Saturday 12th June (cont).
So after a bit of a break the Isle Of Wight saga continues. I was emotionally drained from the last entry and needed time, man. Plus I had a day in Sheffield with my girlfriend, wrote the Cask Corner quiz, had internet issues and was just generally lazy. Talk Talk have blamed the weather and/or a non-existent pet for the internet issues. Plus I wrote the whole thing then managed to delete it all somehow, which is a shame 'cos there were some really good bits that I can't remember now. Me and technology just don't get on.
You find me back in the Big Top VIP bar trying to compose myself after Bang bang Romeo's blistering set. I would have chilled in the dressing room probably until their Hard Rock set on the Sunday but The Strawberries were due on stage at This Feeling Jack Rocks so I was back out into the blistering sun, speed walking my way across the site. I'm not built for speed. I'm not even sure I'm built for walking. Hammocks I can do but they were sadly lacking this year.
My relationship with The Strawberries began at Leeds Fest last year and they are firmly installed as one of my favourites of the up coming crop. Ridiculously young but with a sound that harks back to the best in psychedelic rock whilst still remaining fresh and original. Kind of retro way ahead of their time. (I've realised writing this I love an oxymoron). Their presence and musicianship is impeccable. New single 'She Rhymes To Get Away' is simply one of the greatest songs I've ever heard.
I could talk about The Strawberries for ages but we've a lot to get through.They are joined on stage for the last song, 'Laburnum House', by Tom from The Blinders (another one of my favourites - actually can we just take it as read that virtually every band mentioned here are one of my favourites).
This happened a lot on the This Feeling stage this weekend and kind of sums the whole thing up. All the bands hang out together back stage and are stage front (or, as mentioned, on stage) when their compadres are playing. Not just at festivals though. You go to any This Feeling gig and you will see members of other bands in the crowd. I said last year how it felt like one big family, it's moved on from that. It feels like a movement now - a defiant rallying call against all those saying guitar music is dead and that there are no quality new bands anymore. There really is. They're here right now and it doesn't take too much effort to find them. Go to any This Feeling gig and you will come away having seen your new favourite band (or more than likely bands). Mikey Jonns will go down in music history as the man who has worked his arse off, for over ten years now, to give these bands a deserved platform. With people like Aaron Procter and George Holmes tirelessly grafting too, not just at festivals but at gigs across the country, week in, week out there really is no end to how far this movement can go. I feel very honoured and very lucky to be a very small part of it. Of course none of this could happen without the talent and it is testament to every act that played that the This Feeling Jack Rocks tent was pretty much rammed all weekend.
Backstage Heavy Suns have arrived and are already on it, I talk football kits with Ross Micklethwaite (his chosen stage attire for Sunday is a rather fetching Barnsley shirt circa 1989), The Shimmer Band cruise in and I drunkenly tell them how much I love them. (Seriously, it was a proper arms round the shoulders, 'You're my besht mate, I love you,' moment. I'm still cringing about it). The Blinders are hanging out with Strange Bones, Mint (with damaged bass player) are deep in conversation with The Surrenders, Paves are telling The Jackobins about my hugs, The Assist are having a kickabout. I love this.
The Blinders are next up, probably the most talked about band this year. Not only the most exciting band I've seen recently but probably ever. Even if you're not a fan you simply can't ignore them. Tom Haywood resplendent in a Native American headdress and obligatory face make up, Matty Neale a frenzied ball of sweat on drums - the perfect juxtaposition to the ever-cool Charlie McGough on bass. (I'm sure being that good looking must be illegal).
(I may owe Alan Wells photo credit here. Even if I don't credit to Alan for being a seriously top bloke).
The Blinders beg, plead, insist and demand that you listen to them. They pound their way into your mind, your heart and your soul. They are simply a force of nature.
