V Festival
Hylands Park, Chelmsford
August 21-22, 2010
As
the saying goes “What a difference a day makes”,
nevermind ten years. My first ever festival was V Festival
2000 and fast-forward ten years, here am I at V Festival
2010, celebrating its 15th year. This year’s V Festival
has an eclectic line-up with an attendance estimated at
a whopping 155,000.
Having missed all of the good bands (Passion Pit, Feeder,
Magic Numbers) by the time we settled down at 1:30pm on
the Saturday afternoon (Yes, the important/interesting
bands came on early), we decided to occupy ourselves with
the only entertaining band on in the 3 o’clock slot.
The 8 Welsh boys/men comedic rap music group Goldie Lookin’
Chain, they managed to pack the small Virgin Union tent
out with an overflowing crowd. Goldie Lookin’ Chain
certainly didn’t disappoint with their energetic
set filled with explicit songs poking fun at the chav
culture. They even had a dancing robot for one number!
us
Pressed for acts to watch on the Saturday, we caught Swedish
pop princess Robyn belting out her dance-pop hits. Her
mixed genres of Electropop, Synthpop with R&B are
refreshingly catchy with infectious beats. Never in my
lifetime can I quote I saw an act, dancing and eating
a banana at the same time. Her 80’s inspired dance
routine infused with a deep sense of conceptual art demonstrated
her showmanship. Robyn ended her set with her biggest
hit to date - the crowd pleasing With Every Heartbeat.
Kings of Leon
The
scale of V Festival has expanded to the extent that the
main stage is possibly three times its original size from
ten years ago. Watching Saturday’s headline act
Kings of Leon from miles away did not damper one’s
spirit, however the lack of audience participation and
appreciation did. The earnest 4-piece thanked the under
appreciating crowd and played with gusto during the hour
and the half set. Departing from the obvious, Kings of
Leon played Sex on Fire and Use Somebody mid-set and saving
their best songs from their earlier albums Youth And Young
Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak to the end. The band
finished their set early at 10:25 when scheduled to finish
at 10:50pm. This was an obvious bid for an encore. Did
the crowd respond? No. They stood there in silence. The
band waited 5 minutes before coming on for their encore
in spite of the lack of a warm reception. They deserved
better!
Peter Andre
With
a more stellar lineup on Sunday, we started our day storming
back to Nissan Jukebox Arena along with what seems like
a million others just to catch Peter Andre playing at
noon. Peter Andre’s 35 minute set was filled with
confusion and bewilderment. Clearly there is a lack of
songs from his own catalogue. Pete dedicated three songs
to the legendary King of Pop - Michael Jackson. After
miming to The King of Pop medley, Pete covered another
song by The Police before closing with the predictable
but ever popular, Mysterious Girl. All we can say was
WTF was that!!??
Jo after watching Peter Andre
Running between stages, the day proceeded with La Roux,
Seasick Steve, Calvin Harris, Doves, Mika, The Pet Shop
Boys and The Prodigy. Worth mentioning is Doves came on
stage to an audience of Prodigy fans on the Channel 4
stage. The restless audience had been entertaining themselves
with countless bottle fights. To make matters worse, Jimi
Goodwin of the Doves came on rightfully asking the crowd
“What on earth are you doing?” Their excellent
set was marred by the numerous objects being thrown on
stage which included a bottle of Linx. Goodwin, rightfully
annoyed, threatened to “beat the ***t out of the
next person to throw something”. Before the Doves
left the stage, Goodwin thanked the crowd insincerely
and said this is an “interesting” experience
and declaring V the “last festival [they’ll]
visit in a while”
My encounter with Mr Goodwin didn’t end after the
Doves on stage. Having had a glass of water chucked directly
into my face while watching The Prodigy, I decided to
retreat to the comfortable and civilised world of V’s
hospitality tent. Coincidently, I have came into V’s
hospitality tent just in time to catch Goodwill march
past me towards the bar. Followed shortly by Andy Williams
from the Doves sprinting into the tent to catch up with
Goodwill. What appeared to me as a minor squabble soon
unfolded with both grown men storming out of the tent
into the rain. Doves = Drama.
Mika
Mika
was another traumatizing experience. I managed to get
right up front for his set as I got there a few minutes
early to an empty tent. Immediately after positioning
myself with a good spot, the crowd stormed in to greet
the flamboyantly annoying Mika and his bizarre vocal stylings.
