End of the Road Festival: Friday
Cate Le Bon/ Mountain Goats/ Wolf Parade/ Edwyn Collins/ The New Pornographers/ Modest Mouse and more
Dorset, Larmer Tree Gardens
Article written by
Various Writers - Sep 22, 2010
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Cate Le Bon
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The weather forecast may not be as good as last year’s sunshine spectacular, but one look at the 2010 line-up and it looks set to be a fantastic weekend regardless. You gotta hand it to the organisers of this wonderful festival; there have been vast improvements made to the Local Stage and the Tipi Tent, both in terms of design and location, plus a few tweaks here and there with better toilet facilities and even a central gazebo for shelter / relaxing / arguing about whether or not it’s actually a gazebo. Oh, and plenty of tasty ale.
Time for Cate Le Bon on the Main Stage and her slightly trippy, “death obsessed” tunes. With the likes of lullaby-turned-bad-dream ‘Terror of the Man’ in her arsenal, Le Bon excels in delivering what first appears to be gentle folk numbers with added Casio keys before turning them into strange (and sometimes rocking) psychedelic tales. Today’s set doesn’t contain a dull moment and peaks with the goth-tinted beauty that is ‘Eyes So Bright’; a haunting tune mixing eerie keyboards with a simple but very catchy guitar, Le Bon’s soothing delivery just adds to its ghostly appeal. The most impressive performance of the day thus far.
Mountain Goats
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Early evening on the Main Stage is Mountain Goats, and John Darnielle has thankfully brought a band with him. Whilst a solo Goats set is far from a disappointing experience, the craft and quality of Darnielle’s songwriting becomes much more prominent when it’s cranked out in the manner that entertains the masses tonight. During the chorus of the splendid ‘Next Year’ his determined cry of making it through his annus horribilis, even if it kills him, sounds more believable when Darnielle’s vocals are having to clamber over the crashing drums and amped-up guitars. An hour’s dip into the band’s 17 album-strong back catalogue results in a mostly upbeat, always melodic, selection of tunes that should’ve satisfied fans both old and new.
The next band, however, take a different approach to their allotted time. Wolf Parade announce their intention to play as many songs as possible in the next 60 minutes. What that actually means is tunes such as the 11-minute, multi-part beast, ‘Kissing the Beehive’ gets a full (and fantastic) airing, while the likes of “I’ll Believe in Anything’ and ‘I am a Runner…’ are played at such breakneck speeds that the steady emotional build of the songs are sadly lost. Pity, cos when the band gets the tempo right, like during the likes of ‘Ghost Pressure’ and the Television-esque ‘Fine Young Cannibals’ in all its guitar-noodling glory, it sounds incredible. This marriage of Spencer Krug’s madcap yelping and Dan Boeckner’s rock growling may not be to everyone’s taste but, a few speeding offences aside, this is an impressive display from Montreal’s finest.
It’s getting chilly now and since the Cider Bus has relocated to the other end of the site, the task of keeping warm at the Main Stage has suffered a significant setback. Thankfully, with Edwyn Collins about to begin over in The Big Top, there’s the perfect excuse to venture indoors.
As the Scottish Indie legend appears, the crowd’s reaction seems a mixture of encouragement and slight consternation at the apparent frailty of the man. However, the severity of Collins’ illness a few years back and the physical restrictions that followed (he still seems unable to use his right arm) has had no effect whatsoever on his singing voice. It’s in stark contrast to his walking stick-assisted entrance and as it reverberates around the packed tent it’s certainly lost none of its strength or appeal. Supported by a backing band that includes Paul Cook on drums, he treats us to Orange Juice classics ‘Rip It Up’ & ‘Dying Day’ as well as the Motown-influenced new single ‘Losing Sleep’. There is thankfully not a nanosecond, neither during the performance or the audience appreciation, that lurches into mawkish territory; it’s a thoroughly entertaining and genuinely emotional occasion.
Next up is The New Pornographers; their latest album ‘Together’ is hugely disappointing but they’ve got enough powerpop gems in their discography for a rollicking live show, even if Neko Case isn’t in the line-up tonight. Alas, their enthusiasm and charm must’ve been left in Ms Case’s travel bag as even solid tracks like ‘Spanish Disco’ & ‘Twin Cinema’ sound oddly soulless. Carl Newman’s vocals are pretty strong and his co-supergroupers don’t put a foot wrong musically – it’s just all so mechanical, so when they inevitably play a newer (i.e. weaker) song, there’s nothing occurring onstage that makes you want to stick around. A disappointing end to an otherwise great first day of the Festival. (by Pete W)
Trembling Bells
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I was at the first EOTR in 2006, when it struggled to attract 2000 people to a small festival inspired by Green Man, and it was so good it's been at its 5000 capacity ever since. Now celebrating its fifth birthday, people generally regard it as one of the finest events of the year for location, size, friendliness of punters and quality of the bill. Though ticket sales don't allow it book the most-hyped festival bands, intelligent programming means that the line-up is always good (the Garden Stage headliners on consecutive nights this year are Modest Mouse, Yo La Tengo and Wilco), and that they pick up artists while they're at their freshest and most interesting (expect Caitlin Rose to collect much more dosh from bigger festivals next year). The engagingly eccentric Local stage yet again is consistently good in offering a diverse and different menu from the other stages. Add good food and real ale, peacocks running wild through the gardens and a star-encrusted night sky above Wilco that would have had Mad Dicky Dawkins saying his catechism in a spiritual reverie, and you have one of the unmissable events of the late summer (again).
It doesn't start well, with Ruby Suns' disappointing mix of pale funk and Animal Collective rhythms. To start off your set with a Prince cover ('I Could Die For You') is either lazy or demonstrates a lack of confidence in your own material). Cate Le Bon (reviewed elsewhere) was so good I had to tear myself away from her dark imaginings to catch the end of Allo Darlin'. Luckily, I walked into the thronged Tipi Tent as she started to play the wonderful 'Tallulah', lifting me for the afternoon. Canada's Elliott Brood were a revelation in the Big Top, not so much for their rootsy music (very good but not unique) but for their brilliant banter, distancing themselves from the country to their south with positive talk about socialism and comedy that would have graced the Pavilion stage. Trembling Bells are another disappointment. Their modern take on ancient folk sounded inviting on paper but live it’s dreary. Lavinia Blackwall, a classically trained soprano, has the sort of pure voice that puts you in mind of Sandy Denny but the music is like a facsimile Fairport Convention and their 'classic rock' stylings put me in mind of The Tourists.
Modest Mouse
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Reminding us of where much of EOTR's music comes from is Frank Fairfield, switching easily from fiddle to banjo and guitar (but needing extensive time to tune up each time), a-hootering and a-hollering in that old-timey way, and readily acknowledging the European origin of the American folk songs he plays. He's a 25 year old music collector from Los Angeles (he's released compilations of the ancient 78s that he has dug up), though he dresses like an extra from ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’, complete with hair oil. Weirdly and a little unfairly, learning that he's not actually about to head back to the farm to help poppa bring in the harvest darkens my memory of his set. My last visit to the main stage is for Modest Mouse who impress with the amount of communal singing they stimulate with the likes of 'Float On' and 'Dashboard'. They're indie only in the American sense, i.e. they play rock that's spruced up with instruments such as banjo and accordion but it’s a winning mixture in a very slick show that ends my Friday night at EOTR. (by Ged M)
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