I got there early, for the 1.00pm starting time for Pretty Girls Make Graves. They rocked out, despite complaining of hangovers. I was on the the front barricade and got a few snaps. Their new album Elan Vital is very cool.
Didn’t know much about the next band up, Adelaide’s Wolf and Cub, but was very nicely surprised by their excellent noise/psych guitar which reminded me of the Japanese psych scene. And any band with 2 drummers has to be admired!
I was really looking forward to The Gossip, who were playing inside on the Basement stage. They are a blues/punk band from the US and their singer Beth Ditto has an enormous voice. They put on a great show and were definitely my favourite act on the day. You can have a listen to some of their songs here .
Les Savy Fav were just insane. Their singer, Tim Harrington, is well known for getting up to strange antics on and off-stage. At one point he made his way through the crowd to the barricades, must have jumped over and then emerged on the balcony of a neighbouring office block. He then got the audience to hurl the microphone up to him so he could continue singing. To get down, he wrapped the microphone cord around one of the bushes and abseiled down. His mostly naked body was painted red – claiming he had an aussie 'sunburn' and was wearing budgie smugglers with 'Bondi Beach' written on the back.
I had been looking forward to seeing Broken Social Scene, but needed a rest by this stage, so instead we headed inside and found chairs to sit and watch Jens Lekman in the Basement. He sings sad and kooky lyrics, set to upbeat almost corny music – it kind of felt like we were being entertained by the house band on an cruise ship.
The sun went down and the last band we were keen on seeing was The Raveonettes from Denmark. The roadies kept us waiting forever, pretending to set up the stage, as it seemed the band hadn’t actually arrived at the venue. All annoyance was forgotten when they launched into a wonderful cover of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday” – which alternated sweet vocals with buzz-distortion guitars. Very Jesus & Marychain, except with an extremely beautiful female singer. They kept us entranced their entire set. Unfortunately my camera battery had died earlier in the day, so I couldn’t get any pics of them.
Goin' faster than a roller coaster
Love like yours will surely come my way
A-hey, a-hey-hey
Everyday it's a-gettin' faster
Everyone said, go ahead and her
A-hey, a-hey-hey
Everyday seems a little longer
Every way love's a little stronger
Come what may
Do you ever long for, true love from me
Everyday it's a-gettin' closer
Goin' faster than a roller coaster
Love like yours will surely come my way
A-hey, a-hey-hey
