09 June 2012 (gig)
18 June 2012
Rockness is quickly becoming a contender for Scotland’s biggest music festival, and with acts like Biffy Clyro, Deadmau5 and Mumford and Sons headlining over the weekend, it’s obvious to see why. Renowned for its primarily dance music tendencies, Rockness lays everything bare this year to put on a varied schedule of music and widen its appeal for 2012. This is Music-News.com’s round up of the biggest highlights in music from this year’s ‘monster’ of a festival.
Friday saw the festival go very twee, with lovely English acoustic-folk in the shape of Mumford and Sons and Noah and the Whale. Headlining the main stage, Mumford and Sons show off their genre beautifully, with a mass of big hits and quirky non-releases that make the crowd dance despite the nature of the songs. Teamed up with equally folk song-poets Noah and the Whale, all that’s needed to top the bill is Beans On Toasts rendition of ‘I fancy Laura Marling’ to sum up how the crowd feel tonight.
Saturday played to its stereotype of being Rockness’s big day of dance, with headliner Deadmau5 alongside Annie Mac and Justice. While the big shiney mouse head and epic light display worked favours for his set, Deadmau5 started off as a dance music genius, but slowly faded into his beats by the end of a two hour set. Justice however have the whole audience dancing, contagiously spilling the moves out in to the field beyond the tent. With a little bit of one song and a little of the other, Justice mixed up one of the best sets of the whole weekend.
Saturday also saw The Pigeon Detectives debut as a surprisingly brilliant live band. There is energy and charisma in every song they’ve written, but on stage there is more electricity than any of the big dance bands or headliners at Rockness. The Pigeon Detectives absolutely tear the room up, but unfortunately Dundonian scamps The View are not even given the chance as their set is cut short by dodgy stage electrics and the whole tent is evacuated.
Sunday catered to a mellower atmosphere, with Kassidy humbly performing on the main stage. The four stunning lads don’t seem to realise that there harmonious, country-folk indie ballads are leading them through an inevitable path to stardom, but the plethora of fans singing every word (me included) have got them sussed. The View are invited back to a bigger stage to finish their set, and perhaps it’s the fury that the dedicated crowd from the day before have that spur them on to be one of the most manic and furious group of ‘Skag Trendy’ singing scenesters.
Ash play on Sunday to a slighter older crowd than the headliners bring in, as they celebrate 15 years of performing together as a band. Credit to them for giving it a good shot, the hardcore fans seemed to like the show, but sadly they are still just not that great an act! Headliners Biffy Clyro play as always, purely songs from their most recent album and including a couple of new ones too. You can see why they do it though, in the innocent eyes of the young/new Biffy fans, and also in the tumble weed that seemed to blow past as they played ‘Toys Toys Toys Choke Toys Toys Toys’ from earlier album ‘The Vertigo of Bliss’. Every year I see Biffy I get upset that unlike me, the band are not clinging on to the past and playing songs like ‘Justboy’ and ‘Eradicate the Doubt’. But hats off to them for capturing the hearts of their younger audience and earning their Sunday headline spot on the main stage of the literally awesome Rockness festival.