Back backstage and I arrange an Arcade Fire date with Tom before heading to the Hard Rock stage to catch Paves. I've not seen Paves for well over 8 months and it's been far too long. A blues/rock outfit who play with the assured certainty of Ronnie Scott veterans. Luke's vocal belies his slender frame, gorgeous and powerful in equal measure. Another high energy performance, Luke, Perry and Tikz are never still while Tom is just a blur on drums. I've never seen them complete a set without at least one member departing the stage (Perry's stage dive at Leeds Fest is the stuff of legend now). It's Tikz this time who finds himself in the photo pit, for a considerable length of time. It's a killer of a stage to get back on.
It's another blistering set from a band destined for bigger and better. I nicked this video from their facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/PavesBand/videos/1274993795942512/
Time for another wander, The Kooks on the main stage. I like The Kooks but it's still all sounding a bit flat down there. I wander back to my tent to grab some more contraband beer and stumble across Mel C at the Big Top. Bizarrely this is the second time I've seen her live. She was at V99, probably one of her first solo gigs. She sang Anarchy In The UK ('I am an antichrist, I am a Sporty Spice'). That went down well. Today though she was sounding (and looking) good. Beers grabbed and smuggled in. I say smuggled, I'd still only had the one altercation with security and I'm back at This Feeling to catch the end of Strange Bones - another joyous raucous wall of noise. I saw them recently at Donny Social but really wish I'd caught the full IOW set and not dithered about Kooking etc.
The Wholls are next up. BBR stablemates on ZY Records and another band I'm seeing for the first time. The Wholls are simply pure, infectious rock 'n' roll. Right from the off your feet are going, then you're grinning inanely before your body follows what your feet started. Another band to check out at your earliest convenience.
Next up are the two bands I've not seen before who I'm most excited about seeing - Arcade Fire on the main stage but first The Shimmer Band at This Feeling. I love The Shimmer Band (we've established that) but managed to keep missing them live for a variety of reasons. The Bristol 5 piece kick straight into What Is Mine and from the off they have the crowd in the palms of their hands. It's another wall of noise, this time majestic, exhilarating, anthemic, euphoric. If The Stone Roses hadn't had the enforced hiatus between their two albums this is the band they would have mutated into. Only not as good. Tom Newman can sing for one thing. They are my favourite addiction. I stand by my drunken I love you.
Again I could talk all night about The Shimmer Band but time is pressing and I don't think I could ever articulate just how staggeringly good they are.
We head to the main stage where Arcade Fire are already up and running. Amazingly we find all our fellow travellers and get pretty close to the front. Sadly this is more than likely down to poor ticket sales. I count ten people on stage. It could be more. My eyesight isn't what it was. There's a lot of interchanging of instruments too just to confuse me. With 5 albums to go at (including next month's release Everything Now) they have quite the catalogue to throw our way. At times maybe a tad self indulgent but you kind of expect that from Arcade Fire. We get three new songs, we get Rebellion (Lies), we get The Suburbs, we get Neighbourhood #1 & #3, (Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels) comes complete with a Saynor/Sercombe kazoo duet. We nailed it). It's absolute pandemonium. A host of people simply having a good time and embracing the quality that is Arcade Fire. At one point myself and Joel have Blinders' Tom stood on our shoulders, briefly. Balance was an issue and he went crashing into the crowd.
This video says way more about the gig than I ever could - the BBR/Paves/Blinders/Arcade Fire love-in. I'll be honest, I was flagging.
https://www.facebook.com/TheVintageDayDreamer/videos/1410213679073072/
They end with Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains), (Arcade Fire love brackets as much as me), and it's back to the tents, stopping off for Ross to get all rock star as we have an impromptu Chemical singalong.
Apart from a few post gig beers that was Saturday. We'll get to the end of this marathon blog eventually. I'm pencilling in Monday. (Saturday has a wedding, Sunday has a radio show and a visiting girlfriend).
Laters.
 |
| The Strawberries |
 |
| Sam Strawberry & Tom Blinder |
Backstage Heavy Suns have arrived and are already on it, I talk football kits with Ross Micklethwaite (his chosen stage attire for Sunday is a rather fetching Barnsley shirt circa 1989), The Shimmer Band cruise in and I drunkenly tell them how much I love them. (Seriously, it was a proper arms round the shoulders, 'You're my besht mate, I love you,' moment. I'm still cringing about it). The Blinders are hanging out with Strange Bones, Mint (with damaged bass player) are deep in conversation with The Surrenders, Paves are telling The Jackobins about my hugs, The Assist are having a kickabout. I love this.
