Sunday didn’t get off to the greatest of starts. Waking up rather early after a terrible night’s sleep at the Travel Inn, followed by Tesco breakfast (surprisingly edible), and then arriving on the site before anyone else at all wasn’t the best feeling in the world. Still, after not getting to any on the Saturday, I was determined to catch at least one on-train performance, namely that of The Manhattan Love Suicides. Now, apparently they’d broken up shortly before the festival, but having no idea, went and sat and waited for them in a train carriage for twenty minutes. When nothing had happened, we jumped off the train at Swanwick once more. Of course, this is apparently when some of the band got on the train and played some songs. Oh well, you can’t win them all.
Or rather, you can. Because getting off the train then meant it was possible to pop into the train shed and catch Zipper’s set. Spanish indiepop doesn’t come much better than this, and their set was all the more joyful from just how happy the band seemed to be to be there. Between each song they didn’t seem to quite believe that they were playing in front of a large crowd at a railway yard in Derbyshire. Although I suppose in those terms not that many people would. Still, they were so good that I made sure to pick up a copy of their album which was a mere £5 on the merch stall.
A trip back to the main stage for The School turned out to be a fine set. Although I like The School, it tends to be in a fairly casual sense. I only know a handful of songs, but by the end of their set, I was looking forward to their upcoming album as eagerly as anyone else in the crowd. Every song hit just the right note, the entire band sounding in sync, which is no mean feat given the number of members and variety of instruments on display. This was an assured performance for a band that is certainly going to go on to better things.
Back to the shed for The Smittens, another band that I don’t know as well as I should. Not that it mattered with their set though. So ingrained into the Indietracks tradition are the band that they could have recited a phone directory and still drawn everyone in. Thankfully they didn’t do that, but instead flew threw a set of pop gems, winning over everyone in the process. By the end of the set, a certain band may well have been declaring them to be “top of the pops”.
Now, something not entirely unexpected happened during The Smittens’ set. That something being that it started to rain. Showers had been predicted for the Sunday, so no one could really complain. Other than the fact that once it started about 3pm, it didn’t bloody stop. The rest of the festival was turned into an indoor event for those less hardy souls, or something unpleasantly muddy for those willing to brave it.
And brave it we did, for Lucky Soul were playing on the main stage. The last time I saw Lucky Soul was at a lovely gig at the Luminaire two and a half years ago, and boy have they come on as a band in that time. A hearty mix of old and new songs make up their set, which still pulls considerable numbers given the unpleasant conditions. A few years back I would have been worried that a band like Lucky Soul would quite a limited one-trick pony, but the band seem happy to evolve instead of limiting themselves to a purely 60s sound. As it sounds, their upcoming album could finally be the one that pushes them over the top.
A little bit later and it’s time for Pocketbooks, who are the band on the bill that most define the festival as a whole. They run through most of the songs from the recently released Flight Paths album, with Falling Leaves, Fleeting Moments and the superb Cross the Line being the obvious highlights. By the end of the set, every attendee of the festival seemed to be in the shed. A cynic could argue that this was related to the heavy rain outside. A more accurate version however would be that Pocketbooks are just that damn good.
After Pocketbooks came Disasteradio, who offered the first truly “what the fuck?” performance of the day. Bizarre electronic beats performed by a man seemingly having a seizure on stage, who then proceeds to try and eat his microphone. I’m sure there is an audience for this, but I suspect it wasn’t here. Following that was Help Stamp Out Loneliness, who were fine for what they were, but didn’t do very much for me.
Finally, it was time for the mighty Art Brut, a band whom I love dearly, but worried wouldn’t quite fit in with the Indietracks mentality. Things got off to a shaky start with Eddie Argos almost immediately using the t-word (a crime here one might suspect) and getting the Indietracks version of a bottling (sweets thrown at him) for his trouble. Of course, it didn’t take them long to win everyone round, particularly once Argos had the epiphany that he’s telling people to be less twee while playing from a setlist of songs about public transport, DC comics and chocolate milkshakes. Between this, and proclaiming that MJ Hibbett is “top of the pops”, there doesn’t seem to be anyone still holding out against them. A spirited version of Modern Art, adjusted to “DC comics make me want to rock out” follows a performance almost entirely from the audience, starting what may have been the first Indietracks mosh pit. Their set comes to a storming close with the band’s drummer spectacular falling off the stage by rocking just a bit too hard, to possibly the largest applause of the festival. Five minutes later, the band return for an encore, even if Argos had already put on his jacket to leave.
Which is where Indietracks 2009 comes to a close for me. I could have stayed for Teenage Fanclub, but I’ve never been much of a fan, and nothing was going to top the highs of the Art Brut set. It’s not one moment or performance that makes Indietracks so special though. It’s the atmosphere of the entire event. Of every festival or gig I’ve ever been to, this was by far the nicest. Everyone is generally lovely, the bands are happy to mingle and watch the other bands, and the whole DIY spirit of it all is impressive to behold. It’s hard to articulate that kind of appeal in a review such as this, and that is unfortunate, but Indietracks leave you with a feeling of pure joy. This may have been my first visit to the Midland Railway Centre, but it certainly won’t be my last.
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