Summer Sundae Re-cap

[James]

Best festival I've ever been to (and i've been to a few).


Friday:

Merla - the first band we saw. The guide said "Their bluesy, groove ridin' sound has been born out of an appreciation of bands like Gomez and Beck". I mistook this for them actually sounding like Gomez or Beck. Wrong. It was more like Gin Blossoms or The Counting Crows, if The Counting Crows were even more boring. Not to mention, they had some of the WORST lyrics I have ever heard a band sing...I don't remember any of them exactly, but the one that sticks out was comparing his heart to a sandwich. They kept saying "we're not signed or anything", and I kept thinking to myself "there's a reason". Oh well, there was nothing else going on, and things can only get better right?

James Morrison - Not related to Jim Morrison, which is a good thing in some ways but a bad thing in others, such as genetics for talent. Granted, we didn't really watch him, but he was battering the main stage while we were getting noodles, so it couldn't be helped. I hold whoever was playing James Blunt over and over all weekend responsible for booking this guy. Oh well, it can only get better, right?

Now - playing in the new bands tent was this very eclectic bunch. It had the mum's with small children running but a lot of people, including ourselves, were digging it. Kinda like stereolab meets deerhoof meets Can. Getting better...

Zil - After noodles, we headed inside, mostly because it was cold, and also whoever was playing inside couldn't be as bad. Finally, we were right. Although I'm sick to death of the re-birth of the 80's music, Zil were an entertaining lot, and finally a band worth seeing. I have to say they looked more like Fine Young Cannibals with their twin-looking guitarists fronted by a flaming version of that Spandau Ballet singer. And their matching blackness....but they had talent so the schtick can be tolerated.

Baxter Dury - So, they keep using the term "psychedelic" with him, but I didn't hear one note of psychedelia. He had some good tunes, but he kept saying "oi" over and over again. Still, definitely better off than earlier in the day.

Richard Hawley - The sixth member of Pulp and other various bands finally has his own songs to play. And quite frankly, they're pretty good. Made me forget about Merla, which is a good thing.

Delays - Emma's big moment. The weather had started to act up and we watched them whilst getting soaked, but they put on a very high energy show. I've always been a bit on the fence with them, but live, they put on a helluva show. There were a lot of drunk kids around us by that time.

Elbow - didn't see them. We got tired and headed back for a good night sleep. The rain didn't help any either. So we gave Elbow a miss knowing Saturday would wipe us out.


Saturday:

Don's Mobile Barbers - terrible name for a band but they caught me by surprise with their tunefulness and innovation. There were only two of them, and one of the coolest things I've ever seen in rock was performed by them. The drummer played synth bass with his left hand and a drum kit with everything else. And I mean, he didn't skimp on the drums...Now they have three albums I want to collect...

Kissmet - definitely the ultimate festival band in terms of spirit..they're sikh brothers that play traditional subcontinent music. But they get the crowd going and rock pretty hard as well. Hard not to smile. Kinda reminds me of another band once...but Kissmet is better.

Gem - couldn't get into the marquee where they were playing. Did listen for a bit; sounded pretty good.

Tunng - I was a bit disappointed in the fact that the sound people just couldn't get them right. At one point, I saw the monitor engineer throw up his hands and a second guy come over trying to figure out the problems. Still, they sounded pretty good; not sure if everyone enjoyed it though due to those sound problems.

Brakes - sat through two songs and immediately walked out. Not my thing. At all.

The Young Knives - again, a bit bored with the 80's thing. The Futureheads do it so much better, but they weren't that bad.

Isobel Campbell - the ones I was really looking forward to disappointed me a bit. Who knows when she'll go into isolation again, but she put on a good, albeit a bit odd, show to a packed house on the inside second stage. All the songs were either new, covers, or who knows from where. It was hard to hear her voice over the instruments, which made it difficult, but boy could she play the cello. Still, there was a guy singing more often than her, which made it....odd.

!Forward Russia! - worst hair of the festival was on this lead singer. Going bald but with long hair is not a good look for anyone. Not even members of Yes, but definitely not this guy. Good live, and they sound like their album which is quite amazing really, but not over the top amazing. Saw lots of "that guys" around for this band (wearing the band's t-shirt to see the band). Of course, the band were wearing their own t-shirts as well.

