08 October 2016 (gig)
16 October 2016
Day 2 at Rockaway, and after a full English and an hour in the wave pool and a few goes on the goldfish bowl plunge pool water slide thing we're set up, refreshed and ready for another day of it!
We walk into Reds stage and are hit with a wall of feedback and effects. London Psych Rock three piece Desert Mountain Tribe make an immense sound and have audience gripped early on. Sounds reminiscent of early Cult and Nowhere era Ride sway and bounce off the walls. Compared to the ropey sound of a couple of bands yesterday, this sound man has it nailed and the audience remain gripped throughout.
Over to the Centre Stage, as per yesterday, we're not trusted to take our plastic glasses with us to the room next door. Maybe a licencing reason but surely there's a workaround? It makes hopping between stages a lot less spontaneous than a festival should be.....anyway, little moan over, we make it in time to see Cambridge's Bloody Knees.
This four piece make a lot of noise and have a lot of fun. Full of energy, humour and heavy riffs, these guys rock, hard. They probably weren't out of nappies when Kurt sadly left this mortal coil but anyone in the room not reminded of Nirvana must have been on another planet in the early nineties. That said, when you wear your influences on your sleeve this well that's no criticism. It's great to know that another generation can feast on angst driven, well crafted three minute infectious soundbites that we were all lucky to witness the first time around. At this point I should point out that the demographic here is (your writer included), give or take a few, pretty much made up of forty something (and the rest) year old males. As a breed we can be a cynical bunch but Bloody Knees have certainly won this crowd over.
The organisers have done a fantastic job of organising set times here. There are a few unavoidable clashes, but for the large part times have been staggered to enable us to catch nearly everyone we want to.Everything so far has run pretty much on time with quick turnarounds, so hats off to the stage crew!
As if to demonstrate a point we leave the Centre Stage to the darker, dirtier, cosier Reds stage just in time for Clinic.
Liverpool's Clinic resemble no other band past or present, musically to a large extent and visually because of their insistence on wearing surgical costumes and masks when they play live. This makes them quite an emposing spectacle. Backed up by their dark, fascinating sounds they are one of the most captivating and hypnotic acts of the weekend so far.
As musicians these guys are super versatile and the band members swap instruments and work their way though various vintage keyboards, a clarinet and most notably a melodica as well as the more traditional guitar, bass etc. A melodica being a small handheld keyboard blown in to via a tube. Difficult to play under normal circumstances one might think but Ade Blackburn pulls it off fine through a tiny slit in his sinister surgical mask. Walking With Thee is the highlight of a truly engrossing performance.
Over to the main stage for the hugely influential Wire. Cited as an inspiration for countless alternative bands over the years since they released the stunning 1977 post punk defining album Pink Flag. Wire are the epitome of a band who look forward, not back. In doing so they have built a reputation for disappointing fans over the years with their live performances. Not because they're no good, but because the crowd turns up expecting to hear songs they know and Wire insist on playing a whole bunch of unheard new stuff. Artistically admirable but really annoying as a fan. it's always nice to hear a few new songs but we all want a few to sing along to eh?
Over the last 30 odd years and 15 albums most Wire fans have accepted this fact. Watching this with a hardcore Wire aficionado I'm assured that they have mellowed slightly and throw in 4 or 5 songs from recent albums. Nothing old like fan favourite 12XU but some familiar tunes nonetheless. Wire's sound, like their attitude is uncompromising. They deliver a hard, heavily distorted set, far too loud to distinguish a lot of what we're hearing at times, but the noise is good. There's no interaction, they come on, deafen a few people, interest a few people, confuse a few more and disappoint most of their fans, just they way like it!
Suede, in complete contrast to Wire are all about pleasing the fans. You wouldn't catch them shunning the records that got them where they are today. Much, I would imagine to the delight of the 15 or so hardcore fans who have been (quite unnecessarily) camped out at the barrier for the past 6 or 7 hours. Hopefully Wire's overly loud PA didn't completely deafen them before they got to sniff Brett's sweat!