Mika's set was fantastic and the man is talented, I can
admit that. While I am very entertained by him, I simultaneously
want to punch him in the face. It takes an amazing amount
of talent and annoyance to get such a strong mixed reaction
from me! Well done Mika!
Why I want to punch Mika
Pet Shop Boys
Since
I was already at the front after Mika, I decided to get
right in there for The Pet Shop Boys! Front row baby!!!
The Pet Shop Boys are FANTASTIC! Amazing music, amazing
visuals, amazing amazing amazing. Shame for them it wasn't
that busy for their headline set as they were on the second
smallest stage with Air simultaneously playing in the
smallest arena, and Prodigy and Kasabian taking over the
bigger stages.
Pet Shop Boys
Overall, V Festival 2010's crowd was disrespectful and
ignorant at best with our experience tainted with rude
and outrageous behaviour. Minus the people, V Festival
was an average experience. Not for the faint hearted but
if you are up for a good fight, there are lots of worthy
opponents at V!
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Camp Bestival -
the EXPLOSIVE review everyone's been waiting
for!!!
By Marty Funkhouser
Camp Bestival is the baby brother of the hugely successful
Bestival, both curated by Radio One’s Rob Da Bank.
At a (sold out) capacity of 10,000 it’s a third
the size of it’s better known sibling and so manages
to retain a genuinely intimate boutique feel, which it
does in the beautiful rolling grounds of Lulworth Castle
in Dorset.
The emphasis is on family-friendliness, and this it has
in bucket-loads. But then, coming in at over £300
for 2 adults (kids are free) plus spendings on site, the
cost is the best part of a summer holiday for some families,
and so it needs to deliver on that front.
With a Zippos Circus, some impressive jousting, live Gruffalo
action, fun-fair rides and an expansive kids field, Camp
Bestival had the feel of a huge summer fete. The kids
have lots of fun in a safe environment, and happy kids
means relaxed parents, who can kick back, enjoy the excellent
food (& booze) on offer, and even check out some music.
It’s strange for the first mention of music in a
music festival review to appear so far down the list,
but it reflects the priorities of the festival. It’s
as if, having catered so well for the families, the music
was, if not an after-thought, then certainly a bonus,
and leaned heavily towards safe heritage acts, without
the cutting edge of Bestival’s live line-up.
George Clinton (and the spirit, if not necessarily personnel
of Parliament & Funkadelic) headlined on the Friday
night and the poor turnout in the drizzle wasn’t
helped by the meandering performance & interminable
guitar solos that led to a migration to the dance tents
or bed, depending on your situation. The sun came out
on Saturday for The Blockheads, the New-Wave barrow boys
still funkier than a mosquito’s tweeter. That their
crowd-pleasing grooves and joyous performance at times
make you forget the absence of their talismanic leader
Ian Dury says it all.
Saturday headliners Madness seduced a huge crowd away
from the many other attractions and had tired toddlers
bouncing on the shoulders of exuberant Dads as far as
the eye could see, whilst a nod was made to the 21st Century
with the marvelous Friendly Fires concluding the festival
on Sunday.
Despite the lack of younger live bands, absence of any
live electronic artists, and Chipmunk’s cancellation
leaving only Tinie Tempah to hold the flag for the yoof,
there was a decent offering of DJs in the dance tent come
the night. On Saturday Annie Mac presented some of the
young guns of today’s dance scene. Jack Beats’
excitable set of teenage crowd-pleasing bass workouts
entertained for as long as a one-trick pony can. However,
Joy Orbison’s boundary-pushing, rump-shaking re-imagining
of garage-as-if-released-on-Warp Records injected some
much needed soul along with hope for the future, whilst
Annie Mac’s latest squeeze Toddla T went for the
festival jugular with a set of jump-up anthems before
showing why his own dancehall-infused productions have
won him a deal with Ninja Tune.
50 feet away, but apparently in a different Time and Space
entirely, Bucks Fizz were performing in the SingStar sponsored
‘Cocktails & Dreams’ arena. Packed to
the rafters with AWOL Mums & Dads The Cuban Brothers
whipped up a Mojito-fuelled crowd before the Fizz did
their thing and the place exploded with guilty-pleasure
and drunken nostalgia.
