rate the last gig you went to

In my defence, I didn’t even go when they were in Toronto last year. The ticket prices were absurd and it was the same thing they’d done in 2019 (even less, technically, since they dropped 3-4 songs). I’m done with them unless they come to my town.

Saturday at the legendary Dartford festival:

Some Cunt off pop idol 0/10
BADNESS, a madness tribute band that also did some specials and bad manors, good stuff

But THE TAKE THAT EXPERIENCE was SENSATIONAL. they came on and I was didzapointed to see that there was only 3 of them. Then they left the stage and ROBBIE came out and it was pure carnage. He was Scottish and looked like he’d fucked at least 145 women called Claire in his time. You just know after his heroic performance that he was off to an Indian restaurant to do it all over again. 10/10 then the other 4 came out and did the 90s hits. It was an experience I’ll never forget

Also, 4 lots of people being chucked out by security, absolute chaos. God bless Dartford.

Also I had a wimpy for the first time since about 1989 afterwards.

The Smile last night. It was fine. I don’t understand though, how you have arguably the greatest guitar player of his generation and you stick him on bass for half the songs. This isn’t latter-day oasis, FFS.

Same as the album though, why couldn’t this just have been radiohead and stuck Karma police on at the end?

6.5/10

Pulp @ Scarborough Open Air Theatre

Mrs Rocks_man drove us south to meet up with popular forum member Forever and forum associate Nick C. What started as a lovely sunny day on the English seaside turned into a torrential downpour as soon as we got in the outdoor venue, which was set in lovely parkland. The kind of place you should probably take a rain jacket, just in case. Rod responded to the weather by getting shirtless. Thankfully I was half-cut by this stage.

The rain stopped by the time Pulp came on. The crowd was damp, spirits were high, and the sound quality was decent! Jarvis was in great form. His voice was maybe a bit rough on some songs but he more than carried the show. The set list was just hit after hit. I’d give this a 10 but I was wearing good trainers that took a pounding in the damp conditions. 9.

ILL CONSIDERED at the Forge in Camden last night with popular forum member KRBURG

90 minutes of improvisation. Was pretty damn great in places. Bass player would just lock into a groove and then the sax and drummer would go off on one. Good stuff + no support meant an early start/finish. PUNK

did a day at latitude yesterday...

waisa project - not a lot on first thing so caught these. brother and sister jazz pop duo that was a bit shit. left when they started a cover of i will survive

the joy hotel - columbia rocks man reccommended scotch indie. quite enjoyed these and they've definitely got something about them. found the bird singer a bit scary, she would definitely destroy the rest of the band in a fight.

do nothing - quite enjoyed their album from earlier this year and the eps that came before it but ultimately they're a bit third tier when it comes to the recent wave of british postpunk bands. decent live show though and the perfect kind of set for this sort of slot at a festival

the murder capital - i've heard numerous people say how good these are over the years but never caught them before. they were fucking brilliant live tbh. really intense and loads of energy. biggest mosh pits i saw all day and some good crowdsurfing from the frontman. gone back to their latest album again since this and it makes loads more sense now.

the beths - pleasant enough but found them slightly dull. i would have loved them in the late 00s. let after about 3/4 of their set to try something different

georgia - sat and had some food while watching her on the mainstage. nice enough pop though kinda past me by.

dry cleaning - still one of the greatest bands in the world. not really listened to them much in the past 6 months but i think that kinds helped with me going into this gig fresh.

confidence man - caught the second half of their set as the first clashed with dry cleaning. got the crowd going and great fun. i would like to do things to janet planet.

english teacher - loved their rnb single but found the follow up ep a bit disappointing. will have to go back to it as they were great live here. really loud and noisy and they all look about 12. good set.

yard act - they've handled the transition from small venues to big headline shows like this perfectly and still manage to provide that sense of intimacy that make their shows so special. smashed it.

pulp - not as good as when i saw them in 2002 or 2013 but still a brilliant show. i think it was the crowd rather than the band that made it just a slight disappointment. basically at latitude normally the second stage headliner is on the same time as the main stage headliner to spread the crowd about and give people some options. they decided to have yard act finishing before pulp though which initially i was pleased about as i could see them both but ultimately it left pulp with a huge but slightly uninterested crowd. should have stuck something for the kids on in the tent as you had thousands of teenagers watching pulp who probably had no idea who they were. jarvis is still iconic though and hearing pink glove live was a treat. sung my heart out then went and got my coach home. a good day.

