2009 - Another Year Of Live Music

[Turbo Yannis]

I\'m stealing ADGray\'s review style

Idlewild:

Bloc Party:

Delphic:

Friendly Fires:

The Killers:

Kings of Leon:

Crystal Castles:

Razorlight:

Passion Pit:

Blur:

Pendelum:

Katy Perry:

Lady Gaga:

Oh, and I got a boar meat roll. Official review: :w00t: :w00t: Amazing.

Edited July 15, 2009 by Turbo Yannis

[Lowerdeck]

I'm stealing YI's calendar idea:

Definites:

July 21st - Paul McCartney

Citi Field, Queens

All But Definite, depending on weather being outdoor shows:

August 1st - The Bravery, The Airborne Toxic Event, The Gaslight Anthem, Metric, Passion Pit, Ra Ra Riot

City Hall Plaza, Boston ... I only know of Gaslight, but it's a free show so fuck it

August 29th - Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters

Boardinghouse Park, Lowell MA

Highly Considering

August 23rd - B.B. King

Ives Concert Park, Danbury CT

I heard Steely Dan might be around here sometime soon too, but not strong about that right now.

I prob should check for more stuff, since this tends to be the best time of year for shit. If I have any money left.

[ADG]

I'm stealing YI's calendar idea:

All But Definite, depending on weather being outdoor shows:

August 1st - The Bravery, The Airborne Toxic Event, The Gaslight Anthem, Metric, Passion Pit, Ra Ra Riot

City Hall Plaza, Boston ... I only know of Gaslight, but it's a free show so fuck it

The Airborne Toxic Event, Metric and Passion Pit are also very good.

[ADG]

EDIT: Damn double post.

Edited July 19, 2009 by ADGray

[YI]

DATE: April 14th 2009

VENUE: O2 Academy 2 - Newcastle

GIG: "GIVE IT A NAME INTRODUCES..." (Lights, VersaEmerge, In This Moment, Whole Wheat Bread)

I was unable to attend the "Give It A Name Introduces..." tour last year, due to it selling out beforehand. The line-up from last year was a lot 'bigger' with already established artists; Four Year Strong, Mayday Parade, Meg & Dia and The Color Fred (ex-Taking Back Sunday). But as a whole, I felt this years line-up was more exciting with the highlight being electro-pop 'pixie', Lights topping the bill.

Strangely it was the bands with the most 'experience' under their belts that opened things off. Up first were the 'African American' trio, Whole Wheat Bread. They were playing in supporting of their recently released sophomore record "Hearts Of Hoodlums". I honestly had no idea how they'd come across, their rap-punk hybrid really had the potential to be incredibly crass, but what we were treated to was a selection of awesome, poppy, catchy, party tunes. The band sweated charisma, you haven't lived until you've seen a room full of white people (mostly of the 'emo' or 'heavy metal' demographics) bobbing their arms in the air like they're extras in the "Still D.R.E" video. But it was fun, and the blends of styles and changes really helped things. I will say, easily my favourite band of the night (yes, even better than Lights). From the ultra catchy "Girlfriend Like This", which sounded like a less crass/cheap Hot Action Cop, groovy lead single "Bombs Away", straight up punk "Lower Class Man", standout "Ode 2 Dad" as well more rap orientated tracks like "Stuck In Da Dark" as well as a full on hip-hop number towards the end, their material was fresh, had everyone smiling, everyone moving, something the other artists couldn't manage throughout the night. Also managed to have a bit of banter with all of the band at certain points throughout the night, really cool guys, the bassist especially, he'd been trying to bang the singer from VersaEmerge.

Up next were the first of three, very different, female fronted acts. In This Moment are a metalcore band, who much like Whole Wheat Bread have two albums under their belts. We took a step back for these and sat on the stools towards the back of the room, a little too 'heavy' for the girlfriends tastes, but the thing that struck me about them, more so than their performance were how pathetic a bunch of buys in the audience were. Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm a massive pervert, but if I'm at a gig I'm not going to stand there with my camera out for a 30-minute performance turning to whoever I'm with, pulling faces like a sex criminal and photographing the main singer nonstop. I mean, fair play, she was dressed in some slutty as fuck Alice In Wonderland style checky dress, and her arse was basically hanging out...but, come on, there's just going into creepy/pathetic territory. After In This Moment a lot of the crowd filtered out, but seemed to hang around the foyer area downstairs trying to get photos with various people etc. That annoyed me a little bit, but I can live. They were okay, the worst band of the night, but still perfectly acceptable. I admit I wasn't particularly clued in on the setlist, but they did do "Forever", which was rocking.

