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24th-26th August 2007Compared to the other festivals Carling Reading Festival is the one where unruly behaviour, riot acts like burning tents are acceptable to the point that it wouldn't be Reading without these. Music on the other hand is another excuse to throw yourself around. Compared to previous years this year's line-up was pretty much disappointing. You had the "new" bands who have been playing at every festival available all summer, you had the bands who play Reading every year, then you had the major names, who with the exception of one didn't really live up to the expectations.
It appeared the Friday's real headliners were Ash. Much to everyone's amusement the main headliner was Razorlight. Most asked why but most went to sing-a-long to America anyway. Being over the 90s and not being into egomaniacs I stayed in the bar and drank instead. One band that shone on Friday was Reverend and the Makers. There is something special about Sheffield bands. They have the inexplicable ability to produce songs that make you want to swing your head and arms left and right. They simply sold their upcoming album to me with their performance which was followed by the muchly talked about Cajun Dance Party who filled the tent with balloons but didn't do any "dancey" stuff. Still they were worth checking out. Sandwiched between them and one fabulous Patrick Wolf was Jack Penate who had what seemed to be his family and Jo Whiley dancing in the pit. I am not a fan of George Michael doing Elvis impressions so if I looked bored, it was because I was. Luckily my evening was saved by another terrific performance by Patrick Wolf who was keen on playing tracks from Lycantrophy.
As the disappointment with the headliners go, none could have beaten the Saturday's. Step forward Red Hot Chili Peppers. If one band needed to blamed for lack of enthusiasm, lack of interaction and lack of festival spirit, everyone can point their fingers to RHCP. So disappointing they were, it felt like this was a band who's been around for a year or two, so had to rely on 20 minute jamming sessions followed by minutes of silence in between songs to fill their 2 hour slot. They blamed sound problems. Maybe their non-existing greeting of the crowd was due to the sound problems too. It wasn't all bad tho. Especially if you were in the dance tent earlier that day. A lot of people were for Crystal Castles who were followed by Does It Offend You, Yeah? which were probably the best act of the day. They sound like Discovery era Daft Punk but with an edge, not necessarily offending but you get what they mean with their title. Scroobius Pip was in his most articulate, measuring his audience and telling them that he has to dance it up a bit.
Thankfully Sunday headliner was a major act who has been doing many festivals this year to know how to act
. But long before them there was Late of the Pier, who were the first act of the day pulling enough audience to prove there was interest. They kept their clothes on too. The Maccabees did a secret set in the Nokia Tent in the afternoon. Later, the day heard stories about how someone threw a lemon at Kate Nash while she was performing Foundations. Packed tent is an understatement; it was obvious everyone Kate Nashed to see Kate Nash, and I wonder if anyone needed a Kate Nash how they manged to leave the tent for the toilets. Yes this is how I entertained myself through her set. Previous to Nash, Devendra Banhart was over in the BBC1 tent. It was good to see the messiah-like performing again. By the time the clocks hit half 8, Nine Inch Nails, who could have easily been the double headliner, were on stage. What can be described as brilliant audio visual show came to end with Aaron North smashing his guitar and throwing the amp to the security. Trent Reznor later appeared on its own to sing Hurt. The closing act of the festival was Smashing Pumpkins. And they came and went with bang and a wow! Billy Corgan was surprisingly in good form, not shy of addressing the audience and being generally charming. The band gave the fans the classics and the under-rated Zeitgeist tracks which are brilliant. Cherub Rock sent everyone singing along and jumping up and down and closed the festival in great spirit.
For full line-up info - check out the Official Website
17th August 2007
Taking a break from selected festival appearances this year, Martha Wainwright was in London for a one off gig. She promised many new songs and she delivered that promise with her instantly recognizable mourning voice that either saves the souls or breaks the hearts. Seeing Martha live is a completely different experience to listening to her on CD. On stage she lives every word she sings. One could identify this with the time Bjork ate her dress while at the set of Dancer in the Dark. There is so much emotion; from sorrow to joy, regret to pride and combined with the voice it turns into this scene which you can't take your eyes of - you do not want to miss a second of it.
