Wide Awake in the Sun

After last night at the Windmill we four (see pics) arrive at Brockwell Park and stumble upon the Windmill stage catching the last few songs of Mary in the Junkyard who I wanted to see but thought I'd miss as they are on so early. They sounded great with striking vocals and a sound a bit like The Raincoats. Although that's probably not helpful as The Raincoats were pretty diverse musically. By the way, it's incredible how many people rate The Raincoats since Kurt Cobain name checked them but where were they back then. Just saying. Not saying I've never jumped on a bandwagon. Anyways MitJ are great and I must see them perform a full set. Maybe at the Windmill or Blue Dot. Next we call in to see Civic who are a straight up punk rock and roll band with shouty vocals and guitar solos. Entertaining enough way to ease us into the afternoon. JJUUJJUU ease us in in another way as they deliver a psychedelic dose of multi guitar based rock. Around this time I think we see Eva our ex-lodger and her cousin and boyfriend. We see one band with her but sort of lose each other for the day. Ah well that's how festivals roll. At this point I have a photo of the Windmill stage which Clashfinder says should have been Clamm but I can't remember. Anyways, we then watch a slice of original post punk psyche in the sun by way of Wasted Youth who deliver a great set in the blazing sun full of fun and a fair bit of grooving and guitar heroics. Stylish. Blondeshell is / are sort of melodic rock from what I remember dare I say MOR or is that too unfair. Certainly not as quirky and interesting as The Bug Club who are a great trio who sound sort of pre / post punk (take your pick) and if pressed for a lazy comparison I'd say Half Man Half Biscuit. So pretty good then. Around this time the mirth is split between my sun hat (Dutch cycling cap) and laughing about We've Got a Fuse Box and We're Gonna Use It. Next up back into the sun for what must be one of the best surprises of the afternoon. It's a trio called Glass Beams. Now this may surprise my fellow festival goers but this wasn't Nice Biscuit as advertised on Clashfinder. They deliver a brilliantly up beat set of psychedelic rock with a middle eastern vibe and beats just perfect for a small stage in a sunny field smack bang in the middle of south London. They wear matching jump suits and strange face masks so look pretty out there too. Great vocals complimenting the blissed out music and groovy beats getting us dancing. Fantastic. From that we go to one of the bigger stages to see a (apparently) Belarus band Molchat Doma who are a striking trio of bass, synths and vocals. Their odd look is backed up by a strangely danceable dose of gothic electronica verging very close to The Smiths and the vocals are pretty similar if Robert Smith had sung in Russian. All in all an impressive albeit odd performance. Around this time I think myself and Debbie had a lull in our appreciation of the music and lazed around on the grass drinking illicit vodka and eating our usual fare of buddha bowl and chips. No one distracted us enough to stop these activities and generally chilling out so Gilla Band and Lebanon Hanover don't feel upset maybe I'll see you another day when more open to standing up rather than wanting to just lie flat. Even Black Country New Road couldn't grab us and my verdict was gone too folky and never Debbie's cup of tea anyway. However, the Osees or Oh Sees or whatever they're called deliver a fantastically energetic set that you really can't lie down for. A full on rock n roll jumpy punky at times thrashy set and who can resist a two drum band especially when they're both front of stage. Debbie and I nip next door to check out Caroline Polachek just cos so many have said we should but after about half a song are back to join Ramsay and Jo to jump about to the Osees. After that it's an early close to save the residents of south London (you can hear these gigs from my place) more rock and roll noise and we shuffle out with the masses to get a lucky cab on Brixton Hill and up to the Railway at Streatham Common for a birthday party of one of Debbie's work colleagues from the hospice. Already in party mood we have a great time dancing and drinking sambuca until the bar staff pop the balloons (literally) and we go home for a well earned rest. Next morning Debbie announces she's doing a short notice shift at the hospice and Ramsay, Jo and I laze around in the hot sun listening to the funk soul jazz day at Brockwell Park before they leave for Yorkshire. Great weekend guys!

I can't be bothered to enlarge or re-order the photos but at least they're here...

Us 4 plus Eva

Debbie after the after party

Molchat Doma

The Bug Club

The Bug Club

Civic

Molchat Doma

Not 100% sure 

JJUUJJUU

Mary in the Junkyard

Molchat Doma

Glass Beams

Osees

Osees

Wasted Youth

The Fab Four    

Are you enjoying the Osees Ramsay?

A Sprinkling of Fairy Dust

Jo and Ramsay arrive on time and after a chat with Debbie, a lovely meal and a couple of drinks us 3 (Debbie's been working too hard and saving herself for tomorrow) we cycle off eastwards. We stop off at the actual Brixton Windmill before going into the Windmill pub where soon enough Nastazia Bazil is serenading us with a euro disco electronica set which is a good start to the night and sets the genre tone. It's a quietish night tonight although the crowd that are here are lively enough. Maybe others saving themselves for a long weekend. During the set the headliner Mickey taps Jo on the shoulder thinking she's a friend of his and of course leads to a good chat despite not knowing each other. Next up is Vanity Fairy who I've seen a couple of times and was impressed. Tonight is no different with the floor grooving to a modern slant on 70s disco. Vanity (or Daisy as I find out when I chat to her later) seems more confident than I've seen before and puts on a great show coming out into the audience, standing on benches, singing from behind the bar and generally making us dance, laugh and crane our necks and possibly irritating the bar staff. It's a great set which includes tonights only use of the Windmill's resident drum kit when she drapes herself over it. With a 1920s type headdress and voluminous dress Vanity cuts a striking figure. Fantastic. Our reward for crowding the dance floor is a pack of @vanityfairydust playing cards thrown over us with some just about tasteful photos on them. During the set Jo finds a fingermouse puppet on the floor which turns out to be anything but but that's a story best kept told over a pint rather than in a tasteful blog. After a sojourn in the garden with the hilarious wobbly bench (well, Ramsay and I laughed) we're in for the main act that is Mickey Callisto launching is new single Homospace although I didn't see any merch for sale let alone singles. Maybe it's not on vinyl. Mickey's act is high octane energetic disco reminiscent of Queen what with quieter interludes and then more chanting anthemic tunes. Mickey looks a bit like Freddie Mercury in  a strange way and strutted around in a similar way. Anyways he certainly got us all dancing although not enough room to throw the moves that he was and had us punching the air and singing along to political songs about sticking it to the man. Great stuff and went down very well. After the set we chat to someone who'd been at Brockwell Park for the drum and bass day earlier and then a smooth cycle home avoiding xmas trees probably as they've all been collected months ago. A great night and start to the weekend.

Windmill

Nastazia

Vanity

Mickey

(c) Jo