Leeds Festival 2010 - Carlsberg Don’t Do Leeds Weekends…Because Tuborg Have Exclusive Rights To The Festival But It's Still Awesome

_____I pride myself in being a pretty punctual person. For one, it’s generally impolite to keep others waiting purely on account of your selfish laziness, but also because punctual is fun to say. And remember, if you weren’t punctual, you’d be tardy, which sounds kinda funny. As humorous it is however to laugh and brand lazy people as tardy, I must hold my hands up and admit to my own tardiness in writing this report on what is in my opinion the best music festival on these isles.

___For myself and my fellow festival friends returned over a month ago from the musical heart of Yorkshire, and I’m only getting round to it now. You’d think the delay would be down to my ever-lengthening work-hours, my adjusting to college life, or perhaps my shameful addiction to SkyMovies, a thirst so unrelenting I now find myself scouring the TV guide looking to score each and every night. Speaking of which, who else had completely forgotten how awesome Bedazzled was?

___Anyways, I‘m on the mend now, and I’ve finally finished the definitive set-by-set guide to why you should have been in sunny Yorkshire for the last weekend of August, or at least further south at Leeds’ older twin sister Reading, where although you do have to put up with Axle’s antics, at least they still speak English down there.

**Friday 27th August**

_____Waking up to something other than a torrential downpour and already things are looking good. Breakfast composes of the usual tinned pineapple and tinned tins, then it’s time to hit the arena.

NME Stage - Everything Everything

_____As one of my favourite groups at the moment, I would never have forgiven myself for arriving at their all too brief set 15 minutes late if it was anything other than a flawless, and thoroughly repeated rendition of Dear Prudence back at the tents that had kept me. Crushed as I was that I missed Suffragette Suffagette, Jonathan Everything’s angelic recital of MY KZ UR BF just about managed to help me hold back the tears, only for them to come flooding out in sheer joy as Photoshop Handsome started up. Seriously, these guys are fantastic. They deserve an evening with the Queen.

Main Stage - Mystery Jets

_____With the sun high in the sky, and on a soaring high after a beautiful weekend-opening set from Everything Everything, this was already shaping up to be a superb weeken- oh my Christ Blaine Harrison (that’d be the dashing lead singer of Mystery Jets) is on crutches! The poor petal. But don’t worry, like a true professional this does not hinder the performance in the slightest. If anything, it only added a little extra sting to the tragic lyrics of the only song a Mystery Jets set should ever finish on, Behind The Bunhouse.

___The set again was quite short, only space enough for six songs, but to be fair, although it’s a perfectly pleasant song, Serotonin would have been the only one I’d have swapped out, would have killed for a bit of Veiled In Grey or Waiting On A Miracle or Flash A Hungry Smile or…

NME Stage - 3Oh!3

_____Perhaps the only thing more entertaining than watching two obnoxiously white boys jump around singing some of the most horrifically catchy songs is watching how a crowd of teenage girls and boys go absolutely crazy to perhaps the simplest song ever written. As much as I’d love to, I can’t fault these two, they are nothing short of mavericks.

NME Stage - Hadouken!

_____I owed it to my 4th Year self to go and see the most ridiculed band in the world just this once. No Liquid Lives unfortunately, but Get Smashed Get Crashed and That Boy That Girl more than made up for that, while it was with heroic constraint that I refrained from joining the sweaty mass of 14 year old northerners for House Is Falling Down. Also, say what you will about H! and their almost exclusively pubescent fan base, but these guys were probably one of the closest to blowing the roof off a tent which also hosted the likes of Crystal Castles, Klaxons, and Pendulum.

Main Stage - Arcade Fire

_____I had originally planned to see The Libertines before these, but drunkenly decided an extra hour of Tesco Value Wine would be more beneficial. It was, unsurprisingly, not, as not only did I not see The Libertines, which is probably my biggest regret of the festival, but I was also a tad too drunk for Arcade Fire. So I don’t really remember much apart from the intro to Intervention. Oh, and there was a pretty small crowd for them, around half the size of that of Libertines apparently… Here's what they sounded like anyways.

**Saturday 28th August**

_____I woke up with an unimaginably intense hangover. So bad that it still hasn’t fully gone away. Tinned pineapple offered some resistance, but ultimately there was only one thing I could do to fend off this beast trying to eat my brain from the inside out, and that of course, was tins.

