Underage Festival - Victoria Park, London - 10/8/07
5/5
By: Alex Lee Thomson
I see no shame in admitting that you like Patrick Wolf. His importance in music at the moment just isn't in question. There might be shame however in getting all excited when this Bowie-like boy genius takes his top off and you find yourself screaming like a schoolgirl. Even when you're one of the few people here who isn't a schoolgirl. He opened his Converse Tent set with the usual mystery (not 'The Childcatcher' - how funny would that have been?!), shrouded in a giant wrap of fabric that only allowed us to peer at the very glint of his facial makeup. Beginning sat down, trying to asses the crowd to see whether or not teenagers can cope with the power to which he's accustom to unleashing, a few songs in and our attentions turned to the violins and the start of 'Overture', the song that opened his compelling new pop record 'The Magic Position'. What's great is that the young audience loved it as much as the slightly older tracks such as 'Tristen'. It was with these two songs, and the shortly followed 'Get Lost', that the audience realised that the rumours were true and Patrick Wolf is among the best artists currently making music in the UK. There was screaming, a half naked Patrick prancing around the stage in that now trademark way, and of course there were the songs - 'The Magic Position' still at the height of his performance, dashing onlookers with a forgotten sense of bohemia and charm, wit and sparkly sex appeal. How this presentation was anything other than an '18' certificate we'll never know.
In the midst of the shenanigans that was the mid-afternoon, a few people were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time as Dev, better known for his days with Test Icicles, but now the ringleader of Lightspeed Champion, picked up his guitar and played songs on the bandstand. It wasn't billed, it wasn't mass attended, but golly was it fantastic. When he supported Bright Eyes in July he wasn't able to nail it, but now for some reason his music has become the staple of the London summer, all warm and pretty like. His music is lightning fast yet so fragile and moving, and Dev really does have the voice to portray it to its fullest. It may have been a low key performance, but nonetheless, a complete highlight.
Jack Penate may lack something in originality and be benefiting a lot from the aftermath of Lily Allen's success, but when you're standing in a field with a pint (of lemonade - this was a dry festival in many senses of the word) and the sun shining on your back knowing full well that The Young Knives are just an hour or two away, his music works. All of his songs are up-tempo ditties that carry an idea of foot tapping notions and though 'Turn On The Platform' and 'Spit At Stars' are fantastic by any standards, they were the only true moments of great songsmanship, the rest of the set falling a wee bit flat. He's fine for what he is, but Penate is only a pedestrian pop star with a friendly batch of songs, most of which blur into one happy noise. He was on form and made good use of the stage from the opening clatter to the closing bells, but really lacked much to bite into as far as material goes and as much as you can be turned on by his big smile and brisk performance, he's never going to leave you breathless.
Leeds is still churning out these great anthemic bands, and you have to give Kaiser Chiefs their dues as they alone enthused a whole new sound wave of pub-rock; simple, lairy and catchy. It's basic rock songs that focus around a chorus and use the verses to drive those choruses through, amplifying whatever hook has been bestowed upon them... and in that sense, the Pigeon Detectives are the best post-Chief band to come out. Live they have a cheeky arrogance and witty sense of rock 'n' roll fun, and their tunes aren't too bad either, 'I'm Not Sorry' and 'Early Bath' belting out louder and harder than anything in The Enemy's catalogue. They're never going to be regarded as the greatest band on Earth but for now at least they're easy to listen to and fantastic to watch, achieving a good clutch of their live objectives. The younger viewers bonded instantly with their northern charm and really gave the band the audience they needed to play a raucous set of closing-time hard-pop melodies.
Ah, where to begin with I Was A Cub Scout? They proved that two people can make more noise, and sense, than the whole of Arcade Fire working together. They may find it hard to get into the swing of a show, but once they do the sparks really start to dash around all over the park as their semi-awkward indie shunts through a set list made up of songs that expel some of the best keyboard and guitar relationships heard in recent times. They're absorbing to watch, like an animal being born or a child's first steps, and while you're caught up in the magic of their sounds, the songs themselves go unobserved, flying past you into the subconscious. Quite simply, they're an incomprehensible pair of musicians that can't under any circumstances fail to upheave your life for the brief few moments they play music, no matter how amateurish they may seem.
Huge congratulations have to go to Underage Festival's organisers. This was truly one of the best we'd ever been to.
· Keep your eyes peeled when browsing through TV guides - Rockfeedback TV were on site filming the event for our second Channel 4 series, which will air soon.
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