Loop Festival, Brighton
Artist:
Foals
Venue: Brighton
Date: 18/08/07
Rating:
The thing about Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip is that it's all about the lyrics. Without Pip's fantastically blunt storytelling, you're left with half an hour of some not especially engrossing beats. Thanks to a muddy sound mix, that's sadly what we're left with today. With the lyrics completely inaudible, you'd perhaps hope for a lively performance to try and retain your attention - again, however, we're left disappointed, as Le Sac is only seen to be checking his e-mails on a laptop while Pip is looking frustrated at the soundman. 'Fixed' - their Dizzee Rascal-sampling attack on UK hip-hop does provide a highlight in an otherwise below-par set, but it's too short-lived for the duo to really make their mark.
Seeing two men bash out some aggressive tunes makes us all nostalgic. We miss you Death From Above 1979, it's been a long time. Sadly, Shy Child don't really do them justice - too much yelping and not enough hip-shaking for our liking. In fairness, it's hard to 'rock out' while you're playing a keytar. More acts come and go without particularly exciting us - Metronomy race through a set packed with backing dancers, light shows and smoke machines - while ambient outfit Bonobo play a more stripped-down affair, but it seems both have missed the mark somewhat in balancing their performance.
By the time Foals appear on stage, we're pretty miserable. We've been at Loop some seven hours at this point, our clothes are soaked through, and the five-piece have eaten in to their stage time setting up. It's a long overdue pleasant surprise then that Foals thrill us in ways we could previously only dream of. For a full forty five minutes they relentlessly churn out masterfully crafted tracks disguised as pop songs, and you begin to wonder if they can keep up the pace. From start to finish though it's a winner - the fact they can drop current single 'Mathletics' from the set without worry after running out of time speaks volumes for the quality of their work.
Frontman Yannis' onstage persona is quite a turnaround from his bookish appearance - seconds after the opening notes start ringing around the tent he's already throwing himself around like a man possessed. A plethora of photographers have assembled to capture him in action, and it's easy to see why. Though he keeps between-song banter to an absolute minimum and maintains a deadly serious visage at all times, it's strangely engaging, and there's a real superstar quality about this.
With the two major festivals this year fronted by Razorlight and Snow Patrol, Loop is offering up surely the best headline act of the summer. By their own admission though, this is "the worst Go! Team show ever" - half of their fan base is stuck in a queue outside the tent, the other half all danced out after Foals, and the soundman seems to have gone walkabouts for the first few songs. Even after contending with all this, the show slams to a halt again, as one of the drum kits literally falls apart while Ninja goes off stage to tape up an injured knee. It would be enough to keep even the best of bands down.
Bounding back on stage moments later, they're determined to make the best of a bad situation. If her injury is hampering her movement, she's hiding it well, as Ninja is just as bouncy as ever. Encouraging the crowd to copy her moves, 'Bottle Rocket' could easily be mistaken for an aerobics class as the crowd are throwing shapes at her instruction. Come set-closer 'Ladyflash' ("for the sound guy"), every face in the tent is bearing a smile - but memories of sound problems and miserable weather haven't been forgotten. It's a day of two halves - while the big-name attractions bring everything they promised, the supporting cast does leave a little to be desired.
Donald Vass
Foals MySpace
Venue: Brighton
Date: 18/08/07
Rating:
The thing about Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip is that it's all about the lyrics. Without Pip's fantastically blunt storytelling, you're left with half an hour of some not especially engrossing beats. Thanks to a muddy sound mix, that's sadly what we're left with today. With the lyrics completely inaudible, you'd perhaps hope for a lively performance to try and retain your attention - again, however, we're left disappointed, as Le Sac is only seen to be checking his e-mails on a laptop while Pip is looking frustrated at the soundman. 'Fixed' - their Dizzee Rascal-sampling attack on UK hip-hop does provide a highlight in an otherwise below-par set, but it's too short-lived for the duo to really make their mark.
Seeing two men bash out some aggressive tunes makes us all nostalgic. We miss you Death From Above 1979, it's been a long time. Sadly, Shy Child don't really do them justice - too much yelping and not enough hip-shaking for our liking. In fairness, it's hard to 'rock out' while you're playing a keytar. More acts come and go without particularly exciting us - Metronomy race through a set packed with backing dancers, light shows and smoke machines - while ambient outfit Bonobo play a more stripped-down affair, but it seems both have missed the mark somewhat in balancing their performance.
By the time Foals appear on stage, we're pretty miserable. We've been at Loop some seven hours at this point, our clothes are soaked through, and the five-piece have eaten in to their stage time setting up. It's a long overdue pleasant surprise then that Foals thrill us in ways we could previously only dream of. For a full forty five minutes they relentlessly churn out masterfully crafted tracks disguised as pop songs, and you begin to wonder if they can keep up the pace. From start to finish though it's a winner - the fact they can drop current single 'Mathletics' from the set without worry after running out of time speaks volumes for the quality of their work.
Frontman Yannis' onstage persona is quite a turnaround from his bookish appearance - seconds after the opening notes start ringing around the tent he's already throwing himself around like a man possessed. A plethora of photographers have assembled to capture him in action, and it's easy to see why. Though he keeps between-song banter to an absolute minimum and maintains a deadly serious visage at all times, it's strangely engaging, and there's a real superstar quality about this.
With the two major festivals this year fronted by Razorlight and Snow Patrol, Loop is offering up surely the best headline act of the summer. By their own admission though, this is "the worst Go! Team show ever" - half of their fan base is stuck in a queue outside the tent, the other half all danced out after Foals, and the soundman seems to have gone walkabouts for the first few songs. Even after contending with all this, the show slams to a halt again, as one of the drum kits literally falls apart while Ninja goes off stage to tape up an injured knee. It would be enough to keep even the best of bands down.
Bounding back on stage moments later, they're determined to make the best of a bad situation. If her injury is hampering her movement, she's hiding it well, as Ninja is just as bouncy as ever. Encouraging the crowd to copy her moves, 'Bottle Rocket' could easily be mistaken for an aerobics class as the crowd are throwing shapes at her instruction. Come set-closer 'Ladyflash' ("for the sound guy"), every face in the tent is bearing a smile - but memories of sound problems and miserable weather haven't been forgotten. It's a day of two halves - while the big-name attractions bring everything they promised, the supporting cast does leave a little to be desired.
Donald Vass
Foals MySpace
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