NME Stage - Local Natives

_____Recovering from the night previous meant we had to sacrifice seeing Motion City Soundtrack and, more saddening still, The Joy Formidable (apparently they were awesome). So we only reached the arena halfway through Local Natives’ tantalising set. Their live performances seem to be executed with tremendous precision and also constraint, with each member clearly giving it absolute socks, but never once missing a note. At the end of their set however, they allowed themselves to let go of their discipline and simply rocked out with an African percussion ensemble. Cooool.

NME Stage - Los Campesinos!

_____One of the most eagerly anticipated bands of the weekend for me, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. The stage was basically overflowing with energy, and guitarists also; there was hardly room for lead Campesino Gareth to bop around ADHD-ly in true indie-kid fashion. He managed though. I still remember the crowd’s excitement growing in an almost exponential fashion as You! Me! Dancing! approached. When it did arrive, you could see every single eye in the place light up with joy. Rightfully so too. My favourite however, came immediately afterwards; The Sea Is A Good Place To Think About The Future one of my songs of the weekend.

Main Stage – Weezer

_____Now this is where things get kind of exciting. The whole group together, and on the whole pretty merry, Rivers Cuomo and friends kicked off the evening in spectacular fashion. I’m not going to lie, the night previous I had had horrific nightmares of a setlist projectile vomiting Raditude material for 45 minutes. That’s not to say Raditude’s was that bad an album, it’s certainly better than Maladroit, and Make Believe wouldn’t be streaks ahead of it, but in all seriousness, when Weezer’s trips to Europe are so few and far between you’d swear they were rowing across, it’s Surf Wax America, Say It Ain’t So, Island In The Sun that you want to hear. And thankfully we did.

___Contrary to all my fears, they didn’t over-eagerly push Raditude, and to be fair to them, they didn’t pull an Arcade Fire and play 14 songs off brand spanking new record Hurley either. My only criticism of a beautifully Blue setlist was the lack of Pinkerton material. I know the album isn’t the bands favourite, and got mixed reactions from the public, but how can you leave out Tired Of Sex?

___I’m hardly going to complain however, considering that they threw in not only my beloved Kids/Pokerface cover, but an extra surprise for a deservedly massive crowd…

___You gotta give it to ‘em, Rivers Cuomo is one of the best showmen in the business. Around over 15 years, and he still has the energy and enthusiasm to run the breadth of the stage frame repeatedly, eventually ending up climbing up and over the stage walls and into the crowd during an epic finale. Cuomo being mobbed by masses of ecstatic people to the tune of Buddy Holly is without a doubt my fondest memory of Leeds 2010. Hats off to you, Weezer, I had ridiculously high expectations of you, and talk about overkill.

Main Stage – Paramore

_____Unfortunately for Paramore, everything about Paramore’s set was unfortunate. For one, it’s very placement, shoved between Weezer and Blink 182, two of the most anticipated bands of the festival Secondly, Braham Park was struck by a vicious crosswind right about the time Hayley Williams pranced on out, resulting in horrendous audibility problems for anyone standing beyond an overpoweringly pubescent smelling pit .

___So after Weezer, with the crowd on a 100% purely musical high, they had practically unachievable expectations piled on them. And when they inevitably failed to reach them, through a combination of poor song choices and half the crowd not being able to hear the poor song choices, it was a pretty poor performance. Still Hayley was looking mighty fine...

Main Stage – Blink 182

_____This was the one most of us had been waiting for. The wind had courteously died down; the sun respectfully set. Everything was in place for an awesome night of nostalgia. Which it was. Every single part of it.

___It’s hard for me to describe those two very special hours. I know they began with a saliva-inducing blaring of Dumpweed and ended with a euphoric Damnit, but everything in between is just one big incredibly immature blur. There was jumping around like idiots to Feeling This, sappy arm swaying to I Miss You, attempted singing along to Always, and whole-hearted screaming along to Stay Together For The Kids. Unfortunately any description of what happened during numerous other songs, What’s My Age Again, The Rock Show, Carousel included, would breach my strictly PG guidelines. Plus recounting them might provoke similar reactions to those that left me having to avail of my spare pair of boxers that weekend in Leeds…

___The set as a whole was practically flawless, completely free of sound or other technical issues, and riddled with unprofessionalism, and all three of these combined made Blink 182 easily the most entertaining band of the weekend. Not only were we treated to every single Blink hit you can think of, save Adam’s Song unfortunately, but understandably considering past events, but in between the on-stage banter between Mark and Tom meant there wasn’t an idle moment throughout. When I say on-stage banter, I’m referring to the outbursts of random swearing, my favourite being an enthusiastic “Blowjob!” which was preceded by First Date, although if life has taught us anything it’s that they never go that well (ba dum dum psssh). There was also plentiful announcements of interesting facts about the band: “I want to go down on Barack Obama!” – Mark Hoppus; “Mark drinks warm piss for breakfast!” – Tom DeLonge.

