British Summer Time @Hyde Park - July 7, 2018

 

Editors were on first after we arrived at 4pm and we missed the first couple of songs as we tried to secure the first-come first-serve access wristbands for the fenced area in front of the stage.

Once in, I was pleased to see that singer Tom Smith was much more animated than how I remember him from 2008. He moved from keyboard to guitar to microphone, sometimes quirkily twisting his body to the music and making use of the extended stage sides to get closer to the whole audience. His red-check trucker hat and scraggly beard was a slight shock, as I think of him in a tailored suit, but the performance is far more important and that was great.

 

The sound at the Great Oak Stage was good for all the bands, and I particularly enjoyed hearing Munich and The Racing Rats live again. (I was still lined up during Smokers).

Setlist

Hallelujah (So Low)
Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors
Blood
Munich
Violence
No Harm
The Racing Rats
Papillon
Magazine

The Twilight Sad

First time seeing this Scottish band. They came to my attention following the sad death of Frightened Rabbit singer, Scott Hutchison. The bands have a long history being on the same early label and collaborating on things, so when I saw they performed a cover of a FRabbit song at a recent performance, I knew I didn't want to miss it if they did it again. I wasn't disappointed, as they closed their short set with Keep Yourself Warm. Never seeing a FRabbit concert, I was grateful to at least see one of their songs live and was moved by the tribute and the added lines at the end: "it's not the answer."

It's a very fitting song for Twilight Sad to cover, seeing as how singer James Graham provided extra vocals on this song for the live album Quietly Now, recorded in Glasgow in 2008.

Setlist
Last January
Don't Move
The Arbor
VTr
There's a Girl in the Corner
And She Would Darken the Memory
Keep Yourself Warm (FRabbit cover)


Interpol

I also saw Interpol live in 2008, at an outdoor festival as well. I don't think their performance has varied much since then, and (unlike Editors) was a bit disappointed that it was a similarly rather dull performance. Still, they played lots of their songs that I like and the sound was good, so I still enjoyed it.

Setlist
Not Even Jail
All the Rage Back Home
Take You on a Cruise
Obstacle 1
Rest My Chemistry
The Rover
Length of Love
Roland
Lights
Success
The New
Evil
Slow Hands

The Cure

One of the major highlights of this time seeing The Cure live was that they played Killing An Arab. This song has been omitted as too controversial for years, but was an early fave of mine from the Standing on a Beach album, and being a fan of existentialist fiction and Camus' The Stranger.

Robert Smith was gracious and endearing as he chatted to the fans between songs. He was obviously touched that this was their 40th Anniversary concert, and seemed humble and grateful for such a lengthy run.

The visuals behind the band, were good, especially after the sun set, and worked well in the vastness and open air of the festival setting. They made good use of splicing live camera shots into the effects. The sound was one of the better I've heard for open air, which I think must be so tricky. The fans were obviously international with many accents and languages and ages around us represented, but all seeming thrilled to be there.

The setlist had lots of well-known favourites in there. I remember from my first Cure concert being amazed at how long the set was - 33 songs. Although this was close at 29 songs, I never felt like it was going on too long.

Setlist
Plainsong
Pictures of You
High
A Night Like This
The Walk
The End of the World
Lovesong
Push
In Between Days
Just Like Heaven
If Only Tonight We Could Sleep
Play for Today
A Forest
Shake Dog Shake
Burn
Fascination Street
Never Enough
From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea
Disintegration
Encore
Lullaby
The Caterpillar
Friday I'm in Love
Close to Me
Why Can't I Be You?
Boys Don't Cry
Jumping Someone Else's Train
Grinding Halt
10:15 Saturday Night
Killing An Arab

All Points East Festival @Victoria Park - June 3, 2018

Nick Cave
Patti Smith
Baxter Dury
Shame

First off, I must say that All Points East is the best run festival I have been too. Easy to get around. Clean. Quality facilities and concessions. Great staff. Incredible artist line-ups and good sound. The whole place had a great feel and the crowd was happy and cool. Loved it.

Shame

Having first heard this band earlier this year on Radio 6 and really diggin the single Concrete, I decided that they would be a great band to catch live, and kept my eyes open for any shows. In February I bought tickets for their November O2 Kentish Town Forum show, but was a bit disappointed at how long off that was. My concert friend, Janey, asked if I was interested in this festival, and as you may or may not know from reading this blog, I am NOT a fan of festivals, but she convinced me and told me how amazing Nick Cave is live. Since then Shame got added to the line-up, so I was thrilled to get to see them sooner, even if it is in a festival atmosphere.

Brief placeholder to comment on how great Baxter Dury, Patti Smith and Nick Cave were, particularly the latter. One of the best live performances I've had the pleasure to see.

more soon....

Reading Festival - August 30/15

After pouring over the line-up, Janey and I decided to just go to the Reading Fest on Sunday. I live close by which was great for a real bed and shower at the end of a long and tiring day.

We arrived pretty early in the day and managed to just catch the last song by The Skints, enough to peak my interest. We saw all of the Single Mothers set, which was a high point for me. I love discovering a new band. It's what festivals are made for, if you ask me. These guys are from Ontario and the singer is manic. Great performance. We caught bits of Frank Iero, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Jamie T, The Gaslight Anthem, and COASTS all of which failed to interest me much.

On the main stage, I did enjoy seeing The Cribs finally. One show was cancelled and then I bailed on another club gig years ago, and still regret it. I will hopefully remedy that one day. The Maccabees were pretty damn good. I really like some of their stuff, and they managed to sound good in the sonically unforgiving festival environment. Frank Turner gave a good acoustic set in one of the tents, albeit with a crowd I would not expect him to draw. The girls we were squished in next to were busier taking selfies and chatting than appreciating the music. I did not deliver any throat-punches, nor could I enjoy imagining it as both the girls and the fantasy were a distraction from really enjoying Frank's set.