The new songs are in the same direction of the old ones. Personal stories of pain and loss and hope are covered in songs such as Bleeding All Over You and George, a song she wrote about a friend who committed suicide. With guest appearances from Pete Townsend and Rachel Fuller who covers the Eels' It's A Motherfucker, the evening gets spiced up. Eels' is not the only act covered, Martha takes on Annie Lennox's Love Is A Stranger. Everytime she sings "...and I want you..." crowd melts a little bit more, however she points out she is now taken. The evening comes to an end with the introduction of tequilla and the appropriate song to go with it - GPT -, followed by the now anthemic BMFA and the jaw dropping rendition of Dis Quand Reviendras-Tu? confirming her state as an amazing performer and perhaps a future icon like Edith Piaf.
Check Official Martha Wainwright website for tour info
Martha's Myspace page
For more photos from the show, check out YouNeedToSeeThese
4th & 5th August 2007The inclusion of The Young Knives was, perhaps, a great tactical move by the organizers of Electric Gardens Festival. The band's "Hot Summer"summarized this boutique festival,now on its second year, on Kent's Mount Ephraim Gardens perfectly.The glorious weather at the weekend, lots of sunshine, no drop of rain which made the festival feel like a day out up in the mountains. The bands were carefully selected to cater different people's different music needs. A great plus was, the acts were not clashing with each other. An advantage of it being a small festival or just clever thinking on the organizers' part, while a band was playing on the main stage, the DJs were spinning the records on the second stage and vice versa so there was no hesitation on who you would want to see. The fact that it takes you about 5 minutes to walk in between stages was a welcomed change, especially after Glastonbury. So when things are running this smoothly you don't realize you are in a festival so there had to be something going on and that would be the queues to enter the festival site but then again once you are in there's nothing whinge about.
As said it was eclectic music-wise. You had establish bands such as the Happy Mondays alongside the upcoming french trio The Teenagers. While Calvin Harris was getting the main stage ready for the headliners on Saturday, New Young Pony Club were licking Ice-Cream on the 2nd Stage. The now obligatory festival stage - Myspace stage was offering a selection of unsigned talent alongside several Londoners GoodBooks and Scroobius Pip. The dance tent on the other hand was packed all weekend long with handpicked DJs like Statnton Warriors and Justin Robertson delivering the tunes.
One of the more energetic performances came from the Noisettes what with singer Shingai seemingly suffering from hyperactivity, she wouldn't stop jumping off drum kits and speakers. Maccabees on the other hand were just cool and pulled a great crowd. You got to love a band who demands smoke machines to be turned off. The eccentricism was delivered by Frederick of Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man and Foals were on stage to deliver the future indie floor fillers. The Pipettes got everyone up on their feet. There were plenty of pointing going on during their set. In the 2nd Stage area, there was complete silence for Laura Marling. To my ears she and her guitar were not too memorable but she definitely has a following, at the end of the day there's always a market for acoustic guitar/poet types. While s
he was being quiet and self-restrained, Patrick Wolf did not mind getting friendly with his audience. Even the security decided to leave him be, after the 3rd time he dived into the crowd. There were smiles all around and no tears. One can say Kate Nash was very good, her album released the following week is number 1 in the charts. She was definitely happy Saturday's headliner Supergrass filled the field and treated the audience to some new songs as well as back-catalogue of singles such as Pumping On The Stereo, St Petersburgh and Mary.
The afterthought? You get to watch some great bands and get a tan and do it for half the money of most festival, get those early bird tickets for next year's Electric Gardens.
For information about the festival, check out the Electric Gardens website
For pictures of the bands, check out YouNeedToSeeThese
27th July 2007
Clap clap clap whistle whistle whistle. Add a healthy dose of "i have no idea what chords they are playing" guitars, a flask full of "makes me wanna stomp my foot and dance" drums, keys, lotsa keys in the form of keyboards, keytars, those flute-keyboard things and a pinch of flute.