___Amusing as all this was, it will not be for rude words or Mark’s curious habits and sexual desires that this gig will be remembered. No, this was the official European reawakening of a global superpower in encouraging mischievous behaviour in adolescents. And if Sunday nights antics are anything to go by, gosh were they missed.

**Sunday 29th August**

I woke up as I went to sleep: to nearby singalongs of Blink's set, and still slightly drunk. This is the life.

Billy Talent – Main Stage

_____Sunday’s main stage this year had one distinct theme to it; pure and simple rock music. Glancing at the poster, obviously it was names such as Guns n’ Roses and Queens of the Stone Age that catch your eye, but further down the programme was a slyly hidden gem in the form of 4 Canadian rockers.

___Undeniably underrated this side of the Atlantic, yet they still managed to pull a far from disappointing crowd. While admittedly I would seldom listen to one of their albums on repeat, I’m quite fond of quite a few of their songs, and although Standing In The Rain didn’t make an appearance, an enrapturing Try Honesty meant I was left anything other than dissatisfied with the set.

NME Stage - Girls

_____We may have only caught the last three songs of their set, and we may not even have been inside the tent but sitting down in the sun watching a screen outside, but Lust For Life deserves a mention regardless of whether it was heard from the front row of a festival stage or just on the radio at 2am in the morning. I say forget those one-hit-wonders The Percussion Instruments or whatever they’re called and check out some real indie music.

NME Stage - Two Door Cinema Club

_____To be honest I’m kind of tired of writing about these guys. Far from tired of seeing them, after delivering a fun-filled set all three times I haven’t got a bad word to say about the Northerners, but to write out my Pantiero review of them again would be slightly laborious, and I don’t like labour. But yeh, indie-rock on.

Main Stage - Biffy Clyro

_____After being allocated a disgustingly shot slot at Oxegen earlier in the summer, a proper Biffy set was one of my most hotly anticipated of the festival. Sun shining, pleasantly tipsy, and amongst an even bigger crowd than I expected, all was set for three Scotsmen to come out and rock our worlds. But all of a sudden, a half-naked Santa Claus appeared on stage! Oh no, wait, that’s just Simon Neil’s new bizarre hairstyle…

___Any confusion resolved, the awesome-ness began with That Golden Rule. The awesome-ness then continued with the likes of Living Is A Problem, Mountains, Who’s Got A Match, and Shock Shock, and eventually concluded in usual fashion with The Captain.

___Apart from the resounding awesome-ness, there’s not a lot else I need to say about this set. It was everything it should have been and then some. For those of you who still haven’t copped on and ditched Kings Of Leon (although I quite like their new song) for some real rock music, I pray you, get a grip and Mon the fucking Biff.

Main Stage - Queens of the Stone Age

_____In my opinion QOTSA were one of the grabs of the festival this year, which is why I was almost more astounded upon seeing people pour OUT of the Main Stage after Biffy then that time someone said they “just didn’t get the whole Radiohead thing”. They must have been heading for Mumford & Sons or something, but all ridiculousness aside, the parting of the masses did at least bring some positives; as they began to file out, numerous 40 and 50 year old overweight smelly rockers were revealed, sitting in deck chairs with faded GNR tour t-shirts and jeans so baggy you could hide a small child in them, a tactic used by many of them to sneak their young kids in to collect 10p cups off the ground and fetch them beer as their chairs became increasingly wobbly with every bum-wobble.

___After many laughs at these people’s expense, Queens finally emerged, and played one of the most memorable sets of the weekend. Josh Homme, however, probably won’t have many memories of the gig, considering he was absolutely locked. Like a true rockstar though, this only enhanced his performance.

___The set itself was made up of mainly Rated R and Songs For The Deaf material, however obvious classics such as Little Sister and Misfit Love made deserved appearances, the former possibly being my favourite of the set. Other contenders include Feel Good Hit Of The Summer and The Lost Of Keeping A Secret, but if I could only relive one of their songs, it’d have to be their last four all rolled into one; I Think I’ve Lost My Headache, Go With The Flow, No One Knows, and Song For The Dead. Absolutely brilliant.