The Tonks at the Birds Nest. The usual greatest hits set. They was about to start when the sound guy (who I once saw outside the venue stood on a roundabout at 1am playing a flute) told them to get off the stage as his dinner was being served. Punk.

Saw THE TONKS again at the GREAT Welling beer festival, then went to Hammersmith to see PULP. Had never seen them before. Wish they would do more from This Is Harcore but you can't win them all. Great to hear all those hits being bashed out.

Saturday went to Rally Festival in Southwark Park. First one they've had on & they had the headliners from both stages pull out the day before & almost didn't open on time because it was absolutely chucking it down. Despite all that I think it was pretty well run even if the alcohol price was a joke. Caught Louis Culture, PVA, Wu-Lu. half watched Kelly Lee Owens. Highlights were Squid & Charlotte Adigery/Bolis Pupul. Will definitely go again next year if they book some cool shit again.

What was the booze situation then?

£6.30 for a fucking coke size can.

I don't mind being ripped off at festivals but at least let me pay £6 for a large can of warm shit.

Miles Kane in Norwich Wednesday night.

Never used to like him but really enjoyed the last two albums. Blasted through an hour and was done by 9.30pm which left a few latecomers bemused. Luckily I'm well connected and knew the score in advance. Odd crowd split 50/50 between ageing LADS like myself and fit 19 year old birds.

Lee Fields & The Expressions - I was rough, on my own, might be getting sick. He was amazing, they were amazing.

Do you remember when singers used to sing?

Metric

Fuck they were so good last night. I wish they were the headliner. 8/10 - would be higher if they got more time.

Alanis morissette was garbage. 1/10. Not my cup of tea so boring

got given free tickets to one of those cheesey 80s retro festivals yesterday. wouldn't normally be my thing but this one had a few decent acts including happy mondays so long i went. proper weird vibe at these things. can only describe it as being like a wedding on steroids. lots of middle aged/old people who clearly don't get out much completely off their chops.

first up i saw neville staple who was ideal for something like this. did all the big specials hits along with a couple of fun boy three songs. was perfect timing for me as i've been listening to lots of both bands recently. great fun.

the farm were next. groovy train was the bollocks and obviously all together now prompted a huge singalong. they did a new song though and it was fucking awful.

heaven 17 followed and the highlight of their set was a decent cover of let's dance by bowie. couple of other big hits like facist groove thing and temptation were fun but their set was probably my least enjoyable of the day.

next up was meant to be tony hadley of spandau ballet fame who i was secretly really looking forward to but he had to pull out due to injury so was replaced last minute by marc almond from soft cell. he was pretty good actually.

happy mondays were next and the main reason i went along. i was surprised at how tight the band are and it's actually quite a professional show despite the bez/rowetta/shaun chaos down the front. did an hour of hits and fucked off which is perfect. bit of danger right in front of me when half way through the set some ginormous fat bloke pushed his way to the front and started gobbing off at anyone who called him out on it telling them to fuck off and that he had raised 2 grand for charity so was allowed to be at the front. ended up with security dragging him out to huge cheers after he got in a few too many faces.

left after this along with half the festival as bananarama were headlining and not arsed about them. good fun day for a freebie. also a big shout out to dave benson phillips who was compere for the day and dj'ed between acts.

comments like that deserve a 7 day ban tux.

I agree Murphs, Bananarama > life

Barny, Glad you caught Lee fields, he's badass.

Here is my long winded Green Man review that'll only be read by JP. Though I will throw some numbers in to try and tempt Rocks_Man too.

