I’m borderline muso. Three things save me from going full-blown. The first is laziness, the second is scattergun attention disorder and the third is an appalling memory. I also like to bounce.
I started writing this piece on Tuesday evening, whilst boiling potatoes. It’s now Friday. That might explain the household phrase “You’ve left the hob on again”.
End of the Road 2008 seems like an eon ago. There were peacocks. There were enchanted woods. There was disco flooring. There were fairy lights. There was a haunted piano. There was rummikub, and rummikub teachings. There was a cinema tent playing Man on Wire and Future Shorts. There was clay modelling. There was comedy. There were break dancing classes. There was music. Most importantly, there were nerds. Nerds; not geeks. There is a difference. My Geek was there too. There was one geek in a sea of nerds.
I love End of the Road in so many ways. For starters, it reminds me of The Luminaire in Kentish Town and I love that venue. A part of me hates to face the reality, but here it comes. End of the Road 2008 travelled too far down the placid folk, drab Americana path. Next year, it’s not for me. There you go, I’ve said it. It was more fun in 2007.
The best bands, ApaTt and Zombie Zombie, didn’t play until the festival slipped out its last wet fart. Whilst hunting down a toilet that wasn’t overflowing, I missed one of the best acts of the weekend. You’ll note Zombie Zombie are not listed below. Really, the facilities were awful all Sunday and I was cold, tired and desperate.
Interspersed between the twiddle-dee-dees and twiddle-dee-dums, there should have been bands like ApaTt and Zombie Zombie on every day, throughout the day; innovative and brilliant bands with salty spunk or dreamy brilliance.
There should have been King Creosote, XXTeens, Slow Club, Soko, Bearsuit, Clinic and Misty’s Big Adventure; bands that set your brain on fire or make your tummy tingle. To curate is to make a beautiful dream come true, to inspire, to entertain and to stir that which lies deep within. End of the Road was a festival cobbled together with two years worth of leftovers. Or maybe it was three; I wasn’t there in 2006.
None of the music was bad, but far too little was inspirational. None of nerds were bad, but even they let the drunkards talk too much.
The Bimble Inn was a place to love. I loved watching nerds in The Bimble Inn. The Bimble Inn had lost nothing since 2007.
As usual the acts are rated as follows, from very best to very worst:
Fucking Awesome, Ear Candy, Thumbs Up, Not for Me Thanks, Hideously Awful
(number) = number of songs seen when full set not seen (sometimes approximate)
While there are a few ‘Fucking Awesome’ ratings, they are hard to compare with their counterparts at other festivals. Apart from ApaTt and Sennen, that is. I wish Pete and the Pirates had played at Bestival. It would have been more fun. I think that the placid folk and drab Americana had killed the audience’s ability to bounce, or perhaps they were too busy comparing the live versions to rare demos.
Friday, 12th September
| Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Garden Stage | Thumbs Up |
| Cats in Paris, Big Top | Thumbs Up |
| Christopher Rees, Bimble Inn | Thumbs Up |
| Lonely Ghosts, Bimble Inn | Thumbs Up |
| A Hawk and A Hacksaw (2), Garden Stage | Hideously Awful |
| Clare and the Reasons | Ear Candy |
| Peter and the Wolf, Big Top | Not For Me Thanks |
| Laura Marling, Big Top | Thumbs Up |
| Alessi (2), The Local | Thumbs Up |
| Robyn Hitchcock | Ear Candy |
| One Little Plane (2), The Local | Thumbs Up |
Conor Obert and The Mystic Valley Band, Garden Stage | Ear Candy |
Saturday, 13th September
| Absentee, Garden Stage | Fucking Awesome |
| Bowerbirds (2), Garden Stage | Thumbs Up |
| Devon Sproule, Garden Stage | Thumbs Up |
| Noah and The Whale, Garden Stage | Fucking Awesome |
| Thingumajig*saw, Bimble Inn | Ear Candy |
| Pete and the Pirates, Big Top | Fucking Awesome |
| Friska Viljor, Bimble Inn | Fucking Awesome |
| The Accidental, Bimble Inn | Ear Candy |
| Sennen, The Local | Fucking Awesome |
| The Chap (2), The Local | Ear Candy |
| Two Gallants (2), Big Top | Not For Me Thanks |
| Mercury Rev (1= Holes), Garden Stage | Fucking Awesome, but had no interest in other songs |
Sunday, 14th September
| BB and The Dead Dog, Bimble Inn | Ear Candy |
| The Wave Pictures, Garden Stage | Ear Candy |
| The Gentle Good, Bimble Inn | Ear Candy |
| Wood Pigeon (2), Garden Stage | Not For Me Thanks |
| Hey Negrita, Bimble Inn | Ear Candy |
| Darren and Jack Play Hefner Songs, Big Top | Fucking Awesome |
| Jeffrey Lewis, Big Top | Thumbs Up |
| Calexico, Garden Stage | Ear Candy |
| ApaTt, The Local | Fucking Awesome |
| Two Gallants (2), Big Top | No For Me Thanks |
Fabpants Recommends: I really missed seeing these guys at End of the Road this year. I will see them soon though.
Download MP3: I’m From Barcelona – Music Killed Me
Yes, it did take me until Sunday to complete this post.
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