Despite the considerable price and sometimes thin musical
line up, this was a place full of happy campers, both
young and old, relaxing and letting their hair down in
an idyllic setting. If you’re after a bit of Mr
Tumble to go with your Mr Scruff, Camp Bestival is the
place for you.
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Guilfest
2010
By Cristina Aragon
Guilfest
this year had great weather and atmosphere to match. The
overall experience was very good, with plenty of activities
for all – classic bands, comedians and booze for
the grown ups as well as new bands, arts and crafts and
games for the kids. An added bonus was the availability
of very varied food that seemed unusual for festivals.
Churros and Tagine stalls mixed with the traditional burgers
and hotdogs carts.
On Saturday afternoon we were welcomed by the reggae tunes
of Ali Campbell's UB40 that had everyone dancing with
classics like 'Red Wine' and 'Can't help falling in love'.
Two big thumbs up to them for their excellent performance
that the years have only improved.
Unfortunately we can't say the same for 'The Human League'.
Their singing is definitely not what it used to be. Perhaps
bad monitoring was to blame, but I wonder what can be
blamed for the bad backing singers' dancing...
The younger generations enjoyed the energetic performance
of N-Dubz, however, they do have a lot to learn from the
older, more experienced bands. Their performance didn't
feel as confident and as easy after UB40.
Our great discovery of the festival was 'Wobbly Squadron'.
A great ensemble from Guilford/Horsham of drums, percussion,
guitar, bass and various wind instruments.
Interesting and engaging, Wobbly Squadron don't have a
singer. They have great instrumental tunes that are both
catchy and dancy. Worth checking out on myspace –
http://www.myspace.com/wobblysquadron
Another great act was Parma International with their dub
sounds. They bring back 60's soul and 70's reggae to the
21st century. It's definitely one to keep an eye on in
the future.
The cherry on top was 'Status Quo' that, as expected,
rocked. They are fantastic musicians, performers and entertainers.
There is definitely a lot of candy left in that piñata!
Guilfest is one to check out again next year. Great festival
atmosphere, not too bad loos with the added bonus of being
family friendly – a match made in heaven!
Guilfest
2010
By Nwebo Niermann
My
Kid asked me if this was Woodstock! I guess a reaction
to the colourful environment that welcomed us, and one
movie too many. Guilfest was not exactly hippie although
it had a nostalgic feel to it - It was a hip family fest.
A relaxed and not overcrowded atmosphere where families
as well as outright fans could enjoy their while.
There was lots and lots to do and see and a bountiful
variety of foods to eat spreading across many continents
which that was great. The price was right and the vibe
was right. One had to choose carefully though, with what
one wanted to see or do and so there was quite a bit of
compromising. If one did do and see everything it would
have been a fest from hell and a 3 month much needed holiday
thereafter. Yes there was soooo much to see and do!!
Walking around, one could hear oozing out of the tents
fine poetry, folk songs, chants, hip hop , rock and dance
music and of course laughter and more. One was ever often
tempted to explore the exciting sound collage.
The highlights of the fest were of course old favourites
like UB40, Status Quo, 10CC , Level 42 and the Human League
among others. Unfortunately not all favourites were at
the standard they were 20 years ago. This was a bit disappointing
but some were great!! The crowd seemed to enjoy every
moment though. People were friendly and at the end there
was a sense of familiarity amongst visitors all ending
with warm goodbyes.
Guilfest on the whole is a fest that one could go to year
to year. It is some camping fun, loads of music, colourful
and somewhat crazy stalls and an ace kids zone that makes
it a cool family fest and outing.
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NXNE
June 14-20
Toronto
As
usual with NXNE, too many bands, too little time. Let's
get right to it:
Alphabot
Thursday June 17, 2010 Whippersnapper Gallery
Sporting
a red cape like ‘Dancing Homer’ from an episode
of the Simpsons, and a robot-shaped cardboard box on his
head, the front man of Alphabot told a story about knights,
maidens and robots that weaved throughout their set.
He was the doppelganger for Breakfast Club era Anthony
Michael Hall. Their set for NXNE sounded bizarre, warped
and more like the bar scene from Star Wars than a NXNE
show. Once the music started, the front man acted as a
mad conductor leading the 6 other members down a weird,
odd musical path. The set-up was complex- drums, violin,
bass, laptop, electric and acoustic guitar…and then
add a bunch of effects pedals, megaphone and synth.
