The weekend saw the return of Wakefield's hugely popular Long Division festival. Over 115 performances stretched over three days and marked the event as the biggest and best to date. Our writer Angi Strafford was at the heart of the event on Saturday....
With it
fast becoming the top slice to a summer festival sandwich that starts
way back in May with Live at Leeds, this weekend we made the
surprisingly short journey to Wakefield for the fourth annual Long
Division festival. Comparisons to Live at Leeds, with multiple
venues, garish maps and wristband arrangements are easy to draw, but
it was time to see how the reputedly more raucous relation of West
Yorkshire likes to do things.
The
festivities had begun the night before with not one but two shows
from hometown heroes The Cribs, but it was the intriguing Saturday
line up that had caught our eye, promising us a curious mix of more
than eighty bands spread across nine stages around the city. Picking
up our passes from the breathtakingly restored Unity Hall, we set off
into the crowds spilling along Westgate.
First up
was Wakefield own CryBabyCry. Battling admirably with a
multitude of sound issues, they kept us entertained with unplugged
Johnny Cash covers until finally they were able to begin. Never has a
band been so unexpectedly worth the wait. Fresh from Leeds fest and
coming on with a stomp that was Black Keys by way of T-Rex, I felt
I’d accidentally stumbled into a smoky off-Beale Street bar. Even
the faux-Americana references didn’t grate; this was definitely an
exercise in inspiration rather than tribute. Rosie Doonan’s vocals
have the richness and resonance of early Chrissie Hynde delivered
with the soul and swagger of Brittany Howard. The trio are
prodigiously talented musicians, but were having so much fun on stage
it was easy not to notice. An EP lands in October.
Next we
headed over to Warehouse 23 for Mazes and a surprisingly
sparse crowd given their recent heavy 6 music exposure. No matter,
they easily filled the gaps. Leaning in a lay-by on Interstate-5,
half way between Seattle and Portland, Mazes remind me of better
executed 90s sixth form band. Their bittersweet, introspective
earnestness is strangely likeable, treading a path part Pavement,
part Girls, all intricately vast seas of melody tightly held together
with Joy Division style minimalist percussion. Universal Me
was a high point of a set that didn’t really dip in quality
throughout.
Following
on from that was always going to be a tough job, and Melodic Records
protegées Patterns were unfortunately not the men for the
job. Sold as (new) shoegaze, they’re more Delays than Drop
Nineteens. What on record is dreamy layers of guitars and samples
seemed to lose something in the live performance. The stage a hive of
activty, the members too perky for the soundtrack, it was uninspiring
and instantly forgettable.
Events
like this are made for the serendipity of a surprise stumble upon;
enter Casual Sex. Hailed by the Guardian as “the best
Scottish indie band since Franz Ferdinand”, they certainly share an
arch wit and coy sexuality with the Glasgow four-piece. A tumbling,
sleazy mess reminiscant of Pink Glove era Pulp; like that band they
weren’t afraid sprinkle a little politics on their disco, be it
subtly or overtly. Dedicating track Bastard Beat to Cameron,
Clegg, Miliband “and all those other bastards” and the bassist
wielding an instrument decked out like a Palestinian flag, it was
refreshing to see a band not hiding from their beliefs behind anodyne
press releases. Sam Smith comes over all latter day Captain Sensible,
but musically it’s filthy hooks not unlike Roxy Music with the bite
of Edwyn Collins. Perfection.
After
that tryst it was time for a change of pace in the shape of Flowers
in the minor hall over at Unity Works. With their debut album Do
What You Want To, It’s What You Should Do released on
Kanine this week, the band were in good spirits. They make an
incredible amount of noise for a trio with only a guitar, pared down
drum kit and a one stringed bass between them, but fullness of it
reverbrates around the room, creating a canvas onto which they paint
delicate lines with Rachel Kenedy’s voice. It’s emo for indie
kids, heavy with a mosaic of emotion that manages to avoid
claustrophobia with the precision of its execution. If I Tell You
was magnificent, just vocals and the suggestion of an underlying
guitar yet it packed the room. Astonishing. Catch them at the
Brudenell Games Room on September 27.
The Unity
Works Major Hall was a fitting setting for Leeds stalwarts I Like
Trains. As always, their musicianship was faultless, with David
Martin’s baritone tying the outfit together with admirable
assistance from Simon on drums. Their three guitars are almost
uncomfortably stifling, but it that feels like the point. The set is
as considered and thought provoking as the first time I saw them, but
it’s no longer evident where they fit. More than ten years since
their inception, there’s a sense about them that perhaps their time
has passed, there’s no longer enough space for their brand of
intelligent post rock, or at least in the commercially successful
sense that they have so many times seemed just on the cusp of.
It was
over then to Slow Club to put a full stop on proceedings. The
Sheffield act’s blend of classic rock ‘n’ roll wrapped in
slickly sugary melody is without true contemporaries; they don’t
exist as part of any scene yet have managed to carve a devoted
following. With the release of their latest album, their set is now a
mix of their previous nu-folk tweeness and faux-town melodies.
Without the strings arrangement they use on record, the sound wasn’t
as soulful as it could have been. Rebecca’s belting vocal
compensated a little, but fresh from a break, it seemed they were
still in holiday mode; only half present with a non-commitment that
showed. Still, the enthusiasm of the crowd lifted it to a suitably
rousing finisher.
It’s
unfair to keep comparing Wakefield with Leeds, but it bears a
mention. Speaking as someone from a somewhat neglected smaller town;
the beauty of these events in places that don’t have the luxury of
being a stop on everyone’s touring schedule or the backing of
corporate juggernauts, is that when a collective like Rhubarb Bomb
makes the painstaking effort to create something as wonderful as
this, it has an effect on the place entire. The simple joy of music
floating on the air that shines a light on a place. It makes you fall
in love with your home town, even if just for the day; and the
importance of not taking it for granted, that’s a lesson we spoilt
LS postcode district residents could do well to remember.
Words - Angi Strafford
Early bird tickets for 2015 Here