Week Commencing: 25/4/05
By: Toby L, Sabuhi Mir
Many,
Gigs afoot. Just look below. And that's a mere seven days' worth.
But with festivals selling out swifter than ever before - view our guide here, as to the UK's more extravagant events - we'd advise you to scratch beneath the surface to examine those smaller outdoor events this summer which are all the more alluring for their succinctly 'indie' kudos and unrivalled, wayward cred, and warmingly diverse running-orders.
Here's a quick run-through.
First up - this week's Triptych bash in Scotland... Occurring from the 27th 'til May-Day... featuring live-sets from Arab Strap, Bikini Atol, Cat Power, Gruff Rhys, Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem, Roots Manuva, Television Personalities, The Fall, and oodles more... View the website here.
Whilst Truck Festival (23rd-24th July) in Oxford continues its ever-expansion. Featuring this week's Basement headliners The Magic Numbers, plus Biffy Clyro, it also sports Battle, Capdown, Cherubs, Do Me Bad Things, Goldrush, MC Lars, Patrick Wolf, Stuffy & The Fuses, The Black Madonnas, The Madelines, The Tenderfoot, The Young Knives, Towers Of London, Yourcodenameis:milo, and many more... View the website here.
Tapestry Goes West (details TBA) - the finest, weirdest-themed event in the country - is back in August, too, with a line-up still to be aligned... View the website here.
The Green Man (August 19th-21st) lurks in Hay-On-Wye, meanwhile... and features an exclusive appearance from Bonnie Prince Billy & Matt Sweeney, Joanna Newsom, The Broken Family Band, Lone Pigeon, The Earlies, My Latest Novel, James Yorkston, and many more minions besides... View the website here.
And, finally... Bestival (9th-11th Sept), occurring on the Isle Of Wight, and featuring such acts as Super Furry Animals, The Rakes, British Sea Power, Tom Vek, Soulwax, The Go! Team, Terry Hall, Howard Marks, and further additions as publicised on the official website... A link of which is here.
So, go provincial. And voyage to some truly independent-minded events. The festival, in its pure form, is dead? F**k, no.
UK Chart-action, this week: Nine Inch Nails crash straight in at seven with their stonking 'Hand That Feeds'; Caesars score a hit off the back of an advert with 'Jerk It Out'; 'Tied Up Too Tight' and 'Munich' from Hard-Fi and Editors - two recent-ish live-acts from rockfeedback events - score 15 and 22, respectively; The Rakes 'Retreat' at 24; 'Hey Scenesters' from The Cribs is 28; and ageing/iffy skiffle-folkers Levellers are 38 with 'Make You Happy'.
Gigs this week, London: 65 Days Of Static assault the Garage (Thurs 28th; £7:00); Babyshambles perform at a sold-out Camden Koko (Fri 29th); Brendan Benson returns to the capital for an Electric Ballroom stand-off (Weds 27th; £11:00); Agent Blue make a bee-line for the Barfly (Mon 25th; £7:00); Embrace venture to the Empire in Shepherd's Bush (Sat 30th; sold out); a downsized Deconstruction, showcasing the finest modern ska/punk from across the globe, occurs at the Astoria (featuring the likes of Mad Caddies, Boysetsfire, et al) on Sunday, 1pm (1st May; £17:50); ESG try Koko on Saturday (30th; £15:00); Hard-Fi fill the 100 Club (sold out; Thurs 28th); the very loud Isis tremble the Mean Fiddler (Weds 27th; £11:00); Joy Zipper unveil themselves at the ICA (Thurs 28th; sold out); Kasabian slay Ally Pally on Thurs 28th (sold out); Kaiser Chiefs and Duels play a second Astoria date (Thurs 28th; sold out); LCD Soundsystem sock it to 'em at the Hammersmith Palais (Mon 25th; £15:00); Martha Wainwright savours the Scala (Mon 25th; sold out); Ray Lamontagne grace Sheppy Bush Empire on Thurs 28th (£13:50); Money Mark sleazes it up in the Jazz Café (£17:50; Tues 26th); Sam Prekop makes a rare appearance at the Bush Hall (Tues 26th; £9:50); Sleater Kinney and The Pipettes play an oversubscribed ICA (Mon 25th; sold out); The Coral return, in a low-key sense, to the Astoria (Mon 25th; £16:00); The Bellrays make a UK visit (Mon 25th; Barfly; £8:00); The Longcut cut it at the Islington Academy (£7:50; Mon 25th); The Paddingtons do a sell-out at the legendary 100 Club (Weds 27th); The Zutons perform an umpteenth Brixton Academy showing on Friday 29th (£18:50); Thee Unstrung immerse themselves in the Water Rats (Tues 26th; £6:50); Tom McRae does two stupidly intimate dates (Wed 27th, Thurs 28th; sold out) at Brixton's Windmill and Camden's Enterprise; plus The Shout Out Louds do the gig of the week at rockfeedback's Basement Club on Thurs...
And, speaking of the very latter event... cya at that very same Basement on Thursday.