Interesting, but it was definitely not for the weak at
heart that might not be able to recognize the art in it.
It truly was structured chaos along the lines of A Certain
Ratio. Alphabot are very entertaining to say the least
– worth checking out if they make it to your neck
of the woods.
Pop Winds
Thursday June 17, 2010
Whippersnapper Gallery
Montreal’s
Pop Winds were late starting their NXNE set which seems
to be because of the electronic equipment that needed
to be set up in the short 15 minute turnaround. The three
piece creates interesting electronic soundscapes and dark
danceable music. They also used video projections managed
by a ‘VJ’ wearing full body, dark leotard.
It was strange since he was situated half way down the
venue. I assume he is usually on the stage with band,
but tonight he was further back. The drum kit was stripped
back and minimal – it got a bit noisy but kept attention
through the first few tracks. One of the vocalists ruined
the sounds a bit because he was not really meshing with
the electronic sounds. Not a fan of the saxophone, but
I have to say it really did work in this case. Video was
minimal to match the set-up, but were cool with live editing
(it may have been boring without the visuals). I would
be interested in checking them out again in a different
venue to see if the vibe will change.
Comanechi
Thursday June 17, 2010
Velvet Underground
This
London-based girl / guy two piece has been lots of hype
in the UK since the drummer is also in The Big Pink. I
was really looking forward to this show since pre-NXNE
there was lots of hype and promo for their 3 sets throughout
the festival. I decided to see their first set at Velvet
Underground which was completely dead with a couple dozen
people at the venue.
Right from the get go, it was heavy, heavy, heavy and
the delivered loud, straight ahead rock'n'roll. The drummer
is adorable - lines like "this is a new song - I
hope we don't fuck it up" said in her sweet Japanese
accent. Not much variation between songs and this got
really boring a couple songs in – this is the flaw
with a drum / guitar set-up – unless you are White
Stripes with the innovation of Jack White, it falls short.
If you were expecting The Big Pink, it would be a disappointment.
The lyrics were hilarious, but I don’t actually
think they were meant to be. Picture Back Sabbath meets
Nina Hagen meets Death From Above 1979 but not as good
as each of those individual parts.
Sorry, Comanechi, I will have to pass next time.
Stop Die
Friday June 18, 2010
Comfort Zone
They were really slow to get started (over 25 mins late)
- which made for a really short NXNE set. Once they finally
started, they announced their name change to Stop Die
(from the original moniker Stop Die Resuscitate, they
have unfortunately dropped the ‘Resuscitate’).
Moving to more guitar than electronics completely changed
their sound, but unfortunately not for the better. Originally
drawing a deep, guttural hip-hop style vocal, it worked
much better for them. After finishing the first song,
the front man stripped off his shirt leaving just a tribal
looking scarf around his neck; this was far too contrived
and failed to impress.
A slow track called Midnight Romance worked better with
heavily delayed vocal. Midnight Romance only worked because
they didn't throw all their instruments into the ring.
Unfortunately, once the track gained momentum, it sounded
rather middle of the road and lost the interesting edge.
Luckily they salvaged the set when they played an older
track which I remember hearing from the first time seeing
them a few years ago at Sneaky Dee's doing live PA for
DJ Shit La Merde. The track Bounce really got people moving
and pulled lead singer into his natural element. One more
note…next time, keep your clothes on.
CATL
Friday June 18, 2010
Comfort Zone
CATL were not my cup of tea with their strong rockabilly
style but I do have to admit that between sets for 20
minutes, they really helped create an interesting atmosphere
at the very ‘divey’ Comfort Zone. They were
located in a dark corner with floor and black lighting
which created creepy shadows on the back wall. This really
worked well and made them interesting to watch and listen
to.
Ten Kens
Friday June 18, 2010
Comfort Zone
Heavy band and the weak vocals were lost most of the show.
The vocalist sounded like a budget Ben Kowalewicz from
Billy Talent. The guitar player was like a circus freak
- his head literally hitting the ceiling and not sure
how tall he was. The vocals were all over the place -
deep at some points and high at other and still coming
up short on their attempted screamo formula.
Unfortunately
didn't keep my interest at all and I had to vacate the
building. Sorry boys - sack the vocalist, and you may
be able to salvage something.