Not quite the DIY band but more than enough layered instrumentals to create a dance chaos while sounding simple and subdued at the same time.
How is this possible? Ask the Norwich band Bearsuit. Or better go catch them live in support of their upcoming new single More Soul Than Wigan Casino in August and album titled OH:IO (both released on Fantastic Plastic) in September. As witnessed on this Fortuna Pop night, their music and live performance will make you wave your arms in all directions and if you end up in one of their future gigs and if anyone gives you the weird look for the uncontrollable body jerkin, make sure to deck them and blame it to the band. Don't forget to fall for the charms of Itsuke Got Married once again and do a sexy dance for the new song Foxy Boxer.
Check out Bearsuit's Official website and Myspace for news and tour dates
Also check out Fantastic Plastic, Fortuna Pop Records
More photos from the Buffalo Bar is on YouNeedToSeeThese
Truck festival was cancelled due to heavy rainfall prior to the weekend. It is rescheduled to take place on the weekend of 22nd/23rd September 2007.
Let's hope it won't rain that week (or weekend).
10th July 2007
9th July 2007
You can't help but feel disappointed when Courtney Love says she can't smoke in the venue because of the laws. This is the new Courtney Love. She is still the punk/rock/grunge icon but she has grown up.
On her birthday Courtney Love was in London to perform a secret gig to about 250+ people. The reason behind was probably to test the waters for her new songs from her new album scheduled to be released in Spring 2008. I can't wait that long, as Love, who's been to hell and back in the last couple of years appears to have written an album of such beauty it hurts.
She opened her set with a song called Samantha (not Maloney) which is 1 of the 3 "rockin" songs that might end up on the album. Alongside the new songs, she squeezed some Hole classics from Live Through This (Doll Parts, Miss World) and Celebrity Skin (Malibu, Celebrity Skin and Northern Star). Her new material tells the story of someone looking at her life, acknowledging her wrongs and looking for redemption (Letter to God, Happy Ending Story, Once In Your Life, Never Go Hungry) and revenge (Stand Up Motherfucker, Sunset Marquis) and better than anything she can sing these songs live. It is a fact that she ran out of breath in some songs and ruined the intro to Miss World but to cut her some slack she has not played live (and with her new band) for years. And if her performance is like this at the beginning of the road I am looking forward to the next occasion.
Check out Courtney's new website, Courtney Love
Her Myspace for informative and amusing blog entries
and YouNeedToSeeThese for photos from Bush Hall
3rd & 4th July 2007
After 2 years of stage absence Tori stopped at London, at her home Hammersmith Apollo in her American Doll Posse tour. She had some surprises, 4 in fact, namely Pip, Santa, Clyde and Isabel. Along with Tori they make up the doll posse. With the exception of "Tori", on eof these characters is selected every night to open the show. For her London shows the honors were given to Santa and Isabel (sarcastically put on 4th of July).
The band was there to liven up the songs, there was a stage set up, the lights were pretty much amazing and the set lists, the set lists were to die for. Tori as herself sang the hits and b-sides off her back catalogue in both nights. Here she was fucking her piano stool during Crucify and Bliss, near tears during China, thoughtful during Putting the Damage on and Cool On Your Island. Cornflake Girl, God, Caught A Light Sneeze, Hey Jupiter, Tear in Your Hand, Winter, Waitress, Sorta Fairytale...the songs kept coming. Sweet Dreams, Siren, Home On The Range and Cooling, some of her best b-sides and rarities. She even had a remixed Professional Widow section giving her time to change.
Unfortunately not everything was amazing. To begin with none of the ADP tracks stand out when performed live, maybe realizing that most of the new tracks were performed at the beginning of the show with only Big Wheel and Code Red from ADP remain permanent in the main set. Secondly and I think this was the main issue this is not the 90s and it seemed even though Tori tried to capture the audience's attention with the 90s well known songs somehow it felt, especially on the first night, she was not feeling them.
