‘The Wizard of Ahhhs’ EP impressed me so much that I went to see The Black Kids at Glastonbury, knowing that I had tickets to see them again in two days time. My description of their Glastonbury set was ‘amazing at times and ropey at others’. I so wanted to love them. Even I had to admit that they were shockingly poor at times.
Last Thursday, a second viewing of The Black Kids confirmed my doubts. I decided that The Black Kids are far better recorded than live. After some deliberation, I decided not to see The Black Kids at 'Lounge on the Farm' festival. Still, The Cow Shed stage ran behind schedule all weekend, and I caught their last song. It sounded amazing, but had their whole set? Did I miss an amazing performance, or was it just like the other two? Amazing moments wrapped in shit?
I am going to Latitude Festival this weekend, I decided to revisit the line up this morning. I bet you can guess who's playing yet again. Yes, The Black Kids are giving me a fourth chance to see them in so many weeks. Who’s stalking who?
The Latitude Festival line-up, with times, is shown here:
Latitude Festival 2008, Clash Finder
Anyway, back to last weekend. Lounge on the Farm was brilliant. It’s like the best village fete ever. With a high percentage of teenagers present, but not your Reading ‘we’re trying so hard to be cool’ dimwits, there was a fantastic atmosphere. 'The School of Rock' stage gave young musicians a chance to try their hand at festival performances. The old folk had real chairs and hay bales to lounge on, and the toddlers had a ‘paint your own t-shirt’ tent to ‘get creative’ in. It was small and special.
Below you can see a list of the bands that I lounged about to (okay, there was some Fabpants style jumping and dancing too):
Rating system (from very best to very worst):
Fucking Awesome, Ear Candy, Thumbs Up, Not for Me Thanks, Hideously Awful
Friday, 11th July 2008
| Amanes, Furthur | Thumbs Up |
| Lucy Kitt, Farm Folk | Thumbs Up |
| The Lovedays, Sheep Dip | Not for Me Thanks |
| Wobbly Squadron, Furthur | Ear Candy |
| J* Star and MC Honeybrown | Ear Candy |
| Polka Party, Cowshed | Not for Me Thanks |
| Lightspeed Champion, Folly | Ear Candy (covers performed badly, but very personably) |
| Lightspeed Champion, Cowshed | Thumbs Up (a bit ropey) |
| Art Brut, Cowshed | Fucking Awesome (Art Brut may be the best live act ever) |
| Holy Fuck, Cowshed | Fucking Awesome (Holy Fuck!) |
Saturday, 12th July 2008
| Bohemia Ukele Band, Folly | Ear Candy (very jolly covers) |
| Raphael Mead, Farm Folk | Not for Me Thanks (a bit dad rock) |
| Bonobo, Furthur | Thumbs Up |
| Mr Lovebucket, Furthur | Not for Me Thanks |
| Sonny J, Cowshed | Hideously Awful (cheese overload, half a song walk out!) |
| Los Campesinos, Sheep Dip | Ear Candy |
| Mike Strutter, Sheep Dip | Thumbs Up (moshpit mania) |
| Armitage Shanks, Sheep Dip | Not for Me Thanks (one song walkout) |
| Cats in Paris, Furthur | Ear Candy (experimental brilliance) |
| Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, Farm Folk | Ear Candy |
Sunday, 13th July 2008
| Emily and the Beast, Farm Folk | Not for Me Thanks (but nice to hear Gloomy Sunday) |
| Nick Wilson, Folly | Thumbs Up |
| Ukele Gansters, Sheep Dip | Thumbs Up (hilarious outfits and facial expressions) |
| Hotrods and Dragsters, Sheep Dip | Thumbs Up |
| Natty, Cow Shed | Fucking Awesome |
| The Shortwave Set | Ear Candy |
| The Bees | Ear Candy |
| The Coral | Ear Candy (fucking awesome for two thirds of the set!) |
| Lupen Crook | Thumbs Up |
While I had a brilliant Lounge on the Farm, I will be sending a complaint to the organisers. From 7.30am on Monday morning, aggressive stewards visited every tent on site. The forceful message was to get up, get packing and be off-site by nine. The stewards removed pegs from my friend’s tent when he refused to ‘show them his face’ and prove to them that he was getting up. I dread to think how many people they forced into drink driving. That’s no way to end a lovely festival. I have never experienced the like of it before. My first festival was in 1989, and I go to several each year, so that’s saying something!
Fabpants Recommends: Natty ‘July’. Listen to this track on every day of July. You deserve it. We all deserve it. It’s very lovely. You can listen to it here: Natty - July.
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