At 49 years old Brett Anderson is in supreme form. From the moment he marches on the stage tonight as the band kick off with Sabotage, he completely owns the crowd. Jumping around and climbing on amps and monitors like a teenager with ADHD. He demands participation, and even disappears into the audience for a couple of numbers.
Moving, Trash, Animal Nitrate, Filmstar, one after another we're bombarded with hits. Killing of a Flash Boy and The Drowners are superb, as is the little chill out section where the rest of the band leave Richard and Brett to give us a couple of slowies. I Can't Give Her What She Wants from latest album Night Thoughts is an instant Suede classic and beautifully delivered by Brett as he convinces us with his heartfelt lyrics that he definitely can't give whoever it is what she really needs!
So Young, Metal Mickey and Beautiful Ones bring us to a euphoric finale, and still room for a cheeky encore of New Generation. Suede have been nothing short of magnificent tonight. Brett's announcement at the end that this will be their last gig for a few years (as they take some time off then come back with an album in 2019) is met with sadness, especially by the front row who leave in tears.....
The Third and final day kicks off for us with a visit to Reds to see a glorious flash of noise, angst, melody and screaming courtesy of Joanna Gruesome. These guys are a glorious mix of Pavement, Lush and Dinosaur Jr with a bit of Sonic Youth and a whole chunk of Be Your Own Pet thrown in for good measure. Watch out for them!
Membranes John Robb, with his distinctive haircut has been seen wandering around the site taking in the bands over the course of the weekend. Last year's Dark Matter/Dark Energy being their first album in over 25 years is almost exclusively relied upon in tonight's set. Set opener The Universe Explodes Into A Billion Photons Of Pure White Light is an epic expanse of a song which does a damn good job of attempting to explain it's own title. Do The Supernova and Space Junk are other highlights of a truly fascinating engaging live show (and indeed album).
Sunday's Centre Stage headliners Killing Joke have a massive back catalogue to choose from and judging by a show of t-shirts over the weekend are the band that a lot of people have come especially to see. They come on stage and before we know it Youth is chugging out the unmistakable bassline of Love Like Blood. Surprised that they've banged out by far their best known song first we are even more surprised to hear another even more famous bassline (did someone mention Come As You Are?) of Eighties. They're either getting the big ones out of the way early or chucking them in early to get the crowd on side. Whatever, it works.
Having experienced some disappointing sound over the course of the weekend we take up residence by the sound desk and can confirm that tonight the sound man is having a blinder!
Killing Joke have been difficult to pigeon hole to a genre, over the years, Post Punk, New Wave and Heavy Metal could all be applied at one time or another. It's the latter they lean on with their bulldozer of a new album, Pylon. Album opener Autonomous Zone chugs and churns riffs at us, Jaz Coleman's vocals delivered with an urgency matched by the music and an insane grinning stare that stays constant throughout the whole show.
We get a career spanning set tonight including five, no less from their 1980 Eponymous debut, much to the delight of the hardcore fans (take note, Wire!), of which there are plenty here.
Dawn Of The Hive kicks in with a riff that Metallica would be proud of and another Pylon offering, I Am The Virus is delivered with such intensity (and a smidgen of hatred and anger) it's clear that these guys have lost none of their fight over the years. The sound is superb and the band are tight.
Early classics, Wardance and The Wait ensure that a formidable performance is enjoyed right to the end and will not be forgotten. Having pretty much only heard two songs before doing a little research before this gig, I can now say I will be gleefully delving into Killing Joke's massive back catalogue.
Rockaway Beach has been both a pleasure and an education. We've seen some fantastic, well established bands, discovered some new favourites and enjoyed some great surprises over the weekend.
Butlins as a 'festival' venue is a refreshing change. The staff are extremely polite, there's no wading through mud to get between stages you can have a shower whenever you want, and you can even go on the dodgems, for free! My only criticism, Mr Billy Butlin, is the choice of beers. You have 12 months to get some Real Ales on Tap.......Please!!
