Electric Picnic: saturday, september 3
day2.ep.sept/03/2011.
Stuart Clark, 08 Sep 2011
Note to self: remember at EP 2012 that if you’re 48 and have an insanely busy day ahead of you, it’s a really bad idea to stay up all night raving in the Stradbally Estate woods.
Despite looking and probably smelling worse than a badger’s bottom, Hot Press’ Saturday kicks off with a frenzied bout of speed-gigging. First to be given the glad eye are Grouplove who instantly put smiles on faces with the close-harmony gorgeousity – if it’s not a word, it should be – of ‘Lovely Cup’ and ‘Itchin’ On A Photograph’.
Resplendent in paisley print shirts and hippie hats, the Californians are equal parts CSN&Y, My Morning Jacket and Arcade Fire and will undoubtedly grace much bigger stages here in the near future.
Leaving the Cosby, it’s off to the CrawDaddy Stage where Rarely Seen Above Ground are returning to their unabbreviated experimental roots. While I loved Jeremy Hickey’s brief pop flirtation – ‘The Roamer’ was one of my ‘Singles of 2010’ – the record-buying public didn’t, which has prompted him to recruit live bassist Colm O Caoimh and construct a seven-minute, Krautrock-referencing epic, ‘This Winding Sheet’, which receives its live debut here. Despite a malfunctioning laptop (they’re worse than fucking drummers!) he exits to deafening cheers and confirmation that he’s probably doing the right thing ditching the singalong choruses.
The feeling over in the Electric Arena is that after six years of dues-paying, Le Galaxie’s time has come. Egged on by a loyal gaggle of fans brandishing photocopied A4 ‘Tune’ signs, the Dublin outfit are an insanely danceable mix of pre-popstar Moby and Death In Vegas (more of whom anon) who one suspects would be envious of scabrous guitar-driven epics like ‘Orion’ and ‘Midnight Midnight’.
Having somewhat incongruously made their CrawDaddy Stage entrance to what sounds like the Ben Hur theme on steroids, veteran Mancunians I Am Kloot do what they always do, which is make us wonder why such blissful alt. pop tunes as ‘Northern Memories’ and ‘Hey Little Bird’ have been bought in such infintesimal numbers.
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