Ten Bears
Friday June 18, 2010
El Mocambo (Main Floor)
Not much to write here – I walked into the venue,
heard a couple bars of their music, turned on my heels
and walked out. It was so middle of the road, my ears
couldn’t tolerate it. No interest…no photo
…no coverage.
Blackout
Friday June 18, 2010
Spadina and Queen Street
I left El Mocambo to discover that there was a blackout
that spread all the way down Spadina. I headed for the
Horseshoe but once I arrived, I found that the power outage
was alos on Queen Street. This forced the NXNEers to stand
on Queen waiting for the power to come back on to continue
the music.
Iggy & The Stooges
Saturday June 19, 2010
Yonge & Dundas Square
Yonge and Dundas was jammed with old punks, young punks
and a bunch of people who probably had no clue what they
were listening to. It was a very hot sweaty mess under
the bright billboards and Iggy was in fine form. The positioning
of promo tents and lack of video screens made it completely
impossible to see the stage, but they sound totally on
point. I think I saw Iggy’s blonde hair fly above
the tents during one of his famous ‘salmon jumps’,
but can’t be sure. My personal highlight was ‘I
Wanna Be Your Dog’.
Avi Buffalo
Saturday June 19, 2010
Lee’s Palace
Avi Buffalo were a pleasant surprise since I was really
only at Lee’s to catch Cold Cave. This band from
Long Beach, CA are already signed to Sub Pop and just
out of high school. They sound a bit like The XX if they
were an American band. I only caught a few songs from
the band, but liked what I heard. I may have to catch
them on their tour with Blitzen Trapper this summer.
Cold Cave
Saturday June 19, 2010
Lee’s Palace
The Philadelphia electronic-pop band (now based in NYC)
were the band I was most looking forward to for NXNE 2010.
I saw Cold Cave last year for NXNE 2009 at Sneaky Dee’s,
and they have come a long way since the last NXNE. They
have new members, new album, new record label (now with
Matador), new confidence, and a new live set.
They started their set with some electronic muscle flexing
in the form of controlled noise which was almost deafening
at points, but once they kicked into gear with IDCK, they
got the chest thumping bass and synth lines pumping and
had the audience pulled right in immediately. They ran
through a number of tracks from their stallar ‘Loves
Comes Close’ full-length. They were in fine form
and delivered bass heavy, dark, dancey tracks through
their entire set start to finish. Cold Cave did not disappoint
– they were solid, catchy and completely danceable.
----------------------------------------
Splice
Starring Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley
In UK Cinemas July 23, 2010
Clive
(Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) are a young and
‘hip’ scientist couple living the scientific
equivalent of the rock n roll dream. They’re top
in their field of genetic modification as they try to
isolate an animal protein. They find themselves on the
cover of Wired magazine, and are the company hotshots
at their ridiculously named firm N.E.R.D. (Nucleic Exchange
Research & Development).
The first creatures we witness on screen are Fred and
Ginger… a ridiculous pair of genetically modified
phallis that paves the way for the creation of our main
animal-human hybrid main villain Dren. Dren is the result
of Clive and mostly Elsa’s desire for success notoriety
as they secretly create Dren from human and animal cells,
against the wishes of their superiors.
Dren becomes a surrogate child for the couple, and very
odd and disturbing things ensue. Now, I cannot say anything
further without giving away some important spoilers…
so SPOILER ALERT: This film contains a lot of phallis,
incest, parental rape and beastiality themes. Not for
the faint of heart.
Anyhoo… As sick and twisted as this film alludes
to, it is a good watch. The creature effects, whilst completely
perverse, are very believable and most excellent. Especially
the humanoid DREN who is marvellously played by French
actress Delphine Chanéac and CGI.
The chemistry between Adrien and Sarah is gripping. It’s
great to see Sarah back on the big screen and Adrien in
a film that his odd looks and demeanour are rather suited
for. A psychological gross out film rather than a physical
one.
Worth a watch for the discerning sci fi / horror fan,
if not for anything but to help solve the mystery of DID
THE MAKERS OF THIS FILM ACTUALLY REALIZE HOW PHALLIC FRED
AND GINGER ARE????
4 out of 5 lips
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Around the world and down under in two weeks
of Sydney Film Festival...
