This day was the one that we really wanted to get to as the line up was pretty darn packed with classic combos that we wanted to check out. We couldn't deal with being there the entire day - we're too old for that - but wanted to get there with plenty of time to see the Undertones, so saw a good portion of the day.
The first band to appear once we arrived was Shame, who have been getting a lot of good press lately with references to everything from Brit-Pop to the Fall and their live show was a bit all over the place (as those disparate influences would suggest), but they were a good start to the day with a energetic stage show, especially the hyper bassist!
I was a bit hesitant about the Undertones since Feargal is no longer with them, but the rest of the original members are all accounted for with a great new singer who kinda emulated Feargal without aping him, sounded amazing and was a fun, wacky front person. There was no way to fault the set list - although they didn't do "Male Model", which we used to cover in
The Excessories - which was jam packed with their multiple hits. The crowd was with them the entire time, singing along and pogoing and moshing through it all. The band was spot-on musically and harmonically - super pleasant surprise!
I guess we popped over to see what was going on with Teenage Bottle Rockets on the small stage but it was a little too crazed over there, so back to the main area for another one of the reasons we were there, the Stranglers. Again, it's a little sad that the whole band isn't with them - no Hugh or Jet Black, in their case - but JJ and Dave Greenfield are joined by a solid drummer and a guitarist/singer who again had a proper delivery without trying to copy Hugh. JJ's bass tone is ferociously vicious, as it should be, and Dave peeled off his unique keyboard runs effortlessly - at times even while drinking a beer simultaneously! I lost track of the band after their third album and a couple of their later songs that were included in the set didn't do anything for me, but most of tunes were from the first three records with greats like "Hanging Around", "Nice and Sleazy", "Tank" and "No More Heroes", and plenty of others. These guys and the Undertones were worth the ticket price on their own!
We haven't seen the Hives since they first hit with "Hate to Say I Told You So" and I wasn't completely knocked out by them back then, but I thought they did an excellent job this time out. Right from the outset they were high energy with great stage presence and the singer was rock star cocky and funnily obnoxious - which some people took offense to, but he was so obviously joking that I couldn't understand how you couldn't laugh with him. I'm not overly familiar with their repertoire but they threw in "Hate to Say.." in the middle of the set, which, of course, everyone went nuts for, but they continued to slay for the rest of the set. Before they finished we moved over to the second stage to try to get a spot for the Dead Boys and while the big screens over there showed the Hives, they didn't broadcast the music, which was unfortunate. I would definitely see them again after this showing! Oh, and I loved the fact that the band were all dressed nattily in white and their roadies were all dressed in black ninja outfits!
The Dead Boys now consist of simply Cheetah Chrome and Johnny Blitz, but include our old pal Ricky Rat (Trash Brats) along with a couple of other new comers and we haven't seen what they were up to in this incarnation so absolutely wanted to check it out. The new singer does kinda over-emulate Stiv a little, but still does a good job and the set list was mostly from their two classic records, but it seemed like Blitz didn't have a good monitor mix or something as he seemed to be slightly off from the rest of the band the entire time, which made their time on stage a little ramshackle, as Melanie put it. But, it was jammed for them, as well, and they still got a fantastic response.
The fest concluded with the Specials, and as I was never and still am not a ska fan, they have never done anything for me, but the crowd, especially the numerous pot-smokers, loved them and were with them the entire time. I found it hard to believe that they didn't do "Ghost Town" but no one else seemed bothered by this and recognized everything else that they did. A pleasant, mellow end to the festival.
I have to say that the event area was well organized and comfortable with lots of food options (although we didn't try anything) and bars everywhere, lots of room for vendors and band merch, plenty of sitting areas and lots of toilets - always a good plus! For a big event, this was mighty comfortable!
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