Waterside 2009: Part II

Jun.21.09

It’s a little expected, but the weather has taken a turn for the better and is beating it’s way down on the fields of Great Linford. Unfortunately my band was playing a gig at noon so we missed a little bit of the festival, though the late arrival did have a couple of good sides, with New Pollution’s Warren and Sean of Anti-Vigilante getting there at the same time and I managed to catch a local legend in action, namely the irrepressible Big Laundry Bill. Saturday was a good runaround, but Sunday was pretty damn random towards the end, if you dare follow…

But where to start? I had a good guess that Steffi would be up to see Big Laundry Bill (see also “Jimi Volcano) down at Stage 2 so that’s pretty much where I headed. Big Laundry Bill never gets old, no matter how many times I see him, a two piece effort with heavy blues rock influences that clicks into place pretty well. When I get to the stage the two go through a few numbers like “Good Morning Mrs Baskerville” and “What A Pickle”which pretty much form a solid start, though the guys realise they have more time left than they thought, leaving Bill to harass any passers by about who they look like for a good few minutes before capping off the set with “Smörgåsbording In The UK” that ends with a true wall of rock n’ roll noise.

After that it takes some time for the next band to set up, but seeing the way the sets went for the full bands yesterday, it’s probably for the better. The band is Equinox and they are one of the bands unaffected by any particular trend pull, the outcome might be pop-rock, but I guess it’s what MK needs at the moment, to be honest. Newer material is also up front too, “California” seems like a slice of shlock-rock that gets the crowd clapping, but “Destroy Yourself” seems a little too familiar to some people. It still goes down well though, as does the rest of the set. On the whole, Equinox did incredibly well for themselves this time around, a free Ep being up for grabs leads to most of the crowd swarming to the nearby merch desk, I was barely lucky to pick up a copy for myself.

For some reason, the name Cosmic Marmalade makes so much sense, it’s not actually until after the set that I realise that it’s a reference to “Cosmic Jam”. With that in mind, it’s probably easy to tell that the band are actually a jam band featuring four local musicians with a range of musical talents and an uncanny affinity for chill-out/jazz grooves. It’s the perfect stuff to just lie back and listen to while the sun beams down with some meandering beats along with a trippy mix of guitar, keys, sax and bass. Then bassist Thomas tells us that they’re “going to relax and play jazz”, there must be a whole other level I’m not aware of, until now that is. The last number is a pretty expansive one, laid back so much that it’s horizontal but with just enough funk to keep your toes tapping.

It goes from all out jazz infusion to a very, very minimalist ideal, we aren’t talking about mere acoustic guitars but rather a trio of stylophones. The “band” aptly names the Stylophonics, a band who dare to go where no band has gone before, a band who do covers via the timeless medium of small electrical pads. The idea really has “Monkey Kettle” written all over it, as stylus’ poke out tunes from the likes of “The Human League” and “Aha”, complete with a small pyrotechnic display. The beauty is no-one knows how to take it, and a lot of mouths are gaping, whether it’s the mere idea or the sound that they struggle with is anyone’s clue, though thoughts of the people watching range from “Probably one of the best ideas in a long time” to “Kraftwerk on a tight budget”.

With that over, it’s then time to close the show down as the festival finishes at the too-early time of 5pm. To give us the last send off as people sup up their beers and finish off their food The Further Adventures Of Vodka Boy return for another set, it’s almost pretty much the same as their opener yesterday, but formalities will always be formalities and wind down the gig at the Monkey Kettle stage rather smoothly.

After all of that it’s hard to think of what to do, the atmosphere’s still going but there’s no music around at all apart from the odd acoustic number from one of the various groups of hangers-on and beer refreshments is running low, so it looks like a trip to the Black Horse is in order. Of course, we don’t get there by normal means, but somehow manage to hitch a lift on a canal barge which proved to be an experience in itself…

Craig \m/

Waterside Festival
Monkey Kettle
T.F.A.O.V.B on Myspace
Equinox on Myspace
Jimi Volcano on Myspace