Great Escape Day 2
The Great Escape Diary – Day 2
It feels rather bizarre cooping onself in the dingey confines of the Arc on a grey afternoon to watch bands, at least at most other festivals you’re in a field, here you’re where you would be on a Thursday night, except not drunk and – in my case – clutching a much needed coffee. Well, this was all worthwhile because what I was watching was Canadian Blast, a showcase of some of the finest bands Canada has to offer.
The afternoon began with Dan Mangan, a really emotive, gruff voiced singer – who can switch to soft and fragile with ease – he instantly charmed the audience and led them all in a sing/stomp/clap along as he roamed unplugged through the crowd, singing ‘Robots need love too!’ The perfect start to the day. He was followed by the hugely energetic Ultimate Power Duo, who, at first, channeled early Weezer and Green Day before displaying much needed classic rock licks laced with self-knowing, irony – but never less than ‘awesome’. Particualr highlights being their song about a time-travelling serial killer; ‘It’s like Groundhog Day meets, er, Silence of the Lambs.’ and the genius track Cone of Silence that has to be seen live to be believed.
Up next was Hey Rosetta who craft lush country tunes, that seem to embody (in music) the great vistas that Canada surely offers. Beautiful, passionate and rich. After that came the rock bravado of Arkells, who seem to start where Kings of Leon leave off and – despite the early time – whipped the audience up into a sweaty, sing-a-long frenzy. Closing the showcase was Ohbijou, a stage-filling act with violion, cello, a humongous (almost disastrously balanced) piano and much more; they, like Hey Rosetta, make a beautiful sound, though there’s is somewhat more twee and mystical.
After seeking out lunch I made my way to Salis Benney theatre to catch The Veils, who delivered a blistering if troubling set. The lead singer is balanced somewhere between Nick Cave and Jeff Buckley and seemed on the verge of an emotional collapse throughout the impressive set, his voice was powerful and dramatic, but his eyes seemed full of genuine anguish that at times I just wanted to get up on stage and ask if everything was ok!
Micachu and the Shapes followed and were a stark contrast, which may have explained the frustratingly chatter-filled reception they received from the crowd (most of whom seemed to have just turned up ridiculously early for British Sea Power). Despite this I found their set to be lively, fun and one of the most striking acts so far of the festival, a true 21st century junk shop band using tin can and bottles as percussion mixed with laptops and skittering, stop-start wonky guitars and erratic drumming. Brilliant!
I then made a dash for Volks, eagerly anticipating Connan Mockasin. Fortunately I was early enough to catch half of Meme Love‘s set, and was treated to swoonsome, smart songs about broken hearts and romance; the lead singer’s vocals were particularly heart-aching, both sweet, giddy and innocent whilst laced with sadness and regret.
Connan Mockasin took to the stage, clad primarily in red, and launching into a helium-voiced, rickety showcase of his unique, bonkers pop. Songs such as Sneaky, Sneaky Dogfriend, Egon Hosford and his awesome cover of The Teenagers Starlet Johansen went down extremely well with the audience and I can’t wait for the eventual release of his debut LP. He was joined, for his last song, by the next act – Liam Finn, who then kept Connan around as he quickly began his own set.
Finn breaks the curse of sons in their fathers shadow by being, in my humble opinion, a heck of a lot better than Neil Finn. This set was particularly impressive with Finn using loop pedals to create a cacophonous noise accompanied only by a backing vocalist and – occasionally – Connan Mockasin (also on vocals). A particular standout was Second Chance that lurched towards a tremendous finale with Finn layering guitar upon guitar and pummeling the drums like a man possessed.
It’s funny sometimes what you end up accidentally watching, and this was proved twofold tonight. Firstly I mis-read the festival guide and ended up in Coalition when I wanted to be in the Basement, this meant I got to see the end of The Charlatans set, and they were finishing off one track before a crowd-pleasing rendition of North Country Boy. I then dashed to my initially intended location and got to hear – from outside the stage room – Elizabeth‘s final song, and though I liked what I heard I can’t quite remember it enough to describe it.
The second instance of strange accidental viewing was in who I had gone to see at the Basement, there was something oddly familar about the name Mike Bones - though I couldn’t place it, until half-way through his set when I recognised the song and remembered the music video I had seen and the feelings of not-very-impressed I had felt at the time. Fortunately, live Bones comes across far better than he did on Youtube, with the Bob Dylan-sound to his vocals standing out over the Lou Reed-like lyrics telling slightly seedy tales of New York life. His set was crowd-pleasing, grimy and entertaining.
Alas, due to commitments that I have to wake up for I had to call it a night, but feel that I really got to see an interesting cross-section of music tonight and eagerly await tomorrow, which, I think, will involve a lot of running around…
What's on your mind?
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July 8th 2009 | 1
blackdog says:
I guess I’m old. There used to be some really cool Canadian rock bands… April Wine…Triumph…Rush… Niel Young
Hummm. I can’t think of any new bands.blackdog’s last blog post..Drunken Bastards Plastered Cast Pilot Episode Podcast–Blue Oyster Cult
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music school says:
That sounds great! I am interested, I want to be there someday and watch all of the bands perform live.
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rosy says:
That sounds great! I am interested, I want to be there someday and watch all of the bands perform live.
Music School