Tori Amos Official Website, Myspace
for more photos from both nights, check YouNeedToSeeThese
24-26th June 2007
All the rain and mud stopped some from having a great weekend at the legendary Glastonbury Festival however it didn't stop the music. If you have been to Glastonbury before, you wouldn't be fooled by the "it's all part of the experience" excuse on poor planning causing chaos and injuries. A legendary festival should not have any excuses, especially after increasing the capacity. At the end of the day as much as they say Glastonbury is an all around experience, the focus is on the music. And music was what made many forget about how you would be able to get back to your tent without slipping on mud and injuring yourself.
Started Friday with Remi Nicole, a much anticipated new young singer with a guitar destined to be branded as "PJ Harvey on (insert word)". Next we waited for Los Campesinos. Unfortunately the sun didn't wait for them and it started raining. After what seemed like ages, the band finally took the stage. I was going to write stormed the stage but it would be more suitable for the next band - The Automatic. The Automatic has been touring their album Not Accepted Anywhere so their set was predictable but it is always a joy to see the guys putting their 100% (200 in Alex Pennie's case) and put on an amazing show.Their set was followed by Bright Eyes with a full band wearing all white with Conor Oberst apologizing for his drug fueled rant that happened 2 years ago. After a set from Charlotte Hatherley, it was Martha Wainwright's turn to showcase some new songs from her second album with a tentative release date of January 2008. 
A sing-a-long during BMFA brought a smile on Martha's face, then again it might have been the fat joint someone threw on stage for her smoking pleasure. And off she was to join her brother Rufus Wainwright on the Other Stage. And so were we. This is Rufus' second consecutive appearance at Glastonbury on the same stage. He belted songs from his new album and finished his set with a pre-recorded cover of Get Happy...only he couldn't as the CD skipped and he had to do it all over again. Arcade Fire was next and they put on a fantastic show and get the people jumping and dancing in the muddy ground. Headliners of the evening were Arctic Monkeys and Bjork. We stayed at the Other Stage for Bjork of course and she was by all means worth the wait. She sang songs from her new album Volta as well as reworked to sound ravey classics such as Army of Me, Hyperballad and Pluto. Towards the end of her set the speakers on the right stopped functioning however this didn't stop anyone dancing like they were participating the biggest rave on earth.
Saturday saw Kate Jackson sharing the Other Stage with the Brakes for a duet of Mrs Jackson. She later appeared with her band The Long Blondes and bear the torrential rain while singing songs from their fantastic debut. My first and last trip to the Pyramid Stage was to see Lily Allen. Unfortunately Lily's attitude outshines her talent which is a shame. Pigeon Detectives raised the roof in the John Peel Tent with invitations to sing-a-longs and crowd surfing. They deserve to be heard and seen. For the curator of the Peel tent, Bat For Lashes was the band he's been waiting to see all day long. He was left very satisfied with Natasha Khan and her band singing songs from their critically acclaimed album Bat For Lashes creating a paganistic ritual atmosphere. The next band was the one I've been waiting to see all day and he lived up to my expectations as usual. Patrick Wolf was on top form, dancing on stage, being rude with a cameraman and just being playful in general. He was join
ed on stage by Edward Larrikin who was supposed to be performing as Larrikin Love at this year's Glasto before they split up. Not knowing who to see next, we watched Get Cape Wear Cape Fly and then ran to see the Saturday's headliner, one Mr Iggy Pop and the Stooges. Iggy Pop is an icon; unlike some, his legendary status didn't stop him from getting down and dirty with his fans. So when he demanded the fans be let on stage there were people jumping the barriers everywhere (I tried and failed). This chaos stopped him from continuing his show as there was no space for him on stage. After about 20 minutes of socializing with his fans he reclaimed it back and finished his set with an extended version of I Wanna Be Your Dog.
