Saturday seemed the weakest day for Rockness this year, as far as lineup was concerned. With the main stage booked wall to wall with DJs (Laidback Luke, Annie Mac, Magnetic Man and of course headliners The Chemical Brothers) the onus fell on the Goldenvoice Arena (or "the big blue tent") to bring the best of new bands and established rock and indie acts to the festival.
Well and truly situated in the "up and coming" bracket of acts, I kicked my day of band watching off with a wonderful set from Dog Is Dead, whose Maccabees type bouncing guitars and swelling group vocals are the perfect cure for the post-Kasabian hangover. It's hard not to draw comparisons to the likes of Mumford & Sons and Fleet Foxes during a few quieter numbers. However it'd be too easy to play 'spot the influence' with these guys and when it comes down to it Dog Is Dead are soaring, sax infused jazz-indie - and a great live band.
Before taking to the stage for their early evening set, Jack Steadman of Bombay Bicycle Club promised me a new album (called 'A Different Kind Of Fix) by the end of August, and that they were putting the acoustic guitars of 'Flaws' away and plugging in amps once again. Bombay step on stage to find a packed out tent (the fact it was pouring with rain probably helped) and open with 'Magnet' - Jack and the lads doing what appears to be as close to moshing as a group of quite posh London boys can pull off without straining anything. With the crowd effectively acting as backup singers (it seems everyone in the tent knows every word) the four piece blast through most of the tracks from 2009's 'I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose' and throw in a couple of new tracks for good measure - 'Lights Out, Words Gone' is the best of three new outings. Album tracks like 'Cancel On Me', 'Dust On The Ground' and 'Evening/Morning' confirm Bombay as one of the best live acts playing their genre of music in the country. Ending on the double header of 'Always Like This' and 'What If' is a stroke of genius. During 'Always Like This' it's almost impossible not to cut some shapes and the crowd do just that while singing along to the guitar riff everyone was whistling and humming all weekend. The intense, driving rythm of 'What If' proves a great climax to a solid set. The end of August can't come soon enough.
A real favourite of mine, Frightened Rabbit could have quite easily closed the Goldenvoice Arena on Saturday night. Drawing an even bigger crowd than Bombay, the Selkirk five piece seem to be the ultimate Scottish festival band. Backstage, singer Scott told me, "It's 9PM and the crowd are probably pretty drunk so I think we're gonna play a pretty up beat set. Scottish people at festivals seem to love singing along to sweary choruses and we've got quite a few of those!" And so they step onstage to a rapturous welcome from a few thousand sozzled Scots and blast into 'The Modern Leper'. In a set which proved to be a "greatest hits" with no new tracks for people to stand and listen awkwardly, FRabbits cement their place in the upper echelons of Scottish live music. Scott Hutchinson's raw emotion shines through in songs which cover all the usual suspects of songwriting subjects (breakups, makeups, God.. the usual). 'The Lonliness And The Scream' is a joy to watch live - the "oh-woah oh woah" chorus is like something from a Coldplay gig. Equally the stomping 'Living In Colour' and 'Nothing Like You' has everyone in the packed tent bouncing up and down. 'Keep Yourself Warm' closes the set, a song as perfectly Scottish as a warm, metallic tasting can of Tennent's at a rainy festival... and it has a sweary sing along!
Closing the tent on Sunday night are straight up guitar rockers The Cribs. One Smiths member down now that Johnny Marr has left the band (one less Smith is always a good thing in my book), the Jarman brothers can return to their traditonal three piece set up. After opening with 'Cheat On Me' - the main single from fourth (and "sensible") album 'Ignore The Ignorant) - a leather jacketed Ryan Jarman jokes in his twangy Wakefield accent, "We're called Cribs. We're not Chemical Brothers, we're Jarman brothers" before launching into 'I'm A Realist'. A second light-hearted side swipe at the main stage headline Brothers, Ryan sings "Hey girls, hey boys, superstar DJs, here we go!" in a cloud of dry ice and feedback until the unmistakeable guitar riff of the band's breakthrough single 'Hey Scenesters' sends the crowd (though more modest in size than when Frightened Rabbit graced the stage) into a frenzy. Though less anarchaic than Cribs gigs of old (Ryan was once kicked out his own gig for crowdsurfing and famously punctured his liver after falling on a table of glass bottles at the NME Awards) the Wakefield trio still hold a sense of mischief onstage - Gary plays bass lying flat on his back for a while and Ryan ends the set with his guitar the worse for wear, while drummer Ross frequently stands on his kit. The set of course includes "the classics" - 'Our Bovine Public' 'Men's Needs' and 'We Were Aborted' go down a storm with those still in the tent and not watching the Chemical Brothers with their electronics and fancy light show. All in all The Cribs prove a highlight of the weekend; their guitar rock is a definite hit with those less inclined to watch a couple of guys play with laptops. And for the rest of the year? Ryan tells me, over a post show drink outside the tour bus, "We've got some stuff for a new album. We're just playing some shows now Johnny [Marr]'s left and we'll go into a studio after that, there's no pressure." After playing a set such as this, there really is no pressure on The Cribs as they look to album number five.