Up next were VersaEmerge, who, in short, can be described as Paramore-lite. After a few early hiccups with sound, the band fires into action, with singer Sierra Kusterbeck being as bouncey and cute as a newly born puppy. They have 3 EP's under their belt, the most recent being their self-titled put out earlier in the year. They play a selection of songs, I'm only familiar with the newer ones and I recognise the pounding verse to "Moments Between Sleep", single "Past Praying For" and opening with "The Hider". The arrangements have a little more of a darker edge to a lot of similar bands in the 'genre' (Paramore, MiMi Soya, Hey Monday etc.) and at times even seem to border into the 'faux-operetic' style of other mainstream bands like Evanescence. Nothing earth shaking, but a real good set from a promising new band.

Finally the adorable Lights took the stage, the only reason I was actually here to be honest. The audience was at its lowest point of the night, but there was a good section of diehard fans (including a couple she was shocked to see join along to the fast part of "Ice"...not even I can do that ) and she got a really good response. Joined onstage by a laptop, a drummer and another fella on a synth, Lights switched between playing a synth of her own and her trademark keytar. She opened things up with a soothing new track, now revealed to be "Saviour". With the studio version floating about it's grown on me so much, but at the time it was my least favourite of the new ones. She did another two, "Second Go" a total 80's Madonna style number and the absolutely oustanding "The River", which through live versions only is already one of my favourite Lights tracks. Her set was a little short, but she doesn't have that much material to pull from. On top of the 3 new songs from her forthcoming full length "The Listening", she did 4 tracks from her self-titled EP as well as a short cover of "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys. It was a really fun way to round off the evening, she's just adorable right down to the bone. From her cheesy dancing behind the keyboard, to her Bambi like crowd interactions and her blushing response to the her response to what is easily the greatest heckle I have EVER heard ("YOU HAVE PRETTY EYES!"), it's impossible not to be sucked in by her charms.

All in all, despite having to fork out £14 for this, it was a lot better than it had any right to be. All the bands were competent. Strangely, it was Whole Wheat Bread, the band I had the least interest in seeing who totally blew me away and were the best act of the night. Lights was adorable, she makes the transition live really well, especially in a small room. VersaEmerge have a lot of potential and In This Moment, while the weakest band on the line-up they still put together a competent live show.

SETLISTS

LIGHTS

NEW SONG (

)

February Air

NEW SONG (

)

Ice

I Want It That Way [backstreet Boys cover]

NEW SONG (

)

Drive My Soul

The Last Thing On Your Mind

CHECK THEM OUT

Lights

VersaEmerge

In This Moment

Whole Wheat Bread

[LittleDaniel]

I love basements. I saw Pedals on our Pirate Ships there last night(not my picture, one on the venue's website). They were the headliners...for reasons that I don't exactly understand. Hell, I don't understand why they were playing at all last night. There were three other bands on the bill last night, one of them being a local "hardcore" band and the other two being touring "hardcore" bands. What this meant to me was a lot of fucking screaming. I can really only tolerate screaming when its used sparingly by a band...this wasn't the case. My girlfriend, who accompanied me, feels the same way, so we stayed upstairs near the merch table reading the free anarchist literature for an hour or two, unable to actually talk to each other because the "hardcore" music downstairs was so loud. Then, finally, Pedals took the...well, not stage...

First of, they seem like some of the nicest people around, which is generally true of bands I talk to at basement shows. Also, they have the best drum kit I've ever seen: no bass drum, but a storage trunk with a drum pedal next to it, a snare and a crash cymbal attached to the top. Simple and fun, even the hardcore guys liked the bass drum alternative.

When Pedals took the...floor, my girlfriend and I were the only ones downstairs. They sang loudly into the microphone that they were going to start soon, but still no one came down. It looked like we were going to get a private show! Luckily for them, as soon as they started playing some people came down to check them out. It was mostly the guys from other bands and the couple of people who were working the venue, but I did see one other person singing along to their songs! A couple of songs into their set, the guitarist/vocalist noticed he had lost his capo, which cut out a lot of their setlist, they ended up making the setlist up on the go after that point and taking requests from the few of us who knew their songs. They played great, and the audience(which I thought might be unresponsive after the night of brutality Pedals had to follow) seemed to dig them. Hopefully next time they play Baltimore(they only live one state away, so I can't see it being too far in the future) they get a better turn-out. Only knowing about three songs that they played, I know they got me interested in the rest of their songs!

Also, the bonus track on their CD is called "Bonus!!!! wahooooooo."

And that was my attempt to do a YI-length gig review. I think I failed...