Thursday:

Started with The Beatles Dub Club which is basically a DJ playing weird & wonderful danceable versions of Beatles tunes. Was a mass singalong & a good way to start the festival 7/10
Rogue Jones a welsh art-pop type thing, the set started well but there was some really broad attempts at anthems that came across more like Coldplay circa 2007. 6/10
Lost Map Presents Weird Wave is a collective of artists on Lost Map records fronted by the bloke from Pictish Trail. It was pretty solid tbh, very danceable and rhythmic, though the bloke from Pictish Trail who sings is a bit of a bellend. His attempts to get the crowd to singalong were tiresome. 6/10
The Bug Club drew a big crowd. I'd seen them a couple of times before & they'd been OK. This was by far the best time, though they do RaWK a bit they've kinda managed to do that in songs that are still very punchy & to the point. Helped having a large crowd into it but this was a good set 7/10
Spiritualized headlined. A band I used to fucking love that I've kinda lost interest in the past decade or so. Man, the opening 2 tracks (Hey Jane, She Kissed me it felt like a hit) was unbelievable. Probably the best 15 minutes of the entire weekend. Unfortunately the bastard didn't perform anything from Ladies n Gents or Let It Come Down. Still, the set was pretty damn good even if he kinda lost the huge crowd during the slower numbers. 8.5

Friday:
was dominated by the incredibly shit weather. It rained ALL day, mostly just drizzle but still enough to turn the site into a mud bath. Still friday had the strongest lineup of bands and they were mostly all in tents so it didn't ruin things too much. 
Spielmann opened the smallest stage. A one man synth/comedy(?) thing. I didn't hate it but it wasn't very good 5/10
Pencil were on next. Made up of members of bands I don't care about. The writeup on the green man website mentioned Brazilian rhythms & XTC... couldn't really hear any of that in their set + the singer wore a awful waste coat. Was pretty solid despite this 6/10
Melin Melyn were up next. Welsh group who I caught last year who were ace. They were on the main stage this time around & a big crowd turned up. Kinda quirky psych pop along the lines of SFA's Golden Retriever or Guacamole. Not quite as memorable as last years set (which featured a WWII plane suddenly fly dangerously low over everyone's heads) but they've some great tunes & plenty of stage antics to keep everyone entertained. 7.5/10
Mega Bog, American weirdo art-pop thing. She does a lot of daft vocal noises. I'd caught her opening for Cate Le Bon last year & it was decent. This was more of the same thing, perhaps a little more ROCK in the set this time. 6.5/10
the rain finally eased off a little so head to the main stage for the Dur-Dur International Band. A Somalian collective doing a mixture of african funk, reggae & pop. The kinda thing when the sun is blazing makes perfect sense. Still even with shitty weather it was a nice set. They had multiple singers, one being this huge woman who got upset when they ended a song before she wanted & she got aggressive with the keyboard player and started just pressing the keys whilst in his face 7/10
Jockstrap pulled in a big receptive crowd. This set went down a treat. I still think they could do with a banger or 2 more to replace the quieter moments in their set but damn, Glasgow, Greatest Hits & 50/50 were all huge. Excellent stuff 8/10
Warmduscher I'd somehow not seen despite them playing in TCOTU loads and even having tickets to see them a few times. They've gained a huge reputation as being a must see band on the festival circuit but I've gotta say, I was kinda underwhelmed. The energy is there but it all feels a bit one note. Decent set but I expected much more. 6.5
Squid were up next. I've probably seen them about 20 times now over the past few years but god damn, this was one of the best. They kinda cut out the more noodly bits in their set and delivered an hour of intensity that didn't ever slow down. The sound in the tent was awesome (the festival as a whole doesn't fuck about with sound levels & most things are mixed brilliantly) & the crowd were into it too. Fantastic 9/10
Caught CUMGIRL8 in the new bands tent. Female punk band from NY. It was loud as fuck. Seemed a bit style over substance but I was glad to just get out of the rain for a bit. 6/10
It was fucking CHUCKING it down now. It was either go see Slowdive in the tent which would be absolutely packed or man the fuck up and head to the main stage for DEVO. Devo are on their final ever tour so this was my only chance to see them. I got to the main stage 5 minutes before their headline set and there was literally nobody there I stood on the barrier with about 20 other people including the Squid singer. Holy shit this was phenomenal. I've always enjoyed Devo but kinda forgot how many great songs they have. Did 70 minutes of just banger after banger with costume changes & a few other gimmicks thrown in. Thankfully people did eventually brave it to come see them but there was probably only 3,000 people in the end watching when it should have been like 12,000. Anyway, this was a fucking joy & I'm so glad I decided to get soaked to the bollocks because it was totally worth it. 9/10

