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Its been a busy couple of weeks! Two weekends, two music festivals.
Easter weekend was Resistanz festival in Sheffield. We were lacking in enthusiasm this year because of the rather odd line-up, however it wouldn't have felt right to not go to Sheffield for Easter, as its become a bit of a tradition. As it turns out, we had a rather fun time, barring one major mishap ...............
Arrived on Friday, checked in, went for food at the lovely Rutland Arms pub, then decided to go for a stroll to the Corp to get our wristbands ........................ one minute I was chatting to Rob, the next I was face down in the middle of the road! Somehow the pavement decided to jump up and trip me over. :-( some of you may recall a similar incident when I fell over on the train to work, resulting in a knee injury that took two years to heal. Well I now have a matching set. :-( I recognised the crunch sound as soon as I hit the floor.
So it was a rather subdued festival for me. Typically the bands I most wanted to see, Hocico and Solitary Experiments, were both playing on the Friday and my knee was in too much pain to enjoy it properly.
Friday's schedule:
Unity One were a Russian futurepop band, not bad although the vocalists voice annoyed after a while. Ruinizer were just noisy, time for a break! Solitary Experiments were excellent but my knee too tired for the full set. Hocico were more low key than last week in Berlin (no Inca warriors) but still put on a great show, so full of energy.
Somewhat frustrating was the after-party. Great music, played very loudly and all I could do was sit there. Unable to have a conversation with anyone due to the volume levels and not able to dance either, we decided to have an early night.
Saturday, knee still bad but having obtained some ibruprofen gel following advice from the pharmacist - the shame of having to explain that I needed something to help me stand for a music festival but that would be compatible with alcohol (I wasn't doing away with all my fun for the weekend!), I was able to pace myself a little better to ensure that i caught the bands I really wanted to see.
Mental Discipline were basically Unity One with another vocalist - a better singer but more Europop in sound. Advance, a Scottish futurepop band, OK but not memorable. Rave the Requiem ............... aargh! For me, just god awful. Others enjoyed it though. Basically black metal, making such a big deal about being the only metal band at an electronic festival (not quite), an egotistical young lad with his mum on backing vocals.
Reaper I was looking forward to. they've changed their style since I last saw them, two guys behind decks now and no vocals or costume gimmickery but i really enjoyed it and managed to bounce as much as I could, on one leg!
We went for a food break during W.A.S.T.E. as we'd seen them before. angry, doomy dance music. Not bad but too downbeat after the fun that was Reaper.
The headliner was 3Teeth. Very hyped, as the next Ministry/NIN and I do rather like the album. They were just amazing live. The singer has incredible stage presence, despite the dodgy biker moustache and this is a band destined to be very big indeed. I do however question why they were the headliner, having released just one album, they didnt' have the material for a full set and finished 20 minutes early.
Once again, we didn't stay long for the afterparty, as the music was a lot harder and louder, just not tolerable if I couldn't dance to it!
Sunday. Had a late morning in our hotel room with easter eggs and then onto the Devonshire Cat for Sunday lunch, heading to the Corp in time for the first band, Sirus.
I'd been aware of Sirus for a while, an Australian harsh electro band and they were fun to watch, despite a slight technical failure.
We were outside chatting to friends when Dirty K came on, so I missed most of their set. Shame, as I wouldn't have minded catching them. A UK noise act, recently signed to the Hands Label.
Pre/Verse were rather fun. Poppy electro, almost Rotersand in style, with a female keyboardist dressed as a zombie bunny and male vocalist with an interesting sense of humour. Rob got bored but i enjoyed.
Comaduster had all the elements that I should have loved, cinematic synths, combined with glitchy dubstep overtones. However they somehow made it really boring to listen to and the singers voice was just bad.
Author and Punisher - not easy to listen to but fascinating. A mechanical engineer who creates his own machines of noise. This video gives some idea of his kit:
Da Octopuss. We'd seen before and by now I was looking forward to a dance, even if it did bugger up my knee! Basically two DJ's wearing octopus masks, playing bassy trance/techno, it was a fab set.
The headliner for the night was another odd choice. Savant. A Norwegian autistic-savant musician who has created 10,000+ tracks since he was a child, mixing a whole range of genres. He came on 15 minutes early and the venue was near empty. It soon started to fill (although by no means final headline band level of full) and I wanted to check it out, however the volume level was so painfully high that we just couldn't stay in the room. Not just me either, as many people out in the courtyard were complaining. However, that didn't appear to affect the fans, who apparently acclaimed it as an amazing set.
I wanted to enjoy a bit of the final after party, however they'd decided to schedule hard-dance/rave DJ's in both rooms, which just wasn't my thing. shame, as previous years there was always a room playing more fun stuff, 80's, futurepop etc, which is what I loved for winding down after a festival.
So it was a bit of an odd one this year. Apparently 2016 is going to be the last, as the organiser has had enough of people being "whingeing bastards". I can appreciate how stressful it must be to organise such an event, however a thick skin and listening to feedback should both be requisite requirements for an events organiser. For example, how else does the organiser know that many people missed his favourite band, just because the volume level was too high. Alienating your supporters does nobody any favours.
Anyway, we had a quiet Monday, slowly heading home via the Peak District, as it was a lovely sunny day, stopping a while near Chatsworth, just to enjoy the sun by the river.
Yesterday I had another day off work but plans foiled due to knee, so I stayed in. Today I should be back in the office but requested to work from home, to give my knee another day of rest. Fingers crossed it starts to get better soon, I can't take another two years of recovery!
