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What is your fantasy festival band line up, where would it be and why? |
| Date: |
02/09/01 (165 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: All the my favourite bands in one place, Hilary from JJ72 ;), Close to my house
Disadvantages: It isn't really going to happen is it?, Miss some bands while at other stages
I only noticed this category on dooyoo a couple of weeks ago, and I thought it looked like a bit of a laugh, designing my own festival. Any festival organiser type people that are reading this, this idea isn't copyrighted, and if you want to put it on, well that's just fine by me, make sure I'm invited though.
It's mainly made up of acts that I've either seen or would like to see, based on both how they sound on record and what I've heard live, as well as how much I would expect them to entertain the crowd, since not all the crowd would be there for that act. I'm not heavily into dance music, so there is no dance tent, but I have put an acoustic tent up for those who want to get away from the heavier main stages and chill out a little.
The venue, although ideally it would be in my back garden, has to be somewhere more sensible, as you'd struggle just to fit one band in my garden. I decided to put it in Botanic Gardens in Belfast, as that makes it accessible to most of the north of Ireland - the south already has Witness, so I'm being selfish here. Botanic Gardens has space for the multiple stages, and it also has natural enclosures bordered by trees to stop the sound interfering with each other. It's also pretty central to the rest of the country by bus or train, and is right in the student area of Belfast where it will draw most of its support. The only problem would be that public drinking is barred in Botanic Gardens, but I'm sure a few nice words with the authorities would get that lifted for the duration of the festival.
I have special arrangements for sunshine for the duration of the festival, and I'd have words with friends who work in bars who are going to supply cheap drink to make sure no one gets sunstroke or overheats, as that would be a bad thing. If the music all gets too much for you, there's a ferris wheel to see the festival from the sky, and numerous bouncy castles so we
can all revert to our inner child.
The bands I guess are typical stadium fair - you have the big bands mixing with the smaller bands on the verge of greatness, all renowned for their live performances. I'll start off with in the acoustic tent, where there are four acts:
Stephen Malkmus:
The delightful former Pavement front man (as he is usually referred to) opens the festival with a set from his self-titled debut album. The songs seem a lot more fragile and tender, and without the band behind him, you can see how clever and witty his lyrics are. Despite pleas from the crowd for the duration of his short set, he doesn?t play any Pavement songs, until he lets up at the very end, and gives the audience what they've been waiting for - a rendition of "Shady Lane", which has the crowd on their feet and singing along at tops of their voices.
The Webb Brothers:
The brothers Webb take to the stage next, with just an acoustic guitar and the organ. Their music is ideally suited to the more simplistic acoustic setting, and they are able to liven it up with a few jokes between songs to keep the crowd entertained. There's a small hardcore group of support down at the front, and the brothers recognise some of them from their other gigs, and there is a bit of banter the entire way throughout the gig, as the fans shout for some more obscure songs and the brothers laugh and tell them they have to play "songs everyone knows". A few of the crowd know "I can't believe your gone", but for the most part of the gig, the crowd just sit back and listen to the band play both their own songs and some covers of country and songs that have influenced them. They go away with a lot more fans, and the merchandise stall does a brisk trade in their CDs.
Thom Yorke
Surprising everyone with an impromptu performance after Radiohead's superb set on the main stage, he only plays a couple of songs, but has t
he crowd begging for more as he does "Fake Plastic Trees", "Exit Music" and ?Thinking about you? before giving into demands and leading the crowd through "Creep". The voice is strong and piercing, sending shivers down your spine; you wish the moment could last forever.
Mark Greany
The JJ72 front man headlines the acoustic stage, and attracts quite a large hardcore following at the front, who scream his name between every song. Mark uses the opportunity to enjoy himself and show the more gentle side of JJ72, gone is the screaming and shouting, and he reintroduces us to the soaring, angelic vocals that you find on their album. He plays a set of stripped down singles, they manage to become more beautiful with just a solitary voice and guitar, and when he does Oxygen, it has the entire crowd signing along, with hairs raised on their collective necks. He retains his shyness, and doesn't say much between songs, mainly just a "thank you" and "this songs called" but it's all about the music, which is the clear winner.
