Gig Review: Intermission

There’s a festival happening on my doorstep this weekend. It’s called Beachdown. Some have expressed surprise that I’m not there. I have a bit of a reputation for going to festivals and it confuses people that I would miss one when it’s so close to home. Hey, what can I say? I’m hard to predict.

To be honest, I’d rather be at Reading. I’m not there either. I’m having a bank holiday at home instead. I slept in until noon. It was lovely. Poppy the cat nestled against my body and we snoozed the morning away.

Reading Festival is the oldest festival in the UK. I frequented it for years, at first religiously and then intermittently. I may well find myself there again; I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. Admittedly, during the last few years, when I have gone, it has been with a day ticket, and with a thirteen year/fourteen year old in tow.

Reading Festival still has much to offer to a music lover like me. Thirteen/fourteen year olds don’t bat an eyelid before heading down the front to party. I love live music fuelled by the right kind of audience, young or old. More music loving adolescents should let me hang out with them.

There is a certain snobbery, which comes with age, where Reading Festival is concerned. I have never agreed with this. Okay, there are Reading Festival bands that I’d certainly avoid like the plague - there always have been - but inside the tents, and mixed in with the Metallica’s and Slipknots, Reading Festival 2008 is offering up acts like Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Frank Turner, The Cribs, Conor Oberst, CSS, Holy Fuck and The Death Set. That is much more than I can say for Beachdown.

Did you just notice me mention The Death Set without pause? Well that wasn’t going to last long, was it? For a brief moment, I’m going to close my eyes and release a happy sigh.

After missing them in February, on the Monday that we just added to recent history, I finally saw my favourite band of 2008. It was truly marvellous. I’ve invented my own festival line up by combining three gigs in Brighton this week. It’s been ace so far, with brilliant headliners and support acts alike. I get to see amazing bands and sleep at home. My batteries have been running on empty for too long, so fuck the tent.

The Fabpants Festival started upstairs in a pub where John Peel’s face adorns an outside wall. Cool, eh? The small capacity venue was bustling with open-minded, enthusiastic music fans and a fine selection of tunes drove away the rain. I’ve been in that room before. On a sold out night, one can suffocate in the oxygen-depleted heat. For The Death Set, there were enough people to create a small party, but not too many to steal the air. It was perfect. The bands abandoned the stage to play at the same height as the audience and a feeling of unity formed.

It was a truly pleasant surprise when Lonely Ghosts came on first. I missed them during the ‘At Home by the Sea’ Festival, and Tom Denney is in the band. For those of you who don’t know, Tom Denney used to be in Help She Can’t Swim. I was a Help She Can’t Swim fan and I am biased.

Despite Lonely Ghosts reluctant reliance on backing instrumentation from an IPod, I heard potential and it pleased me. It brought back happy memories. In my mind, Tom Denney’s voice battled against Leesey Frances in a glorious frenzy. Of course, in reality it did not. While I longed for the good old days, something new was trying to emerge and it earned my respect. As Tom Denney struggled with the unnatural sound of pre-recorded instruments, he offered a nervous and apologetic commentary. Whilst learning to swim, Tom was coy, charming and at times brilliant. I hope to see Lonely Ghosts in ‘full band form’ one day. They have been rehearsing.

Next came Lovvers, who have been gathering press inches like Britney. They gave it their all, and while they may not be my kind of band, I appreciated them for it. With an enthusiastic set like that, no one could complain. The lead singer doesn’t mind falling over for his art and that shows a certain commitment. He most certainly warmed the crowd up for what was to come.

Me? No, I didn’t need warming up. As the The Death Set took their places, I looked about me. In a state of fettered anticipation, I wondered if anyone else had been basking in a state of excited glee for this band for a past six months. I thought not. Still, the audience gathered around tightly, as Lovvers had requested a short while before. With all my might, I hoped that my fellow revellers might allow themselves to stop their internal processing and to live for the moment that was about to come. This was no time to analyse, posture and pose. This was no time for thought. If there is one moment in life when the prerequisite is to indulge in a mindless messy brilliance, then The Death Set provides.

Then came those songs, you know, the ones that make me mental with joy. Oh me, oh my. My legs began to bounce, and I wanted to leap around like a bear on speed. I looked over. Tom Denney, of Lonely Ghosts was bouncing too. Between us, an audience needed to let go. Then abandonment would be complete. I willed them to come with us and they half complied.

An audience can make or break a gig, even when the band is stupendously brilliant. I so wanted this to be one of those life defining moments. All the ingredients were there, an intimate venue, an amazing up and coming band and a good mix of dedicated music fans.

From one infectiously brilliant song to the next, hilarious, but aptly chosen, clips drove us onwards without pause. I let my body pogo, as it so longed to do, and I willed on unified abandonment from those about me. The man next to me may as well have been rock. We were at the very front, with a band we could reach out a touch. Johnny Siera looked like he was having the party of his life, and the semi-enthralled audience gathered tighter and tighter. Tom Denney and Johnny Siera became as one.

If Johnny Siera is not doing exactly what he wants with his life, then we’re all damned. If that’s not something to make people feel gloriously carefree, then I don’t know what is.

I am in no doubt that the music savvy crowd knew this was a potential moment and that they wanted it. Perhaps they just didn’t know that they have a role in making it happen. Where is the wide-eyed wonder in the self-conscious music fan? Does it only come out at the weekend with the right combination of drugs, alcohol and fireworks that explode up the arse? Is there always an element of internal assessment?

The Death Set even use a backing track with such charm, that I have no choice but to forgive them. With a tongue in cheek middle finger held up to the world, The Death Set are as cool as fuck. They know how to let go and one day I hope to be with fifty people that go with them.

If nothing else, I wish that the man stood to my immediate right had let his body bounce just slightly. If he had, he might have found himself in a fine frenzy before he knew it. The Death Set – to be enjoyed at a molecular level. Cerebral? Pah, leave that for later.

...More nuclear warfare quotes coming soon...

Fabpants Recommends: It has come to my attention that I neglected to mention that I caught some of Foals when they played at Latitude Festival on the Sunday. I caught the last few tracks and wished that I'd seen the full set. They were quite something. So, check out their album ‘Antidotes’ or, better still, go to a gig. Tour dates are shown on their MySpace.

Red Socks Pugie is an amazing track:

Download MP3: Foals - Red Socks Pugie (courtesy of cemusicblog.com)




If you want some great tracks not on the album, download these:

Download MP3: Foals – Mathletics (courtesy of digitalwell.washington.edu)




Download MP3: Foals - Hummer (courtesy of cemusicblog.com)