Prego

Hinterland Festival is not a new concept – a multi-venue festival, where one wristband allows you access to hundreds of bands, art events and other goodies. Camden Crawl has been following this blueprint for over 10 years now. However, the concept seems strange and new to the people of Glasgow who had not experienced something on quite this large a scale before. True, there was Tryptich and now Stag & Dagger has made it’s way to the home of the brave, but Hinterland Festival is big, bold and ambitious, especially in these economically trying times

A few weeks before Hinterland is set to hit Glasgow’s most prestigious, cool and underground venues, there’s news that Homecoming Festival has been cancelled. The industry’s been wobbly for a while and it remains to be seen whether Hinterland will triumph.

Thursday 30^th April 2009
Thursday day, the box office is running slightly behind and Hinterland’s organisers are scurrying around, organising last minute guestlist changes and other bits and pieces. From around 12 noon, press and ticket holders dribble-in and by 1pm, there are huge queues as people hit the ticket exchange in the early afternoon. You can start to feel the buzz now as the kids don their shiny wristbands and head out into Glasgow’s grey urban wilderness.

As the evening skies descend upon Hinterland’s venues, you can almost smell the eager anticipation in the air. The bands and punters alike seem a little tense, this being Hinterland’s first year. Who knows what to expect?

We head down to The Classic Grand. The venue looks a little dilapidated from the outside but it holds two floors of music and dancing till the wee hours. London promoters and PRs, A Badge of Friendship, host downstairs events boasting a alt-rock line-up with Sucioperro, Brigade, Geordi La Force and 85 Bears. Upstairs, This Is Music, showcase sets from Fanfarlo, Meursalt, Orphans & Vandals and Trailer Trash Tracys. So that’ll be alt-rock goodness downstairs with hip ‘n’ trendy indie upstairs – sounds good to me, a bit of variety.

The venue is mostly empty as doors open, both upstairs and down. However, as 85 Bears hit the stage, folk seem to be coming in out of nowhere. 85 Bears mesmerise the crowd with their hypnotically addictive loops and melodies. They’re really revving-up the audience, showing these gig-goers that instrumental music can have a groove and a bit of bite.

Meanwhile, upstairs is a little empty with Trailer Trash Tracys bringing their own brand of “trendy” post-rocking music mastery to the fore. It’s a little like a watered-down My Bloody Valentine, boring in parts, nice in others. There’s not much of a buzz and maybe not the best choice for a first-on slot but they play reasonably well, nothing spectacular.

Geordi la Force

And so downstairs for Geordi La Force; no one really knows what to make of this one-man-one-laptop performance. The mistake that people often make is believing Geordi will either bless us with ambient electro musings or go down the Aphex Twin route. However, he sticks two fingers up at that notion and plays lightning fast riffs over grooving rock melodies. The music is highly technical but really listenable. There are also some really gorgeous introspective moments during the set too, good to see some variety during the set. The visuals that accompany GLF are a must. The “man of mystery” proclaims, two songs in: “The laptop is now going to read your minds…” and so in between each song is a random, yet highly comedic, set of clips form Robbie Williams falling on his arse on stage to Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers. By the end of his set, Geordi La Force has amassed quite a crowd. Love him or hate him, he’s definitely a boundary pusher and one to watch on the alt-rock circuit.

We unfortunately miss Orphans & Vandals for Geordi La Force. Seemingly, it’s still a little quiet upstairs, which is a shame as Meursalt take the stage. However, people are slowly flooding into the 550 capacity room but the buzz is lacking. Perhaps This Is Music’s bands would have been better in a smaller venue.

Next-up, Brigade, a London band featuring Will Simpson. Funnily enough, Will’s brother, Charlie (Fightstar) is playing a gig down the road at the ABC tonight and his younger brother, Edd (Prego) is due to play Hinterland the next evening – it’s definitely a family affair! It’s a little sparse as Brigade burst onto the stage with their explosive sounds. When you say “rock band”, Brigade really fit the bill. They try and mix up interesting melodies with huge walls of noise. The boys seem to be enjoying the night and eventually, a few hardcore Brigade fans make their way to the front and it’s not long before others follow.

We nip upstairs quickly for Fanfarlo. These Londoners play to quite a good crowd, despite the poorer turnout at the beginning of the evening. The music is gorgeous and it puts a smile on everyone’s faces. We’re also starting to hear reports from friends who’ve been hoofing it around Glasgow, visiting Hinterland’s other venues

Friends tell us that there’s a huge queue outside Nice N Sleazy to see Desalvo and The Fall, naturally, it’s just about at capacity. The Invisible are playing to a huge sweaty audience, Metronomy are becoming one of the highlights of Hinterland’s debut evening of musical delights, Cassidy opened Pivo Pivo to a full-on crowd and played a great set and folk are impressed and mystified by Edie Sedwick.