Festival Republic Stage - Blood Red Shoes

_____As much as I love this boy and girl rock duo, they had been dealt the unfortunate faith of clashing with QOTSA, so even though I literally ran the second Josh Homme and co. wrapped up, I only caught their last two songs, luckily two of my favourite; Heartsink and Colours Fade. But one things for sure, I won’t be missing them the second time.

Festival Republic Stage - The Sunshine Underground

_____These are a band I only got into around the time the lineup was revealed (you’d be surprised how many slick bands you can discover by YouTube-ing posters), but in the 4 months leading up to the festival I fell in love with them. Well, mainly just their second album, their first wasn’t up to much. Being a local band at the festival, they attracted a massive crowd for the tent they were put in, and boy did they go down well.

___My two favourite songs always were Borders and Commercial Breakdown, and it would appear I’m not the only one with said preferences, considering how flipping mental the crowd went for them, and although to a slightly lesser extent, pretty much every other song too. ___Without a doubt one of my favourite bands of the summer, worth checking out for those of you who haven’t yet heard of them.

Festival Republic - Marina & the Diamonds

_____All of a sudden, we found ourselves at the last set of a truly tremendous weekend of music, craic (a word the English comically failed to understand), and of course, tins. Although it had also been a very long and tiring weekend, and in the gap between the penultimate and final acts of the weekend, I found myself literally struggling to keep my eyes open. Once the darling Marina arrived however, I’m pretty sure I didn’t even blink once.

___She was looking fabulous and sounding similarly. With only one album released, there was never really any mystery over what kind of setlist she would play, and sure enough it was pretty much a run through of one of the best albums of the year so far. A delicate I Am Not A Robot and a fantastic Oh No! were just two of the many highlights of an anything but disappointing set, and that’s said despite the inexplicably high expectations I always have of Marina. One thing I will say is that Numb was an odd choice of set closer I thought, but I suppose I was never going to be happy on hearing the last song of a Leeds Weekend.

Everything Everything - Man Alive

_____After recently spending almost four weeks away from home, I was quite excited to be coming home. One always is after prolonged periods away from family and friends. Much as I missed my mum however, the promise of her hug wasn’t quite what had me unable to sleep on the plane home. Well, actually that was the annoying as fuck twenty-something girls beside us, but the point is that it was in fact the possibility that a certain album might finally have leaked onto the web while I was away. That album was not Man Alive, but Arcade Fire’s latest release which you’ll be hearing more about later, as it didn’t even cross my mind that Everything Everything’s debut might finally have been released. I mean, I’ve only been waiting, what, almost a year? But then, figuring that it must be my day considering The Suburbs was now currently downloading, I gave it a shot. And I haven’t stopped smiling since.

_____If you haven’t heard of Everything Everything, firstly, poor you, and secondly, now you have so there’s no need to worry. What they are is anything but your average indie four piece, who pride themselves on their chirpy upbeat riffs and uber-witty lyrics, as tremendously sung by a nice fellow called Jonathan.
___My first exposure to the wonderful music of these British boys came, as aforementioned, around a year ago, when this baby was made available as a free download. Obviously, all songs are in theory free downloads, but this one was not only monetarily free, but moral-corruption-free too! Talk about win! It's so good in fact, they made two videos for it.



_____MY KZ UR BF, pronounced My Keys Your Boyfriend for the old and un-trendy among you, is one of the best on the album, which is probably the reason they’ve recently re-released it. But to be one of the best on the album, even though it’s not THE best, is still an admirable feat, considering the quality of this album. For, apart from Weights and maybe Two For Nero, every song on this records a keeper. Better still, they’re quite varied too, it’s not just one fluky formula regurgitated over and over. Far from it in fact. There’s the smart and snappy Schoolin’, the fun and funky Photoshop Handsome, and the slow and soothing Nasa Is On Your Side.
___It’s extremely difficult to pick a favourite from this album, which is a good thing in this case. I find myself often clicking repeat as Final Form draws to a close, QWERTY Finger repeatedly impresses me every time it comes on, and the opening line in Come Alive Diana is almost aurally pleasuring enough to take the prize all on its own. However, I think when it comes to deciding on the ultimate Everything Everything anthem, there’s only really one choice. This song has everything Everything Everything, a nifty title, plenty of falsetto, grin-enducingly good lyrics, and is practically redefines the modern concept of “catchy”. So tell me, Who is going to sit on your face when I’m gone?



