| THE CARLING WEEKEND 2002... -LEEDS, SATURDAY- |
| DATE: 24th August VENUE: Temple Newsam, Leeds |
| ... A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THE BANDS' SETS I SAW ON THE MAIN STAGE... *THE MOLDY PEACHES Insane lyrics and amusing costumes... how often do you see a rabbit playing guitar? Exactly. Sublime madness which does no wrong and brings out the smiles on everyone. 'Who's got the Crack'? They probably have. *SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES They were so crap that it rained heavily for 20 minutes. *MERCURY REV An audience gathers as the sun emerges. Mercury Rev's first chords create warmth and doe-eyed Jonathan Donahue brings glorious rays of beauty with his effortless style. Highlight of their set was the faultless singalong 'Goddess on a Highway' which won the praise of just about everyone. Rightly so. *THE DANDY WARHOLS With 'Godless', 'Not if You were the last Junkie on Earth' and 'Everyday should be a Holiday' to name but as few DW classics, anyone would have thought it was a Greatest Hits set. It pretty much was, but performed with brilliant enthusiam- biggest cheer came for the crowd pleasing "song off that mobile phone ad"... *THE WHITE STRIPES Nothing spectacular: personally I don't think they lived up to their live act hype. Jack and Meg were quite silent between their frantic blues noise but do manage to get the audience moving during 'Hotel Yorba'. Attracted a large crowd but I was propping myself up on the barrier holding back yawns. ... A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THE BANDS' SETS I SAW ON THE EVENING SESH STAGE... *THE VINES Australia's mad screamers filled the tent, cementing their popularity which may see them on the Main Stage next year. The first mosh pit that I'd seen all day- filled by fans and the curious alike. Manic rock-out singles 'Get Free' and 'Highly Evolved' had the muddy audience screaming along. You didn't have to be able to see what The Vines were up to on the low stage to enjoy the set. They rocked and they knew it. *ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE Nominated for this year's Mercury Music Prize, ESP showed us why they deserve to win. A severe dedication to their music, hits like 'Silent to the Dark' and 'Empty at the End' had everyone moving and singing along, and they even took time out to communicate with their fans. If you don't have their acclaimed album 'Holes in the Wall', where have you been? This year's biggest rising stars. *THE BREEDERS I don't know much about this band apart from the fact that they're making a comeback after 10 years. Maybe their set may have been effective if they'd have acted like they cared... it seemed like a rehersal. And a bad one at that. The audience could hardly hear Kim and when they could, they wished they couldn't. And let's not discuss Karen's violin 'effort'. Maybe they'd better come back when they remember the point of what they're doing. *FEEDER Possibly the only reason why why the tent was so full for The Breeders was because everyone was waiting for Feeder. It was true for the first 2 rows anyway. The anticipation for Brit rock darlings, Feeder, after such a heart-breaking start to the year was immense and moving. Kicking through old Feeder classics like 'High' and 'My Perfect Day' as well as the anthemic 'Buck Rogers', crowdsurfers were sent hurtling over heads and the pit went crazy. Grant and Taka continued to shine through the new single 'Come Back Around' and previewed another song from the immenent 4th album... From those 2 tracks, the new LP seems an emotionally charged stomper, and although Jon is still -and always will be- dearly missed, Grant and Taka should be applauded for their difficult choice to continue their dream. |
| August 2002 |
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