[YI]

DATE: August 17th 2009

VENUE: The Fish Tank - Durham

GIG: DISCOUNT HORSE TOUR (ft. ONSIND, Calvinball, Apologies I Have None, Fashanu)

The Fish Tank is a tiny venue above a fish & chip shop, up an alley near a Tesco Express in Durham. The drinks not extortionate for gig prices, but you're still looking at breaking past a £10 note after buying four drinks. The venue itself is very small and intimate, really good atmosphere.

Discount Horse are basically the daddies of 'folk-punk' in the UK (and it's all run in Chester-Le-Street, how awesome). Having distributed multiple releases for the likes of Ghost Mice, Defiance Ohio, Bridge & Tunnel, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Rosa, Lemuria, Paul Baribeau, The Draft and Get Bent. As well as those American bands it's also home to some of the hottest acts in the UK punk scene such as the bands playing tonight (having seen them, I will include Fashanu in that, they're epic, can't wait to get their CD), Above Them, The Amistad, The Dauntless Elite etc.

Up first were Fashanu, a local band on the label that are shrouded in mystery...mostly because they don't have a myspace page. A song entitled "Yoko Ono vs. Bob Hoskins. Go!" appeared on the Discount Horse myspace page a number of months ago and absolutely blew me away. With a twinge of early Get Up Kids and a smidge of Against Me!, with big shouty vocals, just amazing. I was actually quite surprised when the band took 'stage', I'm honestly not sure what I was expecting, but they weren't it to be fair. They're a three piece, with the singing duties split between the bassist who was in some hideous shorts and and guitarist with floppy hair that was pulling out Paige style 'moves', and finally a dainty girl on drums who bangs them out with so much ferocity and energy for a small girl. Packing songs with names such as "Singing Along To Schindler's List" and "Bruce Lee's Ghost Drinks Diet Coke" the band clearly have a sense of humour and have some great 'on-stage' banter and go up in my estimations by opening with reference to the Day Today 'Fashanu/Fash-Are-Nu' gag. The band were supposed to be releasing their debut CD tonight, but there was problems with pressing so it's been put back. Will definitely pick it up at a show soon because I plan on catching these guys again, most definitely.

Up second were Apologies, I Have None, who are basically London's answer to Against Me! The two piece have just released their 2nd EP, "Two Sticks & Six Strings" on Discount Horse and blast through a good number of the songs on there in entertaining fashion, such as "100 Club", "Green Green Mabley Green" and "Rearranging The Dust". They also delve into their first EP, "Done" with "Eason Drive" providing a particularly popular choice. The two seemed to be having a good time, saying that they were excited to be playing here as the Fish Tank was the first place outside of South London they ever played a gig. For the last song the two members switch instruments and play through the new rendition of heartbreaking track "Bent Strings", a personal favourite of mine.

Third band were Calvinball who are more of a straight up punk-rock band than the other 'headliners' on this tour. Opening with a ferocious drum roll they launch into "Supertoys Last All Summer" and soon everyone in the place is bobbing their heads and a good few number of people singing along. That's actually something I noticed last night, a small venue, but a lot of people knew the words and sang along to everything, really makes a change to a lot of the smaller shows you get in Newcastle and Sunderland. Calvinball are a very interesting mix, with riffs that would see them fall alongside The Gaslight Anthem, Let Me Run, Dillinger Four etc, but with more gruff and throaty vocals that are more in lines with O Pioneers!!! and Hot Water Music. There was a good number of songs I didn't recognise, they do have a new EP available, so they may have been from there. Highlights of the set include "Goodnight Sweet Prince" (on their myspace there's a pretty interesting 65daysofstatic remix of it) and "Supertoys..." from the2008 CD "Live Fast, Go To Bed Early" and new one "Brighter Lights".

Finally the headliners for tonight, local 'powerhouses' ONSIND (aka. One Night Stand In North Dakota) take the 'stage'. This is my 3rd time seeing them (could have easily been 6 at this point to be honest...5 DEFINITELY if it hadn't been for other commitments) and they never cease to amaze me. At times on record they sound a little flat, but live they're just absolutely unbelievable. Would have enjoyed a longer set, maybe 2 or 3 songs. But they did it so people who needed trains could get away early (cheers lads!). A few variations from other times I've seen them, finally getting to hear "Kim Kelly Is My Friend" and the song from the Short Term Effect split (reminds me, I still really want to see him again sometime), "T.R.S...", were favourite parts of the set. Also it may only be about a minute long but I can't think over a catchier song than "Shop Less, Live More". The start to it is just unbelievable, launching straight in with the lyrics "The income gap is rising, I saw it on a colour chart on 'news 24", there's then this amazing part with quick ska style stab chords, which, you can look around nobody can resist the temptation to smile, sway their shoulders and bob their heads at that part. It's honestly impossible not to do it. Great band. Ended the set with members of Calvinball and Apologies, I Have None playing/screaming along to "Memoirs Of A Dutiful Daughter"...beyond epic!

