Dot to Dot festival (Bristol) 23.5.09

The Dot to Dot Festival is a one day festival in bristol and the next day in nottingham featuring around 50 artists and bands in 5 venues over the area. It's like camden crawl but without the expensive tickets, queues and pretentiousness.

I know usually I'd say what I was doing and stuff leading up to this but this is going to be an epic review so open your minds to new music and- bam...

2pm. Official Secrets Act @ The fleece

You get your wristband, map, line-up etc about an hour before it kicks off so you have time to make an educated decision on where to go first. I chose the official secrets act for I had blogged about them a week prior and had good things to say. This has been slightly tarnished now for they apparently cancelled! When I found this out I had about 10 minutes to get to...

2.15pm. "Special Guests" @ Louisana

So I run 2 miles to the louisana to see the special guest. From experience this is either someone awesome opening up the festival (it's the only special guest the entire weekend) or someone they've just bunged on at the last minute.

Well let me tell you I was sweating balls by the time I got there, drunk after drinks with my bro earlier and hot... not in a co-ed spring break way but an uncomfortable self-conciousness leading to more sweating kinda way.

There was a bit of a buzz about this carpeted, curtained, well decorated, could be a living room venue so I was hoping for the best. Turns out to be one guy from a band called "farthing wood" just him and a guitar oh, and a guy on the glockenspiel. I can't say anything too bad about the performance which is a plus but after listening to the band on last.fm I can say this guys way better on his own.

Towards the end people started to filter upstairs, I figured this was to see...

3.15. Marina and the diamonds. Louisana

I was looking forward to seeing her cos she's amazing, unfortunately it wasn't to be. Another cancellation. i didn't stick around to see the replacements because there was a huge up and comer back at the fleece...

3.20. Gran Ronde @ The fleece

So once more I RAN back to the fleece. To hear a californian band I compared to the early works of the killers in time for the lead off single from their new album. Absolutely immense. Around 100 people, all digging the hell out of it. They turned that this rustic, sunday night venue into a proper venue. What a killer sound though. After seeing them I can only heighten their reccomendation.

3.40. Flashguns @ Thekla

The thekla is a unique venue. In that it's a boat. Yeah. So I headed to see whatever band was on there as there wasn't anything I was planning on seeing there later. This was in the bar part of the thekla, a smaller room that later on that evening would be the setting for the most memorable performance i've seen in recent times. The place was packed, the band were mental, I didn't stick it out.

4.30pm. Rogues @ The Academy2

The Rogues were reccomended to me by a guy outside of the first venue so I headed back to the academy that I first visited in 2005 to see the young knives in the upstairs room. It was a long time ago but still looked exactly the same which was nice. Also the next venue is right near it so pretty sweet deals.

I caught the end of Tommy O'Reilly (the winner of indie idol or whatevs on T4). A modest sized crowd. I only heard one song but he plays guitar like a 12 year old i.e. bass plucks, open strings, has a hard on for palm mutes. I think all his songs are about love.

The crowd upstairs slowly but resoundingly filtered in and by half way through was rather impressive. One track in particular stood out "under the red sun". Between songs they used recorded effects to add atmosphere. I can give little more desription as I was sitting down at the back, whacked.

5pm. Mumford and sons @ The academy

Fortunately the next act I was due to see was downstairs. They were brilliant. The only bad thing I could possibly say is that they are a bit country, yeah but this in the same way that the decemberists are! They PACKED the academy it was like a 9pm headline slot despite it being only being tea time o'clock. Musically and lyrically the whole place was into it, especially this one guy, damn I wish i'd videotaped him- BEAMING he was! These guys will get a whole blog to themselves very soon. Brilliant. The set closer was incredible but I had to shoot off right after see nme hyped girls...

5.35pm. Girls @ The cooler

The final venue out of them all and it's an awkward one. Narrow but with raised standing areas towards the back so even if it's packed out you can see. These guys were insane. Acid rock. Stonercore. I headed back to the academy pretty quickly...

6pm. Cage the elephant @ The academy

An actual queue here. I skipped due to being awesome/not having a bag lol.

CTE were fairly riotous from the get go. Very middle america frat party rock but yeah you know that's good times. One thing was that they reminded me of rooney to such an extent that it was hard to remember you weren't watching them. Very much a party band, enjoyed but wouldn't make a trip especially. Good atmosphere.

6.45. Mission District @ Academy2

This was the first band I hit that I knew zero about. Just a short jaunt upstairs where they were kicking off. They were nice. Definately one of those bands I secretly dig. In the style of the rocket summer and other summery emo pop bands. Definately gonna check them out.

7.30pm Patrick Wolf @ the academy

It was at this point I realised that I'd only ever heard this guy on record. Most of the time it doesn't occur to me to check out what an artist might look like but I definately realised why each of the numerous times he'd been reccomended to me none of those had been guys.

