body. The response was rapturous, deafening.

Aptly for an artist who’s made his name spinning music from late-night DMs (many of the songs on Actual Life 3 sample voice notes from his friends, whose names feature in the track titles), the Saturday night main stage performance at Electric Picnic had the feeling of an intimate confessional despite the insane attendance.

Fred Again... at Electric Picnic 2023. Photos by Liam Murphy/Hot Press

With the now-famous words of American poet Guante ringing out, ‘Kyle (i found you)’ offered sub-bass you could feel in your chest and an emotive sensibility you could feel in your heart.

This binary underpinned the lion’s share of Fred Gibson’s performance, turning Actual Life into a tangible phenomenon through a dazzling audio-visual display. Every person sampled by Fred was synced up on the screens, while a camera was positioned in front of his centre-stage editing board to provide a close-up look at his notoriously fast finger-work.

Fred Again... at Electric Picnic 2023. Photos by Liam Murphy/Hot Press

From there, it became apparent just how catchy Fred again..’s songs are. What sounded good on Spotify became transcendent live: songs like Jungle, Danielle (Smile on My Face) and Angie (I’ve Been Lost) were roared back by the crowd at such a pitch that even Gibson seemed lost for words.

With his usual grin plastered to his face, he cut a striking figure in the middle of the stage, armed with a slender keyboard and his electronic equipment. As he spun dials and smashed buttons, the three massive displays behind him (shaped roughly like mobile phone screens) continued to beam out video clips of the origins of many of the samples used in his tracks.

He proceeds to attack the show with as much energy and enthusiasm as the almost 70,000 eager listeners deserve.

Fred Again... at Electric Picnic 2023. Photos by Liam Murphy/Hot Press

Though a well-oiled machine, the show never felt too rehearsed. Fred’s piano-driven interludes added a distinct ambience and only endear listners more to a man clearly high on life performing the music he loves to a crowd this size. His brother Tony joins him on stage, and is shouted out by the DJ more times than most are able to count at this late stage. The brotherly love is very apparent from the crowd.

For all the tender monets, there is some cathartic club-style relief throughout. A version of Fred's Skrillex and Four Tet collab project 'Baby Again' gets everyone in the crowd off their feet, in what seems like endless waves of energy.

As the lights finally went out on what was certainly the most energetic and packed show of the weekend, it felt like Electric Picnic had reached its peak. Bring on the Sunday acts...