‘END OF THE ROAD FESTIVAL’ – BLANDFORD FORUM, DORSET 1-4.9.22
End Of The Road Festival Day One: Thursday 1st September
This is my second visit to the ‘End Of The Road Festival’, held at the really rather lovely Larmer Tree Gardens, (Blandford Forum, Dorset, SP5 5PY) to the west of Salisbury. Today is a relatively low key start with not all of the stages in operation.
My musical experience at this year’s festival starts with the tail end of Joe & The Shitboys’ set. They seem to be a band that I’m destined never to see a full set from, having caught a similarly small portion of their set at the Green Man Festival. They come from the Faroe Islands, an archipelago to the north of Scotland, midway between Iceland and Norway. Despite its geographical location, it is a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It may not be known as a hotbed of rock ‘n’ roll, but Joe & The Shitboys do the place proud, with their hip-hop infused punk. They seemingly have no further UK dates currently booked, but when they do have some, I’ll be first in the queue for tickets.
joeandtheshitboys.bandcamp.com
Next up are Vogues, the project of London based Davy Roderick. Today they are a three-piece with programmed beats who are responsible for some wonderfully ethereal music. The guitarist in particular is very aware of the concept of serving the song, with some very imaginative and fluid lead playing. It’s music to comfortably drift away on.
Check out Vogues HERE
Following Vogues are Apollo Ghosts, who describe themselves as “a fun rock ‘n’ roll band from Vancouver”. This they may be, but I think they underrate themselves. What they actually purvey is classic North American college rock, and that’s intended as a compliment! They are occasionally funky, but mostly enjoyably punchy. This is good time music with some intellectual content which avoids being cheesy, although at one point the singer reads a text from his Mum, which I suppose is pretty cheesy! ‘Spilling Your Guts’ is an awesome track, with the singer yelling: “let’s see you bounce!” And we do. The drummer sings along, but not into his mic, and a good time is had by all.
Tonight’s headliner is the very wonderful Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. I’ve seen and reviewed them before, and I must say that they’re one of my favourite live bands of the moment. They serve up their music with a hefty dollop of Black Sabbath, but with plenty of indie sus as an accompaniment. Arguably, and this may be perceived as sacrilege in some quarters, they are more interesting than Sabbath.
Tonight vocalist Matthew Baty looks like a cross between a 1920s gentleman bather and a toddler. Luckily he doesn’t sound like a toddler, or a gentleman come to that. He announces one song as capturing “the energy and excitement of ordering a takeaway on a weeknight”. However, that particular act is nowhere near as exciting as the song. Their final song is ‘A66’, a road Baty says is a serious threat to the North, which apparently it is, due to the annual death toll amongst motorists that use it. Whilst Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs are a lot of fun live, and have a demonstrable sense of humour, their songs do deal with social issues too. A band who are not to be underestimated.
End Of The Road Festival Day Two: Friday 2nd September
Friday at the ‘End Of The Road Festival’, starts rather delicately due to my somewhat over-enthusiastic patronage of the Cider Bus the night before. The Cider Bus had been at Glastonbury too, and whilst I didn’t recognise any of the bar staff, I certainly did recognise that delicate morning-after feeling.
Bearing the above in mind, thank goodness I had selected Naima Bock on the Garden Stage as my first artist to review (yes dear readers, some considerable research and planning had gone into my approach to this festival). Naima had previously been the bassist in Goat Girl (as Naima Jelly), but had left that band in 2019. She is now signed to Sub Pop as a solo artist and has an album out called ‘Giant Palm’. Her music is very different to that of Goat Girl. It’s pleasingly serious singer-songwriterly stuff. It’s not necessarily deeper than Goat Girl’s music, but there’s certainly no playfulness. It’s music that really needs to be listened to without any distractions. Naima plays Brighton’s Prince Albert on 11th October – Tickets HERE.
Next I get to see a band that I’ve been trying to see for the last few months: English Teacher on the Woods Stage (the main stage). The band are from Leeds and consist of Lily Fontaine on vocals, guitar and synth, Douglas Frost on drums, Nicholas Eden on bass and Lewis Whiting on guitar and synth. They have been a functioning entity since April 2020. They have an EP called ‘Polyawkward’ which was released in April this year. They deal in punchy, literate (pardon the almost pun) indie. They have been described as post-punk, but vigorously reject that particular label, so I’m going nowhere near it!
Their song titles can’t help but invite intrigue: ‘The World’s Biggest Paving Slab’, ‘A55’. As far as I’m aware the A55 is a road linking Cheshire with the North Wales coast. I couldn’t quite detect whether that is actually the subject matter of the song. ‘Albatross’ features some nice interplay between the two guitarists. Some things are quite experimental: there’s a spoken word piece about an evening in the pub which turns into a relationship. Lily at one point plays a slide part using a can. They have a song called ‘R&B’ featuring the line “I’ve been writing R&B”. It’s very much a guitar song though. I really want to hear more, and can’t wait till they have an album out. They certainly have plenty of top material. They’re a good live band too. This is their first time at ‘The End Of The Road Festival’, and their first time on a festival main stage. It looks like it was something they were born to do. They play the ‘2.3.4 Fest’ in Brighton at Green Door Store on 24th-25th September, which is free!