He really did blow the place up though, real control over the stage and audience. So androgynous it was confusing :p

8.30pm. The pains of being pure at heart @ the cooler

Tricky one. My feet and butthole really hurt. Plus I had no money. You know these guys have been hyped to the heavens for months now. They seemed nice, I didn't stick around too long, one of these reasons being that the cooler is an uncomfortable venue. I'll give the record another listen before I see them in oxford next week.

9.15pm. Baddies @ The thekla

Here it is. One of those reasons that all the effort is worth while and why I love live music.

I sat down in an empty thekla bar with 15 minutes to spare. I was whacked I was pretty much ready to call it a day, no one else on the roster appealed to me enough to move another inch. Sitting there flounced over the couch people started to filter in and soon enough it was a healthy attendance, I wasn't interested I just wanted to lie down on this suprisingly comfortable leather couch.

They kicked off and BAM. That was it the place was on fire, I was up, forgot my woes rocking out to such an event. The Baddies have about as much energy as a particle accelerator. Mesmerising. The front man was as unique as they come.

The greatest thing about festivals like these was seeing word spread about these guys. Calls, texts and tweets declaring a happening. Seeing people walk in and realise this was huge was fantastic.

They stormed through an action packed set, including the lead singer getting a tooth knocked out and seeking vengeance on a few members of the crowd. I stood around to indulge in the excited conversation before heading next door...

10.10pm Kid British @ The Thekla MainStage

I can't imagine a gig being any more FUN than what this group bring, such a visceral, eclectic sound with each member bringing their own personality to the furore. Rock, reggage, rap, killer times. I'm definately going to see these chaps again.

______________________________________________________

And so that was that, I headed home. The hold steady weren't due to play til after midnight so I thought it best to call it a day, working in the morning and all. It was such a drive back though, I mean i'd been rocking out 10 hours, running in between venues in searing heat. Halfway back I had to take a nap in someones driveway! Still, definately going to be a mainstay for me while i'm in england. Highly reccomended festival.

Tips for future dot2dotters- don't drink. don't bring a bag. add dot2dot on twitter to get live updates on cancellations, tips etc. Try and research vaguely where the venues are to save on shoe leather and to reserve your energy for rocking your face off. See you in 2010.

New Bands

It's been a little bit since I hyped up some new bands. Next weekend i'm going down to see my brother in Bristol as he's having a kid and you know how it goes after that, well I don't thank god but apparently it's quite the lifestyle choice. But this is giving me the opportunity to check out an awesome independant music festival, a less self-styled camden crawl, dot to dot festival sees you hit the streets of bristol (and nottingham) for one day and see some great bands without the perils that you face when traipsing around london in between the two days/£200 hotel rooms.

The line up looks amazing-

Patrick Wolf, The Hold Steady, Ladyhawke, Friendly Fires, Teitur, A.C. Newman, Cage the Elephant, Little Boots, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, My Vitriol, Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts, Titus Andronicus, Abe Vigoda, Shapeshifter, Future Of The Left, Crystal Antlers, Duchess Says, Naive New Beaters, Girls, Marina & the Diamonds, Son Of Dave, Fan Death, The Big Pink, Wave Machines, Gran Ronde, Kid British, Mumford & Sons, Colourmusic, Baddies, Official Secrets Act, Dinosaur Pile-up, Skint & Demoralised, Pulled Apart By Horses, Tommy Reilly, Annie Mac, The Soft Pack, Ulterior, The Computers, Dag for Dag and Chik Budo

This blog's also for my benefit so I can log on on the day and see what bands I said I'd go to and what was good and what I should miss out on. So these are some of the bands that i've been checking out in advance, like that I didn't already know of. I'm sure I'll do another blog afterwards on just how awesome a day it was-












Teitur

This guy is apparently from the faroe islands and I'm interested in seeing him as his introverted style reminds me alot of my own and if I do decide to kick the band and go it alone I want to see how he does it because he has been, relentlessly since the release of his critically acclaimed debut. He's won a danish grammy and I'd imagine not many people have :p

Also I just happened to find out he's playing a local town tomorrow! I'm going to hit it like you wouldn't even believe.











My Vitriol

I'm glad there's gonna be some heavier stuff on that night too. My Vitriol have been around for a decade, I would have liked to think the name was a reference to the genre of intensifiers but it's from a story about a guy who carried around a bottle of sulphuric acid for protection.. uh- lol. They're verging on metal but have a slice of 90s riotgrrl britpop sorta mix going on which obviously is a good thing. They've released a single album in their whole time as a band and it's gained them quite a cult status might be worth seeing based on that alone.














Duchess Says

A Canadian dance punk band with a hot lead singer? I'm so there! After listening though and after wanting to see 100% of the artists already these are ones I might give a miss. I can imagine though if I'm wondering what to do next and I feel like, Dane Cook style, going dancing, then i'd be all over it and if you dig dancing then i'd imagine this would be loads of fun. They're like a sensible, clean cut crystal castles.