Just a random photo, I tried to get a couple but my phone was being epically gay. You can also get some of the bands stuff for free. They are;

ONSIND - "Dworkin's Bastards" (2009 album)

ONSIND - "Demo" (2008 demo, still do a LOT of these songs live)

Apologies, I Have None - "Done" (2007 EP)

SETLISTS

ONSIND

A Story In Three Acts

Shop Less, Live More

T.R.S (At The Subrosa, Kiel)

I Could Carve A Better Man Out Of A Banana

My Clean Sweep At The Clown Oscars

Gardez La France Propre Contaminez l'Angleterre

Kim Kelly Is My Friend

Memoirs Of A Dutiful Daughter {w/Calvinball and Apologies, I Have None}

CALVINBALL

Supertoys Last All Summer

A Toast To Those Who Drink The Most

[sOMETHING]

Nobody Throws Me My Gun And Says Run...Nobody

[sOMETHING]

Brighter Lights

Goodnight Sweet Prince

[sOMETHING]

APOLOGIES, I HAVE NONE

Kneedeep

100 Club

Rearranging The Dust

Justine's Housemate Lives In London

Green Green Mabley Green

Eason Drive

Bent Strings

CHECK THEM OUT

ONSIND

Calvinball

Apologies, I Have None

Fashanu (song on player)

Edited August 22, 2009 by YI

[Lowerdeck]

Just saw Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters last night. Good show. If anyone's into blues, especially instrumental blues, or blues-jazz - recommended. Opening for this was the Dave Keller Band. Plenty of guest appearances, including Keller to do vocals near the end of the two and a half plus hour set. Jose Alvarez, guitar player for Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience, was playing for a good chunk of the show as well. Simien himself was called out on the stage for a song. (They were in town for a show the night before in this same concert series.)

Good times. A handful of people were leaving early, boy did they miss out.

Just saw that Gaslight Anthem is playing the House of Blues in Boston on Oct. 17th. No idea who the other three bands are though: Murder by Death, Jesse Malin, and Broadway Calls.

[YI]

DATE: August 27th-30th 2009

VENUE: Bramham Park - Leeds

GIG: LEEDS FESTIVAL (ft. lots of drunken shenanigans, but let's keep this about music )

...I wish I'd taken more photos, the two I took are fucking mint (). Stole the trumpeter from Streetlight and Jou-Fallon from elsewhere ...I didn't get across to see them perform, let alone meet Brian.

THURSDAY

WILD BEASTS - Were really fucking shit.

BLOOD RED SHOES - The new songs sound really good. She's sexy as fuck. Set was relatively short, only like 8 songs or so. But a good bit of fun. Nice way to start the weekend. Did "Say Something, Say Anything", "You Bring Me Down" and "I Wish I Was Someone Better" from what I remember.

FRIDAY

POLAR BEAR CLUB (Lock-Up) - Don't like the Lock-Up being smaller, I know there's always a big gap between the barrier and the stage, but it was HUGE this year. Tent was pretty packed though. Not sure whether it was because I was feeling a bit rough, but not as good as the other times I've seen them. The lack of "Hollow Place" and "Most Miserable Life" in the setlist was disappointing. Still had a good selection with the first 5 songs from the album (sans "Hollow Place), "Parked..." and "Election Day" from the EP, new one "Living Saints" which was great and closing on "Our Ballads". Still a fine set. I hate putting 'numbers' on things, but if their previous sets have been like 9/10-10/10...this was more like a 7/10, still good, but just not the 'fire' that was there.

THE RAKES (Main Stage) - Went to the bar, bumped into a guy from uni, so had a bit of a chat, promised to contact him again later (I didn't ) and caught a bit of The Rakes. Not particularly interesting but far from bad. I made excuses and escaped after a few tunes to go watch some Chuck Ragan.

CHUCK RAGAN (Lock-Up) - I love a bit of Chuck, he's another one like Mike Hale/Brian Fallon/Joey Cape who can make the transition from punk to acoustic well, writing proper acoustic songs, as apposed to just playing punk tracks acoustically. He had a full band backing. His voice was booming, really good. Did some new songs (album has leaked now as well, haven't listened yet though). Finished with "The Boat", which he dedicated to Leatherface, which was fucking amazing! HOT WATER MUSIC FOR NEXT YEAR!!

