After the sparse brilliance of the previous day I'm thrilled to say that Saturday didn't just hit the ground running, it damn well caused a gigantic earthquake. Metaphorically of course. This time I took my glasses so actually got to see some things, which was nice.
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The day, compered by Mary Ann Hobbs, started in fantastic fashion with The Moldy Peaches, who were seen on Jim's recommendation but I'd probably had been there anyway. They were as good as a main stage opener could be, especially taking into account the fact I knew no songs. The costumes were genius, the simultaneous singing worked well, the tunes were catchy, particularly Steak For Chicken, and this was generally even more fun than Slipknot. Afterwards I purchased the album straightaway although have barely heard it since.
Sometimes things happen you don't expect and, for some reason, are wonderful. This was certainly the case here, as The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, against all odds, absolutely kicked the shit out of every other band at this festival! It went like this. We'd persuaded Jim to stay and we had a nice position at the front. Soundtrack came on. They played Infra Riot. And it rained! Perhaps rain is too modest a word for it as the second the band started the heavens must had literally opened and we were soaked from head to toe before the vocals had even came in. The combination of the glorious introduction which I'd never rated before and the shock of being completely drenched made this perhaps the best damn moment of the whole year, and we were singing "it's time to take control again and be the only one" for weeks afterwards! The rest of the set was less spectacular but was still very good as the rain eased off. Jim and Nick were loving it, as was everyone who was watching the stage rather than being preoccupied with the rain. Sister Surround was second song and second best and, before we even knew it, the set - an orgy of handclapping, belly rubbing and crowd interaction - was finishing with 21st Century Rip Off where the singer said "people, I know it's raining, but just sit down!" which we did, as the song stopped before cranking back up again. As they left the stage, there were shouts for an encore and I was astonished at just how wonderful this had been. Perhaps a one-off, but what a show!
Next of course it was back to the tent for a change of clothing! I'd initially been keen on seeing Mercury Rev but needed to get changed and apparently they were shit anyway. So we returned to the action quite a bit later for not even ten seconds of the (presumably dire) White Stripes. With no Seven Nation Army yet, a song good enough to almost succeed despite Jack White's yelping, they were a pointless experience I'm proud to have missed.
I'm still astonished how lazy festival goers are. If I REALLY want to see someone, then I'll happily go there one or even two bands early. Anticipating others would have the sense to act the same, I got in very early for The Vines and the anticipated unbearable crush! I suppose it was a rare stroke of genius from the organisers to put New Found Glory on before though, as witty put-downs almost elude me upon seeing something as bad as this. Quite a few morons were falling for it though, and this truly was punk at its most tuneless and pointless. Still, it kept the tent emptier than it may had been otherwise!
But that horror show was worth it, as I got a very nice place for The Vines right in the moshpit. And what a show! The crush was obscene but I was very pleased that it didn't stop the moshing! Get Free, Ms Jackson and Highly Evolved were the only three songs I knew but it was enough, although their mid-tempo tunes really just aren't very good. At this point I lost Nick for a band or two as he couldn't hack the moshpit!
Add The Electric Soft Parade to The Vines, The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, and the forthcoming shows The Polyphonic Spree, The Hives and The Cooper Temple Clause, and I can see new music isn't in quite the sorry state I imagined it was. ESP were the latest evidence of this and I was pleased to be right at the front for their entirely pleasant show. There's A Silence and Silent To The Dark are the only songs they did that come to mind but it was worth seeing, even if it wasn't actually that fantastic, and I'd been there before in Manchester. Good enough.
Next up was the main stage and approximately fifteen seconds of Jane's Addiction. I spent far longer in the evening being told how great this show was, but I wasn't there long enough to give judgement.
Then it may had been after another trip back to the tent before we saw some Lo-Fi All-Stars from outside the dance tent, which sounded really, really good!
What happens when you want to see two bands at once? As we found out, wandering between them is not that effective. Holding little hope of Pulp being decent enough to play their several hits, they didn't receive our full attention and so we missed them doing Disco 2000 and Common People, albeit we just heard them muffled from the distance. If I'd had known that they were going to play a proper set I'd had made more effort but, for a band who didn't play Disco 2000 at Leeds 2000, I hadn't held out any hope. Oh well, last chance to see Pulp do their hits screwed up!
It was Feeder making their comeback who cost us Disco 2000. The only notable thing we got for our sacrifice was Buck Rogers, which at least was a very small comfort.
The wandering intensified as the desire to see all four headliners heightened! We saw The Strokes for about ten minutes in two or three spells, being put off by the rain. I think I heard Soma and opener New York City Cops, as the band played musical statues onstage. How the hell were they headlining anyway??
Infinitely more memorable and perhaps the best gig ever in terms of entertainment-value-per-second-witnessed were The Polyphonic Spree, who I read about in the programme and found myself mightily intrigued by. We literally popped our heads round the door, saw the glorious sight of them crammed onto the tiny stage, took a photo and left. I wish I'd stayed but didn't for some reason and that image was potent enough to make me buy the album and see them do a gig!
One thing I was astonished by was that I was surrounded by Soulwax fans in our little campsite! So it seemed only right to see Belgium's finest doing their DJ thing. 2 Many DJ's seemed entertaining enough but for some reason we again didn't stick around.
The headliner circuit was completed with the disappointing Aphex Twin. Perhaps passing judgement on the small bit of his show I witnessed is wrong but what I saw was undanceable, especially compared to the great sounds we'd heard from the Lo-Fi's.
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And then the very satisfying second day finished. I think we went back a bit early but there was a big wait to get back to the campsite because, in quite possibly the most astonishing act of stupidity committed over the entire festival, the organisers had decided to expand a bridge leading to the camp site since they'd realised it wasn't big enough. Such an observation could have been made by any retard before thousands of people arrived but they chose the evening rush to expand the bridge and slow traffic down even more. And the second day finished with another later night than I'd wanted as Coombsy and Jim went over Jane's Addiction many times as it seems they'd came out with a few smart quotes from the stage. I was still very much alive, and with Infra Riot infused in my brain for the rest of the festival!
SONG OF THE DAY: The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - Infra Riot
