Wildbirds & Peacedrums
August 26, 2010
On the way to this gig, a friend asks for a description of Wildbirds & Peacedrums. “They make your insides shake,” we tell them. He raises an eyebrow. Another friend adds “but your heart is in your mouth.” He looks faintly suspicious as we arrive at the (lovely) Lexington.
Reading Festival
August 27-29, 2010
When the music at Reading Festival begins on Friday (following a boozy Thursday session in the town centre), a hangover is as welcome as the evacuation of vomit that preceded it (said sickness is still being blamed on an salmonella-friendly campsite BBQ on Thursday night). As the phrase goes, time stands still for no man (even one with a hangover) and a now-successful remedy is to get a cold pint of Gaymers (other ciders are available, just nowhere near the festival site) and head off to see some bands. … Continue Reading
Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, from near the front of main stage: atop a sign, below a screen
August 28-29, 2010
Leeds Festival is a sheer delight. The crowd isn’t necessarily dead excited for one band in particular, more enthralled by the sheer amount of things at its disposal. … Continue Reading
L.E.D. Festival
August 28, 2010
Competing with established gurnfests SW4 and Creamfields, not to mention the might of Reading and Leeds tempting tens of thousands out of the capital, it is somewhat of a bold move for L.E.D. Festival organisers to launch a new two-day dance event on the August Bank Holiday weekend. Reports from Friday were ominous; an extremely patchy bill topped by the horrifically turgid David Guetta was matched by a low turnout, mud and a barely audible soundsystem. Boasting the likes of Aphex Twin, Friendly Fires, Leftfield and everyone’s favourite comedy South African rappers Die Antwoord, surely the Saturday would fare better? … Continue Reading
Mirrors
August 21, 2010
Some genres never truly go away, always bubbling under the surface ready to come out of the woodwork for their umpteenth revival. Whilst some artists contribute to the evolution of genres, others are content in recycling the same old formulas and are more than happy to add to the stagnation of certain forms in the knowledge that there will always be an appreciative market, unwilling to even tiptoe out of their musical comfort zones. They’re happy to hear the same styles, lyrics and visual trends rehashed. Younger music fans, some with a limited musical vocabulary, may have genuinely never heard well-worn sounds before, completely unaware or even unperturbed by jaw-dropping unoriginality. … Continue Reading
Green Man Festival
This review has to start with a total confession of my journalistic bias: Green Man Festival is my favourite place on Earth. Consider my hat firmly in the ring on that one. Just like kids hanging up their stockings for Santa, or lonely middle-aged housewives hearing the thumping beat of the X-Factor opening music, the foreboding doom of black cloud moving over the horizon of an otherwise kind-of-dry summer fills me with an excitement that can only mean one thing: Green Man is coming. … Continue Reading
August 13 – 15, 2010
As I walk through the transformed grounds of De Montfort Hall and the surrounding grasslands of Victoria Park I’m reminded of the final day of Leeds festival 2009, and of the final day of every Leeds Festival I have attended previously. I recall waking from a fitful sleep to the crump of exploding aerosols, face warmed by the distant blasts and the horizon shimmering with clouds of escaping gas. As I groggily, slightly hurriedly, pack up my tent, I look over what remains of the campsite that had become vividly familiar over the past four days. Many others are also packing up, but I’m surprised at how many have abandoned their spent campsites. I’m also surprised how many of those abandoned sites are on fire. My throat and eyes become raw from the green plastic of burning tent. … Continue Reading
V Festival
August 22, 2010
V Festival is often deemed one of the more ‘uncool’ festivals to go to, as Glastonbury reigns supreme, and Reading and Leeds give smaller gatherings such as Bestival and Latitude a run for their money. Despite this, we went along to Weston Park in Stafford to watch the bands put on their Sunday finest for a jolly good show. … Continue Reading
Grammatics
August 20, 2010
About a month back, and seemingly out of the blue to the majority of us, Grammatics announced their intention to split, citing insurmountable financial woes as the primary cause. I have watched their latter days with interest, both as a fan of the band, and also as someone intrigued by the machinations of the music industry. They have fallen back on online resources to repay their debts by selling off band paraphernalia, merchandise and little exclusive treats like access to rehearsal time and gigs in people’s gardens. While it has been disagreeable to see a band having to resort to flogging off parts of their history, it’s also encouraging that these days they would have the means to be able to do this to break even, and it has also allowed them to draw a neat line under their story with a final tour and a farewell EP.
WOMAD
Hi! My name is Sebastian, I am 15 years old and I love music – which is why I took the opportunity to write this report on the amazing WOMAD festival, which I think everyone should experience. Here is my personal account of the whole thing: … Continue Reading
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