The band are playing in Leeds this coming weekend, and before this album came out, when we only had four tracks to soundtrack our self-pleasuring, I reckoned with only 10 minutes between the end of their set and the start of that of Mystery Jets, and with their respective stages being at opposite ends of the arena, it probably wouldn’t work out. But after hearing the full record now, I’ll drunkenly sprint-stagger the 250 metres through the crowds if I have to, because these guys are totally Loréal.

Law and French in Trinity

Festival Pantiero - A Sandy and Sunburnt Review of Cannes Most Illustrious Annual Festival

**Live videos from the festival will be embedded once they become available on the Tube**


_____Following 22 days of gruelling train journeys, repeated alcohol overkill, probably the most high-octane fun I’ve ever had, and then another gruelling train journey, I was pretty tired. So one would imagine a music festival would be the last thing I needed. Sure, we’d already ticked most of the festival boxes: slept in a Mongolian tent, lost all sense of personal hygiene, adopted the infamous “Carbs and a Berocca” diet, and, of course, chundered everywhere. But then again, one hasn’t been to Festival Pantiero.
___What this festival offers is four nights of music, with each night hosting four bands, of which on average you will have heard of 1.66(recurring). The festival is staged on the roof of Cannes Palais des Festivals, overlooking one of the prettiest beaches in the south of France. So, in the words of a friend of mine, it’s a case of lads and beach during the day, birds and tunes at night. So down to business, which, although I would love to talk about the birds, unfortunately is the tunes…

_____Our first set of the festival came courtesy of the delightful Local Natives. Despite the best of intentions and illegal downloads, I was not yet fully acquainted with all of their music, with Airplanes and half of Sun Hands being the exceptions, so I was pretty much as in the dark as the curled up French guy KO’ed on the ground beside me. However, I was conscious, which meant I was still perfectly able to enjoy the songs of theirs I didn’t know. Which I did, thoroughly, which left me kind of wishing I hadn’t listened to Placebo on practically every single train journey during the holiday and made a bit more of an effort to get into Local Natives. Still though, awesome gig.
___Following them was Poni Hoax, a band I had made the effort to get into beforehand. I had found them to be very hit and miss on record, but thankfully live they were much more hit than miss. As expected, Pretty Tall Girls and Antibodies were highlights on the night.



_____Headliners on the first night were indie rock band The Raveonettes, who produced an impressively average set, almost all of which I have now forgotten. Except for That Great Love Sound, I love that song for some reason…

_____Thursday night saw a slight change of mood, with things moving… Eastern as Omar Souleyman took the stage. At the time I was on the beach speaking sub-standard French to some delightful native girls, but the music travelled sufficiently over the cool Cannes night air for me to hear that I wasn’t missing much. One song to be exact, which was played under several different titles on repeat for the duration of the set. Then came The Rapture. And my god were they good.



_____The best part about their set was that they didn’t just do the classics well, extremely well even, but they did everything extremely well. Obviously Get Myself Into It was incredible, Echoes was superb, and House Of Jealous Lovers remains to this day to kick ass, but there were numerous other absolute gems in there: No Sex For Ben left us all gobsmacked as to where the fuck that riff came from; and Whoo! Alright - Yeah...Uh Huh plagued my brain with its lethal catchiness for the rest of the week. The best set of the weekend was rounded off by lead singer Luke Jenner coming down to greet his fans, and, well, we’re basically besties now.

_____The third night hosted the two bands which most of Cannes had been waiting for, the dangerously acclaimed duo of Two Door Cinema Club followed by Foals. Not too shabby. The crowd on this night was phenomenally big, so much so that it probably would have shadowed those from the past two nights combined. And boy were they hoppin’. Two Door Cinema Club were positively sublime, a set boasting the likes of Something Good Can Work and Undercover Martyn seemed all but perfect until the last song rolled around, at which stage it became all perfect, set-closer I Can Talk probably my favourite song of the festival. My second time seeing the Northern Irish lads only confirmed for me just how big a deal these guys are. Watch this space te feck.



