Saturday, September 8, 2012

Electric Picnic 2012 Review

It has been a LONG time since my last post, with too many things interrupting my best intentions to get back to my blog, and  had almost thought of retiring, but then came Electric Picnic, and I was so overwhelmed I had to write about it and share it with anyone who might listen beyond those around me  who are probably sick of me raving by now.

There are a lot of other things to catch up on (movies, books, music, TV, and in particular my epic devouring of ALL the Song of Fire and Ice books on Kindle on the iPhone - probably not good for the eyes, lets face it - and loving the series (especially season 2, episode 9, 'Blackwater', probably the best piece of television I have ever seen).  However, all of those will have to wait until I get Electric Picnic out of my system.

To start with, we almost didn't get there at all.  When the line-up came out, and I saw Sigur Ros, Killers, Elbow and, towering above all, The Cure, I immediately went on to Ticketmaster to get a family ticket for myself and my 12-year-old son (DK), but couldn't book for some reason.  An email to the promoters revealed that the family tickets were already all gone, apparently to folks who booked them even before the line-up was announced.  Sad faces all round.  Then, that Friday, an incredibly thoughtful email from my new hero at the promoter to say that a new batch had come out and within an hour we had it secured.  Happy faces all round.

So off we went, small tent (we had serious tent envy all weekend, compared to those who appeared to have brought the kitchen sink and all utensils too!) and not much more.

It was amazing.  Sun shone. Music soared. Amazing. Far beyond anything I would have expected.

Friday was always going to be slower and quieter,and started with Grandaddy, who I actually really   although I hadn't listened to The Sophtware Slump in years - can't get 'Crystal Lake' out of my head since.  Then Grizzly Bear did nothing for either of us, and we left after 2 songs, to the sunshine, where Alabama Shakes were warming things up nicely, and sounded very good in fact, although I am not sure I would listen to a full album.  Fair play for the full Indian headdress on the singer though!

A brief break from standing at Fossett's Circus later, we emerged to the XX, who I have never warmed too much, although I can certainly see what the fuss is about - a band to admire rather than love, and their live set did nothing to change my mind.  Then a gap (quick run to check out Mark Lanegan - loud but class) and Sigur Ros came out (10 minutes late - the only late start we noticed) to initial noodling on keyboards followed by a sudden huge loud chord to make everyone jump out of their skins - first indelible moment of the festival - followed by a heavenly cacophony led by Jonsi sawing madly at his electric guitar with a violin bow. Didn't know the song but a subsequent bit of research found it to be iI gaer' from Harma, and I have now downloaded that one and is a great song! Overall, through, I am not completely sure their set worked on the big stage (and had the nagging feeling all weekend that many strange choices had been put on that stage which would have worked more in marquee and vice versa) but there were of course great moments, such as 'Hoppipolla' and 'Svefn-G-Englar' (can anyone really pronounce their song names - and those are two of the more straightforward - the way they probably should be pronounced?) .

Anyway, DK found it a bit slow, so persuaded me to try Ed Sheeran for a while; I had essentially no foreknowledge of this guy but all I can say is that
(a) everyone in the Electric Arena knew every single word of every single song (except me!)
(b) one song went on very very very long and had a backing track (cheat!)
(c) his biggest reaction was to an admittedly wow version of 'chasing cars'

It seemed like crowd-baiting kiddy stuff to me but undoubtedly powerful and DK loved it.

Saturday started with some sunshine and some Heathers (nice and worth checking out) and then Dry the River, whose CD I had downloaded three days before to give it a shot.  They really are an incredible band, most songs starting high, slow and folky before building to an Arcade Fire/National epic - one formula variously applied, but it bloody works on songs like 'New ceremony', 'Weights and measures' and 'Chambers and the valves' and a very odd but appealing live act.  Quiet singer with amazing voice partnered with bassist who looks like a defector from a heavy metal band and does all the talking.  The quiet bits were ethereal and the peaks shook the ground - fantastic and really a band to get excited about (see video clip below).