A WILHEM SCREAM (Lock-Up) - I now know how the 'properly' pronounce AWS, after Nuno came out with "We're Awilim Scream". Setlist was an 'obvious' one I guess. Opened with "The Horse" and then into "...Morrissey..". New song was unreal, really fucking good. Only problem with these short sets is, you're going to end up disappointed because they don't really have the opportunity to throw in tracks like "The Kids Can Eat A Bag Of Dicks" or "William Blake Overdrive". Still great though, again though, set 'problems' I guess. Still fantastic, one of my favourites of the weekend. Did "...Showbiz", "5 To 9", "Killing It", "Famous Friends And Fashion Drunks" and "The King Is Dead" as well.

ELLEN & THE ESCAPADES (BBC Introducing) - Cute twee style folk-pop band from Leeds I've been a fan of for a few months. Went and listened to a few of their songs for a bit. Heard about 10-minute of their set. Very nice, good summer music. "Without You" was a standout.

MUNICIPAL WASTE (Lock-Up) - FUCK YEAH! Loud, fucking angry, fucking awesome. Not particularly familiar with a lot of their stuff, but one of the bands I really wanted to see. Also, are legends for the use of the expression "Circle Tits", to describe two side by side circle pits. Absolutely fucking tore it. Thrash punk at its best.

COME ON GANG! (BBC Introducing) - Just happened to be wandering past these on the way to see Marina & The Diamonds, and liked what I heard so stuck about for about half of their set. Listening on their myspace, they're not sounding too great. Had a real interesting live sound, bit of post-punk kind of muddiness, but really light and cute with the female vocals too.

MARINA & THE DIAMONDS (Festival Republic) - Sweet Jesus Lord, words cannot describe how sexy this woman is. Even if she throws shapes like an absolute cunt. Really charming, seems down to earth and a lot of fun. Really sucks the crowd in with her performance. She pulled out "The Champagne Sleeper" which was an awesome surprise because I've been loving that song at the minute. Her 'moves' really turned up a notch to bordering 'taking the piss' during "Mowgli's Road", but it's such an awesome song, I don't care.

MAD CADDIES (Lock-Up) - I must say, while a fan of the Caddies, I was rather far gone at this point and would have been perfectly happy to sit getting more and more drunk in the gazebo before heading over in an hour for Prodigy. However, I was dragged across to Mad Caddies, and thank fuck I was, easily, hands down one of the bands of the festival. In fact, excluding Streetlight Manifesto, band of the weekend. Absolutely perfect set, the mix of material was slap bang right. From the crazy, catchy up-beat earlier material, that had the pit moving and gave the crowd surfers more than enough fodder to play with. To the occasional softer, reggae styled song from their newer efforts to allow people to catch a breather, but were still catchy and entertaining enough to keep the crowds attention. Set highlights/shit I remember include "Monkeys", "Lay Down Your Head", "Macho Nachos" "Drinking For 11", "Road Rash" and "Backyard". FUCKING AMAZING!

THE PRODIGY (Main Stage) - I mean, good enough. But really, I don't know. Nowhere near as good as when I saw them earlier in the year. The set was what was to be expected. All the staples like "Firestarter", "Breathe", "Smack My Bitch Up", "Voodoo People" and "Out Of Space", with a selection of tracks from "Invaders Must Die" thrown in for good measure. If I were to be totally honest, I was a little exhausted by them by the time they reached the end. Like a good selection of bands, if I'd seen them before, I was often kind of 'underwhelmed' with them in a way, if I hadn't seen them before, I guess I'd have got into it a bit more. This makes it sound like I didn't enjoy them, I did, I raved my fucking tits off for the best part of an hour. "Breathe" into "Omen" is still quite possibly the finest back to back song-age I've ever witnessed.

ARCTIC MONKEYS (Main Stage) - These were my headline choice for the day. Don't like the new album, not that fond of the 2nd, but the debut was outstanding, plus it'll probably be the only chance I get to see them. I stayed for the first 4 songs. Alex Turner (looked like an abandoned labrador) and seemed completely and utterly bored to be there. When comparing them to Kaiser Chiefs on the Sunday, where the singer was going off it...he seemed to devoid of passion it was ridiculous. I'd have liked to have heard some of their older songs, but it'd have been frustrating standing watching just to get to the tracks I knew. So I went off to the Lock-Up to watch......