Nouvelle Vague - Martha Wainwright pulled out, so they put them outside, which was cool, because us old folks got to groove to their jazzy calypso versions of Echo & The Bunnymen, The Cure, New Order, and Bauhaus. Yes, Bela Lugosi's Dead in Calypso. How could it not be a good day?

Calexico - They won over a lot of people today. Just all the styles of music, and for me, tones of home. They do with six people what other bands need 20 something to do. Plus, they sang a lyric that had "heart full of hornets". What a great line...

Gomez - The rain came pouring down, but so what. The voice came out early as they started the set with "Get Miles". And they must have consulted me for the setlist, because they played both "Black Eyed Dog/Free To Run"(Nick Drake over into their own song) and Detroit Swing 66; two of my favourites.

Sunday:

Redcarsgofaster - another surprise for me. A local band on the big stage, and they made the most of it. I don't even think they have an album, and again they sounded so 80's, but can't knock the talent.

Misterlee - the problem with art-rock sometimes is that it dissolves actual songs at some point. Some people like this, but when I'm at a festival, I don't want to see this. Singing Iron Maiden lyrics over the top of noise created by microphone feedback is not what many people want to see at a festival. Most people agreed as, despite the rain, they were outside trying to watch:

The Long Blondes - it was so crowded but only because there was bad stuff going on inside. Pretty listless and boring, really.

M. Craft - Finally, back to something interesting. A mellow yet energizing set put us back on track for having a good time.

Morning Runner - got nothing bad to say. they're a bit like Supergrass but not as good. They've been touring with Coldplay, so that's probably got them some fans...not my thing though.

Jose Gonzalez - the rain was coming down and nobody cared. He came out with a guitar, and halfway through he brought out another guy to play percussion. An entire audience was transfixed, apart from one drunk guy yelling out for him to play the song on the advert...which he did do eventually. I think a lot of people were perplexed when he covered Kylie Minogue, but minds were really blown when he ended with a cover of Massive Attack's "Teardrop". You could have heard a tear drop during that.

Camera Obscura - couldn't get in to see them; tent too small.

Adem - his bass player couldn't get into the country because of all the airline problems. So the drummer played bass. I don't know where they got the drummer from. They managed to pull it off anyhow. Beautiful.

Guillemots - how to explain them? Let's see. Captain Beefheart goes over to Jellyfish's house and they have sex. Unfortunately, Captain Beefheart didn't use a condom and Jellyfish got pregnant. Jellyfish's parents made them give the baby up for adoption. Baby Guillemots was adopted by Sonic Youth, but at the age of 18, decided they needed to make their own way. Thinking they could find what they were looking for in London, they went there, but found themselves playing in jazz cabarets instead...somehow they were discovered and here they are. I can't describe what I saw really...

The Boy Least Likely To - I didn't care to see them but did anyway because I wanted to get a seat for the Buzzcocks. Little did I know they had a whole bunch of fans already. Looking at them, they reminded me of a band formed by members of "Saved By The Bell", and I was initially put off by that. But the longer I sat there, I started hearing more of Architecture in Helsinki, well, minus all the horns and stuff, but that kind of feeling.

Buzzcocks - coming on stage, they looked more like my parents than one of the most influential punk rock bands of all time, but that stopped once they started. And they didn't stop. The bass player got mad at his amp, and after switching to a backup, just knocked the original one over. Crowd surfers galore. The security got kicked in the side of the head. He ended up laughing about it...
awesome.

Belle & Sebastian - They mananged to play songs I've not heard them play live until the very last song. Of the encore. Best live band ever.

[monet2u]

wow nice review.

I really dig many of those bands, some I haven't had the chance to see yet, but hope I do soon.

[airboy paul]

Woo, comprehensive review there! Quite enjoyed Summer Sundae, although the weather really was pretty bad most of the time. & had such crappy sleep in the tent due to annoying noisey neighbours, bah.

