Jul.05.09
I find it amazing how history can repeat itself, just like last year Saturday was a good one for the weather, then just like last year, the clouds look a bit menacing for the Sunday. Weather aside, today is looking as equally busy as the Saturday was and the bands are looking like another good mix of rock, metal, experimental and soul acts. Yesterday was a bit of a blast, so it’s time to see if today can follow suit despite the dreary weather and a bit of a hangover from last night’s barbecue…
Unfortunately for Equinox, who are opening up the main stage, the weather is taking it’s toll as the drizzle turns to a downpour, forcing the band to stop until the stage-crew move the equipment back under the dry. Then once that’s all done it stops raining and the sun’s shining, Murphy’s law strikes again… Still, the lads make use of the extra space in front of the monitors for a few solos and play their set, vocals still not quite clicking into place but everything else is, along with a little more confidence starting to creep in. Along with that, there’s a new track called “My World” that goes for a much darker tone though not straying from the “alternative” path too much.
Isabelle are next up on the main stage and a good reason to stick around, with the sun out it’s a good time for some soul-tinted rock. Well, I say “tinted”, but Laetitia’s vocals, the source of said soul, are half of the show as it is, sailing high with the backing of a full band. I’ve only really seen the band with a minimal set-up before, but altogether it does compliment Letty’s vocals. It sounds pretty refreshing to say the least and I can hear a little hint of summery jazz come through too. With that in mind I’m not surprised that they pull off a cover of Burt Bacharach’s “Always Something There To Remind Me”, nor that it fits in well with the rest of their set quite neatly.
However, some bands are admittedly a little “style over substance”, I’m not exactly too keen on them myself and unfortunately, the Twenty Twentys on the main stage is exactly that, when the drummer has a head-mic on like Britney Spears I do start to wonder. It’s pop punk, it’s showboating and it’s all a bit over the top, the guys play well but it’s just a little too showy, even a few people dancing on stage at the end is a little out of place. But I’ll give them their dues, they had some catchy songs and they knew how to work a crowd. Still, if you’re a band that has a track on Kerrang! radio and is gigging at the 02 Academies you would expect the bass to be in tune, even if it’s on the final song, it stuck out like a sore thumb and I thought they would at least tried to fix that.
Deciding for a bit of a break from the big bands, (after one acted a little bit too big) I found myself back in the Tea Tent for the open mic sessions. Phillippa Moyle is currently playing through some tunes, we first seen her at her first gig at the Serve Chilled night, now the young lady is looking a little more confident and once again goes for a mix of covers and her own material, opening with her own “Stepping Stones”. Maia also come in for a bit of a jam, which is great as the Tea Tent is a much more suitable place for them to play and people to chill out as they listen to them, bonus!
I can’t stop for too long at the open slot though, as Firetype are due on at the main stage to cause a bit of a buzz with their slightly mathematical indie/rock sounds, and it’s apparently one of their last gigs before things like Uni come in to stir things up. But that aside, they’re aren’t letting themselves go yet and put on an energetic show as good as any. The lads play through some new tracks like teir single, “Maslow”, though it’s good to see some of their older material on board too, with “Boston Tea Party”. After resurfacing early in the year, it’ll be a shame to see them go when they do, but at least they’ve still got some fight in them.
I hear some noise coming from the film tent when I wander back up to the alternative area, I head inside to see a noise/progressive band setting up. The guys call themselves Morviscous, hail from the capital and are due to perform as Yelding did yesterday, but their set is a lot more expansive as they go into the set with their own mind-blowing proggy noodlings, then go for an improvised piece that kind of outlasts the video twice, over. Then they play out some more of their own material as a few curious people (including myself) stick around and keep badgering the band for just one more. For me this has honestly been the best moment of the festival so far and I couldn’t get enough of them.
I remember a couple of years back in the 2007 Band Blitz, one band that stood out for me was Vindiction, they went onwards, tempered their tunes, recorded an Ep and then it was suddenly coming to an end, and now this is their last set with the original format, frontman Max back behind the bass guitar. It goes without saying that the lads are putting on one last ditch show and at least with a relatively late slot they’re going out on a relative high. It’s a tight enough set, the guys have a laugh as they play and they have a fair few friends down at the front. It’s a shame when bands pass on, but hopefully we’ll see something some from the ashes in time…
Talking about time, it’s getting onto the last leg of the festival, the air is getting cooler and the last band is just setting up. Heart Of A Coward have had a couple of changes in the lineup over time, but the sounds of a melodical hardcore battalion are still the same as ever. Their laptop is causing a few troubles before their set, but once they get going they don’t waste much time with vocalist Ben screaming out on the field within seconds. But with HOAC it’s not a purely angry sound and has it’s own clever subtleties too, this gives the band a big but intriguing sound that gets people moshing up front (though admittedly nothing compared to Fell Silent’s pit last time, but that was insane in itself) and shows why a band formed not too long ago has made itself established enough to earn the final slot. Despite a rather slow start with the technical difficulties, the lads take the day out on a heavy, respectable growling note, it wasn’t the largest of finishes I’ve seen but enough of a finale to cap off the evening confidently.
I’d have to say that MK4U got a lot better this time around, it felt a lot more organised on the whole and the new ideas that creeped in for 2009 worked out well. In fact, maybe a little too well as I found myself usually gravitating to the Tea Tent and the film tent rather than hang around the main stage. Both areas had some good acts but I guess that I found the alternative areas a little more curious this time. The bottom line is that the whole team made a lot of progress from last year, and it’ll be good to see what they have in line for 2010…
Craig \m/
Heart Of A Coward on Myspace
Vindicton on Myspace
Morviscous on Myspace
Firetype on Myspace
Isabelle on Myspace
Equinox on Myspace
That’s cool, I tried to word it in a way that was balanced, but I guess I missed the mark. I wouldn’t say that I slagged them off, I said they played well and had people dancing, my only two qualms were the fact it was a little showy and the fact that the bass was a little out of tune, but we’re all entitled to our own opinion, they played a smooth set but I wasn’t too much of a fan of it, though I haven’t gone “out of my way” to slag them off.
Just remember that not everyone is going to like a particular band and not every set is spot on, hence why this is probably their first “bad review” I’m pretty sure if I seen them at an indoor show rather than a local festival the review would have been a different story.
Thanks for your comment though, maybe I’ll see Twenty Twenty in the future and be pleasantly surprised, I admit I have been wrong on first impressions before…
Craig
(ps, sorry for not mentioning names, but an early critisism I got myself was mentioning too many names in my articles)
As long as your slagging off Twenty Twenty, you may want to mention the fact that at least they had people willing to dance on stage for them unlike most of the other bands who in my opinion were pretty shit. as for the ‘headmic like Britney spears’ – how else do you expect ‘the drummer’ (who by the way goes by the name of Sonny) to do his backing vocals. he doesn’t actually appear to have 3 arms
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i know this is a review and all and the style of writings really good. but we’re fans of Twenty Twenty and we’re not gonna stand around whilst you trash them. this is the one bad review they’ve ever had. and wtf? there was no base out of tune. the people working the sound tent were fucking it up, the boys couldn’t hear themselves play let alone know if a base was out of tune!
sorry for the rant but think you should check their myspace out, they were the biggest band playing there. http://www.myspace.com/twentytwentyband