Morning dramas, disorganisation, etc led to SL and I getting there too late for Robyn, which was a bit of a disappointment - but so it goes. Actually playing when we arrived were Hot Hot Heat, who were underwhelming - didn't seem especially into it (not especially not, either - they just didn't particularly have it going on)...though neither were they well served by the perplexingly low volume at which the music was mixed (a problem which afflicted all of the acts on the "this stage", at least, with the possible exception of the Pumpkins at day's end).
Then we saw a bit of Cut/Copy - they didn't leave much of an impression. And after that, Modest Mouse, who were wicked excellent. I've never really listened to their stuff, though I've kinda heard quite a lot of it along the way, but live I could dig it - very Indie Rock but very good with it. SL and Nenad both afficionados and clearly feeling the love. Oh yeah, and Johnny Marr was part of the band! Too bloody marvellous to hear that straightaway recognisable guitar sound...things were looking up. (Hooked up with Michelle and others somewhere around this point...throughout it was very much a day for meeting and then re-meeting.)
Then we went and saw Roisin Murphy who, colourful and energetic and charismatic as hell, could really potentially have been the highlight of the day had we been able to stay for more than about a song and a half before the tyranny of the irritating overlapping times dragged us back to the main stage to ensure a good position for the Jesus & Mary Chain - the main reason why I decided to hit the festival in the first place.
About the JAMC, well, a part of me thought that it was pretty great to hear all those familiar songs (especially the Psychocandy ones) and a fair few that I didn't know, too, being played live right in front of me (we worked our way pretty close to the front for this one)...that was quite a large part of me, natch. But at the same time it wasn't quite all that - the band was too tight, its sound too clean, too lacking in feedback, squalls, roughness...the sound of a bunch of 40-somethings covering familiar ground rather than of kids in their 20s searching something out. It gave me something, still, but wasn't a patch on last year's reformed icon the Pixies.
Then went off to other stage and caught a bit of Air, who were fairly rock star and really pretty good, a bit to my surprise. I've never taken the duo to heart, but somehow they seem to keep bobbing up - "Sexy Boy" and "Kelly Watch The Stars" (both of which we saw them do at V) are lodged firmly in my consciousness, Talkie Walkie picked up a few associations when it came out, and then of course there's the S Coppola connection - and this was pleasant and even a bit more...
We were in two minds about whether QOTSA or CSS was a better option next - but we swung by the first of those and they were playing all songs that we knew, so we stuck around and were rewarded with a solid set of rock tunes, intensely played. Dudes know how to play their instruments - and, in Homme's case, to sing.
And finally the Pumpkins, fronted of course by Corgan, loving every moment of the rock star adulation that was offered up by the crowd. Kicked off with "Today" and ran through plenty enough of the old hits to satisfy ("Bullet", "1979", "Zero"...) as well as a bunch of other stuff (not least a jagged cover of "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun") - it was spectacular and messy and not really incredibly satisfying, but still, it was, you know, the Pumpkins (or at least two of four plus others) and they've been there for me in some sense since high school and all, so yeah.
All up, the festival was okay - some good moments but a total lack of great ones. Suffered from a lack of atmosphere (see above re: volume, and also the general vibe of too many people just standing around and not really into the music) and an absence of any one act (at least of those that I saw) that really threatened to tear the figurative rafters off...too glossy, too safe. Maybe this is what comes of stacking the lineup with tasteful acts with plenty of cred who are now past their peak of popularity (and having the festival prominently sponsored by a corporate)...