Saturday:

Started with The Outlines. Which is a 2-piece doing typical indie-rock. Though on drums was BIG JEFF, he's a UK legend when it comes to gig-going who's a bit of a cult hero at Green Man. He nearly died in a house fire last year so it was nice to see him back on his feet. It was very amateur stuff but played with enough conviction that they got away with it. It was all about Jeff & it was actually pretty emotional. Butchered a cover of Daniel Johnston at the end but still, it was heroic seeing him up on stage after everything he's been through. 7/10
the weather Sat & sunday was fine & people had avoided the main stage the day before so parts on the hill were still grass so I could do what I love to do in mornings and that's half-arse watch artists perform whilst lying down knackered. Yasmin Williams was lovely with a bit of sunshine, she plays an acoustic on her lap with some strange finger picking styles & tools to get noise out of the thing. Very melodic & perfect to chill to. 7/10
Morgan Noise, an artist who I think I may have seen their first ever gig at the Windmill was solid. A lot of raw talent & many different ideas which some work, others don't stick but there's definitely something there. Ended with a chaotic version of Nirvana's Love Buzz which was sweet. 6.5/10
Was still kinda shattered so opted to lay on the hill and listen to Julie Byrne. This was fucking tedious. Sounded like music for bank commercials. Annoyingly green man love to book this kinda shit for the main stage. 3/10
Joyeria, one of my favourite bands of the past couple of years played a blinder on the new bands tent. I think everytime I've seen them they've had a different bass player. Fucking great live act. Singer lost it with his guitar going out of tune re-starting a couple of tunes before throwing his guitar on the floor and letting off a huge rant about how awful fender guitars are he changed guitars before stamping on the fender at the end of the set. Powerful shit 8.5
Etran de L'Air on the main stage did some rhythmic/psych desert-rock. Fantastic musicians, though after half hour it all started to sound the same to my ears. 6.5
YABBA performed on the new stage. Hadn't heard them before. An aggressive punk band from Glasgow. I dug their energy even if the tunes were nothing to write home about 6.5/10
Last year The Wedding Present came in last minute after LOW had to cancel and played a blinder. I think they were invited back for being good sports the previous year. Didn't quite match the heights of last year. The first half of the set Gedge's vocals were too low but it was eventually sorted and the final half hour was mostly HITS with a huge dad-pit of men jumping up and down. Good band which I kinda wish I liked more than I do. 7.10
Snail Mail, I enjoyed their first album but second was shit. Hadn't seen them before but I won't again. This was really fucking plodding indie-rock. I hate seeing bands put so much dramatic energy into something so unremarkable. 4/10
Bob Vylan was fucking great & everything I'd hoped for. Just pure ENERGY & aggression. Big tunes, politically on point. They've been on literally every festival bill this year from metal fests to middle class leftie gatherings to your big rock fests and I'd imagine they'd gone down a storm in all of them. They'll be huge. Musically It's too on the nose for me to listen to on record, but Britain needs a band like this. Everything a band like royal blood wish they could be yet never will. 8/10
Goat were technically the headliners on the other stage (tho they have stuff late into the night). They drew a huge crowd and everywhere I went all weekend everyone seemed to think Goat was the best thing they'd seen. Not sure if it was a combination of me feeling tired or me caring less about each release they've put out or people in the crowd annoying me but I really wasn't feeling it. After a few songs it all just sounded the same & I started to wonder why I'd been so obsessed with them. Wasn't bad but I'll give it a big barny MEH/10
Confidence Man were on after, had a spot right at the front & the second they came on stage all the life in me returned. It was an hour of power, just one big party. Janet Planets dancing skills are incredible. They've got bangers, anthems, the lot. Completely rocked the place. As long as they don't fuck up their next album they'll be performing sold out arena's for years to come. 9/10

