Home | About what I’m doing here | Archives
June 1, 2023 6:22 pm
First festival of the year, and a perfect day for it. Temperature around twenty, sunshine with a bit of cloud and a cooling breeze. Most of all, a superb lineup, established and new. Lots of artists I really wanted to see, so that when the splits came out there were inevitably clashes. Gretel Hänlyn or The Bug Club or Arooj Aftab? Butch Kassidy or Tirzah? Daniel Avery or Osees to finish? Two bands absolutely not to miss: Jockstrap (who were so brilliant in Nottingham) and Black Country, New Road (who I’ve never managed to see live before).
I went down to Brixton with Jon G, and we had some breakfast in a little Italian deli/café in the covered market before heading up to Brockwell Park for around 12.30. We met Louis and Gab and a few others there, bought cans of lager and wandered over to one of the smaller outdoor stages, named after the Shacklewell Arms – a pub/music venue in East London. Most of the stages were sponsored by music venues that feature up-and-coming bands, as well as various magazines. Some of our favourite venues in fact: the Moth Club, Village Underground, the Windmill, as well as the Shacklewell Arms. The band, who had just started, were Civic. Aussie punks, with an old school sound. A bit more guitar soloing than the average punk band. Warmed up the ear drums for sure!
Having had one dose of Aussie punk, we went over to the Windmill stage – open air but under cover – for another. This time it was CLAMM – a band I’ve heard Steve Lamacq play on 6 Music. I rather like some of their songs, notably Liar and Bit Much. Some good fast riffing in those two. They both got an airing. The rest followed a similar pattern and got the crowd going. The sound was problematic at the Windmill throughout the day; in CLAMM’s case it distorted the riffs a bit, so they weren’t as distinct as on record. But it was an enjoyable set – I’d happily see them again.
Next up were Canadian band Cola on the Moth Club stage, which was a large tent holding a few thousand. Their sound is post-punk/indie, with some distinctive basslines on record which inevitably lead to Joy Division/Cure comparisons. A bit of Velvet Underground too. I saw them on the Tipi stage at End of the Road last year and enjoyed it. In this larger and pretty crowded venue, I found them a bit samey and dull, to be honest. Louis will regard this as heresy, but it is what it is!
Gretel Hänyln got the nod over The Bug Club and Arooj Aftab. I’ve enthused about her music and live performances a few times previously. She combines a dynamic rock’n’roll beat with some catchy riffs and good singalong tunes. What’s not to like? Motorbike, Apple Juice and It’s the Future, Baby were three of my favourite songs of 2022, while newer tunes like Wiggy and Drive pack a punch. But things didn’t quite work out today. The band started ten minutes late, though it didn’t look like it was their fault – they were all on stage, ready and waiting. And then, as they started with Apple Juice, you could barely hear the guitars. That was rectified for the next song, but along the way, Gretel’s voice faded away a few times, and the insistent bass riff on Motorbike seemed a bit underpowered. Gretel and band soldiered through all of this. Drive was rousing, and there was a hard-driving version of Slugeye. Last song was appropriately Today (can’t help but cry). They were allowed to continue beyond their allotted time, which confirms that the delay wasn’t their doing, but I sensed that Gretel was a bit anxious about it all. A stoical performance.
Jon went to The Bug Club and reported that they were very entertaining – and the Moth Club stage was rammed. As it was to be for Jockstrap later…
I caught the last five minutes of Arooj Aftab down on the main stage. She’s touring at the moment with two other illustrious jazz musicians, Vijay iyer – a dazzling pianist – and bassist Shahzad Ismaily. They’ve made an album together called Love in Exile. It’s a lovely, rather soothing work. Soporific even. It looked like they’d had a good reception. I’ll be seeing them at the Barbican in early June, so that will be in my next roundup.
Then it was back to the Windmill for Butch Kassidy, who won the vote over Tirzah. I seem to keep missing Tirzah, whose music I really like; but it had to be the lads. But they are no longer just lads – they have added a female violinist. Jon and I have seen the band a few times now, though not as often as Louis. Two of the band – frontman Fionn and bassist Tom – are old schoolfriends of his. They’ve been building up quite a reputation over the last year or so – the fact that they were playing at 4.15 rather than in the early slots is an indication of that. Their music is a veritable wall, even squall, of sound. There’s not much you could call a tune; but the riffs and beats build powerfully and become quite hypnotic. Sometimes they slow down, Mogwai-style; and sometimes it gets very fast, Black Midi-style. Cue some serious moshing in the crowd. There’s the occasional vocal from Fionn and the other guitarist, but you can’t really hear them. The violinist adds subtlety and colour, and I’m sure will be more prominent when they record some music. This was a really driving performance, although the dynamic drumming fell victim to the Windmill’s sound problems. One or two people retreated from the onslaught; but the bulk of the crowd were loving it. A triumph.