The afternoon brought one of the two incredible reunion gigs of the weekend, which collected all the 40-somethings in the area (mostly male) and drew them to the tents like a magnet.  Tom Dunne and
Something Happens took to the Cosby Stage (why so small?) and Tom pointed out gleefully that some of the audience hadn't been born when they last played, but some (most!) definitely had.  They looked very happy to be back in action. For a while I thought the set was going to play 'Been there, seen that, done that' in entirety and possibly in order, and they seemed to ignore their troubled third album, but it really was a great set delivered with great humour and personality.  There seemed to be some slagging on stage and rusty creaks between members, and Tom had to berate guitarist Ray Harmon in the persona of Bono at one point, but the old magic was clearly still there and hopefully they won't give up for good again now.


We also caught a fair chunk of Wild Beasts' set, but they just failed to do it for me live, and did nothing to shift the nonplussed reaction I have had to both their albums so far - I know they are good, and different, but I just can't really connect with the music for some reason.

Anyway, of course, Electric Picnic was always going to be for me about The Cure, and the thought of 3 full hours of them doing a greatest hits set live had kept me in some state of excitement for weeks.  I had only seen them live once, in 1989, and had found that disappointing, but this was not a repeat.  We started close to the front, and they started as I hoped they would with the majestic splendour of 'Plainsong', which I filmed as below.  Strangely, in retrospect, comparing the start of their set with the start of Sigur Ros' can only make you think how much the latter have been (at a certain extent at least) influenced by the former.

After a while, we moved back, and the set was full of simply jaw-dropping moments as great song followed great song - the first hour alone included 'Inbetween days' (shown below, for some reason appearing as if shot underwater) and 'Just like heaven', consecutively if I remember correctly.  As discussed later, 'Pictures of you' really moved me unexpectedly, and overall it was really a fantastic set and there is just no band who could put on so many songs that mean so much to me for so long.  Close-up, they do look rather odd these days, with Robert sporting a sparkly black top and the guitarist (apparently Reeves Gabrels, not a traditional member) looking old, heavy and somewhat misplaced.  There were only 1 or 2 unfamiliar songs, one of   which seemed to feature both a harmonica and a wah-wah guitar, neither of which should be found easily in a Cure song.  We did miss the end, heading briefly to catch some of Bell X1 (DK's request, and he had listened to over 2 hours of the Cure for me), but that was full and we were tired, so we headed campward, and sat outside listening to the astonishing final run of 'Why can't I be you?', '10:15 Saturday night' (around 2 hours late), 'Lovecats' and 'Killing an arab'.  Just brilliant.





Sunday turned out to be one of the best days of the Irish non-summer, and was a cloudless scorcher, and the only way to pass the morning was stretched out in the sun listening to the Dublin Gospel Choir (not something I would normally do).  The first main gig was Of Monsters and Men, as I loved the album, but we were a bit late getting there and couldn't even get near the tent, which was a huge pity as the album is really good.  Anyway, then time for a few minutes of Mick Flannery, who is always good but we have seen maybe 10 times in Cork, so with apologies and without time to hear him inevitably apologising for dragging people away from the sun to hear his miserable (if mighty) songs, we headed to what I expected to be, and was, one of the highlights of EP 2012.

This was the reunion of Fat Lady Sings, fronted by the nicest man in Irish music, Nick Kelly (no insult, no sarcasm).  I saw FLS (and Something Happens, as it Happens) in around 1988 in a series of Dublin gigs called 'Seven bands on the up' (sponsored by a drinks company - Sprite perhaps), and loved them, and their debut album 'Twist'.  I also had bought several of Nick's solo albums, and remain on his mailing list.  Live, this time, they just looked thrilled to be there, and the music was as beautiful as I remember.  Obviously, 'Arclight' has never strayed far from my or general consciousness, but 'Deborah', 'Manscared' and, in particular, 'Contact' were brilliant, the latter showing how a song unheard for 20 years can suddenly grab your heart and emotions as if ne'er a day had passed....




Then the first main act of the evening, Elbow on the main stage.  They really delivered a very impressive set, which affected me far more than I expected.  Guy Garvey is a hell of an effective frontman, with banter, waves, hand gestures and everything he did leading the audience to perch in the palm of his hand, even if he cannot help but remind me constantly of Ricky Gervais.  Their sound was brilliant, with strings and horns for many of the songs (as seen in photo below), and even the Irish youth choir for 'Lippy kids' (although to be honest I cannot say I really could discern their specific contribution).



