Seeing as my companion wasn’t in a good way, we didn’t get to see too many bands. We missed the wonderful LA SHARK and Pull in Emergency, which was a great shame. Nevertheless, the bands we got to see weren’t a disappointment and the festival was money well spent. Here’s my highlights
Toddla T
The first time I saw Toddla T was in some sort dingy of gazebo, in an event organised by Tate Britain. It was about 2 years ago, and as I recall, I was having a nice little dance until the entire sound system cut out and some crazy big black woman got on stage and started belting out gospel-esque ballads.
With the sound system fully functional, Toddla T was great to watch and got the tent moving pretty well. He doesn’t just produce standard dupstep, it’s got quite a lot going for it. Just the right amount of auto tune and a fast tempo are what gets everyone moving for Toddla T, and he seems it have got the perfect recipe for dance success. It’s more EB who’s into the crazy-MC music, but it’s really easy to get into in that kind of atmosphere. I’d recommend checking out Toddla T to anyone, no matter their music taste – a mix of jungle, dupstep and electronic bleepy noises, his music is fun to listen to and even funner to watch the bunch of nutters in the crowd.
A1 Bassline
Previously known as one half of the gimmicky band Partyshank, A1 Bassline gave a far better set than I expected. Seeing as his previous band made their music with nothing other than children’s toys, it was refreshing to find A1 Bassline has gone in an entirely different direction. Halfway through the set, a girl and a boy start sniffing a dodgy looking brown powder off someone’s hand, and start sneezing a few seconds later – I have to admit I secretly hoped someone had sold them pepper just for LULZ.
Admittedly the music is better than Partyshank’s, but it still got a bit the same-y after a while. It was quite cool to dance to but nothing I would go home and listen to. It’s basically slightly different variations of the same thing on a loop – then again I guess this doesn’t matter if you’re ‘off your nut’ snorting pepper, does it?
S.C.U.M
We only saw these from afar, but they’re a pretty good band. Sounding fairly like a mix between the Horrors and Joy Division, they were good to sit down and watch in the hot July sun. They don’t have a lot of music out at the moment, but Amber Sands is making a splash on the underground music scene and I expect we can expect great things from the ominous-sounding band.
The Dum Dum Girls
Another shit band name but a pretty decent band. Unlike quite a few bands we heard whilst milling around between tents, the Dum Dum Girls managed to produce an interesting, catchy set which has lead me to listen to more of their music. I recommend Jail La La, and will be keeping a close eye on these in future.
These New Puritans
Being the biggest band playing at the festival, we were pretty excited to see TNP. For one thing, they were pretty much the only band we both agreed were good enough to watch. The crowd were pretty hyped as the first song – one of the new ones – started playing. But of course this was all too good to be true. Halfway through the first song, the bloody microphone breaks and TNP sidle off, looking dazed and confused. About an age later, they try again but have the same problem, and this time the crowd are pretty rowdy. Another age and a half later, some beefy-looking bloke comes on and says the band will not be returning, and the now-angry crowd pelt him with cups and loose articles of clothing. Not coming on because your mics broke twice? Pussies.
Fucked Up
Far from the cowardice of These New Puritans, Fucked Up gave a completely mental, lively and exciting set. We only caught a few songs because of dithering over TNP, but the end of the set was a good watch. There’s no better way to round of a day out than to watch an angry, bald, fat man jump on a crowd of scantily-dressed, skinny hipsters.
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