It's Homelands 2002 and someone's been praying to the sun gods.
Getting onto the glorious Winchester site, your primary concern is sunburn - as long as you have nothing to fear from the police drugs sniffer dogs.
As dotmusic arrives at the lip of the green bowl, our first sight is of the rammed Radio One Outdoor Stage in full session.
'Dangerous' Dave Pearce hands over to Judge Jules and a sea of raised hands. It all bodes well for the first dance festival of the summer and if they're all this scorchio then we're in for a treat.
Early highlights prove to be Anti Pop Consortium, the American avant-rappers now signed to Sheffield's Warp label. Their decks, laptops and mics set draws to a close in front of an intimate but devoted audience, cheering and whooping their extended acapellas.
Around 9pm the mighty Brit-rapper Roots Manuva breaks up the jungle tent for some hip hop riddims. Or he would if his equipment would work.
It seems we can hear him, but he can't hear himself. It's so disappointing see Manuva accompanied on stage by the able team of Daddy Skitz on the decks, and MCs Wildflower and Fallacy, only for him not to be able to let rip.
In truth it's a tent plagued by many 'sound problems,' as later on draconian low-volume levels leave the jungle DJs annoyed at their dubplates' muted impact.
But if the response by the junglists to the sound is muted, then the crowd, or lack thereof, in front of Jazzanova is positively comatose.
It's a travesty to see Berlin's groundbreaking DJ/producers playing to a mostly empty tent. But perhaps it plays to their advantage as the pair of DJs from the six-strong collective go deeper and more daring than a peak time set might allow.
Seiji's 'Loose Lips' and a version of 'Another New Day' from their tasty 'In Between' album made for wondrous listening. Another unknown track, featuring African drums in first breakbeat then jungle patterns, stagger the assembled fans.
If only Jazzanova had drawn a Kruder and Dorfmeister-size crowd.
Around 2am in the Essential Mix arena, Scottish techno veterans Slam are teasing the audience with a thoroughly "essential" DJ battle weapon.
From even the merest glance around all the arenas, it's clear the overall anthem of the festival is Cosmos' 'Take Me With U'. Made 20 months ago but only 'discovered' recently by Sasha, its divine euphoric-electro stylings seduce ravers and techno purists alike.
And even though it doesn't even have a release date, Slam have a new bootleg version, featuring overlaid vocals from Daft Punk's 'Better, Faster, Harder.'
It seems bootleg culture has accelerated so quickly, anthems are mutated even before they're released into the wild. And it works a treat for Slam who surely have little to fear from Daft Punks' lawyers, considering they discovered said Parisian super-duo.
Come 3am there was no better place to be than the Movement drum n bass tent, despite the soundsystem's lack of punch. Brazillian DJ Marky was showing it's not just Patife that knows his Amazonian beats from his jungle.
Unlike his friend Patife, Marky plays it hard like, say, Krust or Andy C. Cue the twenty fifth play of Dillinja's 'Grimey' or 'Too Loud'. But what Marky does well is scratch. It's not just Hype or Craze that can rip it up like a DMC finalist, and it adds a whole new dimension to his sets.
Speaking of new dimensions, however, the stakes are raised by the arrival of one of jungle biggest MCs. When Shabba D's on the mic, you know you're getting something special.
It's hard to pinpoint what it is, but he's got that mystic 'X' factor that screams 'he's a star.' He stands virtually motionless, unlike say MC Dynamite or Tali, his striking looks illuminated under the spotlight.
He rides a huge mic, right hand clasped at the top; his left gesticulates with a fag permanently clamped between two pistol-like fingers. His rhymes are like a gunshot to the rave.
So when he announces jungle don Andy C, you know it's going off. The Ram producer and Mr Origin Unknown, does not do gentle jazzy jungle. And by the time he comes on at 5am, you wouldn't want him to.
But you would want him to play his remix of Adam F and MOP. When he does, it, like so many others tonight, gets torn back for more. Andy C? Mission accomplished.
