CREAMFIELDS By MATTHEW HOBBS

IT may have ended a day early under the most literal of clouds, but there was still much to enjoy about this year’s instalment of Creamfields.

The globally renowned dance music festival was cut short after torrential rain on Saturday night.

Before the floods came, it was easy to see why Creamfields is an award-winning festival.

Electric atmosphere, large scale production and headline names that covered most musical tastes.

Guests entered on Friday night to enjoy a silent disco headed by Radio One’s Kissy Sellout, although many were miffed to pay £20 for headphones.

The rumoured shortage of headsets did little to dent enthusiasm on Saturday, with campers waking to clear skies.

By 6pm the festival site was packed with thousands of clubbers, streaming between two outdoor stages and six main tents flanked by fairground rides.

Nicky Romero, one of the first up on North Stage, got things warmed up with a set including Knife Party’s Internet Friends, later to be followed by headliner David Guetta and his stream of commercial crowd-pleasers.

The best performance of the day came from America’s king of bass Skrillex who tore the roof off the Radio 1Xtra tent.

Production here was impressive, at times the tent completely blacked out only to be filled by blue lasers and walls of flame.

His remix of Benny Bennasi’s Cinema was rivalled in the singalong stakes only by Benga’s eerie remix of Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye.

Annie Mac was her usual excellent self, supported in her self-named tent by Major Lazer, Crookers and Erol Alkan.

However, some performances underwhelmed, including a rare UK appearance from Avici and a tired sounding set from the Chemical Brothers.

And then the rains came.

Organisers will have to repeat the line-up of big names next year to stand any chance of pulling in the crowds.