The Blinders are next up, probably the most talked about band this year. Not only the most exciting band I've seen recently but probably ever. Even if you're not a fan you simply can't ignore them. Tom Haywood resplendent in a Native American headdress and obligatory face make up, Matty Neale a frenzied ball of sweat on drums - the perfect juxtaposition to the ever-cool Charlie McGough on bass. (I'm sure being that good looking must be illegal).
(I may owe Alan Wells photo credit here. Even if I don't credit to Alan for being a seriously top bloke).
The Blinders beg, plead, insist and demand that you listen to them. They pound their way into your mind, your heart and your soul. They are simply a force of nature.
Back backstage and I arrange an Arcade Fire date with Tom before heading to the Hard Rock stage to catch Paves. I've not seen Paves for well over 8 months and it's been far too long. A blues/rock outfit who play with the assured certainty of Ronnie Scott veterans. Luke's vocal belies his slender frame, gorgeous and powerful in equal measure. Another high energy performance, Luke, Perry and Tikz are never still while Tom is just a blur on drums. I've never seen them complete a set without at least one member departing the stage (Perry's stage dive at Leeds Fest is the stuff of legend now). It's Tikz this time who finds himself in the photo pit, for a considerable length of time. It's a killer of a stage to get back on.
 |
| Picture credit Alex Voss |
https://www.facebook.com/PavesBand/videos/1274993795942512/
Time for another wander, The Kooks on the main stage. I like The Kooks but it's still all sounding a bit flat down there. I wander back to my tent to grab some more contraband beer and stumble across Mel C at the Big Top. Bizarrely this is the second time I've seen her live. She was at V99, probably one of her first solo gigs. She sang Anarchy In The UK ('I am an antichrist, I am a Sporty Spice'). That went down well. Today though she was sounding (and looking) good. Beers grabbed and smuggled in. I say smuggled, I'd still only had the one altercation with security and I'm back at This Feeling to catch the end of Strange Bones - another joyous raucous wall of noise. I saw them recently at Donny Social but really wish I'd caught the full IOW set and not dithered about Kooking etc.
The Wholls are next up. BBR stablemates on ZY Records and another band I'm seeing for the first time. The Wholls are simply pure, infectious rock 'n' roll. Right from the off your feet are going, then you're grinning inanely before your body follows what your feet started. Another band to check out at your earliest convenience.
 |
| The Wholls - Thanks to This Feeling for the pic |
 |
| The Shimmer Band |
We head to the main stage where Arcade Fire are already up and running. Amazingly we find all our fellow travellers and get pretty close to the front. Sadly this is more than likely down to poor ticket sales. I count ten people on stage. It could be more. My eyesight isn't what it was. There's a lot of interchanging of instruments too just to confuse me. With 5 albums to go at (including next month's release Everything Now) they have quite the catalogue to throw our way. At times maybe a tad self indulgent but you kind of expect that from Arcade Fire. We get three new songs, we get Rebellion (Lies), we get The Suburbs, we get Neighbourhood #1 & #3, (Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels) comes complete with a Saynor/Sercombe kazoo duet. We nailed it). It's absolute pandemonium. A host of people simply having a good time and embracing the quality that is Arcade Fire. At one point myself and Joel have Blinders' Tom stood on our shoulders, briefly. Balance was an issue and he went crashing into the crowd.
This video says way more about the gig than I ever could - the BBR/Paves/Blinders/Arcade Fire love-in. I'll be honest, I was flagging.
https://www.facebook.com/TheVintageDayDreamer/videos/1410213679073072/
They end with Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains), (Arcade Fire love brackets as much as me), and it's back to the tents, stopping off for Ross to get all rock star as we have an impromptu Chemical singalong.
 |
| Groupies aren't what they used to be |
Laters.
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