And talking of triumphs, it was time for Jockstrap in an absolutely heaving Moth Club tent. Five minutes before the start I still had a decent view of Georgia and Taylor. Five minutes later, I was craning my neck to see very much at all. That aside, it was a fantastic show. The duo have really honed the show after extensive touring and the crowd reaction was amazing. All of their songs are pretty complex, combining catchy melodies with variegated beats, swirls of cinematic sound, beeps and squiggles, disembodied voices and much more. Out of this melange, three or four of the songs have become real singalong anthems, notably Glasgow and Concrete Over Water. The subject matter is often quite dark, but the sound is joyous. And while Taylor hunches over his array of keyboards and consoles, Georgia, if not playing guitar or violin, dances elegantly around the stage, communing with the front rows. It is quite a spectacle. Those singalongs are genuinely uplifting. And to lift things even higher, they finished with the awesome 50/50, heralded by the nonsensical, but now communal cry: ah–eh-ooh-ee-ah! Amid Taylor’s electro wizardry, the techno beats and the rib-thumping bass had the place rocking. Incredible stuff. We shuffled outside into the sunshine on a real high.
There was a bit of downtime before Georgia’s other band, Black Country New Road took the stage at 7.20. I got myself a white wine and went down to the main stage to sit on the grass. The Viagra Boys were about to come on. I stuck around for fifteen minutes or so, and quite enjoyed the show, from a distance. Their take on punk/pop doesn’t really do it for me – I find the sound a bit hackneyed – but they put on a lively show. The singer strutted around bare-chested, displaying his copious tattoos. The saxophonist hooted energetically. It was all very energetic, and was going down very well. Louis and his mates were somewhere near the front. I stayed until 6.45, then strolled up to the Shacklewell Arms to watch DJ/producer Erol Alkan lay down some very infectious dance beats. His own music, not other people’s records. Constantly switching consoles, twiddling dials, pushing buttons, eking out another change in rhythm and sound. I really enjoyed it and could happily have stayed for the whole set; but it was time for BCNR. I met Jon and we strolled over to the Bad Vibrations/Desert Daze stage, the second biggest at the festival.
Viagra Boys
Erol Alkan
Black Country, New Road are an ever-evolving band. Their sound is hard to pin down. They are described as post-punk and post-rock on Wikipedia, but any time you might be thinking folk, jazz, psychedelia, cabaret. But unlike Jockstrap, they don’t venture into electronica or dance sounds. And pop melodies are sparing. I liked their first album For the First Time, which brought together their work up to that moment, a highlight the reworked version of the crazed masterpiece Sunglasses. Their singer Isaac Wood left the band days before their second album Ants From Up There was released, and they stopped touring for a while. I was due to see them play the Roundhouse, but that was cancelled. I never quite managed to get into the second album, but was still fascinated by them. They regrouped and shared out the singing duties between band members, mostly the three women on the evidence of today’s show. There are no songs from the first two albums in the set – out of respect for Isaac Woods, who had been struggling with mental health issues. They recently released a live album, recorded at Bush Hall, on which much of the show today was based; but I hadn’t heard it beforehand. So the songs were unfamiliar, but subtly engrossing. There were bursts of cacophony, but mostly the music was quite gentle, like a certain type of English prog/folk from the early seventies. Whether it’s consciously modelled on that, who knows. The countryside artwork which formed the backdrop hints that maybe it was. Early Genesis? An intriguing show – not as celebratory as Jockstrap, but my second favourite of the day (with Butch Kassidy running them close).
After Black Country, New Road Jon and I decided to call it a day. We both regretted missing Daniel Avery, who I think put on a spectacular show at the Village Underground tent. Osees would have been rousing; and main stage headliner Caroline Polachek would have been entertaining too, I’m sure. But after eight hours on our feet, the limbs were aching, and the attraction of beating the rush to the tube gained greater appeal. Got to pace ourselves these days!
What a good day out though. Wide Awake is a really top notch festival. I’m sure we’ll be back next year.
The Shard and the City loom from the top of the hill
Posted by John S
Categories: Music - concerts, lists, reflections
Tags: Black Country New Road, Butch Kassidy, concerts, Gretel Hanlyn, Jockstrap, music, Wide Awake festival
Mobile Site | Full Site
Get a free blog at WordPress.com Theme: WordPress Mobile Edition by Alex King.
Wide awake yet soporific.. intriguing line up of bands- shame about the sound problems with Gretel who seems to be a potential star.
By Dc on June 1, 2023 at 9:21 pm
Nice!
Glad you’ll be able to see Arooj later.
What’s a festival without a schedule clash or ten? 🙂 I’m optimising my ArcTanGent stage hops later this year (got my visa today, so that’s on) and marked down my do-not-miss acts. Unfortunately I won’t have much of an opportunity to catch the ones I miss seeing. Can’t complain though.
By Bantering Ram on June 5, 2023 at 11:22 am
Good to hear from you, Bantering Ram! And I hope the trip goes really well later this year.
I was with John (and Dc) at the Barbican for Arooj last week, and John will be reporting on that soon. I must say that – with the set in almost total darkness, her amazing, sensuous voice, and the brilliant accompaniment of Vijay and Shahzad – I was completely blown away. Loved it!
By Dood on June 9, 2023 at 10:06 am