The Sydney Film Festival has come to
life, after last year's criticism...with some big names
on the red carpet and a diverse array of film makers on
the big screen, the people of Sydney should be grateful
for the cash injection by the state government which saved
it from the fate that featured in nearly every film I
saw over the two weeks: death and depression...well depression
was more my fate having watched a series of heart rendering
films which give viewers a whole new perspective on what
they have to complain about...
Screenings from 47 countries started with Australian made
South Solitary directed by Shirley Barrett,
which charts the misadventures of a woman (Miranda Otto)
who visits a remote island with her cranky uncle, mourning
the death of her fiance on the World War I battlefields.
A Bridget Jones in the 1920's, this storyline examines
the miscommunications and dilemmas associated with romance,
with a darker tone documenting the strange and traumatic
feelings of a community still scarred by war.
Other films from home soil included Australian-french
co-production The Tree about a family's
grief after a father's death, in Wasted on the
Young showing the disaffected youth in an elite
school, The Waiting City about a couple's
meltdown as they visit India to adopt a child, Three
Boys Dreaming documenting the struggle of three
indigenous Australians as they follow their dream of playing
AFL (Aussie rules footy).
A hefty demand and small theatres sadly made it difficult
to get my hands on passes for the films from down under,
and sadly I missed out on seeing the highly anticipated
British films Four Lions, which follows
some ridiculously un-terrifying terror plots, using comedy
to reveal some uncomfortable truths about the world we
live in, Exit through a gift shop, Banksy's
teasing faux documentary and Roman Polanski’s sleek
political thriller The Ghost Writer ,
based on the best-selling novel by Robert Harris. This
upset me more than words can express as I also missed
the lovely Ewan McGregor who blessed us with his dashing
presence down under on the red carpet at the Australian
premier.
So then...with no prospects of seeing the big boys, I
began my journey of independent films from an array of
cultures with Bahman Ghobadi’s
portrait of young musicians living in Tehran. No
One Knows About Persian Cats gives a glimpse
of the political conditions of the Islamic Republic of
Iran obliquely and since his 2004 film Turtles
Can Fly, Tehran has attracted international attention
as a site of repression and resistance, making his birds-eye
footage of the city (using his own portable digital camera
instead of the State's authorised film equipment) both
risky and rare. The film was shot in 17 days to keep off
official's radar and reveals an anti-American tyrant,
a violent police force, and heroic young rebels of our
generation. Scenes in underground basements and isolated
barns are hastily shot and roughly edited, mirroring the
Yo uTube videos that document the protests. A humorous
insight of the cultural suppression was a line delivered
by one of the locals "Oh, I love indie rock! 50 Cent,
Madonna… they’re great!" however the
film soon takes a dive towards the traumatic consequences
for those caught up in the resistance, with a traumatic
ending which had me not only in floods of tears, but in
shock over the gravity of the political unrest that crushes
so many people's dreams in this world.
Another poignant tale of the aftermath of political battles
came in Iraq's Son of Babylon which follows
twelve year old Ahmed and his grandmother's search for
the boy's father Ibrahim, MIA and reportedly arrested
in 1991. This excruciatingly sad tale brings home the
mind-boggling toll taken by the Saddam years, with more
than one million Iraqis dead or missing, many exhumed
from the 300 mass graves discovered up to now. With graves
tumbling with skulls and bones, this film isn't for the
faint hearted and again the cinema was silenced with sobs
as the credits came up.
I had a little rest bite with two short films - Soul
Boy is a collaboration between a German and Kenyan
production team who hosted production workshops in Kibera,
Naorobi, one of the largest slums in East Africa. In the
compelling film that resulted, a teenage boy tracks down
the witch doctor who stole his dying father's soul in
a quest to save him. Even more joyous was Dyana Gaye’s
Saint Louis, which tells the story of six passengers ride
through the cluttered urban streets of Dakar and down
the dusty roads of Senegal through a Jacques Demy style
musical.
Spain's Cell 211 is an intense prison
drama which shows what happens when the nastiest, most
violent inmates take over the prison, and a rookie played
by Alberto Amman (Spain's answer to James Mc Avoy) finds
himself caught in the middle. The film shies away from
a predictable heroic tale and instead reveals the journey
of one man to the dark side, following the death of his
pregnant fiancé as he turns against the good guys.
Touching on the corruption of the Spanish officials, the
political message was somewhat diluted by the unrealistic
plot, however Tosar's performance is stunning and I for
one will be looking out for him in the future.
