Day three: my, doesn't time fly? The sun's out too, which is a welcoming start to the day especially for those camped out near the Main Stage for the first of two Flogging Molly appearances. That said, we all know how the weather ended up don't we, and in hindsight we can say that Dave King really needn't have worried so much: "... you'll witness a suntanned Irishman - a rare fucking sight!"Beauty really, the sun's shining down, the atmosphere is upbeat and the crowd is happy, many are dancing, couples are jigging and we have an hour of punk rock / traditional Irish tunes to enjoy - don't you just love the tin whistle? "Drunken Lullabies", "What's Left Of The Flag", "Selfish Man" and "Seven Deadly Sins" are the highlights for me, although I do ponder whether some of the band's more raucous songs are being saved for the cosy confines of the Lock Up Stage later in the evening. Hmmm. More than likely. Anyone?
Aren't Leeds' Shut Your Eyes And You'll Burst Into Flames fantastic? Pick any genre and they'd likely fit in somewhere: punk, dance, post-anything, rock, need I go on? Lovely jackets, even better dancing.
Having recently been caught on the wave of fan (over)enthusiasm at The View's T In The Park appearance in July, bumping a second Flogging Molly set for the Dundee four-piece seemed a natural decision to make, especially given the gloriously ramshackle mix of adolescence and gritty Libs-esque guitars on display via current single "Wasted Little DJs". Yet those predicting a riotous gig are left wanting just a touch more as The View simply fail to deliver any songs. Granted these young boys appear to be hugely talented, versatile musicians, and for getting out the ol' acoustic or belting out a vocal, then yeah ... but running off your audience's adrenaline alone only takes you so far. The View as serious songwriters? Not yet. I'll be proven wrong, they'll be huge, you'll love them (if you don't already), but I really didn't hear a strong-enough candidate for single number two. Onwards...
... we're off to the Radio One / NME Stage!
Sheffield's Milburn are immense fun and rattle off a back-of-the-van (you don't know where it came from, but you just don't care, you'll 'ave it!) full of instantly, memorable pop tunes. Guitars jangle, accents twang, audience bounce. Lovely!
The Automatic feature the loudest, mass audience participation I see all weekend when 10,000 people from front to back, left to right, hold arms aloft and ask, "Is it a monster?" If you didn't hear that over at the Main Stage I'll own up to liking Spice Girls right here, right now. No? Ha ha, I don't believe you.
Yup, it's a tremendous feeling to witness so many people adoring a song so much and singing so incredibly loudly back at its creators. Ooh, legs like jelly. Trembly.
The weekend wouldn't be the same without a spell over at the Main Stage, so with Feeder, The Streets and Arctic Monkeys playing back to back, well, what the hell, let's go for it. A quick fire round-up: Feeder do a Greatest Hits set and I love it; The Streets are a lot heavier than I anticipated, getting the audience to crouch down and jump an interesting sight, and generally, well, rocking out (although it's probably recommended just to avoid being bottled off stage); and the Arctic Monkeys, well, they conclude 2006 in style sounding just like you thought they would ("lazy writer" is probably what you're thinking right now, but on your next thought, yes that one, well that's what the Monkeys sounded like, *wink*).
Hmmm, I only catch the closing moments of "Staring At The Sun" by TV On The Radio but for what its worth it's incredible - 60 seconds of joy! I envy anyone that saw more. Although my timing appears appalling, I'm actually back at the Carling Stage for The Fratellis, who open with "Henrietta", a fun, bouncy slice of guitar pop reminiscent of those Britpop years. A party atmosphere quickly ensues as the audience respond to the Scots' indie-disco anthem with flag waving, dancing, singing. It's more of the same for the next twenty minutes until, as as with The View earlier, I conclude there's only so much you can take before you decide you want just a little bit more, y'know?
"Is this it?" a frequent thought, it ultimately forces me out into the torrential rain of an emotion-hungry, dark thunderous night...