The second stage is the traditional home for bands on the verge of the big time, or where the bands go when their popularity wanes. The second stage has quite a loud, teen rock style to it, and is the scene of much moshing and crowd surfing.
Symposium
Persuaded to put musical differences aside for one last farewell performance, they treat us to a set of their most popular songs, to show us just what we've been missing out on since they've gone. They're all leaping around the stage like they're possessed, Ross climbing anything that he can get his hands on. Opening with "Farewell to Twilight" and ending with "Bury You", they put everything into the performance. The highlight of the set is a vitriolic "Answer to why I hate you" which they begin by lambasting the music press that turned on them when everything seemed to be goi
ng so nice. They are just as tired as the audience come the end of the set, where they dive of the stage in unison to huge cheers. Rumours of a permanent comeback are scotched after they nearly come to blows debating whether to play "Killing Position" or "Fairweather Friend". It's woken the crowd up and shaken the cobwebs out of everyone's ears, and as they struggle to get free from their fans, the stage is set for...
Idlewild
Perennial festival favourites Idlewild open with "You just have to be who you are", and the pace doesn't let up from there, as they take the crowd on a tour of their most spiky and loud numbers. Roddy is bellowing the vocals out, and you don't know how his voice his holding up, and the band is a blur of movement on the stage behind him. They are on top form, speeding through the songs like they?re running out of time, taking us through "Roseability", "I?m a message", and "Little Discourage". They whip out a few old favourites, "Captain" and "Satan Polaroid" get huge pops from the long time fans in the crowd, especially as they play a stripped down, relaxed version of "Safe and Sound" which has the new found lovers in the crowd smooching. They end with crowd favourite "Everyone says you're so fragile" to a frenzy of movement in the pit, and then they drop their instruments and they're gone with barely a nod to the crowd.
My Vitriol
There for their music and not their crowd skills, although a few girls in the crowd clearly want to marry Som. A simple hello and they're away, and their heads are down most of the performance, concentrating on the music and ignoring the large audience. A lot of the crowd haven't heard anything of them, save for the "Always" and "Grounded" singles, but they win over a whole new range of fans with their mixture of instrumental numbers and more
traditional rock. "Grounded" gets the lighters in the air, and they follow it up with a frantic "Cemented Shoes" before closing the show with the crowd united, singing "Always" at a pace that threatens to blow them away. Then it's a wave, and they're away again.
JJ72
The start is delayed as Mark makes his way from the acoustic tent, but soon the easily recognisable drum beat to Long Way South is blaring out of the PA, and we're treated to one of the most blistering sets of the day. So far removed from his acoustic performance in the tent to be unbelievable, the songs that were so delicate minutes ago become a ball of rage and anger as he snarls his way though the performance. Hilary smiles shyly each time her name is called out, but most of the eyes are on Mark, as his face contorts with emotion with each song. There is little respite through the entire set, and by the time he gets to the near closer Oxygen, the crowd is glad of the gentle build-up to gain a little breath. Bumble Bee closes the set in a blaze of fury, Mark doing the traditional smashing of the guitar, Fergal joining in by jumping through his kit, whilst Hilary watches from the side of the stage.
Ash
One of the perfect festival bands, who delve into their back catalogue for a greatest hits set, everyone of them a crowd favourite, which means the set is just as enjoyable for the crowd who sing along to every song. Going right back to Petrol, and taking through Girl From Mars, Goldfinger and Oh Yeah, they largely ignore the Nuclear Sounds album, but pick up again with the crowd friendly Free All Angels album, with Burn Baby Burn and Walking Barefoot. You can clearly see them having a bit of a laugh and really enjoy what they're doing, they have the crowd in the palm of their hands, and they end up taking requests at the end of the set, playing a few covers of cheesy pop songs, and taking the urine out of Westlife (again) with a s
illy version of Uptown Girl, and a crowd singalong of Mamma Mia by Abba. and generally overrunning a lot, into what is regarded as the best set of the first day.
The big guns are out on the main stage, so over there we head?.
Kidd Dynamo
Local act Kidd Dynamo are a largely unknown force, even in their own country, and most of the crowd look at each other and go "who?" as they step onto the stage, and for a while they don't quite pull together, clearly nervous in front of this large crowd. However, the lads from Castlerock soon pull together, and after the quiet build up of Like the Cars, they lift the pace bit by bit, closing with the delicious Landslide. The crowd are as stunned now as when they came over, and ask each other how this band don?t have a record contract yet.
