London Calling, Amsterdam Paradiso (Day One)

May 1st 2009

is a Dutch festival in the venue of Paradiso in Amsterdam. It used to be a showcase where new and upcoming British bands could strut their stuff, but now it has expanded its horizons to include bands as far away as Australia, and the line-up does not solely of new bands no one has ever heard of (as if that is truly possible nowadays with all the blogs and all). Still, it features a number of bands making their debut in either Holland or Europe, and bands who have yet to gain solid ground. Alternating between the large main room and the small room bands give their all for the gathered crowd.

London Calling Festival

London Calling

When the lads of The Temper Trap arrive on stage, you are prepared for a barrage of sound. Expecting that is logical, as multiple guitars take the stage along with some fellows who indeed look like they could make some serious racket. The first song supports that believe, especially with bass player Aherne trampling around as if he is Godzilla in the midst of some Japanese villages. And then Dougy Mandagi starts to sing…

It is strange, after the initial, instrumental, loud rock, the band suddenly settles down for melodic and atmospheric sounds, aided by the angelical voice of Mandagi. Surely it is not what anyone expects on first sight, first song, but advancing further in the set it becomes clear the band are knowledgeable in making more carefully build-up pop songs. More impressive are the instrumental prolongations of songs, switching from one part to another with ease. BBC tipped them earlier this year, and they do have a case.

Next up in the small hall is the American Grampall Jookabox, aka David Adamson, who is aided solely by drums. He himself does a number of things, and sometimes he does nothing at all except sing and jump through the crowd in the small hall to try and liven things up. There are, however, a number of problems. That he uses so many samples is not a problem per se, it is that they sound extremely dodgy, the guitar particularly sounds extremely off. The drummer does do a good job drumming, and the drum beats provided are very nice. It is, unfortunately, the only redeeming factor, as the rest of the instrumentation (mostly done by samples and loops) just do not cut it, and Adamson himself is not particularly the best voiced out there, and he strains it at times. Despite that he tries to make something of it, but the music itself is not good enough, some parts sounding very dodgy.

The Joy Formidable are another beast altogether, and “beast” is the right word. They make some loud noise, bit poprock, bit shoegaze, but loud it is. The drumming is their best asset, with Matt Thomas (replacement of original drummer Justin Stahely) going at it pretty good, providing some nice sounds. The rest is a tad boring, really. They really try to rock it out, and really not much is done in terms of stage presentation. Naturally, not giving away a performance would not be too bad if the tunes are there, because music is the main thing that counts. Unfortunately the songs do get lost in the loudness of it all, rendering it all a tad forgettable.

Forgettable, surely, does not apply to the group of six who call themselves, against every good judgment, Dananananakroyd (I will boycott the first band naming themselves Billillillillillmurray). A lot of fuss has been made about their debut album, Hey Everyone, but perhaps not everyone is equally taken with the screaming and chaos on the album. Even so, seeing them live is quite a treat, going at it with a lot of energy. The songs take a backseat to the energy and live performance, which are the main reasons why the house is rocking. Say what you want about the music they make, they do give everyone a reason to get crazy. It is about having a merry good time, with chaos, screaming, and yelping, but the frontmen aren’t scared to strike a pose, do a little dance, or to emasculate the chaos build up. Between all the racket they suddenly turn on a beat, make room in the crowd to commence a – you guessed it! – dance-off. It is not the first time the lads are in the crowd, or on the hands of the crowd, or the crowd on the stage for that matter. Something is continually happening, and that is why even if you don’t fancy the album, you might just be able to appreciate the energy live.

From the merriest of Glaswegians to the gloomiest of Londoners, The XX are there to provide some lo-fi dream pop, and indeed do so admirably. Lined up alongside each other they make atmospheric, dreamy shoegaze. They don’t have a drummer and rely on a drumpad instead, making such a formation possible. All are dressed in black, but whereas this seems contrived when others do it (I will keep silent but you know who I mean!), it actually seems to suit these youngsters. The XX, namely, are gloomy. No power hooks, no contrived sentiments, and when you watch this foursome on stage the dress code connects with the songs, which in turn connect to how they present themselves. The songs are dreamy, understated, and the girl/boy vocals match each other very well. New single ‘Crystalised’ is a prime example of their sound when indeed performed in a way it should, and in a way they apparently can.

The Noisettes really haven’t done themselves a favour with the new album, or so it seems live. Whereas ‘Don’t Upset the Rhythm’ is a dance delight, the rest stays quite a bit behind. Though Shingai Shoniwa tries to make a pop performance out of it, curling herself around the drums as if she were on Later With Jools… (oh, wait…), quite a bit of the tunes are rather bland, quite colourless. It is perhaps not easy to simply shift genres, and the uneasiness and the contrast comes back in their live performance. It would help if everything were as catchy as ‘Don’t Upset the Rhythm’, but it isn’t really, and so live it too often descends into generic pop.

The Red Light Company is not really that special, but it is a serviceable band. I doubt they will really break through to the big leagues worldwide, but the music is fair enough, and the long haired Richard Frenneaux has a way about him that is rather dashing (which, arguably, is the least you can expect from someone with such a name, everything less than “dashing” being rather embarrassing). The tunes are bit power pop, high on sing-along, but a bit low on real creativity perhaps. It is executed well enough, so if you are in the mood and looking for some stadium rock not quite having reached the quality of that, you could do worse. They do an admirable job, though arguably the music itself lacks in creativity and spontaneity.

This first day has seen some bands that are talented and know how to make music, and some bands who either cannot or have lost it. Musically The Temper Trap and The XX seem to know how to make a song, the latter to fit their sound, the former to fit their variety of qualities. Dananananakroyd know how to make a party and have fun even without curbing their enthusiasm.

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