Clips below of 'Weather to fly', which I think they said was one for the band themselves (which was less cocky  than it may sound as most of the rest of the songs had been preluded by remarks about their being about them f**king things up) and was preceded with a lovely acoustic verse, and 'One day like this'.


The 45-minute interval between Elbow and the Killers allowed time for a quick run to see some of Tindersticks, always a favourite of mine (see previous post here).  We only caught three songs, and it
certainly hit the slow and ruminant air of their most recent albums, and I am not sure Stuart Staples eyes opened at all while I watched.  Class, undeniable class, but a bit too low-key.  Below is set opener 'If you're looking for a way out' (an Opus cover, I think, from 'Simple pleasures'):



The Killers delivered a very large and powerful performance, to be fair, and have to be recognised as a really good guitar band who stand out because of the somewhat theatrical approach of their singer and
the massive layers of 80s synths they drape over everything.  Live, they were tight and loud, if somewhat indifferent to the crowd (bar an opening 'Conas a ta tu'!) but have to be given marks for not overloading the set with tracks from their soon to be released new album 'Battle born' (great title, by the
way) - 3 I counted, and one 'Flesh and bone' sounds great at first listen).  They did two cover versions, lighting up the Stradbally sky with lasers for 'Shadowplay' (how many of the audience will have known the sinister original?) and giving a nod to the locals with a short burst of Van Morrison's 'Brown-eyed
girl', both captured from (apologies) a bit far back in the crowd below, as well as 'All the things that I've done', with which they closed their main set (my attempts to get nearby members of the crowd to sing our home version - 'I've got ham but I'm not a hamster' - tragically came to naught):



The Killers then confused a huge proportion of the crowd (well, at least me, DK, and a few near us) by leaving the stage at 11.30 whereupon we headed away thinking of the last few minutes of Glen Hansard, only to hear them reappear for an encore, leading to a rapid turnaround for a lot of us between the main arena and the smaller stages to beat a hasty retreat back to hear the last few songs.  This was definitely worth it, though, to hear the best 'rock and roll' line of the weekend, as Brandon Flowers preceded the final song ('When we were young') with the lines (and I may be paraphrasing) 'We are about to rock as hard as we can.  Are you ready to receive as hard as you can?' and then...the brilliant line to the band 'Okay boys, lets see what this thing can do').

Minor disappointments:

1. Not getting there early enough to be in the tent
for Of Monsters and Men (see picture below of crowd OUTSIDE the tent listening)



2. Failing to bring a picnic blanket and hence sitting on dampish grass too much - top EP tip for sure.
3. Dexys - had bit of a listen to the new album beforehand and sounded good but they put on a bizarre show which seemed like 1920s music hall or something, and we both hated it, so didn't even wait to see just in case they played 'Come on Eileen' (which I would not have bet they would given the vibe they were exuding).

Pleasantest surprise (nonmusical):

No traffic problems.  At all. 

Top song moments:

1. The Cure 'Pictures of you' - for some reason, this just blew me away and transported me off during their set, although it would not have been immediately in my top 5 Cure songs and I hadn't heard it in
ages
2. The Cure 'In between days' (soundcheck, Saturday morning) - sunny morning, family campsite, perfect music suddenly comes into focus.  The one that made me start this blog (see here).
3. Something Happens 'Hello, hello, hello (Petrol)' - they were having such fun it was impossible not to feel it, and working in 'Use somebody' and 'Smells like teen spirit' just added to the crack.
4. The Fat Lady Sings 'Contact' - again, how a song you have not heard for 20 years suddenly grips you with a passion and power you had completely forgotten, delivered by the nicest happiest looking band in the festival
5. Dry the river 'New ceremony' - a fantastic whisper to shout epic from my newest favourite band
6. Ed Sheeran 'Chasing cars' - ok, it is a cheat for his best song to be a cover version, but the visceral thrill of the packed-full Electric Arena tent singing every syllable of this was spine-tingling

So, that's it for Electric Picnic 2012, but not for the Culture Collection as lots more to catch up on now back to the blogging habit.

No comments:

 
Site Meter