RISE AGAINST (Lock-Up) - I was once an INSANE Rise Against fan. "Revolutions Per Minute" still goes down as one of my favourite punk-rock albums ever. And in fact, ask just about everyone in the punk-rock community and it's agreed to be one of the best (and often THE BEST) punk-rock album's in the last 10-years...they played NOTHING from it. And nothing from before it. Absolutely ridiculous. The setlist was mostly made up of tracks from their recent release...which, I don't particularly like. But their song choice from the album wasn't too bad (besides "Audience Of One") blasting out "The Dirt Whispered", "Savior" (which was CRAZY) and "Collapse (Post-Amerika)" (which are 3 of the 5 songs I actually like from the album). On top of that playing hits like "Give It All" and "Diaspora" went down well, and tossing out fantastic renditions of "State Of The Union" (FUCK YEAH!) and "The Good Left Undone" made me happy. In actuality, as a performance, it was really good. Lots of passion, there wasn't an acoustic guitar anywhere in fucking sight and the songs were faster than on record...something I hope they do when I see them in November, because it gives them this insane drive. On the night, I was pissed off, but now I've sat and thought about it, if I get over the fact they did no "Revolutions..." they were very good...but the point still stands, I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO GET OVER THE FACT THEY DID NO "REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE"!!!! Oh, and apparently they did "Blood, Red, White & Blue" at Reading...ALL I WANTED...ONE FUCKING SONG...BUT NOOOO!!! FUCK OFF READING!!

SATURDAY

BROADWAY CALLS (NME/Radio 1) - It'd been a fairly hard morning, I was already fairly drunk by this point. A couple of my mates wanted to see Kids In Glass Houses...I wanted to see Broadway Calls. They thought KIGH's were on NME tent, I knew they were on Main Stage...I didn't correct them. Of all the kind of bands that fall similar to Gaslight Anthem, Loved Ones, Fake Problems etc. Broadway Calls are probably my least favourite. The crowd was small but respectful, we stayed for a few songs before eventually moving along to see KIGH's.

KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES (Main Stage) - Were actually good. Their songs tend to move at a groove, good to dance to, or in our case just to sit on the grass and chill with some overpriced cider. Was it just me, or was the cider different? I'm sure last year it was pear and this year it was 'original'. Can't really remember. Anyways heard about 5/6 songs. All pretty much good. Ended with "Give Me What I Want".

IN CASE OF FIRE (NME/Radio 1) - I'd attempted to listen to these guys before, but could never really get into them. They really impressed me here. Incredibly tight, the tunes were complex but still really easy to bob your head along to and get into. Not familiar with anything they actually played though. Gave the album a download when I got home, but haven't listened to it yet.

FRANK TURNER (NME/Radio 1) - I was basically pretty fucking gone by this point. Had been back to the camp for about an hour and hit the vodka pretty hard. But man, Frank didn't disappoint. This is my 4th time seeing him. Probably my 'least favourite' performance, but still great and far from disappointing. Did two new ones in "Try This At Home" which is a fantastic upbeat number, which I could possibly see as a replacement to "Back In The Day" in most sets and new single "The Road" which is just absolutely outstanding and one of my favourite singles of the year. On top of that I remember "Photosynthesis", "I Knew Prufrock...", "Substitute" and of course "The Ballad Of Me And My Friends" to finish with. Really happy with the crowd he got and they all seemed to be into it. Got into the 'circle jig'-come boderline-'mosh-pit' towards the end. Nice.

...I missed Brand New (who were supposadely shit) and Gaslight Anthem. But my priorities were on something else at the time. Gutted about Gaslight, especially seeing as they did "Angry Johnny...".

BLOC PARTY (Main Stage) - Last year Bloc Party blew me away with how amazing they were...this year, I was disappointed. If you asked me what they played I have barely any fucking idea. I remember "Flux" and "Mercury" and that's it...but I know I was disappointed...actually did they do "Song For Clay" as well? Singing along to the riff kind of rings rings a bell. Oh and I remember "Helicopter". I acquired a hat though...which was the highlight of the set. Basically everyone I've spoke to was disappointed with them as well. After Reading they apparently did some message about maybe going on a hiatus, at this point, which is sad to say as someone who's defended the band to the bitter end, I wouldn't particularly mind.

AFI (NME/Radio 1) - I NEVER liked AFI. NEVER! But I spent borderline the entirety of their set in the pit, and I FUCKING LOVED IT! According to my emo mate, the set was full of stuff from "Sing For Sorrow" and earlier. Honestly not sure in the slightest what they did, but it were fucking good. Still not sure if I should go against 'everything I stand for' and download some of the earlier albums again and see if my opinions on them have changed though.

LOST PROPHETS (NME/Radio 1) - "RADIOHEAD CAN KISS MY ARSE!!!"...GET THE FUCK IN THERE "H" FROM STEPS!! Setlist was basically singles, but it was fucking awesome for it. "Last Train Home" (is their a BOUNCIER song ever written?), "Burn Burn", "Rooftops", "Can't Catch Tomorrow", "Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja" etc. Did a couple of back to back new ones to. The forthcoming single "It's Not The End Of The World But I can See It From Here", which sounds huge live, but I still can't get away with the rip on youtube. And another new one, which was rocking as hell, absolutely fucking awesome. Will happily fork out to see them again 'properly' when the new album comes out.

