Concrete and Glass is a festival taking place at 13 different venues dotted around east London. You might think that attendees are able to flit from venue to venue in a carefree fashion, seeing whichever bands take their fancy. The reality is, however, quite different. Each venue can, of course, only hold a certain amount of people at one time. So, if there’s an act you really want to see – and if you suspect there will be lots of other people who will also want to see the band – you’re advised to turn up at the venue early, possibly before the preceding act takes the stage.
It’s for that reason that I reluctantly decide not to watch the festival’s best-known act, TV on the Radio, perform at Cargo. They’re bound to be the festival’s biggest draw, but I’m not sure I can be bothered to stay at Cargo for the entire evening to guarantee a vantage point. In addition, they’re not scheduled to play until one in the morning, which is way past my bedtime.
So, feeling liberated by my decision, I start the evening at 93 Feet East, where Sky Larkin are performing. I hadn’t heard of any of the acts performing in that time slot, but I plumped for Sky Larkin because the festival guide book compares them to Elastica and the Sugarcubes. Sky Larkin have a female singer, but that’s where the similarity to those two acts ends. They make highly conventional indie rock; to describe them as ‘meat and potatoes’ would suggest they sound like the Pigeon Detectives, but they’re nowhere near as dull as that – they’re more like ‘meat, non-fried potatoes and green veg’ indie rock.
Next up: Truckers of Husk at the Vibe Bar. And, lordy, they’re great. They play ‘math-rock’, which, in practise, means their songs are mostly instrumental and feature cross-hatching guitars and tangential rhythms. Despite the music’s intricacy, it’s also immediate and danceable, like a poppier Battles. A sign of their success arrives during the closing number, when a couple (who are ABSOLUTELY NOT off their faces on ecstasy) dance unselfconsciously at the lip of the stage.
I’m very keen to see the Swedish singer Lykke Li, who’s headlining Café 1001. Being the anxious type, I make sure I’m at the venue long before her set is due to start. Unfortunately this means I have to endure the interminable Wildbirds and Peacedrums. They’re a male-female duo whose songs combine tribal drumming and wailing (sorry, ‘banshee-like’) vocals. Their supporters will no doubt use terms such as ‘primal’, ‘intense’ and ‘soul-baring’ to describe W&P’s music; I, however, feel these words are most applicable: ‘boring’, ‘unlistenable’ and ‘bollocks’. Still, the rest of the audience seems to love them, so maybe it’s just me.
After Wildbirds’ resolute tune-dodging, the appearance of Lykke Li is the musical equivalent of a UN peacekeeping force entering a war zone. After an interminably long soundcheck – you’d think the band were laying down the National Grid – Lykke appears with her band. At its best – as on ‘I’m Good, I’m Gone’ and ‘Little Bit’ – her music is pretty much ideal: it combines sticky hooks with inventive, unusual arrangements. She mixes it up a bit, too, doing brief covers of Vampire Weekend’s ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’ and, er, KRS-One’s ‘Sound of da Police’.
It’s a strong end to an entertaining festival. It was a shame I didn’t see TV on the Radio, but at least I get home at a reasonable hour and that, undoubtedly, is the most important thing. (I might just disagree – TVOTR-review-demanding Ed.)
Read part one of this review HERE.
