aaamusic | On 10, Jun 2012

4th June

MC Lars (Rocksound Stage) The main stage is graced with this nerdy rapper that raps over famous songs from the 80’s and 90’s and on occasion currant pop songs. He seems to have fans in the audience today that know the words to his catchy numbers. Laptop on a chair he hits into his re-edition song that samples Iggy Pop’s classic ‘Lust for Life’ an anthem from the film Trainspotting. This song gets a great response and has a certain magic on a summer day but the sun is still hiding and the magic has been tampered with by Severace Snape and it’s just a set that passes the time.

MC Lars – Setlist

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Hurricane Fresh

Generic Crunk Rap

21 Concepts

Straight outta Stockholm

New Song

Ahab

Download this Song Mr.Raven

Great Cynics (Eetnies Stage) are a three piece that deliver a mashed set of emo Esq grunge tracks. I think they are quite a new band that has had that much live experience and they sit back and not really go for it but sometimes you need a band to get you in the mood for seeing live music on a summer day and this is my first experience of a guitar based band today and they are not memorable but get me wanting to see more bands and realize that I am at a festival so a good way to pass the time.

Kid Champion (Fighting Cocks Acoustic Stage) This band have nice vocals and they play as a tight unit producing a really nice acoustic sound that mixes Emo style with indie music and an unwashed shimmy of fun and deliverance. This is a nice interlude the bits a shiver of romanticism on your taste buds and chills in the sun.

Arcane Roots (Rocksound Stage) They defiantly look the part of a major league rock band and could possibly be one but they can’t seem to make the jump from, medioka to prodigal sons. They have a manic ferocity about them that doesn’t seem to come out to late in the set which is possibly is too late because people are walking away. Prog does work on a summers day but they have water downed it for this festival when they should have really gone all out and just rocked. When they play a hectic set they show comparisons to early Muse and Halo and really show they can rock with the best of them.

Terrible Eyes (Fighting Cocks Acoustic Stage) This band are dreadful today they just do not turn out a good acoustic set, I don’t know if they have practiced or just turned up and thought their songs would work acoustic. The in between song banter is just annoying and they don’t really give me the impression that they actually want to be here today so which makes me think if they can’t be bothered. Then I can’t be bothered and I go and check someone else out.

The Computers (Eetnies Stage) Left me wondering how in the last year they have so good, maybe it’s the time they spent touring the States that has turned them into a premier rock act who have turned into the English equivalent of the Hives. They defiantly have the ferocity of the Hives when they first started out. They are manic smashing into each other and singer dives into the crowd at moments in a furious motion dragging his guitar with him like a weapon of mass destruction. Wielding his mighty weapon he taunts the crowd and temps them to mosh around to the slashing guitar strands of beautiful Clash like riffs that go down as well as a free lap dance. This band have really come out of obscurity to be a force to be reckoned with.

Wheatus (Rocksound Stage) * they sound like thy will be fun and energetic and everyone will be having a good time but this band are past their best and put on a lack luster show just running through the motions in a dull way. They do play their cover of Erasure’s ‘Little Respect’ but it doesn’t really get you up and going. They do a Weezer song ‘My name is Jonas’ because they have  been playing their infamous hit ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ which most Weezer fans probably think is by them anyways, for this song they bring MC Lars on to sing with them it only gets a few people interested and brings there set to a close.

Futures (Rocksound Stage) have had a lot of interest in them for quite a while but they have been fading into the background and if anything to go by today’s set I know why. It is just a set of running through the motions. Even though the songs do sound quite good they don’t really spark a light in my eyes and just sound boring and over produced. There is a bit of a breeze in the air and a lot of people are sitting down enjoying the day rather than watching what is going on they just seem to be a passing in time rather than grabbing any attention.

Hundred Reasons (Rocksound Stage) played their classic album ‘Idea’s above our Station’ in it’s entirety and it sounds as good as when it was first released. They were a classic band that influenced a lot of people almost a generation ago and the influence has not been forgotten with a lot of people knowing every word to every song today. The singer hair is a lot smaller than it used to be, he doesn’t look so much like a rooster and his dress sense has still not get any better I always worried about it back then and I worry about it now too. They do have some songs that most people love, but don’t know who they are by like the anthems ‘I’ll find You’ and ‘Silver’ which are great to finally hear again. I think for a band that haven’t played in a long, long, long time they do an amazing job and no one is left disappointed so this is a great comeback and I can’t wait to finally hear the new album. I think my highlight of their set is the crowd singing Falter which is glorious to hear.

 

Hundred Reasons – Setlist

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What you Get

Harmony

No way Back

Kill your Own

I’ll find You

Answers

Dissolve

What thought Did

If I could

Falter

Shine

Drowning

Oratorio

Silver

Gone too Far

Avalanche

Neville Staples (Eetnies Stage) smiles are in the air and he announces when he plays Specials songs he normally gets a £100 a person for doing so, sorry your getting it cheap tonight and breaks into a memorable set of old classic songs. My favourite song he plays tonight is the classic ‘Ghost Town’ which has been a special song for me for years and is on inch in my jukebox. Neville always is a nice friendly character that makes you have a place in your heart for him and you wonder why he is not bigger than he is cause all the songs sound perfect. His own songs are great and sometimes people think some of his own stuff are Specials songs so he doesn’t get the credit he deserves, well back to the Specials songs he plays an awesome version of ‘Rudi, a message to You’ along with a lot of other songs and his band behind him really do them justice we a great Brass section and bass timing to perfection and the crowd is the most packed it is for the whole festival so a lot of people think there is nothing better to do on a hot summer day than see Neville in a tent and I totally agree, I think next year put him on the main stage so everyone can enjoy this little piece of something Specials.

Deaf Havana (Rocksound Stage) don’t really light any imaginations tonight and their set is mundane attempt to play emo anthems even though the singing in places is quite good. I haven’t really got on the Havana craze but I did notice they were hanging with You me and Six earlier in the day and couldn’t really get a look in with the fans once they saw who they were with so I do wonder if it’s all about who your friends with and not so much about the music sometimes. They do have a few quite nice songs it’s just nothing very special and these days I think you need to be in a different league to make your presence known and I just can’t see this band getting to that league, but it’s their job to prove the critics wrong and get their anyways.

Deaf Havana – Setlist

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Leeches

World or Nothing

Smiles all Round

Youth in Retrospect

I will Try

Little white Lies

Friends like These

Anemophobia

Hunstanton

Pier

I’m a Bore, Mostly

Nicotine and alcohol saved my Life

The past six Years

 

Kids in glass Houses (Rocksound Stage) really did pull out all the stops headlining the Hit the Deck Festival so I didn’t expect much tonight but they have really decided to pull out all the punches and flung themselves into an energetic performance that saw them sore in many people’s thoughts. The songs have been given great life and they look like they really want to be here tonight laughing and joking and have good participation and grip with everything around them. They must have learnt a few things from bands they have toured with over the years like Lost Prophets and 30 seconds to Mars which are both great live acts. Kids in glass Houses has a lot of really great material like the songs ‘Animals’ and the summer hit ‘Saturday’ which will be a re-evaluated part of my mix-tape for this summers festivals. They are really working well as a unit to deliver this set and they totally deserve to be tonight headliners and bring the festival to a close in a nice way.

Kids in glass Houses – Setlist

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Give me what I Want

Afterbreaker I

Young Blood (Let it Out)

Animals

For better or Hearse

Raise Hell

Undercover Love

Diamond Days

FistiKuffs

Sunshine

Saturday

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Matters at All

 

Daniel Cairns