Another Form of Relief

Friday and Saturday can be found here.

SUNDAY

Stumbling out of the Travelodge at dawn (around 10:30), it was decided that Sunday would be the day that things were really mixed up.  By which I mean we went to Sainsburys for breakfast instead of Tesco.  It cost a little more, and the service was a little bit slower, but it was rather more tasty, so that’s a good result I think.

Shambling onto the site just before the first bands on, it was time for another superb new discovery.  Be Like Pablo are a Scottish band that were apparently playing their first gig in England, and they couldn’t seem happier about it.  I went into them with a sense of trepidation given the song they included on the Indietracks CD featured rapping.  Which may be the one genre that still absolutely doesn’t fit in with Indietracks.  Fears were quickly dismissed though as the band turned out to be rather more poppy than expected, and by the time they reached the aforementioned song, I was even willing to go with it.  As was everyone in the shed it seems.  If there was one band I kept hearing about again and again that people seemed to love, it was Be Like Pablo.  Hopefully big things, and more gigs in the south, await them in the next year.

It was over to the main stage next where MJ Hibbett & the Validators were playing in the self-titled “Legends slot”.  Now rather shamefully, this was my first Validators gig (though I have seen Dinosaur Planet!), and it was awesome just how much the whole crowd was into them.  The band run through what was essentially a greatest hits set (along with a few from the new record of course) including Hey Hey 16k, My Boss Was In An Indie Band Once and the highlight of the set, Do The Indie Kid, which actually featured almost the whole audience following the steps.  Hibbett also found time to conduct a “social media experiment” mid-set, so if you were wondering why everyone at Indietracks suddenly tweeted “Happiness” on the Sunday afternoon, that would be why.

There appeared to be a crowd in the merch tent afterwards, and venturing in, it was a delight to discover Antarctica Takes It! performing a acoustic set in the corner.  There wasn’t really anything new here compared to their set yesterday, but it was nice to hear that their songs work just as well in such a stripped down fashion.

The Specific Heats were apparently the hit of the festival in 2009, playing a stunning set to a packed out church, and this year they were back, but in the shed where a huge number had turned out to see them.  If I’m honest, they didn’t do very much for me.  Nothing really wrong with them, and I can see that their garage rock kind of sounds would work well on record, but I left the shed feeling pretty cold toward them unfortunately.  Kind of hard to not respect a band that plays in capes though.

There was a gap in the schedule at this point, which meant it was time to explore the surrounding railway and it’s museum, something I missed entirely last year.  While dusty, the museum provided a welcome relaxing and quiet break from the festivities.  There’s even a lovely little narrow gauge railway that will run you out into the countryside and back again too!

Back to the shed for Internet Forever, a band that I still can’t be certain if they are taking the piss or not.  Utterly shambolic and ramshackle, the band power through a set that barely clocks in at 25 minutes, and manage to find time to get a Dire Straits cover into that.  It’s all over the place, and a complete mess, but it’s horribly entertaining.  You’ve got to admire their drumming skills at least.

Standard Fare are band that have risen quickly through the indiepop ranks over the past year.  They were well received at London Popfest in February, and even managed to nab themselves a decent slot at Latitude the weekend previous to Indietracks.  As a band, they always seem rather nervous on stage, and still somewhat shocked that people have turned up to see them, but it only adds to their charm.  The band bound through the songs from their debut album, even throwing in some new ones along the way that get an equally welcome reception.  By the time they bring out Brad from One Happy Island to add a little trumpet to one of their new songs, the audience are eating out of their hand, and a future Indietracks headline slot is surely inevitable.

Shrag are an odd band.  I first heard them a year ago and couldn’t really stand them.  Then at London Popfest I actually quite enjoyed their set, and since then I’ve gone on to get both of their albums.  Their recorded output doesn’t manage to live up to the show that they put on live though, or rather, how much front woman Helen really throws herself into the performance.  The songs from the new album turn out to be the unexpected highlights though, with current Heavenly-esque single Tights in August and The Habit Creep sure to be amongst this year’s indiepop anthems.

After that there was just time for a little Slow Club before it was time for my Indietracks to come to an end.  Sadly work commitments meant having to leave before the headliners The Pains of Being Pure at Heart took to the stage.  This was very unfortunate at the time, but the band played a secret gig last night (as George Washington’s Penis no less) that I was able to get to, so all is right in the world once more.  Huzzah!

Indietracks still remains my favourite festival on the musical calender.  I’ve mostly written about the bands in these posts, but there’s so much more that makes it what it is.  Primarily how friendly just about every single person you meet is.  Bands wander the site and mingle with everyone else (leading to lovely chats with MJ Hibbett, Eddie Argos and at least one Smitten, amongst others), and even the volunteers who work on the railway.  You’d think they would be entirely baffled, if not slightly put out, at this descending on them every year, but every single one of them seemed lovely.  I even managed to have an excellent conversation with an older man who quite happily told me about how he usually restores the train but is perfectly happy to be here directing cars and picking up our rubbish this weekend.  In amongst stories of hotels at Heathrow Airport.

Of course, discussions about just who should play next year are already in full swing, but honestly, it doesn’t really matter.  If the Indietracks team came up with a list of 50 bands I’d never heard of before, I’d still go, perfectly trusting in their abilities to select ideal bands and put on a perfect weekend.