Though I've never been there I know it's always greener

I've put up a set of photos from V festival 2008 in Flickr. I haven't managed to find a new angle for festival/gig photography yet. Shots of the big screens are still keeping me amused.


We spent a shorter day at the festival this year. We arrived about 3ish and the whole thing was over earlier this year, all done by about 10pm.

When we arrived, Cut Copy had a huge crowd (huge considering the early hour) bouncing wildly. They sounded pretty good but we went wandering. We ended up mostly seeing halves of various sets.

First I sought out Modest Mouse because of the allure of Johnny Marr - but they were disappointing. So we quit early and moved on to Roisin Murphy, who sang that huge hit for Moloko 'Bring it back'. None of her solo work is quite as catchy but she has a great voice and I enjoyed it, including her crazy hat - a cross between a formal hat and a Devo flowerpot.

Then there was The Jesus and Mary Chain - great music, although not particularly animated musicians. Yes they used to be famous for some kind of mayhem though, it appears, from the fans as much as the band. I know it's kind of the wrong way around but I was just staring at the screen thinking it's Christian Slater! The sunnies, the hairline?

I was keen to see Air, and we tried them for a while. But the crowd was just wrong. I couldn't get into the music for all the loud talking of the people around us. It didn't help that it started raining lightly. Apparently they were doing a show at the Opera House, and I think that would have been a much better way to enjoy this kind of atmospheric and sometimes quiet music.

Queens of the Stone Age was the main act of the day for K, and this was the only full set we saw. Once again the festival crowd made things less than ideal, and strangely the sound was not turned up nearly as loud as it had been for JMC and others on the same stage. With this kind of band you DON'T expect people talking near you to be a problem! Regardless, I really enjoyed the set, and now I think I would go and see them if they tour again.

We arrived at Duran Duran's show halfway through and struggled through the unfamiliar mid-section of the set until they returned to the greatest hits catalogue. I don't know if it is just his stage persona but Simon Le Bon is pure ego. Kind of fantastic, and repulsive at the same time. As a lead-in to playing Girls on film he did this whole bit about having met with the 'Chief of Police' before they came out that night and ascertained that it 'if any girls wanted to take their tops off, that would be ok'. Sigh. And with one camera trained on the crowd, a few pairs did bounce onto the screen throughout the rest of the show. Also during Girls on film, Simon introduced band members one-by-one in suitably over-the-top fashion. Finally, with finger to his lips he shushed the crowd, paused, and yelled at the top of his voice, 'What's my name?!!!'. Like I said, pure ego.

Finally we wandered off to catch a bit of the Smashing Pumpkins. I did love the long skirt that Billy Corgan was wearing. They played the Star-Spangled Banner which seemed a bit misguided while touring Australia. It might have made sense if it then morphed into Waltzing Matilda, but no dice. After that we heard only the end of the Presets last song, and it was time to go. Overall we felt a bit flat about it after the huge highlight of last year. I'm happy though, to have seen bands like Duran Duran and the Jesus and Mary Chain. And of course QOTSA.

Edited to add: I found a couple of pics showing Billy Corgan's long, tiered, metallic skirt. Though it didn't look as shiny as that from where I was sitting.

The thought of you stays bright

The V festival - for anyone just joining us, it was Saturday 31 March in Sydney's Centennial Park - had the Pet Shop Boys (8:30 to 9:45pm) and the Pixies (9 to 10:15pm) each headlining on adjacent stages. We had been hoping that the stage the Pixies were on might be running late relative to the other one. Unfortunately it turned out the other way, so that the Pixies started soon after PSB, and throughout at least the first half of their set, the crowd thinned a bit as people split the difference and headed off to the Pixies. Of course in-between (and sometimes during) PSB songs you could actually hear the Pixies - the stages were too close together. We were pretty sure we wanted to stay with PSB but had made a meeting place for the end of the night, so that we didn't have to be tied to each other and could decide to split up if necessary. Just a few songs in, we were both set on staying to the end.