A stellar line up on Friday and Saturday left Sunday as a bit of an anti-climax but gave us the opportunity to walk around the site. Walking around the dance tents we went into one to see Dragonette. It was their third show of the weekend so they were understandably tired but performed well. The Go! Team was on the list of acts to see so we headed to the Other Stage and see them bring the tired and rain drenched audience back to life with their up beat happy tunes. The View was the penultimate band of the night and continued to entertain the crowd and warmed them up for the festival closer Chemical Brothers. Flares and lasers and a huge screen with amazing light show was what they offered us on plate and the songs spanning their decade long career was an added bonus.
Overall it's best to limit the experience with music and when the experience is the music I doubt anyone can say "I'm not coming back next year" and even if you say you won't, you know you will because at the end of the day, it is the Glastonbury Festival.
Official Glastonbury Site
For over 100 photos from Glastonbury, check out YouNeedToSeeThese
19th June 2007In the awake of the new "Smashing Pumpkins" album Zeitgeist, Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain along with newly recruited members reminded us why SP was once the world's best band.
Taking the stage at 8pm without any support acts, the band performed for 3 hours. There was moshing, real moshing among crowd shouting the names of billy and jimmy then there were cool downs with acoustic songs and ballads and sing-a-longs. We also got a taste of Zeitgeist which sees Billy going back to raw guitars and drums instead of synths and keyboards. The setlist consisted of Cherub Rock, Disarm, Today, Shame, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, 33, Zero, Silverfuck, Stand Inside Your Love, 1979, Tonight Tonight, Rocket and many others while playing Zeitgeist in full. It is a welcome return of the band. Even though it's not the original line up as long as you have Billy singing like an innocent child one minute and the howl in a way that gives you goosebumps you know you are in safe hands.
Catch The Smashing Pumpkins headlining at Carling Reading/Leeds Festival in August.
For more info check out the Official Site and Myspace
for more photos of the band, see YouNeedToSeeThese
17th May 2007
If I was to interview Patti Smith, I would have asked her how old she was. Here is a woman with long silver hair, wrinkles on her face and hands, looking fragile yet she sings, shouts, moves and strums her guitar with so much passion, you would think that she wasn't a year over 30 if you were blind. Yet at double that age, when she takes on the stage, Smith embodies the very pure essence of punk. She is against the system, she is outside of the society, she is not afraid to say it.
The reason for this tour is to promote Patti Smith's new album - Twelve. A covers album including songs of some of Patti's favourite musicians. She is also here to remind the audience of her own songs. L-O-N-D-O-N! GLORIA! she shouts and starts off her 2 hour long set. With the help of her band, including the original member Lenny Kaye, she performs classics such as Redondo Beach, Pissing in the River, Because The Night and Frederick in between the covers of Are You Experienced, White Rabbit, Smells Like Teen Spirit and Everybody Wants To Rule The World. At the end of her set, as she says she takes us back to 1978 with a 10 minute version of Rock'n'Roll Nigger - during the song the fists are up in the air, people are moshing. But this is not 1978, this is 2007 and that woman on stage is the ageless legend Patti Smith.
Patti Smith - Twelve is out now on Sony Records
For Tour information check out Patti Smith's myspace page
For more photos from Roundhouse gig, check out YouNeedToSeeThese
14th May 2007
Rufus Wainwright is in town to promote his new album, the Neil Tennant produced Release The Stars. His last stop before he leaves the town is Virgin Megastore on Oxford St for a lunch time in-store appearence.
It is easy to notice Rufus has been working with a hectic schedule. He looks tired but still upbeat. His short, 5-song set includes the title track, Rules and Regulations, Sans Souci, Art Teacher from 2005's Want Two and the first single off Rlease The Stars - the anti American Going To A Town. What sounds not so impressive on the CD comes alive when performed live. In fact all the songs sound quite magnificient with a full band forcing you to give that second listen to the album which actually turns out to be quite good.
Release The Stars is out this week on Geffen Records.