Orphans & Vandals

And so to the final band of the evening - Sucioperro. Sucioperro’s Dragon also features in Marmaduke Duke, Simon Neil’s (Biffy Clyro) latest musical incarnation. Dragon and The Atmosphere (Simon Biffy) are steadily gaining success with their new musical adventure as Marmaduke Duke, however, Sucioperro are not to be ignored. These boys play great, complicated, heartfelt rock. They are tight, succinct and have attracted a solid crowd tonight singing along with most of the band’s hits.

Sucioperro have rounded-off our evening perfectly. All the bands are milling about afterwards; chatting to each other, fans, press and the general consensus is this has been the perfect Hinterland opener. As A Badge of Friendship hit the decks, the revellers hit the dance floor to Max Tundra, Public Enemy and a little Soundgarden. We can’t wait for Friday!

Friday 1^st May 2009
It was a long night last night but bleary-eyed gig goers are not deterred by this at all. Another busy day at the box office it seems for staff means a night of good vibes ahead.

There’s an air of real excitement tonight as some quality bands finish Hinterland’s first year with a bang – Jeffrey Lewis, Sons & Daughters, Broken Records and This Will Destroy You are all firmly placed on punters’ agendas tonight so it seems.

First-up over to King Tut’s, hosted by A Badge of Friendship again, for Elks. The venue is really dead as the band start their set but they seem to win over the audience as they hit their stride around four songs in. Heads are bobbing, feet are tapping and, looking around the room, it’s evident that folk are really impressed with Elks’ honest, sincere and in-your-face approach to indie-rock that’s missing from the genre.

We quickly run up to The Art School, where Gigwise are hosting the proceedings, as London band, Phantom grace the Art School’s stage. They’ve been described as many things – Tarantino-esque, sweetly sinister, likened to Ennio Morricone – but I’d say they are simply perfection. The first aspect that strikes us is their perfect appearance, retro, glamorously classy but the music is simply divine. Their set is filled with a modern film noire themed quality to the music. Crystal clear guitars and haunting female vocals over firm beats really pound into the very heart of your soul. Beautiful.

We quickly run back to Tut’s where the venue heaves with Jeffrey Lewis fans. As Jeffrey hits the stage, the venue stops letting people in. It’s so great to see Jeffrey Lewis and his band The Junkyard, play a smaller venue like this, which actually suits his music so much better. His honest lyrical style and music bring such a cheer to the venue tonight. I’m almost dancing with happiness; this is definitely my Hinterland highlight so far.

It’s over in almost a flash, I enjoyed the set so much I hardly notice the time and we stay for Dinosaur Pile-Up. Dinosaur Pile-Up are part of the amazing Leeds music seen that has nurtured bands such as Sky Larkin, Wintermute and These Monsters amongst others – an all of whom are playing Hinterland too. These guys make quite a racket. There’s something almost early Melvins about this band and that is never a bad thing. The venue is not as busy as it was for Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard but for a band of this nature, there are still a fair few people here, at least 150 – not bad for a Leeds band in Glasgow town.

We Were Promised Jetpacks

Tut’s finishes relatively early so it’s aftershow time! The Fruitmarket is the place to be for all Hinterland partygoers. As we arrive, Alex (Skulljuice) is already deep in tune “spinnage”. Hinterlanders seem to love the odd noises and dance-based beats. Not really our thing, we do a bit of people watching for a while until The Count & Sinden come one. As this DJ duo hit the decks, everyone is really revved up and, of course, Simian Mobile Disco’s DJ set round-off a perfect two days of music, art, clubs and fun!

Having experienced many a festival in my time, Hinterland was very well organised. Despite the price, which may change next year if the promoters take note, many people I talked to had the chance to see at least six, if not seven bands per evening. There were queues at some venues but the waiting times weren’t long and buzz bands like Glasgow’s We Were Promised Jetpacks, were always bound to attract a huge crowd in their hometown.

The idea of smaller bands having their time to shine amongst the big boys is a great idea. It’s also good to see a blend of genres from rock, doom and indie to dance, experimental music, electro and a plethora of DJ sets around the city. Hinterland should definitely be an example to all multi-venue festivals – defiant in the face of “selling out”.

The organisers brought a little cheer to a usually dreary Glasgow and, more importantly, Hinterland brought bands, musicians, labels, A&Rs and thousands of people to a small city in a time of economic crisis. We should all support independent events in the hope of boosting our local economy, discovering a new band or two and bringing a little cheer in what seems like a serious time for all of us. Hinterland is shining the light, let them lead the way!