The thrill of this show was only partly about the live performance of the songs. Neil's singing was certainly real, he actually started a bit rough but seemed to warm into it, plus there were three backing singers, two men and a woman, and of course Chris on keyboards. When they did Paninaro, everyone else left the stage and Chris actually sang. Obviously a large proportion of the sounds you hear are pre-recorded. But hey, it's not a rock show.

Neil was charming and slightly rogueish, an old-school entertainer. Early on he announced the names of the songs, sometimes before performing them. Or: 'We'd like to play you a love song now.' (Rent).

It was a complete musical show, with break dancing, video projections, costume changes and props. I don't think there was any attempt for these to be the highest-tech or most complicated. Even though there was a lot going on, there was also a sort of bright, stark look about the stage, with simple repeated themes in the costume and props. There were many costume changes for the backing singers and dancers, and even three or four for Neil, but they were all variations on a just couple of themes. There were lots of matching tracksuits, matching suits, then a bit where one dancer has tracksuit top and suit pants, the other the reverse.



The coolest theme was the way they played with their own images, with Chris's signature look of yellow hoodie and baseball cap, and Neil's of top hat and tails, repeated amongst the other performers (eg yellow sequinned hoodies for the dancers). At the very start of the show, a guy in a hoodie and one in a top hat come out. Crowd goes mad for Neil and Chris. Then another pair appear dressed the same! Ooh, what's going on? Finally the real Neil and Chris appear. I'm sure it's been done before, but it was fun.



The Sodom and Gomorrah show, a song from their most recent album, was almost a separate performance in itself. They actually brought out a drummer with full kit just for that one song. Unfortunately the evidence is hidden behind Mr Bighead in the above photo. All the performers except Chris appeared to have a separate costume just for this song.

After the final song of the encore, Neil thanked Sydney for a warm reception. And make no mistake, despite what I said about people leaving for the Pixies, there was a large, enthusiastic audience who were hanging on every note. He introduced each of the people on the stage, finishing with '...of course Chris Lowe on keyboards. I am Neil Tennant, and we are still the Pet Shop Boys.' At that they left the stage, leaving only the three backing singers who continued with a medley of So Hard, I'm with stupid and (I think) Robbie Williams' We're the Pet Shop Boys. The female singer in particular was A-Mazing - one of those huge soul voices - Neil is brave to share a stage with her! I wanted to hear her more.

After it was over we wandered over to the back of the Pixies audience and caught the last three or so songs. It was a serious mood shift but still pretty good, actually a nice wind-down for the night. I know I could have really gotten into their show too. But I started out with much more curiosity about PSB live than the Pixies. And also much more knowledge of and love for their music. Although it was momentous having the Pixies in the country for the first time, we have seen their live sets on ABC2 a couple of times and knew what to expect. The Pet Shop Boys put on more of a show than I had dared to expect. We loved it.

Can you even deliver what she demands of you?

They played:

Left to my own devices
Suburbia
Can you forgive her?
Rent
Heart
Opportunities (Let's make lots of money)
Integral
Paninaro
Se a vida e
Domino dancing
Always on my mind
Where the streets have no name
West end girls
The Sodom and Gomarrah show
Encore: So hard / It's a sin / Go west

The evening spreads its sail against the sky

We got through the gates into the Centennial Park venue for the V Festival about 2:30 on Saturday. First we wandered around getting our bearings, and grabbed some food. We were going to get beer too, but there was a bit of a queue and we were worried it might take a little too long, and we might not get a good spot for Phoenix.

Heh. We REALLY should have bought beer at that point. Just after that the lines got seriously amazingly long (like you might expect if the Pixies hand-brewed this beer themselves) and they stayed that way for hours. No one could get even tipsy because even if you got your beer and got right back in the queue to drink it, it would have completely worn off before you got another.

