The Electric Soft Parade - Bristol Ashton Court - 20/7/03
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
God bless the bourgeois; they let us paroles have our fun now and again.
Whoever it is that owns Ashton Court (and needless to say, it's someone very, very rich) has had the good idea to open the gargantuan-sized grounds to drug-taking hippies, bearded Folk followers, Indie kids and young punks alike for a day of rock, roll and everything in between. The Electric Soft Parade seem out of place, yes. But then, so does every single artist on today's eclectic, muddled bill.
One of only a few signed artists with chart success to their name visible over the entire weekend, it's a wonder someone didn't have the nous to put them on the main stage. Instead, whilst ska-hop purveyors Babyhead and R&B songstress McKay confuse onlookers over the other side of the site, ESP draw the biggest crowd of the day on the second stage. The steep, rolling hills and largely seated audience suit them better anyway. The evening's compere builds them up as something of a coup for Ashton Court, an attitude which might have gone to the lads' heads a little. Perhaps it's completely off the mark, but there doesn't seem the same air of professionalism to the 'Parade as usual tonight. But hey, we decide to keep an open mind... Relaxed atmospheres are often breeding grounds for something pretty special, or at least unexpected.
Despite their recent break from the flurry of activity that accompanied the fantastic 'Holes In The Wall' album, Tom and Alex find no difficulty in getting back into the swing of things when they want to. Highlights from that debut, a pounding 'Start Again' and frantically paced 'Empty At The End' most notably, provoke mass singing from the congregation and a spot of jumping at the front (quite uncharacteristic for the event given the restrained reaction other bands were gifted today).
Elsewhere, there are high points abound in the set, interspersed with tantalising glimpses at new material. This includes a melody-rich new single that would have been instantly memorable if they'd told us what the title was, as well as previews of songs of a much more downbeat, contemplative nature; entertaining for the indie-geeks and anorak-adorners in the audience, but perhaps a more straightforward, upbeat set would have seen a more favourable reaction from a casual crowd who still largely count ESP as unknowns.
Not that they care - after all, a crowd-pleasing set would have been just what everyone would have expected, wouldn't it? The brothers White take advantage of the unconventional nature of the show and are out for a laugh, sometimes at the crowd's expense, yet sometimes with amusing success. Things take a turn for the downright surreal in fact, when Electric Soft Parade are joined onstage by their friend Stuart Flynn, dressed in a silver crop top and skirt to sing ridiculously over-the-top, rock opera versions of Elton John's 'Candle In The Wind' and The Beatles' 'Help'. If he didn't spend so much time making clever jokes (when homophobic chants are thrown his way, he retorts with 'Gay? I never knew! See, I was searching for myself, and now I'm found, thank you...') and singing so pompously he'd probably have quite a fine voice. But that was never meant to be the point. The ESP seem as bemused by his every move as we are. Yes, it's funny. But dare we say, unnecessary?
Still, who are we to deny a band of such a tender age some good (if not so clean) fun, especially when there are parts of the set such as 'Biting the Souls of My Feet' which borders on excellence? 'Silent To The Dark' sums the show up perfectly - played with blissful abandon and containing a portion of The White Stripes' 'Dead Leaves & The Dirty Ground', it's listening to some seriously talented musicians enjoy some in-jokes in front of a crowd. As entertaining as it all was, none the less it's been difficult to enjoy this as an 'ESP gig', when it hasn't felt like one in the slightest. Which, you gather, was possibly the whole point.
Artists in this article: The Electric Soft Parade
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