Easter weekend was Resistanz festival in Sheffield. We were lacking in enthusiasm this year because of the rather odd line-up, however it wouldn't have felt right to not go to Sheffield for Easter, as its become a bit of a tradition. As it turns out, we had a rather fun time, barring one major mishap ...............
Arrived on Friday, checked in, went for food at the lovely Rutland Arms pub, then decided to go for a stroll to the Corp to get our wristbands ........................ one minute I was chatting to Rob, the next I was face down in the middle of the road! Somehow the pavement decided to jump up and trip me over. :-( some of you may recall a similar incident when I fell over on the train to work, resulting in a knee injury that took two years to heal. Well I now have a matching set. :-( I recognised the crunch sound as soon as I hit the floor.
So it was a rather subdued festival for me. Typically the bands I most wanted to see, Hocico and Solitary Experiments, were both playing on the Friday and my knee was in too much pain to enjoy it properly.
Friday's schedule:
Unity One were a Russian futurepop band, not bad although the vocalists voice annoyed after a while. Ruinizer were just noisy, time for a break! Solitary Experiments were excellent but my knee too tired for the full set. Hocico were more low key than last week in Berlin (no Inca warriors) but still put on a great show, so full of energy.
Somewhat frustrating was the after-party. Great music, played very loudly and all I could do was sit there. Unable to have a conversation with anyone due to the volume levels and not able to dance either, we decided to have an early night.
Saturday, knee still bad but having obtained some ibruprofen gel following advice from the pharmacist - the shame of having to explain that I needed something to help me stand for a music festival but that would be compatible with alcohol (I wasn't doing away with all my fun for the weekend!), I was able to pace myself a little better to ensure that i caught the bands I really wanted to see.
Mental Discipline were basically Unity One with another vocalist - a better singer but more Europop in sound. Advance, a Scottish futurepop band, OK but not memorable. Rave the Requiem ............... aargh! For me, just god awful. Others enjoyed it though. Basically black metal, making such a big deal about being the only metal band at an electronic festival (not quite), an egotistical young lad with his mum on backing vocals.
Reaper I was looking forward to. they've changed their style since I last saw them, two guys behind decks now and no vocals or costume gimmickery but i really enjoyed it and managed to bounce as much as I could, on one leg!
We went for a food break during W.A.S.T.E. as we'd seen them before. angry, doomy dance music. Not bad but too downbeat after the fun that was Reaper.
The headliner was 3Teeth. Very hyped, as the next Ministry/NIN and I do rather like the album. They were just amazing live. The singer has incredible stage presence, despite the dodgy biker moustache and this is a band destined to be very big indeed. I do however question why they were the headliner, having released just one album, they didnt' have the material for a full set and finished 20 minutes early.
Once again, we didn't stay long for the afterparty, as the music was a lot harder and louder, just not tolerable if I couldn't dance to it!
Sunday. Had a late morning in our hotel room with easter eggs and then onto the Devonshire Cat for Sunday lunch, heading to the Corp in time for the first band, Sirus.
I'd been aware of Sirus for a while, an Australian harsh electro band and they were fun to watch, despite a slight technical failure.
We were outside chatting to friends when Dirty K came on, so I missed most of their set. Shame, as I wouldn't have minded catching them. A UK noise act, recently signed to the Hands Label.
Pre/Verse were rather fun. Poppy electro, almost Rotersand in style, with a female keyboardist dressed as a zombie bunny and male vocalist with an interesting sense of humour. Rob got bored but i enjoyed.
Comaduster had all the elements that I should have loved, cinematic synths, combined with glitchy dubstep overtones. However they somehow made it really boring to listen to and the singers voice was just bad.
Author and Punisher - not easy to listen to but fascinating. A mechanical engineer who creates his own machines of noise. This video gives some idea of his kit:
Da Octopuss. We'd seen before and by now I was looking forward to a dance, even if it did bugger up my knee! Basically two DJ's wearing octopus masks, playing bassy trance/techno, it was a fab set.
The headliner for the night was another odd choice. Savant. A Norwegian autistic-savant musician who has created 10,000+ tracks since he was a child, mixing a whole range of genres. He came on 15 minutes early and the venue was near empty. It soon started to fill (although by no means final headline band level of full) and I wanted to check it out, however the volume level was so painfully high that we just couldn't stay in the room. Not just me either, as many people out in the courtyard were complaining. However, that didn't appear to affect the fans, who apparently acclaimed it as an amazing set.
I wanted to enjoy a bit of the final after party, however they'd decided to schedule hard-dance/rave DJ's in both rooms, which just wasn't my thing. shame, as previous years there was always a room playing more fun stuff, 80's, futurepop etc, which is what I loved for winding down after a festival.
So it was a bit of an odd one this year. Apparently 2016 is going to be the last, as the organiser has had enough of people being "whingeing bastards". I can appreciate how stressful it must be to organise such an event, however a thick skin and listening to feedback should both be requisite requirements for an events organiser. For example, how else does the organiser know that many people missed his favourite band, just because the volume level was too high. Alienating your supporters does nobody any favours.
Anyway, we had a quiet Monday, slowly heading home via the Peak District, as it was a lovely sunny day, stopping a while near Chatsworth, just to enjoy the sun by the river.
Yesterday I had another day off work but plans foiled due to knee, so I stayed in. Today I should be back in the office but requested to work from home, to give my knee another day of rest. Fingers crossed it starts to get better soon, I can't take another two years of recovery!