The first year I went with my friends L and S, I was a struggling trainee and whilst my budget ran to the tickets it did not run to eating out and drinking lots of drinks in various bars and clubs. So what did we do? I made veggie sushi and we bought a very unglamourous box of rosé wine which we hid in a bag (to this day I have no idea why our bags were not searched). We asked for glasses of water in each venue which we decanted and then filled with wine from a box. I am not a big lover of rose but warm white wine from a box would have been hideous and I would have been the only one to drink red. There is a picture of S desperately squeezing out the last of the wine in the Faversham and of L and I getting the box of wine out for drinks outside Boots. Ah the glamour!
This year's festivities did not have such a budget constraints and there was a larger group of us L, R, H and H's male friend and then L's male friend joined us. We met outside the City Museum to collect our wrist bands before a yokel trip to 'Spoons to line the stomach and action plan where we wanted to be and when.
Here are a few photos of the acts we saw.
Harry George Johns is a performer I have seen a few times . I last him live when he was in a Day to Remember in part because my friend has an unapologetic crush on his band mate. As a solo act music is very emotional and more somber than his playing the guitar with a wine bottle cork in A Day to Remember. To quote L "from the tone of these songs he's clearly been f***cked and chucked". Unfortunately this lead the four of us to inappropriately giggle at the wrong moment. He was ready with some quips as he introduced his songs but of all the acts I saw he seemed to be the most emotionally raw. If you need to hate the world or someone in particular his latest record post breakdown blues will aid you in your melancholy whilst a cathartic reminder to you that others have been there as well.
I have seen The Pigeon Detectives a number of times and they never cease to pull out the stops. A 2.30 set however felt early and it was really disconcerting when I left the O2 to go into broad daylight. They are a constant band that get everyone up dancing and singing along but it's a band that I think I have been spout from as I have seen them play festivals and danced to outdoors at evening slots where their energy would have been better placed. I'm not sure I've really forgiven them for encouraging "the tallest crowd" which resulted on two guys in front of me getting on one another shoulder (in effectively) resulting in me having one of their bottoms grind against my face. That said they were the only band we saw who would have been able to carry that slot with even a quarter of their momentum.
We then ambled up to the University to see Dinosaur Pile Up who are a Leeds Band I had never heard of before. They were suitably lithe and energetic but suffered from bad sound engineering which made it difficult to really get a grasp on their music. This did not stop a mosh pit from developing and they carried on in sound blitz spirit. They were very much L's target audience as she gleefully watched on, I'm not convince whether it was their music or them that she was admiring. I would like to see them again and see how they are with their own sound engineer.
From there we made a quick exit to the met where London Grammar were playing. I, perhaps naively, had not heard of them before but they were haunting. Their lead singer has a pure breathy voice with the sort of quality that makes you prick your ears up at. Unfortunately my camera did not like the lighting on the stage so the photos epically failed but the trust iPhone fared better. When I sat down to write this I struggled over what to say and that is the intriguing thing about London Grammar they are just that little bit out of your grasp.
Then it was off to the Wardrobe in a taxi to see Sweet Baboo. All I can say is that they reminded me of Quick Draw McGraw. They were okay just not for me. R and H however really enjoyed their set. By this time food was needed and whilst we had aimed to see Savages we ended up eating instead.
Laura Mvula's set was delayed by sound difficulties and she started 25 minutes late almost cutting her set by half. It was a shame because she brought a musical sunniness that was unique to her. She was strongly supported with drums, trumpet, harp, violin and cello which gave a more depth to her music. Her set was varied so despite there being a definite sound each song felt fresh, new and distinctive to the others. There was both an earthiness and openness which made her likeable and engaging as she gave a memorable performance.
My final gig of the night was The Staves who had just finished a tour. This meant that they were in compete harmony and had reached that relaxed stage whereby it was just another audience. They played the Trinity church and the acoustics complimented their twee aesthetic. Their songs make me want to skip through fields without feeling like I'm going to be made to dance round the maypole and collide into Morris dancers (yep actually did that once in York during a Morris dancers festival , it is very noisy walking into that many bells).
A final mention has to go to H's bag by the Cambridge Satchel Company which I found myself saying "My precious" (in my head) to when I saw it.
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