We saw Baxter Dury as well, with me half-hopeful and half-fearful of being disappointed. His debut album was pretty impressive, and is probably where the 'psychadelic' terms were first attributed to him- more nicer noises, female singing, and less of his oi oi cockney foolishness. Wasn't impressed, and even the awesome 'Oscar Brown' was just bleh. Glad I never bothered with his second album. Didn't bother staying much longer after 'Oscar Brown', decided to go wander instead.

One of the best acts on Friday was A Hawk And A Hacksaw. Ex-Neutral Milk Hotel chap playing accordian and drums (and at the same time, along with his hat with bells) and cool violin lady making some great crazy music. Had a great time watching them. Really really looking forward to seeing Calexico/Beirut/AHAAW all at one gig in November now. Plus, I got to meet them afterwards and they were super nice and I pestered them enough to write me a story

Saw the first few songs of Elbow, and they were pretty cool. Then went inside the Rising Stage and watched Psapp. Great band, and really brilliant live. Nice to see that they can recreate their songs live, was just a shame that their set was so shortened due to starting very late.

Don's Mobile Barbers were a band I had previously stumbled upon because of Grandaddy-like comparisons. I was ready to be converted into really liking them but just found them 'good' and not essential for my cd buying money.

Tunng were good again (saw them last year at Green Man Festival), but their half year definitely felt too short. Loitered around the signing tent afterwards and got my second and final story of the weekend, which was two more than I was really expecting.

Calexico- I've liked them for about 5 years now, but this was the first time I had seen them (right up there in the second row) and it was amazing. Really really loved it, and just had a big grin on my face, bopping about to it and getting happy each time the total newbies to Calexico kept exclaiming their love of all the songs.

We weren't too fussed about seeing Gomez so decided to leave and went off to the cinema and watched Monster's House (awesome animated film), and then when we came out after that (twenty past eleven?) it was pouring it down. Not sure how long it had been raining for Gomez's set, but was definitely pleased with the cinema choice.


Sunday. I agree with you about Misterlee, James. We sat and watched as there was noone else we fancied seeing, but it was on the whole just stupid noise with his annoying singing/speaking whatever it was.

M. Craft was really quite impressive, I kept almost nodding off because I was so tired, but kept waking up when M. Craft and his gang surprised me with great tuney bits. A definite pleasant surprise of the weekend anyhow.

We then stayed in to watch Captain, partly because they sounded interesting, and partly to keep a good seat for Adem. They were ok in the end, but would have liked to have seen what Camera Obscura were like, but the tent was packed when I strolled by on a toilet visit.

Adem was good as usual (two awesome albums from him so far) although the crowd seemed to slowly dwindle down which was a shame.

After a fair few interesting bands playing at the same time that I wouldn't have minded seeing (including Jose Gonzalez), there seemed to be a music drought for me. Wasn't that too keen on the Guillemonts or The Boy Least Likely To (had previously seen them early last year as support to Hood). I think we then went back to the tent until it was time for Belle & Sebastian. Not a particular fan of theirs, but it was fun enough despite me not knowing the songs. Impressive live band anyway. Still not converted though.

and that was that. Was an enjoyable time, but I think it lacked any bands that I really wanted to see. Would have been great to have had at least one or two A* acts that I obsess over. Think I'll wait next time until the lineup is fully announced instead of buying the early bird ticket offer with the hope that bands that I love would turn up.

[mere1975]

Gomez - The rain came pouring down, but so what.

Did they play the Hangover Song to be ironic?

- Mere "it's gonna rain when I get home, it's gonna rain when I get home" 1975

[guseldorph]

i love me some calexico. i've seen them twice and they always put on a great (great!) show.

random calexico fact: joey burns and john convertino did most of the backing tracks for neko case's last album.

[zenmomma]

Guillemots - how to explain them? Let's see. Captain Beefheart goes over to Jellyfish's house and they have sex. Unfortunately, Captain Beefheart didn't use a condom and Jellyfish got pregnant. Jellyfish's parents made them give the baby up for adoption. Baby Guillemots was adopted by Sonic Youth, but at the age of 18, decided they needed to make their own way. Thinking they could find what they were looking for in London, they went there, but found themselves playing in jazz cabarets instead...somehow they were discovered and here they are. I can't describe what I saw really...

Is this a good thing?