We got pretty close to the stage for Phoenix. The audience up the front were painfully young and hip, and I wished I had a beer to take the edge off. I seriously thought that Phoenix mostly appealed to 30-somethings like us.... I was so wrong. I have never seen so many pairs of huge ugly multicoloured 80's sunglasses on tiny little people - the boys and the girls. And guess what? Apparently multicoloured fluoro one-piece swimmers are back. You just whack on a pair of little shorts, et voila! Later, amongst a scantily clad group I spotted one of those Borat swimming costumes too. You know what I mean, and if you don't, be thankful. Temps were only mid to high twenties, but it woudn't be a sunny day out in Sydney without plenty of flesh on view.

The Phoenix show was fabulous. The band is a four-piece but they perform with additional musicians: an energetic and super-enthused drummer who mouthed/sang all the words to all the songs (sans mike), and a multi-tasking guy who played keyboard with one hand while playing hi-hat and electronic drum pads with the other. The show was just as good as we had hoped, and a lot more popular than I had expected.

After Phoenix, we caught a little bit of Nouvelle Vague (fun, sort of cabaret-style covers of all sorts of songs). Yes I managed to skip my Saturday French class in order to go to Sydney to see two French bands in a row - both of which sing in English. Then there was a little bit of a wander around, and a little bit of the New York Dolls.


Everyone on stage for Gnarls Barkely was dressed in funky tennis whites, even the (electric) string quartet.

I really enjoyed this show, and the crowd really got into it. I think it was the actual presence of the strings that sold me on it. They opened with a dodgey version of Queen's "We are the champions", which could have been really annoying. But by this time I have gotten into a more mellow mood - even though still no beer - and I just thought it was funny.



It's lucky there were nice big screens to watch. I felt like a bit of a shorty, and we weren't that far back, next to the sound tent actually. Here is a photo, I call it "Gnarls show thru 'fro".



It's late. There's more to tell another day. I've saved the best for last.

Remind me to spend some good time with you

We had a great weekend in Sydney, thanks of course to the V-festival - more on that later.

But also thanks to time with friends, and a bit of relaxed wandering around town. Thanks to a tip-off from a non-knitting friend I discovered the misleadingly named Tapestry Craft. Yes they are a tapestry/needlecraft shop upstairs, but also a huge yarn store downstairs. K and I walked in, took in the size of the place, and he quickly offered to go and amuse himself elsewhere for a while.

This is a lovely, welcoming store. There were plenty of customers, the staff seemed really friendly, there was even knitting class sitting around the table at the back. The range of yarn was huge and I spent a long time just checking everything out. Unfortunately the prices were steep, and I couldn't even find a bargain bin - do they save it up for sale time? I love bargain bins. I did buy a little bit of self-patterning Sirdar Town and Country sock wool.

Then I spent a delicious long time in the huge bookstore Kinokuniya - which still doesn't have a proper web site, why oh why? Checked out all the knitting books and then got a bit bewildered in the Japanese stationery section.

Then, I set off to find the pub where K was hanging out with a friend. I managed to park really close without actually knowing where I was going, then got my directions messed up and walked much further away. Ah, I got there in the end, and had a lovely catch-up with the other K. Followed by an excellent kebab and a (bit-too) late Sunday night drive home. I do love weekends at home, but the odd weekend away is lovely. And rare together, since K works every weekend.

You were only hungry for some musical food

We're still deep in music festival season, and there is a lot of cool stuff going on. With encouragement from friends I just bought my ticket for the V-festival in Sydney. The Pixies coming to Australia for the first time is just about reason enough. Sadly their headline set overlaps significantly with the Pet Shop Boys, causing us vast quantities of angst. I'm very excited about seeing Phoenix earlier in the day, and should catch some other great acts too like Gnarls Barkley, Beck, the New York Dolls.

I thought I had completely missed the boat on this one - K and I talked about it when it was announced last year - but the organisers have several strategies to avoid much scalping going on, including releasing a late batch of tickets. Clever. And not mailing out the tickets til quite close to the day, which is making my mates squirm a bit. (Being late to the party I opted to pick up my ticket on the day). I don't know how many tickets they are selling but I reckon there will be BIG CROWDS.