English Teacher are on Spotify
Next I make my way to the Boat Stage for Fat Dog. I previously saw them at the Visions Festival in Hackney in July, and in all honesty they are one of the most exciting bands that I’ve seen in a while. Almost immediately there is quite an insane moshpit, which actually belies the complexity of Fat Dog’s music, which is about a lot more than moshing. In their music there are elements of ska, jazz, techno and dance, not to mention rock. There is musical ability in spades here. For example, the sax player takes being a multi-instrumentalist to a whole new level – soloing on sax with one hand whilst simultaneously playing keyboards. So there is a high degree of showmanship on display, but with the musical chops to back it up.
Talking of showmanship, the vocalist spends a great deal of his time in the audience, as he did at Visions Festival. They’re self-deprecating too, announcing one song as “our only good song”, a statement that is so far from being true. At one point an audience member is invited onstage to play cowbell, whilst simultaneously the bassist leaves the stage to dance. As the bassist returns the stage manager calls time, but they manage to persuade him to allow them to play one more song (which the audience are already demanding). It is the only stage where I see this kind of flexibility all weekend.
I next make my first visit to The Big Top to see DEHD. I had seen them earlier in the afternoon playing a seemingly impromptu set from the back of a van, without actually realising who they were. DEHD are from Chicago and consist of Emily Kempf on bass and vocals, Jason Balla on guitar and vocals, and Eric McGrady on drums. McGrady plays standing up and has no bass drum. A floor tom suffices. They produce tuneful garage rock reminiscent of The Cramps and The Violent Femmes. Emily Kempf has a clear, powerful voice and they really are a lot of fun, which may sound dismissive but it really isn’t. I’ve seen them twice in one day and I’m still wanting more. I’ll get some too, as they’re playing the Pitchfork Music Festival in London on 13th November.
I remain in The Big Top for Soccer Mommy. Notionally Soccer Mommy are a vehicle for singer/songwriter Sophie Regina Allison, but they are very definitely a band, and Allison refers to them as such. They are much rockier than I was expecting and the material is brilliant: tuneful with balls. Sophie quickly establishes a rapport with the audience, telling us that she’s obsessed with the tiger hanging from the roof of the tent (it’s not a real tiger). Once again there’s some great musicianship, with some lovely dual lead guitar. At one point it sounds like a repeating peal of bells. Soccer Mommy are well worth seeing live. They’re on a bit of a jaunt around Europe at the moment, but they return to Blighty and play Kentish Town Forum on 22nd September.
I return to the Woods Stage for headliners Fleet Foxes. I actually saw them a week ago supporting The National at ‘All Points East’, and was mightily impressed that they were able to replicate their immaculate harmonies live. The band hail from Seattle and consist of Robin Pecknold on vocals and guitar; Skyler Skjelset on guitar, mandolin and backing vocals; Casey Wescott on keyboards, mandolin and backing vocals; Christian Wargo on bass, guitar, and backing vocals; and Morgan Henderson on upright bass, woodwind, violin, percussion and saxophone. Tonight they are also joined by a horn section.
Fleet Foxes become further mob-handed for opening song ‘Wading In Waist-High Water’ (from their most recent album ‘Shore’) when they are joined by Nigerian born singer-songwriter Uwade on vocals (she returns later to sing on ‘Going-To-The-Sun Road’, also from ‘Shore’). Fleet Foxes have been active for sixteen years, including a four year hiatus from 2012 to 2016, and have released four albums during that time, the most recent being the aforementioned ‘Shore’ in 2020. In common with many bands, Fleet Foxes doubtless experienced a degree of frustration at not being able to tour their most recent album during lockdown. However, opening a festival headline set with three songs from your most recent album is probably pushing it a bit. As recompense though, the next three songs are from debut album ‘Fleet Foxes’.
One thing that very quickly becomes apparent is that the band in general, and Robin Pecknold in particular, are very, very nice. Pecknold seems to generally enjoy interacting with the crowd. He waves at us. We wave back. He and most of the rest of the band wave again. More of the crowd wave back. This waving rally goes on for two or three minutes before the band decide that they probably ought to play another song. A while later Robin notices, as he puts it, “some very excited people” towards the front. The very excited people ask the band to play ‘Blue Spotted Tail’ from the ‘Helplessness Blues’ album. There is a brief band discussion and the band agrees to play it! Maybe I’ve been worn down by cynicism over the years, but I simply can’t envisage another major festival headlining artist being that flexible with their setlist! It’s simply beyond commendable.