Abe Vigoda

So that guy who was in the godfather and later on Late Night with Conan O'brien is where they take their name from. Their sound is a little bit mental and all over the place, experimental would just about describe it. I'm really not going to go see these guys, I don't dig on stage experimentation it seems... rude. Like people are paying to come watch you and you don't even prepare? They seem aimless too which is more than a little frustrating for the casual listener.













Naive New Beaters

These guys actually sound really fresh and unique... but at the same time sound stuck in the 90s! The electronics sound very "digital love", when the vocals do get going they actually seem quite well thought out and culturally relevant but unfortunately the hip hop aspect of their style means there is a lot of repitition. They seem to me like live they might be a bit too dancey for my tastes so they're only maybe a maybe at best.








Marina and the diamonds

I haven't written about this girl before because I wasn't sure if I was being swayed by just how stunningly beautiful she is. She's getting comparisons to kate nash because like she says, "I've got a keyboard and I've got a vagina". She has a deeper range which I personally dig and darker themes which are a huge plus. Some of her stuff is quite theatrical which I can only imagine will make for a great stage show, Kate Nash seemed to have very few places to go with her stuff but I can Imagine MATD will make for a killer time.

Girls

If anyone can find any more info on these send it my way cos seriously searching for this is about as difficult as finding the band "xx teens".

Son of Dave

This guy is FROM Winnipeg Manitoba, where I went to University, apparently he was in the crash test dummies- mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm you know, that song right?! Thing is listening to his music, he's got kind of a mental voice like that guy from police academy and samples pure CHEESE. Low Rider is backed by that butter commerical "something or other light" ah to be honest I'd want to see him cos of Winnipeg but this really doesn't sound good, great job on being in a big band last century but... Damn I had high hopes.

Kid British

I've been to see two artists with kid in their name and they both sucked soooo bad, I was apprehensive to listen to these guys but they're actually awesome and such a good time! "these lads whip up a tune as easy as Jamie Oliver making a meal out of the contents of a students fridge" that pretty much sums it well, bit of everything in there that you'd sort of put in when there's no other options, this isn't at all a criticism, there's a lot of reggae and steel a bit of brass and catchy as hell hooks. They're making my lsaturday night tough to organise.

Big Pink

They make a lot of sound without being a noize band. You remember MGMT's debut? Well so do these guys and they're a bit intent on recreating the smooth vocals with an intrepid swirl of psychadelic music. I say that but I don't think I've heard of a single band on their list of influences. Basically they'd be a pleasant support act, I'm not going to go out of my way it's way too electronic.

Gran Ronde

I'm going to see these guys, their sound is massive. From California they've got great reviews from all corners, I don't want to compare another band to the killers buuuut! Synths, guitars, droning yet clear vocals like the comparisons there guys, i'm making it and there'll be a bigger review on these guys after the weekend.

Colourmusic

Before listening to their music I heard things like- "Following the release of their self-recorded/produced debut EP inspired by the colour red, the band began entertaining local audiences with a variety of thematic shows, including a fake graduation, a mock prom, and a wedding." and I was like yeeeeah babies! Their music is a bit too twee though, they've got a picture of a unicorn as their emblem, harmonies and it's all a bit too nice and sugary. I totally think if you happened upon these guys you'd have an amazing time and i kinda wanna go to see what the deal is! Ungh!

Baddies

Hugely hyped at the start of the year from nme to mtv it's sometimes worth going along to the big 20 when you can see whether the fuss was justified. Thing is you remember these lists- florence and the machine, little boots- both pop starlets know being courted by the brit award crowd. For me this means that these guys will be awesome because they haven't been brown tongued by the british pop music obsessed press. O.k sooo upon listening, they seem to have gotten attention for the same reason pete and the pirates and young knives did, chirpy lyrics, catchy songs, well thought out musically. The tempo of their songs are designed for a sweaty live performance which is great but does mean they're not getting on my mp3 player. Plus- they REALLY sound like the young knives. Bit 2005.

Official Secrets Act

I'll be seeing these guys I should think, they're good, potentially really good and i've heard good things about their live shows. Judging by their sound and lyrics they'd bring a unifying atmosphere welcome at any festival. They sound fresh which is great, been around since 2007 so put in their dues. Their music sounds very intentional which is a bit of a relief with all the experimental and dance and everything else that is flouted as being relevant these days.

Tommy Reilly

So this is the guy that won channel 4's britains got the indie pop factor. I remember when Orange unsigned act first came around and it seemed like it was gonna actually be cool but it ended up about as cool as having the winner of big brother being the "surprise guest" that your parent's organised at your 21st birthday. I dunno, you know what indie snobs are like and I try not to be one but I kinda think going to his gig is kinda super gay. Buuuut someone sent me some new stuff from last year's winners and i'm gonna give them a chance so who knows it might happen.

Fact of the matter is, even before going through all these bands I had a chore deciding who to see and who not to see! Now it's just astronomical :)