SUNDAY

DANANANANAYKROYD (NME/Radio 1) - So full of energy it's ridiculous. Really, really, really want to catch them at a smaller show sometime where I don't have to leave after a few songs to have a massive shit...could still hear them while having a shit though, sounded good.

MADINA LAKE (Main Stage) - Sounded absolutely FUCKING AWFUL at first. But as the set went on, they began to improve and improve and the singer's voice no longer sounded like a strangled cat.. A lot of energy, managed to suck those nearer the front into things a bit more. They were alright, not going to really check them out though. Still really like "Here I Stand" though, catchy single and sounded good live.

ALEXISONFIRE (Main Stage) - I was originally going to skip these and see The Flatliners and catch them later on in the lock-up...good thing I didn't, because I didn't catch these later on. Granted it meant I didn't get a setlist full of stuff like "Waterwings...", "Born & Raised", "...Kilowatt", "Sons Of Privilege"...but I did get a good main stage set featuring the likes of "Old Crows", "Accidents", "Boiled Frogs" and "Young Cardinals. Also, it's impossible to tell if the screamer is angry as fuck or just taking the piss. He crowd surfed during the last song and someone nicked his shoe, he took the other one off, threw it into the crowd and screamed "ENJOY YOUR FUCKING SOUVINEERS DICKHEADS! I'M GOING HOME WITH NO SHOES!".

NEW FOUND GLORY (Main Stage) - These guys never cease to amaze me...I've only seen them twice, but fuck me, both times have been absolutely epic. I have a mate who's seen them 9-times at this point and he claims to have never been disappointed, I believe him. Was right at the front in the thick of it, absolutely loved it. A couple of new ones thrown in with "Listen To My Friends" and "Don't Let Her Pull You Down" ("DON'T LET HER!!!" - FUCKING EPIC!). They opened with "Understatement" and they basically just kept going from there. Even "Hold Your Hand", while far, far, far from my favourite NFG song, was most definitely acceptable. Tossing out their cover of "Kiss Me", "Hit Or Miss", "All Downhill From Here", "Failure's Not Flattering" and of course "My Friends Over You" and you have quite probably the best set choice of the weekend.

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND (Main Stage) - Opening with "Wrench" was awesome, a total return to form of a song, absolutely fucking amazing. In fact, "Wrench" and "Into Oblivion" were the only 'recent' tracks they apparently played, nothing from the 4th album at all. I had to leave after 4-songs, meaning I caught "Wrench", "Roses For The Dead", "Juneau" and "All The Rage", all of which were great. A couple of my mates were proper buzzing after the set, I missed "The Art Of American Football"!!! They're not coming to Newcastle on their forthcoming tour, but I'm pretty sure we're going to nail a bit of a roadtrip and go somewhere to catch them, gonna be epic!

STREETLIGHT MANIFESTO (Lock Up) - OH SWEET FUCKING GOD! Words honestly cannot fucking describe. Quite possibly better than the first time I saw them in December, if that's even fucking possible!!! "Point/Keasbey Nights/Counterpoint" is best live song in the WORLD!! They play it so ridiculously fast as well, trying to sing along while moshing/skanking your fucking heart out is absolutely impossible. The crowd was crazy, but absolutely amazing. People who rip on ska, seriously, listen to Streetlight Manifesto, it'll change your fucking view in a heartbeat. Did "A Moment Of Violence", "Failing, Flailing", "Point/Keasbey Nights/Counterpoint", "If And When We Rise Again", "We Will Fall Together", "Would You Be Impressed?" and "...Mephisto's Cafe" from what I remember. ABSOLUTELY CRAZY!! BAND OF THE WEEKEND!!

DEFTONES (Main Stage) - I'm not sure what to think of Deftones. They definitely brought the rock. But the lack of "Minerva", "Back To School", "Rx Queen", "Knife Party" and/or "Engine No 9" made me upset. But as a performance it seemed really good, a good portion of the crowd were really into it and they definitely put their heart and soul into it. "Elite" was fucking AWESOME! I ballsed out of pushing forward and getting into the thick of it. Seeing as the vast majority of my favourite Deftones songs weren't played...I guess they didn't live up to my expectations, but I'd definitely think about paying to see them live again.

THE BIG PINK (Festival Republic) - Only caught a couple of songs, it was absolutely pissing it down...we then decided to go watch some comedian for a little bit instead. However, what I did here impressed me enough to actually check them out when I got home from the festival (I swore I already had and didn't like them...but they sound nothing like I 'remember', so I guess that was someone else) and "Dominos" is so fucking good it's unreal.