Monday, 20 June 2011
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Rockness Festival - Friday 11th June
Rockness is the second biggest music festival in Scotland (apparently some weekend on an airfield in Balado is slightly bigger) and easily lives up to its claim by organizers that it's "the most beautiful festival in the world."
Due to a late arrival on site and a couple of catch-up cans of lager (which were still cool at this point) the first act of my weekend were Nero, or at least the one half of the duo that decided to turn up. The member of the dubstep/drum and bass DJs in attendance dropped tracks from the forthcoming debut album, remixes and reworks created in the past couple of years and ended on a raucous note with System of A Down and Rage Against The Machine before his time on stage ran out and his equipment was swarmed by roadies midway through current single 'Innocence'.
In their parka jackets and John Lennon sunglasses you could mistake Brother for an Oasis tribute band and, although I am a fan of their recorded material, they seemed to have more swagger than skill... Not unlike Oasis!
Two Door Cinema Club prove a highlight of the weekend. Their early evening set made for dramatic views down the Loch and the last blast of the day's sunshine added to their upbeat, perfectly formed, danceable indie-pop. The timid Northern Irish lads look like they've just left school but they seem to be able to work a fairly sizeable crowd like they've been at it for years.
Mark Ronson played a surprisingly good DJ set, proving pop music can indeed still be cool. His mix of ultra famous singles (Valerie, Ooh Wee et al) and lesser known mixes from across genres worked well and his years of experience behind the decks were obvious.
And so onto Friday night headliners Kasabian, the band most made the trip for (whether it be a 20 minute drive from Inverness or 12 hours in a bus from London). Opening with 'Club Foot' from their self titled debut, it was tricky to keep two feet on the ground even from my viewpoint beside the sound desk. A quick look around at the masses of people who had stumbled out of the campsite to see the band shows just how popular they are. The set consisted of classics (L.S.F, Empire and Shoot The Runner stood out as crowd favourites) and only two tracks from the forthcoming new album, Velociraptor!, including first single 'Switchblade Smiles' which was released on the eve of the festival. On stage guitarist/vocalist Serge resembles a modern day Slash and has his trademark Rambo style head scarf completed the ultimate rock band member look. Singer Tom Meighan parades back and forth on stage, occasionally throwing his arms open in a "let's be 'avin ya" style. Closing Friday night's headline set with 'Fire' - arguably the best festival sing along of the modern era - Kasabian seem to be at the height of their fame and it'll take Muse's Reading and Leeds performance to win back the status as ultimate British live rock and roll band. With flares, flags and crowdsurfers, for the first time in the few years I've been coming to Rockness it felt like a proper festival, worthy of challenging T In The Park's grasp on Scottish music festivals.
Due to a late arrival on site and a couple of catch-up cans of lager (which were still cool at this point) the first act of my weekend were Nero, or at least the one half of the duo that decided to turn up. The member of the dubstep/drum and bass DJs in attendance dropped tracks from the forthcoming debut album, remixes and reworks created in the past couple of years and ended on a raucous note with System of A Down and Rage Against The Machine before his time on stage ran out and his equipment was swarmed by roadies midway through current single 'Innocence'.
In their parka jackets and John Lennon sunglasses you could mistake Brother for an Oasis tribute band and, although I am a fan of their recorded material, they seemed to have more swagger than skill... Not unlike Oasis!
Two Door Cinema Club prove a highlight of the weekend. Their early evening set made for dramatic views down the Loch and the last blast of the day's sunshine added to their upbeat, perfectly formed, danceable indie-pop. The timid Northern Irish lads look like they've just left school but they seem to be able to work a fairly sizeable crowd like they've been at it for years.
Mark Ronson played a surprisingly good DJ set, proving pop music can indeed still be cool. His mix of ultra famous singles (Valerie, Ooh Wee et al) and lesser known mixes from across genres worked well and his years of experience behind the decks were obvious.
And so onto Friday night headliners Kasabian, the band most made the trip for (whether it be a 20 minute drive from Inverness or 12 hours in a bus from London). Opening with 'Club Foot' from their self titled debut, it was tricky to keep two feet on the ground even from my viewpoint beside the sound desk. A quick look around at the masses of people who had stumbled out of the campsite to see the band shows just how popular they are. The set consisted of classics (L.S.F, Empire and Shoot The Runner stood out as crowd favourites) and only two tracks from the forthcoming new album, Velociraptor!, including first single 'Switchblade Smiles' which was released on the eve of the festival. On stage guitarist/vocalist Serge resembles a modern day Slash and has his trademark Rambo style head scarf completed the ultimate rock band member look. Singer Tom Meighan parades back and forth on stage, occasionally throwing his arms open in a "let's be 'avin ya" style. Closing Friday night's headline set with 'Fire' - arguably the best festival sing along of the modern era - Kasabian seem to be at the height of their fame and it'll take Muse's Reading and Leeds performance to win back the status as ultimate British live rock and roll band. With flares, flags and crowdsurfers, for the first time in the few years I've been coming to Rockness it felt like a proper festival, worthy of challenging T In The Park's grasp on Scottish music festivals.
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