The Divine Comedy
It's a bright summer's day, and nobody wants to sing depressing songs, so the latest album is left mainly by the wayside, except for Bad Ambassador and Perfect Lovesong, and they revert to the quirky and jaunty Divine Comedy everyone loves, Neil Hannon is the perfect entertainer as he quips his way through the set, waving to the crowd, and telling stories. Generation Sex finally gets everyone bouncing, and the momentum is maintained with a speedy rendition of Becoming more like Alfie. The highlight of the set is a small acoustic set by Hannon, as he strips a few of his most popular hits down and leads the crowd in a jolly sing song of National Express and Something for the Weekend.
Weezer
Next up is Weezer, who play a set mainly comprised of songs from the Green and Blue albums, except for Tired of Sex form Pinkerton, which gets a big pop from the hardcore support in the crowd. The speedy geek-rock is just what everyone wants, and although the crowd perhaps isn?t overly familiar with their music, Hash Pipe gets a loud cheer, and when they close with Buddy Holly, they have everyone singing along and doing ooo-
eee-ooo?s in unison. However, the highlight of their set is a fantastic soaring rendition of Only in Dreams which leaves the crowd open mouthed, as they watch the song build and build until it finally cracks. They round off the night with a slow O Girlfriend before the hardcore fans are pleased with The Sweater song and Say it Ain't so.
Manic Street Preachers
Walking onto the stage in the dark and surprising the audience by launching straight into Found That Soul, the Manics play a set purely of crowd pleasers and the pace doesn't let up at all. The leave Everything Must Go and This is My Truth mostly out, preferring instead to whip through songs from their early days, with a beautiful Motorcycle Emptiness and surprising the crowd when Kylie Minogue fulfils the Manics dream of duetting on Little Baby Nothing. It's the songs from the Holy Bible that go down the best, a lightning fast version of Faster and PCP, before they round of the night with the perfect trio of Motown Junk, You Love Us and a final anthemic Design For Life, which united the entire crowd, the look from the stage being like a night sky as the lighters are raised in the darkness, and huge lights from the stage highlight the crowds. You love us is spectacular as they beam the old video featuring Richey on the stage and Nicky bounds up and down, and James spins around the stage like a man possessed. James bids us farewell, Nicky throws his bass into the audience, and the crowd are united in applause.
Radiohead
Radiohead surprise everyone by leaving the newer stuff mostly by the way side, and end up playing a set comprised of songs from the first three albums. This gets the crowd stomping their feet and whips them up into a real frenzy, and the scene on the stage is mightily impressive, Thom, Ed and Jonny standing in a line of guitars, creating a wall of feedback. The largest cheer is of course reserved for Creep which Thom leaves to the crowd for them to sing, but
they manage to take in a spectacular version of Paranoid Android, but the new fans are also satisfied by renditions of the National Anthem, Idioteque and Knives Out. It's a set, which leaves everyone happy, and as they leave the stage, you see a semblance of a smile on Thom Yorke's face.
Green Day
Well, it's my festival, so my favourite band gets to headline! Green Day come on and launch straight into Welcome to Paradise which seems quite apt in the beautiful surroundings of Botanic Gardens. They play to form and play a set mostly from the middle if their career, the crowd know the words to most of the songs and Billie often stops singing to let the crowd take a few lines. He even gets some lucky fellow up on stage to play the guitar on Basket Case, to his obvious delight, who also gets to dive off the stage at the conclusion of the song. Billie and Mike are balls of energy the entire gig, jumping throughout the set, Billie striding around the stage like he owns it and starting Mexican waves left, right and centre, the huge crowd doesn't seem to phase him. He ends the set with a gentle version of Time of Your Life and then sets his guitar down, waves and walks off. "I hope you had the time of your life" - if this festival happened (dream on), then I really would.
The word on the street was that it was "The best damn festival ever", and Dave is exalted in the musical press and takes on the role of chief festival organiser for next years Glastonbury Festival. Well I can dream can't I?
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