STEVE GRIBBIN (Alternative) - By proccess of elimination...I think this is who I saw. Really quite funny. His material wasn't really that original...and it was quite 'obvious', but his delivery was immense. Left after a short while to go see...

FLORENCE & THE MACHINE (NME/Radio 1) - Because of the rain it was an absolute pain in the arse getting in. But they were AMAZING! And that's even with her running out of time and not being able to do "Rabbit Heart". Highlights include "Drumming Song", "You've Got The Love", "Kiss With A Fist" and "Cosmic Love", which was unbelievably fantastic and sounded absolutely HUGE! Honestly, really good. So much better than I thought she'd be. Especially seeing as we only went because my friend wanted to perv on her (...and yet he wouldn't come see Marina & The Diamonds!?!?! He's got some shoddy fucking taste in women).

FRIENDLY FIRES (NME/Radio 1) - I wanted to see Alexisonfire...or Placebo...but I was fucked...and couldn't be arsed to walk. So saw Friendly Fires...EPIC! EPIC! I saw them at Evolution Festival (I think)...but was so drunk I have no recollection of the event even happening. The songs sound so beasty live, you just can't help but move your feet and dance like an absolute twat. "Kiss Of Life", "Skeleton Boy" and "In The Hospital" were standouts. On record it's weird, cos the songs still sound so flat, but live, they take on a whole life of their own. The rhythm section is fantastic and really shine through. Would happily see them again.

KAISER CHIEFS (Main Stage) - THIS! THIS IS WHAT ARCTIC MONKEYS SHOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE!!! Full of energy. Seriously, absolutely wild. Fantastic selection of early hits and newer songs...which sounded so much stronger than I ever remember them being ("The Angry Mob" is definitely one of those). Absolute perfect singalong material and worked and worked to get people involved. The Kaiser/Chiefs chanting, the "1-2-3-4" parts. Nothing beats a bit of a sing-along to "Oh My God", "I Predict A Riot", "Ruby", "This Is The Modern Way", "The Angry Mob" etc...epic. To be honest...I think they'd have made a better 'end of a festival' band than KOL.

KINGS OF LEON (Main Stage) - Jesus Christ lads...starting with like 5-songs people barely know is a way to really suck the life out of the place. Also, the lack of "Kings Of The Rodeo" in the set was terrible. Only song I REALLY wanted to hear...well that and "Ragoo", but I knew there wasn't a hope in hell of them playing that. "Fans", "Charmer", "On Call", "Use Somebody" and "Molly's Chambers" were definitely the best tracks for me, they did. I understand they got a bit of shit at Reading, but really, was that enough of a reason to start talking epic proportions of shit and tongue fucking us verbally between every song? Cut some of that shit down and you could have gotten "Kings Of The Rodeo" onto the setlist...grrrr. Not the most 'exciting' band of the weekend by any stretch of the imagination, but really worth a good sing-song to the songs I knew. Also, I love how funky the bass in some of their songs live sound. An okay way to finish the weekend music wise.

Was going to check out the Transgressive Records stage for Future Of The Left and Pulled Apart By Horses (both of whom's sets were supposadely amazing ) but ended up going to the Relentless tent, raving it up one more time, then had a very, very messy all-nighter (basically trying to finish off all my booze haha) before heading back home around 7/8 Monday morning. Quality weekend with some mates and made some epic new ones too.

[Clawson]

Saw Gaslight tonight. Fucking amazing show. Can't really remember the setlist but a 5 song encore is always a bonus especially since it mainly consisted of songs from Sink or Swim.

The chick from Murder by Death is smoking and spent about 3 minutes jerking off her cello thing towards the crowd and giggling about it.

[Lowerdeck]

Sounds good, I'm going on Saturday.

Might miss one of the openers, I get to watch a football game which starts at 1. Oh well, it pays for most of the ticket price.

[hackerjack]

Kings of Leon got a lot of shit at Reading, but it was pretty much well deserved.

Like you said starting with a bunch of B-sides was not a good idea but to then start effectively insulting the crowd for not beign up for it was just stupidity at it's most stupid. The reason the crowd was quiet was because they just did not give them reason so make a noise at all. Sounds like they perfromed the same shit at Leeds.

I thought KOL were seasoned festival performers, not sure where else they have headlined, but they teated it like a one off KOL gig. At a festival you have to expect that most of those watching came there to see someone else other than you, they are not all going to be your hardcore fans who know all your back catelogue and B-Sides and especially at the end of a weekend festival everyone has seen some really high quality stuff and is simply drained so they are going to need one hell of a performance to really get them going. This was just not it.

[METALMAN]

KOL headlined Glastonbury a couple of years ago and were fantastic. However, back then they didn't really have any shit songs in their catalogue of course.