Photographs courtest of Heidi Kuisma

Aaaaaah our favourite time of the year has loomed yet again. All Tomorrow’s Parties. The one event in the calendar year where geeks mingle with beardies and hipsters hold hands with hippies. There really is no other festival like it, and for those of you who couldn’t make it or even for those out there who want to re-live the shenanigans we like to give you the best coverage that’s humanly possible.

We’ve already published John Brainlove’s diary and even ‘twittered’ our way through last weekends events.. But as ATP round 2 kicks off this afternoon we’re pleased to unveil our bumper review!

Two perspectives. Boy and girl. Adam Elmahdi and Kate Price give a detailed look at last weekends The Fans Strike Back event accompanied with the photographs of Lucy Johnston and Rich Thane.

Enjoy! And if we’ve missed anything out – don’t forget to tell us about it in the comments thread below…

Look out for a full review of The Breeders weekend, plus a massive photo feature of both events. All that’s to come next week…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Continue Reading

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before we run our extensive review of last weekends ATP shenanigans, we asked  John Brainlove’s to jot down some thoughts about the weekends happenings.

Look out for a full review plus a bumper photo feature coming very soon!!

All band photographs by Rich Thane.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, we’re in Simon’s rickety car, screaming down the motorway, chasing the patch of blue sky that somehow seems to be constantly moving away from us. The moustachioed Major Matty Hall is our car’s co-pilot, having shotgunned the front seat, like a bastard. He is conducting a short seminar on the difference between nuclear and thermonuclear bombs. We are hurtling towards Minehead. The tape player is apparently frozen, so I am piping The Horrors’ new album through my tinny battery powered speakers.

It’s ATP. yayTP. The lineup this weekend was ostensibly selected by ‘The Fans’, or at the least the excitable ones who buy tickets in time to effect the voting.

Christopher Alcxxk of Internet Forever texts me. He has picked up ten of my favourite Portuguese custard tarts for me from the bakery near his house. We have a boot full of booze and breakfasts. I’ll be sleeping on a sofa in someone else’s chalet this weekend – ATP press tickets come sans-accommodation – and I’m gonna be doing some cooking to say thanks.

By the time we get onsite, we’ve already missed Grouper. Apparently she had an early slot because of travel arrangements (before people were even allowed into their chalets) and played a pretty grumpy set to a half empty room.

After some epic trundling around the chalet village with my luggage on a trolley, I make it into Casiotone For The Painfully Alone in time to catch a few highlights from his great new record, Vs. Children. I get a text – our chalet window has been smashed in while the others were at Tesco getting booze, and there’s glass everywhere, including on the sofa I’m sleeping on.

Andy Hung, Fuck Buttons

But before I want to deal with that, Jeffrey Lewis is downstairs plying his ever-engaging anti-folk, then HEALTH, who turn in one of the performances of the weekend: a battering, powerful, committed set. I’m a convert.

I pop back to the chalet to survey the damage. Butlins have cleaned up our chalet and boarded up the window. I sit down for a minute, and end up boozily sleeping through Devo.

Fail.

Back in the festival, everyone is talking about how good they were.

Double Fail.

It’s around this time that I bump into Andy from Fuck Buttons, who says their set is going to be 80% new, with a new beginning. The crowd is heaving. “The Fans” are, tonight, increasingly ‘messy’, dressed up kids staggering around with wide pupils. I’m still pretty straight at this point and feel a little bit old. Unusual for the famously ‘beardy’ ATP festival. Fuck Buttons launch straight into a new song, and don’t let up for an hour – their new set is more about beats and building momentum than their previous layered noise stuff. There’s a rhythmic, wriggling section with Andy squeezing sounds out of a Gameboy, an extended, dancey, layered up new song with softer drum and synth sounds than usual, and a new ending with some searing bassy bursts and powerful drumming from Ben. If there’s any criticism to be made, it’s that some of the transitions are a bit long, and let the build/release energy drop rather than peak, but it’s a good solid performance, and a great introduction to the new songs.

Rolf Klausener, The Acorn

Saturday morning, and I still haven’t got those damn tarts off Chris. We keep missing each other. It’s turning into an ongoing custard tart saga. Me and my chalet-mates play crazy golf. The Cave Singers are audible coming from the main stage. The golf isn’t at all crazy. It’s just small.

The Acorn is my favourite show of the weekend. They’re perfect on the pavillion stage. Their warm sound fills the space, resonant and embracing. The two-drummer rhythm section fill every space with sensitively played taps and beats, carrying along the wonderfully emotional and engaging songs. The hairs on the back of my neck go up, and my body feels suddenly ablaze with adrenalin, and I breathe in the sound. Connection: made.

We bowl. I win. Win!

Beirut play the electronic songs from the new album as traditional arrangements, and they stand up well. “Would you prefer it if I put on a donk on there?” asks Zac. I’m half surprised that my answer is no.