For news, tour dates and pre-sales check out rufuswainwright.com
For more pictures from Virgin Megastore in-store appearence check out YouNeedToSeeThese
6th April 2007
30th March 2007
An acoustic set taking place in London's biggest gay indie club may not sound like the best idea. Especially if the core clientelle is too young to remember Suede. Add the fact that your album doesn't contain any fast paced anthems.
Brett Anderson didn't have anything to worry. Coming on stage in high spirits, he told the audience he guessed they wanted him to sing some songs. Starting with a song about sex from his debut solo album, he followed it with the single Love Is Dead. His loyal fanbase cheered, while others shouted for the Suede classic Trash. After requesting audience to stop being so rowdy and telling them to be quiet he continued his set with a Suede b-side The Living Dead followed by the Wild Ones. Not wanting to disappoint, he finished his set with an acoustic version of Trash. The audience demanded more. Not having planned what else to play, Brett decided to take requests.He dedicated Clowns, the b-side to Love is Dead, to a fan. An attempt to play Across the Universe was cut short with a "fuck it", and was followed by the intro of another album track Scorpio Rising. Hesitating on what the play next, he opted for another Suede classic to finish his set. An acoustic So Young with the chorus sang by the audience proved that those who had doubts about this night were wrong.
Setlist: Infinite Kiss, Love Is Dead, The Living Dead, Wild Ones, Trash, Clowns, So Young
Debut album Brett Anderson is out now.
Check out the official website for news and tour info.
See more photos at YouNeedtoSeeThese
29th March 2007
Robyn has been around for over a decade now. She came into the music scene with Show Me Love. Even though her looks changed so little, her music took a turn into a more electro influenced pop. It is impossible to see that innocent Robyn singing sweet melodies in her latest single Konichiwa Bitches.
At her Cargo gig Robyn performed a selection of her singles. It is hard to say "hits" as with the exception of Do You Know What It Takes and Show Me Love, none of her material charted in the UK (or was released here). However as the night proved, she has a very loyal following who knew the words to all the songs she performed. Performance wise she was at top form. She taught everyone that 3 drumkits are better than 1 and that she doesn't have to change outfits or have big light shows to keep the crowd interested. She also showed everyone not only she can perform her own songs in excellence she can also pull off a Prince cover too.
Konichiwa Bitches' simplistic beats worked well live. The venue turned into a night club for the duration of With Every Heartbeat. She charmed the audience when she forgot the words to Handle Me and when she came back for a second encore - Be Mine (performed acoustic), everyone knew they were watching a future pop princess.
check out her official website and Myspace for details of upcoming performances
for more photos from the Cargo gig, check out YouNeedtoSeeThese
Check out the Handle Me performance on Fabulae's YouTube
14th March 2007"Make some noise!"
5th March 2007
On his first night of three at Bush Hall, Brett Anderson took his audience back to the Suede days. Accompanied by Mat Osman on the bass, a 40-minute main set of his solo material with a well fitting By The Sea mixed in between was followed by an encore of an acoustic version Wild Ones, the ever so positive Everything Will Flow and crowd pleasers (sweaters) Filmstar and Trash.
Despite the dark and moody sound of his solo material, the songs came alive and the audience were mesmerized by the arse-spanking going on stage. If you had any doubts, leave them at home and make sure you don't miss his Spring tour.
Debut single Love is Dead out 19th March followed by the album Brett Anderson out 26th March 2007.
Myspace
More photos at YouNeedtoSeeThese
26th February 2007
Patrick's London stop for his tour promoting his new album The Magic Position was a feast for ears and taking in account of "those" shorts, a feast for eyes. With the a full band behind him, the multi-instrumentalist played his new album, The Magic Position (out now) and some oldies to an enthusiastic crowd that filled the ICA. An appearance by somewhat motionless Edward Larrikin of Larrikin Love during Accidents & Emergency and Bishi's beautiful vocals replacing the haunting vocals of Marianne Faithfull on Magpie sent the crowd in a world of bliss. The pleasure was so hard to handle for some they expressed their delight by showering themselves in glitter which didn't go unnoticed by Patrick himself as he pointed at them - "the beautiful mess you are in." The setlist also included a storming Tristan, The Libertine, a new song Blackbird, Enchanted and the upcoming single The Magic Position.