Sunday:
The sun finally came out, the mud had dried up & I had plenty of energy for a Sunday. Kicked off the morning with Kanda Bongo Man, a Congolese musician/band. Kinda funky, yet kinda cheesy too. Enjoyed it whilst resting on the grass. 6.5/10
Hyll were up on the small bands tent. Welsh 4 piece doing a melodic indie rock/pop thing. I'd heard their album prior which is pretty nice but they were even better live. a couple of tunes sounded like something from Albert Hammond Jr's debut. 7/10
Jake Xerxes Fussell performed on the main stage. Loved his album from last year, what a wonderful voice. Just very simple solo acoustic American folk. Been wanting to catch him for a while & he didn't disappoint. 7/10
JULIE were up in the big tent. Been excited/intrigued about these since I discovered them on RYM last year. They're basically 3 kids doing My Bloody Valentine meets Sonic Youth & doing it really fucking well. Seems with Horsegirl, Lifehouse & now Julie there's a scene/revival of this type of music happening with da kids & I'm completely down for it. Not sure they have tunes to match their heroes just yet, but damn, they made quite a noise & I was impressed. 8
Nuha Ruby Ra who I caught open the main stage last year now has a musician with her who plays guitar and controls drum machines/synths/loops. Enjoyed what I saw of her set, her new EP is ace & she's cool as fuck. Didn't see the entire set but what I saw was good shit 7/10
Hopped over to the big tent to see Billy Nomates who drew a large crowd. Her new record has really grown on me, some good danceable pop/indie & the set drew mostly from that. I think she was moved a little by the reception she received. 7.5
Wanted to catch Gilla Band but was knackered so opted to get food and have a lay down by the main stage. Alabaster dePlume was on, what a complete insufferable cunt. I spent the entire set imagining ways to end his life. Absolute shit, fucking prick 0/10
Horace Andy was up next. His band were arguing with each other for 15 minutes before the set started   I've not seen many of the Reggae greats but so glad I caught Horace. He looked & sounded the bollocks. His band were great too, an hour set with no downtime, straight into the next number. Loved every minute of it 8.5
Couldn't be arsed with Amyl & the Sniffers on the big stage so went to watch drag artist Ash Kenazi perform in a tiny tent. Was great fun, ended up dancing to K-pop with a bunch of people dressed as postmen whilst Ash rolled around on the floor. 7/10
Caught Cory Hanson, I'd previewed a few seconds of stuff and thought he was just gonna be some country thing but it was more like country RAWK. SteveBigRed, have you heard this guy? It was like a more rocked up Cardinals, might be up your street. The guys in the band wore vests though which was unfortunate. 6.5
Really wasn't bothered about the headliners for the Sunday. Watched a couple of tunes from Youth Fathers from outside the tent, I don't get the appeal of this band, it sounded really naff. Walked about & saw Special Interest, kinda like a more punk GOSSIP, this was actually really good fun. Hadn't heard them before, just some good punk meets indie-disco, lots of energy. 6.75
Watched a huge chunk of their set then walked over to the main stage to catch the end of First Aid Kit, it looked boring as fuck. Just completely middle of the road shit for the kinda people that rate Fleetwood Mac, get fucked. They finished and walked off to Dancing Queen by Abba, vomit educing. I'll give it to green man though, despite booking a lot of this kinda thing they schedule it well by always keeping something a bit more louder or edgy to combat the MOR garbage. 

finished the weekend with the burning of the Green Man with fireworks, always a nice end to the festival. Not sure how to rate it compared to the other two, the weather on Friday was brutal but it all worked out in the end. Another great fucking green man. Just hope I can get tickets for this year as I only just managed to get a pair before it sold out this time around. 

Canela party - 1st day short one as an intro. Caught half of Repion, 3rd band I see of one of them. Better live than on record.
La Trinidad was probably the best one, between punk and funk, like late era Clash or Parquet Courts and again much better live.
Didn't pay too much attention to Nilufer Nanya or her surname but I remember a good Rid of me cover.
Then Panda Bear & Sonic Boom which I already saw a month ago, this time I was slightly less stoned but pretty decent anyway.
Wanted to check Jonathan Bree but left after song.