Drumlanrig Castle

Thornhill

Aug 26-27

 

Electric F,ields has grown legs. Arriving at the new press tent Hil Laverick and myself were greeted by Jenn Nimmo-Smith , who is looking forward to a well earned rest after her efforts as Press manager both here and at T in the Park this year. Straight up we dived into the crowds asking what had been their favourite acts this weekend…. The Charlatans, Public Service Broadcasting, White, Baby Strange, Steve Mason, Bowie & Prince disco with DJ Bear who was, “so charismatic” according to Jules, happy to share her experience of the festival so far.

 

We had missed Teen Canteen – they were leaving the Tim Peaks stage as we arrived but lead vocalist Carla let us photograph her out the back.Their sold out before it ‘s even been  released limited edition album Say It All With A Kiss has artwork by Ross Sinclair (Reader in Contemporary Art Practice in the School of Fine Art at The Glasgow School of Art ) Reminiscent (but decidedly different) of Glasgow 80s band Strawberry Switchblade you can catch them at Glasgow’s Mono on 8th September supported by BooHooHoo and Stephen Solo.

Riding The Low were up next and their set could’ve done with a bigger stage to accommodate the energy of actor/singer Paddy Considine who was struggling for leg room. His powerful voice relayed offerings from album ‘What Happened to the Get to Know ‘Ya?’ (2013)’ and ‘ They Will Rob You Of Your Gifts’. Considine is best known for his role as Simon Ross; Guardian Newspaper Reporter fighting to stay alive because of the classified information he has in Oscar winning movie The Bourne Ultimatum. His killer quote in the movie is

“My source told me it all started with you. He said that you were square one, the dirty little secret… He said he knows who you are!”

You may prefer his non fiction quote

“If I ever become a celebrity, I’ll f*cking disappear and go and make shoes like Daniel Day Lewis.”

Everything Everything exploded on to The Main stage all synchronized in their thematic grey attire which was theatrically incongruous (in a good way, like their comically mental videos) to their intense stage presence. Influenced by Nirvana, Radiohead and The Beatles at times I was catching overtones of what could be mistaken for Ugandan traditional music mixed in their highly eclectic synth pop rock style. Lead vocalist Jonathan Higgs delivered Distant Past’s visceral self-excoriating lyrics to the packed crowd

—

Drag my tongue across the sand

So happy just to crawl across the land

Soon I’ll be the best around

I’m gonna keep my plunder underground

Hard flesh cold against the rain

Dust billowing around my brazen brain

Saw off all my stinking limbs

Blood dripping down my sunken money chin

—

Higgs and former guitarist/vocalist  Alex Niven formed Everything Everything in 2006 and around that time Niven described their naming of the band as follows:

 The idea as I saw it was to try to take contemporary R&B pop music and fashion a vaguely Futurist project out of it, and between the two of us we chose the name Everything Everything, a détournement of sorts of an over-saturated media culture into something idealistic and expansive

 More maximalist than minimalist they were a highlight and primed the crowd well for the anticipated return of Primal Scream. Bobby Gillespie was on top form playing tracks Tripping on your love from their recent album ‘Chaosmosis’ along with crowd-pleasers Accelerator and Moving On Up.

 

Missing last years highlight Hector Bizerk if you are a fan their last ever gig before they officially break up is at Glasgow School of Art on October 14th with finale tickets only £12. As was the case last year at Electric Fields the food was cheap and high quality…thanks for the smiles and free ice cream lovely lady at Galloway Ice cream stall and hope to see this festival blossom again next year. Big thanks to Paul  Whiteley for sharing his photography.

Reviewer Clare Crines