There are many highlights from tonight’s show, and ‘Blue Spotted Tail’ is certainly one of them. My own personal highlight is ‘White Winter Hymnal’ from the debut album, which almost redefines the term ‘sublime’. There are some unexpected treats too: a cover of ‘Phoenix’ by Big Red Machine, the collaboration between Aaron Dessner of The National and Justin Vernon, better known as the frontman of Bon Iver. Personally I was surprised to hear ‘Mykonos’ and ‘Drops In The River’ from the ‘Sun Giant’ EP from 2008. This has been an utterly exquisite performance, and it has taught me that seeing Fleet Foxes twice within the space of a week is not too much. Indeed, it may not be enough! So when are they playing next? Unfortunately there are no more UK dates scheduled at present, but next time…..
Although Fleet Foxes were tonight’s main stage headliner, that doesn’t mean that the music has stopped for the night. No indeed. Next up in The Big Top we have experimental rock band Battles. This is another band that I’ve been wanting to see for years. They were originally a four-piece, but having lost Tyondai Braxton (guitar, keyboards and vocals) in 2010, and Dave Konopka (bass, guitar, loops, effects) in 2018, they are now down to a duo. Most bands would have either called it a day, or recruited new members, but Battles simply aren’t like most bands. What happened with Battles was that Ian Williams, who up until 2018 had been responsible for guitar, keyboards and the Ableton Push (which for technophobes like me is a machine that triggers samples and does some other near magical stuff too. ‘Tis witchcraft basically) took on the additional duties of effects, bass and loops. He does all of this at once, and it is very impressive. He may have some assistance from technology though.
The material is adventurous and inventive. Ian Williams solos on keyboards and guitar simultaneously, which you can’t fail to be impressed by. If Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil, God knows what this guy has done. It’s probably best not to ask. Drummer John Stanier seems to be having perpetual problems with his snare drum, but I’m confident that this holds no terrors for him. He is an incredibly powerful drummer, and there are some quite bewildering time signatures employed. This is fascinating and very exciting music. Battles aren’t really the kind of band to have ‘greatest hits’, but I do recognise the final track they play as being from their debut album ‘Mirrored’ from 2007. That final dose of familiarity leaves me with a warm, satisfied feeling inside.
So, it must be bedtime now, yes? Ha! The night is yet young! The ‘End Of The Road Festival’ is well known for its ‘surprise shows’. These are held at the Tipi stage and a little birdy (okay, it was actually a bloke called Richard) has told me that the first of these will be by Beak>. Beak> are an experimental electro-rock band comprising Geoff Barrow from Portishead on drums and vocals, Billy Fuller from Robert Plant’s Sensational Shape-Shifters on bass and vocals, and Will Young on keyboards, synths and guitars.
Their soundcheck is a little problematic, but eventually they’re ready to start. We know that this is the case because Barrow announces “we’re f*ckin’ Mumford & Sons. The banjos will be arriving shortly”. One thing you learn pretty rapidly about Beak> is that there will be banter. Lots of banter. Targets of this banter will be anyone who isn’t from Bristol (Beak’s home city) and particularly anyone from London. Indeed, after proclaiming “we’re f*ckin’ Coldplay!” Barrow asks, “I suppose most of you are down from London aren’t you?” Myself and the rest of the photographers sitting in the photo pit, in sight and more disturbingly, reach of the band, all deny this vehemently.
So what about the music then? Well, the band might not like me for saying this, but this is prog. It’s inventive, imaginative, progressive music. That doesn’t mean that it sounds like Yes or Genesis from the 1970s. That’s the point. There are very few references with which to compare it. This is a very good thing indeed. However, I will try to describe it for you. It’s complicated music with hints of Krautrock (in that there’s motorik drumming). Their last song however sounds oddly like a cross between Black Sabbath and Hawkwind. It’s danceable and percussive. If you don’t think that this really gives you very much to go on, put your hands in your pockets and buy the band’s albums, or listen on Spotify if you must. I’m sure Beak> will be grateful for the 0.01p per play.
Well, that must be it then yes? No. To quote John Donne: “When thou hast done, thou hast not done, for I have more.” Closing the action on the Tipi Stage we have Mandy, Indiana, who are not from Indiana at all, but are from Manchester. They are an industrial rock band consisting of Scott Fair, Valentine Caulfield and Liam Stewart, who has previously toured with Lonelady. Vocalist Caulfield is French, and indeed, sings in French. Unfortunately the vocals seem to be very low in the mix, so it’s actually very difficult to hear what she’s singing. Likewise, the band is almost exclusively backlit, so it’s also quite difficult to see them. However, these limits on one’s perception give their performance a somewhat trancelike, dreamlike air. If I was going to use an adjective to describe them it would be ‘interesting’. They’re certainly worthy of further investigation anyway. They tour with Gilla Band in October, playing Brighton Chalk on the 23rd – Tickets HERE.
Time to turn in then. What’s that? Shall we go to the Cider Bus??? Are you insane???!!!! Well, it’s been a long day. One won’t hurt…..
Read End Of The Road Part Two HERE and read Part Three HERE.