Sarah Pickles of team ATP is having a big wedding party on the Saturday night, so we head over. Marnie Stern is there! I croak out a feeble fanboy “hello Marnie Stern!”, much to the amusement of my so-called friends. The Pontin’s 5-0 descend at 5am and disperse us. Chalet parties till dawn, then the seaside for a blue light sunrise. A man with a musical backpack goes spinning past us, to the strains of “North American Scum”, wheeling down the beach and into the surf, followed by a flock of dancing hippy kids. I fall into bed satisfied that as much fun as humanly possible has been squeezed out of Saturday night at ATP.

By the time I’m capable of functioning again, the Sunday lineup is sparse. The headliners are repeated with both Sleep and The Jesus Lizard playing again, even though neither of them were full to capacity on Saturday. Doubling up the headliners was understandable when there was a queue around the block at the Camber Sands site for someone like Sonic Youth, but here it seems excessive, especially considering the ever-escalating ticket price.

Jason Pierce, Spiritualized

I don’t know if my mood is something to do with it, but Parts & Labour seem really weak. I can’t get into Killing Joke, but then I’ve never liked them much really. Spiritualized play a bludgeoning, unsubtle steamroller set of gospel-tinged stadium rock that sounds more Oasis than Spaceman 3. It’s a big, satisfyingly large and solid sound – but size isn’t everything.

It takes the sheer happiness explosion of The Mae Shi to get the blood pumping again – their odd mixture of jerky guitar lines and screamo, and their chubby-faced emo-tinged manboy 90’s pop-punk sound is accompanied by all kinds of ace theatrical stage antics, including their trademark move – covering the crowd with a giant rainbow-coloured cloth canopy. Fun times.

Custard Tart Saga

Chris finally catches up with me – the box of tarts has congealed into a solid mass of soggy pastry and warm custard. The rest of Sunday night is spent playing poker and making a dent in the last tray of beers. I’m too exhausted for the party/melee/dance-off/bro-down down at the Crazy Horse bar this time around.

The next day, I hang around a bit longer than usual as Simon steels himself for the drive after 72 hours of sleep deprivation. Within hours, the hall is full of extended families, and the shutters have gone up on confectionary stalls, and the bouncy castles have been blown up. The main hall is full of Lego-coloured plastic furniture, and the only soundcheck that’s happening is for bingo. I finally fall into the car, and fall asleep, and wake up back in London a few hours later.

Brainlove Records

What I really want to do in reviewing the new Jeffrey Lewis album is just to transcribe the lyrics to the entire thing. Actually, I have. They’re up on the Jeffrey Lewis message board now. Read them and you should be able to make up your mind. Continue Reading

Jeffrey Lewis & Herman Dune | Photographs by Crazybobbles

There’s worse things in the world than spending a sunny afternoon in Islington’s beautiful Union Chapel, especially when you’ve got a succession of supremely talented folkies to serenade you. True, the hard wooden pews may have got a little testing after a while (woe be upon those who forgot to bring a cushion!) but the superb line-up ensured that the show itself remained enchanting for the vast majority of its nine hour duration.

Stars of Sunday League eased us gently into proceedings, with Euan Robinson’s lilting Scottish burr and understated strings giving his acoustic folk some added flavour, before eight-piece We Aeronauts delivered a manic, albeit slight disjointed multi-instrumental assault on the senses. One gets the sense they’re a band bursting at the seams with ideas, but haven’t worked out how best to employ them- they often seemed like they were trying to ram three songs into one. But they certainly showed promise, and the marvelous unplugged performance atop of a pew was one of the day’s most memorable moments. Planet Earth’s humdrum fare sadly failed to leave much of an impact, coming across as a heavily diluted version of Jeff Lewis but Mechanical Bride was something of a revelation- the delightful Lauren Doss is blessed with a voice that can effortlessly silence a room, and the brass players that supported her gave her tunes a faintly Yann Tiersen-ish edge. Peggy Sue and the Pirates were even more impressive, making full use of the sublime acoustics at Union Chapel to submerge the church with their stunning harmonies- for a band I wasn’t expecting much from, they ultimately proved to be the best act of the first half. Continue Reading

Us Brits may moan about the weather and the tax, but when it comes to live music, this tiny island is a delight. From where else in the world could we nip off to Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, Copenhagen or, er, Minehead to indulge our burning desire for live music and still scrape into work on a Monday morning? And where else could we hop between a 60,000-seat football stadium packed full of air-punching Bruce Springsteen fans and a miniscule bar where a fragile Edwyn Collins plays a secret set to 50 tearful Dundonians (and one TLOBF writer)? Eight of the site’s most obsessive gig-goers present their picks of the year’s live music. Continue Reading