One of the highlights came from Omar Rodriguez Lopez (Mars
Volta, At the Drive In) who wrote, directed, produced
and acted in The Sentimental Engine Slayer,
a hallucinogenic film in which a nerdy young guy preoccupied
with '67 Mercury Cougar cars and strangulation, which
connects with the theme of nihilism and tortured sexuality.
Through random fragments that never follow the chronological
order (think Pulp Fiction or Memento), the story is to
some degree unravelled, revealing the perfect bits of
information at the perfect moments. Accompanied with an
outstanding and enhancing soundtrack created by John Frusciante,
the film ends and you think what the f...and walk out
with a confused smile on your face as you digest what
just happened...
Having experienced the traumatic,the unimaginable, the
random and the ridiculous, my last film was entertaining
and easy on the mind...Hesher is a heavy
metal nomad who plays the part of a hyperactive and destructive
volcano who erupts sporadically and emphatically as he
takes over the home of TJ a young boy mourning the death
of his mother. Hesher gives a damn about nothing and no
one, and the insight is offered by the gratuitous provocations
and repetitive vulgarities that are littered consistently
yet understatedly throughout the film. Despite some disturbing
psychological undertones Hesher is amusing and somehow
warm and fuzzy as you try to get inside the psycho in
underpants who shares a tender moment over a bong with
granny and then goes absolutely nuts as he blows up a
car and fills a swimming pool with an array of furniture
in the vicinity of a vacant house.
All
in all the Sydney Film Festival had some fantastic film
pieces from across the world, and I can't wait for the
next one...Perhaps I'll even make it to the red carpet
and find myself confronted with the funniest, happiest
feel good film in the world...I suspect not, for film
festivals are the perfect platform for all of the heartfelt
and unusual films that don't get a pop at mainstream cinema
and this saddens me, so I anxiously await next year's
opportunity to get a glimpse of more genius works from
people who have something meaningful to say for themselves
and the world we live in...In the meantime though I might
go and cheer myself up with the cheesiest rom-com I can
find...I think I have been damaged by the trauma of the
cinematic representation of reality, and all the sadness
it depicts...
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The Harlem Globetrotters
7 June
Wembley Arean, London
Everyone
has heard of The Harlem Globetrotters. Since their inception
in Chicago, 1926, the Globetrotters have been an all-American
basketball team that combines athleticism, drama and most
of all, comedy. Internationally reknowned for their unique
combination of physical skill and verbal comedy, the team
have been a mainstay in popular culture for 84 years and
have even appeared on The Simpsons! That is the
defining moment in anyone's entertainment career of course!
If you haven't seen them live, you're still familar with
their act, their theme tune of Sweet Georgia Brown,
and quite possibly their hilarious mascot Globie
who's been around for 17 years. When you see them live,
all the pieces fit together to form a hilariously entertaining
night of physical admiration combined with pure shits
n giggles. Genius.
While the team were fab, it was Globie's big brother that
stole the show for me. The rubbery larger version of Globie
had me in tears when he came out on the court dancing
to Chumbawamba. Everytime the lyric "I
get knocked down... but i get up again..." played,
this *THUD* echoed across Wembley as
he whacked himself face first onto the court. What is
that if not pure genius? TEARS!!!!!!
Anyway, I'm a crap photographer clearly.... either that,
or they're just way too fast moving for me to capture
on film. Here
are some of my favourite Harlem Globetrotter highlights
from the night.
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The Robot Heart
3 June
St Giles Church, London
The
Robot Heart have just finisehd their debut album which
is released on Bleeding Heart Recordings.
The Robot Heart have been described as "an Icelandic
sounding Beach Boys" and I can totally see why. Influences
range from Mum, Jonsi, Radiohead, Badly Drawn Boy with
harmonies reminiscent of those Wilson brothers. Beautiful
instrumentation from a 4 piece band, with harmonies being
the key feature in their setup. Even more than the melodies
themselves, the harmonies is what sells this band's vocal
styling.
The venue could not have been better. Taking place in
St. Giles Church in London, the audience sat in pews and
listened to the band's harmonies resonate within the church's
ambience. Something quite etheral about the whole experience.
The live gig itself will be difficult to follow up on
album as the band are so amazing live, and the acoustics
were perfection. I look very forward to hearing their
attempt!