_____Already absolutely shattered and dripping with sweat, I wasn’t sure if I could take anymore, but the sight of Yannis walking on stage to close the night jerked the crowd into gear again, and by the time Cassius rolled around, I was sure I couldn’t take anymore, and although I knew further exposure to such ridiculously good music would impact on my health, I stayed and rocked out for the duration of the gig. Good decision me, for the gig was one of their best, with the Oxford heroes spitting out brilliant renditions of Balloons, Spanish Sahara, and Electric Boom.
___A quick snippet of information for those of you interested in French fashions; I’m saddened to inform you that they remain en retard relative to the rest of the world, as they have yet to realise that Miami is in fact one of the best songs Foals have ever released - the crowd bizarrely seemed not to know it. Regardless, it was awesome. They closed in their usual taste, Two Steps Twice providing the perfect ending to what was a truly fantastic night.



_____The final night of Pantiero was to be hosted within the Palais itself, instead of on its roof as usual, which suited the dance theme to the night, but unfortunately, I was unable to attend. It would seem after battling a chest infection for the duration of the weekend, Foals’ aforementioned impact on my health became too much, and I was forced to sit the closing night out. To be honest though if I was to miss one night, it would have been the last, there wasn’t an awful lot on offer. There was however, a certain Zombie Nation, and although I knew I was doing the right thing sitting at home with my Maltesers trying to decipher The Bourne Identity once and for all, I was figuratively as well as physically sick in the stomach knowing I was missing Kernkraft 400.…



_____And so that was it. Four nights of music, some good, some not so good, and then some absolutely fricking insane, over. It’s hard to explain the Pantiero experience, because it’s not a festival really, in the sense you wouldn’t really associate it with the Oxegens and Picnics of the world, but it’s more than a concert itself, in that there’s four of them, and the crowd aren’t as dicky.
___Basically, it’s just really good fun. There are few greater feelings than that you get when drinking a bottle of desperados on the beach listening Quadricolour warm up the crowd for Two Door Cinema Club, so I’d recommend that if any of you have fifty euro to spare next summer, consider Pantiero. Sun, beach, music, and French girls. That fifty euro will never be better spent…

Top 5 Songs of 2010-2010.5

_____On June 30th, the year became officially half over, and to mark this truly momentous occasion, I have compiled a list of my favourite five songs of the year so far. Narrowing down the list to five was a lot harder than I thought it would be, eventually having to leave out hits from Biffy Clyro, Hot Chip, and Vampire Weekend to name but a few.

_____Obviously there are some you'll agree with, and some you won't, so feel free to offer your opinions, criticisms, or simply ridicule any of the choices I've made below.

No.5 Crystal Castles - Celestica

_____Probably not my absolute favourite off the album, but it offers something different to the Crystal Castles chaos we've gotten so used to.



No.4 Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill

_____Released from an album which received widely mixed reactions, its beautifully soothing sound clearly sets it aside from the rest, but even had it been shoved between Feel Good Inc. and Dirty Harry on Demon Days, in my opinion there's no arguing it couldn't have pulled its weight.



No.3 Foals - Miami

_____A stroke of genius from the Oxford genii coupled with a wonderfully trans-genius video has lifted Miami to the previously thought un-re-reachable heights of Cassius and Hummer.



No.2 Marina And The Diamonds - Oh No!

_____Hollywood probably did more for this Welsh-Greek goddess in terms of exposure or whatever, but this, her latest single, this is special.



No.1 The Chemical Brothers - Swoon

_____Having lived in Daft Punk's shadow for what must seem like an eternity, it seems the English pair have finally discovered to secret to their success; the loop button. In its full-length awesomeness.

Oxegen 2010: A Slightly Blurred, But For The Most Part Sufficiently Sober, Brief Recollection Of Events

_____“It can’t rain as much as last year”. Arriving on the Thursday evening to a field of damp campers all looking worriedly skywards, this is what I told myself. But I don’t want to talk about that.

_____This here is a cross between my personal reaction to my first ever Oxegen and an amateur music blogger’s review of the event. As usual with this type of weekend, the Friday came first. It rained. I had already been to a music festival, but I only knew two other people at it, so Oxegen differed greatly in terms of the campsite atmosphere. Drinking was less of a chore, and a lot of the time we arrived late to sets. Such as our first set, The Coronas. I don’t have them on my iPod, but sure you hear enough of them on the radio to know a few of their songs anyways. They pulled a fairly decent crowd, and the reaction received by San Diego Song was even more impressive than I anticipated. Although I wouldn’t have cared much if we hadn’t gone to see them, I’m glad we did, if anything just to reward their genuine gratitude towards the people who came to see them with a slightly bigger crowd.
___Next came Vampire Weekend and Stereophonics, two bands I was really excited for. Both played strong sets, and both frontmen looked inappropriately slick. Unfortunately, we had to leave the latter prematurely, meaning I missed Dakota, but Have A Nice Day and A Thousand Trees ensured my Friday ended on a high note, and with an Arcade Fire set at Leeds to look forward to all the more.