Patrick plays at the Astoria on April 11th. Tickets on sale. (Update: April 2nd All tickets sold out)
Photos from the ICA gig and his previous performances at Barfly, Union Chapel and Koko @ YouNeedtoSeeThese
19th February 2007
A playful Amy Winehouse, wearing a basic white polo t-shirt and tight jeans made her sober appearance at London's Astoria with support from The Noisettes and Jack Penate as part of the NME Shockwaves tour. Sobriety and NME or even Amy may seem like an odd combination but she has never been the one to play by the rules.
Amy's fame doubled after the release of her second album Back To Black, a collection of unconventional break-up songs, which rocketed to number 1 with after her win at the Brit Awards. The album spawned two very successful singles - You Know I'm No Good and Rehab, the latter becoming an anthem among many who liked a night out (or night in) as long as they had something to drink.
Here at Astoria, she delivered a setlist mainly focusing on material from this album. Backed by a full band and back-up singers, self-conscious of her dancing, she hit all the notes perfectly. Her in-between song banter was mainly about a past experience she had at the Astoria that made headlines in many London papers and music websites. "Is anyone going to G-A-Y after me?" she asked towards the end of her set. "No! No! No!" shouted someone in the audience.
Setlist: Addicted, Just Friends, Tears Dry, Cherry, He Can Only Hold Her, Love Is Blind, Wake Up Alone, Back To Black, I'm No Good, Me And Mr Jones, Rehab, Love Is A Losing Game. She closed her set with what she called her favourite song of last summer, a cover of The Zuton's Valerie.
Astoria gig photos @ YouNeedtoSeeThese
It appeared the Friday's real headliners were Ash. Much to everyone's amusement the main headliner was Razorlight. Most asked why but most went to sing-a-long to America anyway. Being over the 90s and not being into egomaniacs I stayed in the bar and drank instead. One band that shone on Friday was Reverend and the Makers. There is something special about Sheffield bands. They have the inexplicable ability to produce songs that make you want to swing your head and arms left and right. They simply sold their upcoming album to me with their performance which was followed by the muchly talked about Cajun Dance Party who filled the tent with balloons but didn't do any "dancey" stuff. Still they were worth checking out. Sandwiched between them and one fabulous Patrick Wolf was Jack Penate who had what seemed to be his family and Jo Whiley dancing in the pit. I am not a fan of George Michael doing Elvis impressions so if I looked bored, it was because I was. Luckily my evening was saved by another terrific performance by Patrick Wolf who was keen on playing tracks from Lycantrophy.
. But long before them there was Late of the Pier, who were the first act of the day pulling enough audience to prove there was interest. They kept their clothes on too. The Maccabees did a secret set in the Nokia Tent in the afternoon. Later, the day heard stories about how someone threw a lemon at Kate Nash while she was performing Foundations. Packed tent is an understatement; it was obvious everyone Kate Nashed to see Kate Nash, and I wonder if anyone needed a Kate Nash how they manged to leave the tent for the toilets. Yes this is how I entertained myself through her set. Previous to Nash, Devendra Banhart was over in the BBC1 tent. It was good to see the messiah-like performing again. By the time the clocks hit half 8, Nine Inch Nails, who could have easily been the double headliner, were on stage. What can be described as brilliant audio visual show came to end with Aaron North smashing his guitar and throwing the amp to the security. Trent Reznor later appeared on its own to sing Hurt. The closing act of the festival was Smashing Pumpkins. And they came and went with bang and a wow! Billy Corgan was surprisingly in good form, not shy of addressing the audience and being generally charming. The band gave the fans the classics and the under-rated Zeitgeist tracks which are brilliant. Cherub Rock sent everyone singing along and jumping up and down and closed the festival in great spirit.