The highlight of the day was Against Me! by far. Not a big surprise. Laura Jane Grace was still rocking her Gender is Over shirt and Inge Johansson was as bouncy as ever. Laura introduced some of the songs with some banter and they did their best to bring a pretty passive audience to life. It's a bit disheartening to see such a great club band have to perform to a mildly responding crowd, but the scope of a huge festival can do that to many but the biggest names in music. I enjoyed myself anyways, but it's the least favourite show I've seen of theirs. They just shine so damn hard in a small venue.

Finally, the closer of the day was The Libertines. They were a little more low key than I expected, but the crowd still loved them. I did see enough to want to see them in a much smaller venue if the opportunity comes up. It was fun hearing some favourites done live, like Can't Stand Me Now, and Boys in the Band. We didn't make the encore as we were just too exhaused by that point and headed out listening to the final songs get fainter and fainter.

Festivals are a mixed bag and not my favourite way to see live music. I've only been to a handful over the years and it takes a lot to get me to one. I'm glad I made the effort to see a Reading date but that might be it for me. We'll see.

Against Me! Setlist:
True Trans Soul Rebel
Pints of Guinness Make You Strong
Unconditional Love
Walking Is Still Honest
Cliche Guevara
White People for Peace
FuckMyLife666
Transgender Dysphoria Blues
Dead Friend
White Crosses
Spanish Moss
Thrash Unreal
Black Me Out
I Was a Teenage Anarchist

Pemberton Festival - July 25-27/08

Written up a couple years after the fact...

Rather than camp, a few of us found some rooms to rent in a local's house.
The upside was the hot tub, and the bed to sleep in at the end of the long, dusty days.
The downside was they didn't tell us until we got there that they were having a family wedding in the backyard on one day and could we please be quiet. Oh!...and, no drinking in the house.
Ha ha ha. No, of course we won't!

Day 1 - July 25th: Interpol

Nine Inch Nails were the Day One headliner, but as we were tired and I've seen them before, we skipped it.

Interpol is a Post-Punk Revival favourite of mine and perhaps the main draw for me. Interpol were low-key, but I loved finally seeing them, despite Steve passing out mid-Evil due to dehydration/heat/perhaps other stuff. At least it made me realise how much I had come to like my new boyfriend. He was thankfully not completely broken, and thus useless to me!

Interpol

Interpol Setlist:
Pioneer to the Falls
Slow Hands
PDA
Narc
C'mere
No I in Threesome
The Lighthouse
Not Even Jail
Mammoth
Rest My Chemistry
Obstacle 1
Evil
Roland

Day 2 - July 26th: Tom Petty, Tragically Hip, Sam Roberts, Mates of State

Mates of State

Tom Petty was Day Two's headliner and we saw a few songs from way back from the stage, and decided to call it a day.

Mates of State were the first act of the day, and  a new discovery to me. An American Indie Pop duo composed of a husband and wife on drums and keyboards, respectively.

Next up was a Canadian act I started liking in 2003 with his song Hard Road, and album We Were Born in a Flame.

Sam Roberts

Sam Roberts' Setlist:
Love at the End of the World
Hard Road
Fixed to Ruin
Them Kids
Bridge to Nowhere
Up Sister
Brother Down
Mind Flood

Tragically Hip were fun to see live due to Gord Downey's spastic frontman act. Steve's more of a fan, but he introduced me to a couple of their songs I now like: Yer Not the Ocean and In View, both of which they played.

Tragically Hip

Tragically Hip Setlist:
Yer Not the Ocean
My Music at Work
Grace, Too
Ahead By a Century
In View
Gift Shop
Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)
World Container
Poets
Fully Completely
Bobcaygeon
Family Band
New Orleans is Sinking


Day 3 - July 27th: Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, The Airborne Toxic Event

Coldplay were the headliner of Day 3. I'd heard they were good live, but am suspicious of their huge popularity and the excess praise that may generate. No hype: they put on an energetic, fun, chatty show with great songs and a real connection to their audience. We stuck around for the whole set, but unfortunately I didn't get any usable photos, probably due to nightfall. The set was spread over different stages, which let more of the crowd see them up close. A nice touch.

Coldplay Setlist:
Life in Technicolour
Violet Hill
Clocks
In My Place
Viva La Vida
42
Fix You
Chinese Sleep Chant
God Put a Smile Upon Your Face
Speed of Sound
Yellow
Lost
The Scientist
Death Will Never Conquer
Encore:
Talk
Politik
Lovers in Japan
Death and All His Friends
The Escapist

The Airborne Toxic Event

Before Pemberton, I checked out all the unknown-to-me bands to see if there were any I wanted to check out live. The Airborne Toxic Event were my main discovery through Pemberton. They were good live, and I liked their songs. They went on my list to see in a club, which I did in early 2009.

The Airborne Toxic Event Setlist:
Papillon
Gasoline
Happiness is Overrated
This is Nowhere
Sometime Around Midnight
Wishing Well
Innocence

Along with Interpol, Death Cab For Cutie were a big draw for me to go to Pemberton. Also, like Interpol, they were very low-key. While I'm glad I saw both, I can't say either performance has me longing to see them again. This is the downside of festivals; they are energy black holes.

Death Cab For Cutie

Death Cab For Cutie Setlist:
Bixby Canyon Bridge
The New Year
Why You'd Want to Live Here
Crooked Teeth
Long Division
Title and Registration
I Will Possess Your Heart
Cath...
Soul Meets Body
The Sound of Settling
Transatlanticism