_____Following the Friday came a Saturday. It rained again, but heavier and for longer this time. Saturday originally stood out as the strongest day music wise, and it certainly lived up to my expectations. Two Door Cinema Club and Biffy Clyro were two of my favourite sets of the festival. Ellie Goulding was extremely agreeable also, partly due to the fact she played in a dry tent, but mostly down to the energy and heart she gave each and every one of her songs. We had planned to go to 3Oh!3 next, but both very sober and very wet, we decided it best just to get back to the tent, but accidentally we stumbled into 3Oh!3’s set on the way, so stuck it out, and I must admit, although painfully cliché, it was a thoroughly enjoyable gig. Starstrukk, Don’t Trust Me, and new song My First Kiss were all absolutely fantastic, and credit to them, they got the biggest shout of the weekend with their questionably authentic compliments to the crowd.
___Our evening that day comprised of two of the best bands of the weekend, and probably the worst. Gossip’s atrociously homogenous set upset my ears, and indeed my principles, that my body punished me through swelling my glands to such an extent that I could not move my head in any direction more than 30 degrees. This meant I couldn’t bop with our groovy section of the crowd during a brilliant Hot Chip set, and nor could I scream aloud to the phenomenal Muse. Because boy did I want to scream.



_____Their setlist was practically perfect, Feeling Good wasn’t too missed, and Bliss more than made up for New Born’s absence. I was quite disappointed with the crowd, this video far from proving otherwise, but I guess at a festival you’re never going to get a concentrated crowd of fans like you would at a gig. Because if they played that a gig, the place would have exploded. Their godlike status was only reinforced when the rain subsided almost on cue for when they came out. It did start again for a bit halfway through, but you'd swear they planned that way, their lasers looking all the more awesome through the rain.

_____The weekend ended unsurprisingly on a Sunday. What was surprising, was that it didn’t rain! For this reason, everyone was in a good mood. The day wasn’t great for the music, I missed We Are Scientists and 30 Seconds To Mars whilst enjoying the sun, but Jamie T was really worth watching, set closer Sticks n’ Stones one of my songs of the weekend. My weekend finished not with Prodigy as I had originally thought, but with Mumford and Sons, a band I liked, but never loved like many people I know, but I’m happy to say that the rumours are true; they are truly superb live.



_____So looking back, I’m definitely glad I went to Oxegen, despite the rain. I think it’s not as much about the music as Leeds, the stage line-ups lack structure (Doves into Black Eyed Peas, The Temper Trap into 30 Seconds To Mars) and apart from the headliners, the sets are generally much shorter, cementing my opinion that Oxegen sometimes veers towards quantity over quality, although that’s obviously not to say there isn’t good line-ups each year. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as festivals aren’t all about the music, the social aspect plays a huge part, and Oxegen is great in that respect. However, I still maintain at 250 euro for a weekend camping, it’s horrendously over-priced.

_____So, to wrap up, it was good. There weren’t any striking low-lights, but plenty of high ones: some quality drunk-people-watching, getting beautifully overchanged by a chipper, a superb Muse setlist, and a terrifically sunny Sunday. Oh the wristbands are cool too. I imagine I’ll be back.

Oxegen Festival 2010 HitList

_____It’s finally here, boys and gals, Oxegen 2010! Seeing as that is the case, I don’t really have the time to write a big spiel on who I feel you should see, who you shouldn’t, and how guilty you should feel if you go to see Black Eyed Peas over Muse, so instead, I’ve just lashed together my Oxegen HitList.
___Here are ten songs I believe cannot afford to be missed live at a festival, although if I could give you one other tip, it’d be to spend as little time at your tent during the day, and see as many bands as possible, and I guarantee you your favourite song of the festival will come from the most likely of sources. Like seriously, mine was a Kaiser Chiefs one last summer…

_____So, in chronological order according to stage times…

Vampire Weekend - A-Punk

You cannot beat that first album.



Stereophonics - Dakota

One of the best signings by Oxegen this year.



Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)

How fucking excited are you?



Two Door Cinema Club - I Can Talk

Seeing as they have moved to main stage and you no longer have to miss Biffy to see them…



Biffy Clyro - Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies

The Captain and Mountains were purpose built for festivals, but this is flawless.



Muse - Plug In Baby

I swear to God, if you go to Black Eyed Peas…



We Are Scientists - After Hours

The two nicest guys in music. And the drummer from Razorlight



Jamie T - Sticks n’ Stones

He’s a featherweight champion.



30 Seconds To Mars - From Yesterday

Even if you don’t like them, stick around, get a good spot for Prodigy, be proved wrong.



The Prodigy - Breathe

Is anybody going to Eminem?




Enjoy, and get plastered responsibly.

Mystery Jets - Serotonin

_____This time last year, had you stood on an appropriately populated street corner and called aloud for some fashionable bands which you could talk about at fashionable parties in order to seem fashionable, I doubt anyone would pay attention to you, as urban centres tend to be very hostile and unsociable places these days. Had you then located an internet café in which to ask the internet for assistance, you’d probably be living a lot more than one year ago, as the development of broadband has almost completely decimated the internet café business. However, had you then whipped out your iPhone like you should have done in the first place and Asked Jeeves it, your handheld screen would most likely have filled up with in-your-face indie bands such as The xx, Foals; dig a little deeper and you’d find the more modest Bombay Bicycle Club, Bat For Lashes, etc. And then you’d go off your fashionable party where fashionable people would view you as at least a mildly fashionable with a good taste in music. Congratulations.
___But what is to be observed here, is that all these are British bands. British bands have dominated the indie/indie rock music scene for the past few years, and in all honesty, deservedly so; Australia’s been to busy being a year behind the trend with excuses like Empire Of The Sun, and with most of America laughing as Europe lapped up what they rejected in Kings Of Leon, a woeful Foo Fighter’s single was about all they bothered to contribute. This time right now, on the other hand, is quite a different story. The Drums are spearheading a revival of American indie-rock which has given rise to new delights like Surfer Blood, the musical renewal lended further momentum as Vampire Weekend kicked back into gear earlier this year. All the same, I will now urge you not to listen to your wi-fi connection, and don’t convert to Barack’s battalion of new generation indie bands, as in my opinion, those across the water are doing it today better than ever, Mystery Jets’ latest album the truest of examples.



_____That there is the opening track from a third album which I simply could not imagine how it might live up to the standards of Twenty One, the affair I had with it early last summer having transformed into a long-term love. And as a track, it perfectly illustrates how Mystery Jets are in a peculiar class of their own when it comes to premium indie music, a genre which has received more criticism than Nu Wave did in the years before its demise. Too many similar bands are too obsessed with hairstyles and too busy synthesising everything in sight, so much so that they have, amidst the chaotic apathy, misplaced their testosterone!
___Accidentally stumble into Crystallised down a dark alley, and it’d probably hastily throw the contents of its handbag at you before menstruating as it scurried awkwardly away; Forever And Ever Amen sounds exactly like the type who gets drunk off two glasses of Chardonnay at the New Year’s soirée. Mystery Jets, however, are a different story altogether. Although the vocalist has quite a delicate voice, this is more than accounted for with whole-hearted riffs and belting choruses. Waiting On A Miracle, although sounding strangely alike Olivia Newton John’s 80’s hit Physical, is inspiringly good, while title track Serotonin just screams single somewhere down the line.
___That’s not to say I argue with the band’s first choice of single, Dreaming Of Another World ranks alongside Flash A Hungry Smile as my favourite tracks on the album; it wouldn’t have had to share the honour if it weren’t for the latter’s brilliant lyric heard at 0:59.



_____Lyrics such as that are perhaps the reason why Mystery Jets are so goddamn loveable. It’s exactly that cheeky yet undeniably adorable aspect to their sound that sets them apart from the likes of The xx, who practically mumble in their songs. You can’t help get the sense the words in Show Me The Light actually mean something to the singer, that there’s a story behind the superb album closer Lorna Doone. Mystery Jets possess a genuineness in their music that is just lacking in much of the other indie music you hear talked about at those fashionably dull parties.
___I said I wasn’t sure if Serotonin could match their previous record, if anything they wrote could sound anything like Hideaway, Young Love, Two Doors Down, and practically every song on that album, and I’m afraid I don’t think they’ve quite managed it. They’ve come awfully close though.

A2