Already pressed for time and running late, the lads didn’t stick around for long, but enough for us to get two quick questions in, which in hindsight weren’t exactly the most insightful we could have asked, but still. Kele was in a jokey mood - when we mentioned their set at Reading the previous weekend and asked if it was a homecoming for him and Russell (they met at Reading ‘99) Kele gave us a heart-in-the-mouth moment as he goes “Oh, I never went to Reading… it was just a joke I told people to like us more!”, before conceding that he actually did meet Russell at Reading. Matt on the other hand commented that it was a homecoming of sorts for him - whilst he didn’t meet Kele and Russell at Reading ‘99, he spent his summer shuffling paper around offices in Reading.

Having been exceptionally excited about their new album, Intimacy (reviewed here), we were hoping for a set heavy with the new songs. However, whilst we only got two new songs, their set didn’t fail to disappoint and they certainly silenced any critics who said that they weren’t ready to be headliners.

Playing 16 songs over 75 minutes, Kele seemed remarkably chatty compared to when I last saw them and other gigs I’ve seen on TV etc. From their opener Mercury’s chant of “My mercury’s in retrograde” to “Positive Tension”’s yell of “so f***ing useless”, we knew that both crowd and band were happy to work as one, and made for a magical closing to Saturday.

Still enjoying the gorgeous settings, Kele thanked “our favourite elephant polo playing duke” for asking them to play personally. Hydro Connect marked the last time Daniel Lindegren would be standing in for bassist Gordon Moakes, and Kele took the opportunity to dedicate “So Here We Are” to him “as long as you don’t cock it up!” he joked.

“One Month Off” was the only other new song they played all evening, the disco stomp fitting right in with all their older work perfectly.

“Ah, I meant to say, did you like my kilt?” Kele asked the crowd in reference to his tartan red kilt. “The question is: what am I wearing underneath?! It let’s more air in, if you know what I mean!” he joked shortly before the first song of the encore, “Blue Light”. “Flux” heated things back up again as their green laser was cracked out, making the Scottish rain look beautiful for once as the laser hit the castle and trees.

Coming back one last time, they burst into “She’s hearing Voices” as Kele dives into the crowd chanting “Red pill, blue pill / Red pill, blue pill/ Milk of amnesia”, leaving the security unsure of quite what to do and ensuring they went down as one of the best headliners of the festival.

After the jump: setlist and bigger photos

Setlist:
Mercury
Hunting for Witches
Positive Tension
Waiting for the 7:18
Song for Clay (disappear here)
Helicopter
Two More Years
Modern Love
One Month Off
So Here We Are
Like Eating Glass
The Prayer

Blue Light
Flux
Banquet

She’s Hearing Voices

His debut album was mostly full of typical chart singer/songrwriter stuff, which didn’t rub many people up the wrong way, and had enough pull that grannies and tweenies loved him along with people in their 20s and 30s, but his new stuff sees him get a bit Johnny Cash and 60’s/70’s US rock on us. This is no bad thing and certainly shows us that the local lad is more than a one trick pony.

Perhaps the highlight of the set wasn’t the hits being wheeled out at the end, or the tales of growing up, instead an inspired choice of cover. It took me a moment to realise, but the call-and response of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” was perhaps one of the undoubted highlights of the day, possibly the weekend.

Rounding off with “Jenny Don’t Be Hasty” he certainly had won me around, and it looked like the whole crowd were then swooning for the local Paisley lad. Look out for his new album - it looks set to be a corker.

After the jump: Photos

Earlier in the afternoon we were lucky enough to get a chat with their bassist, Paul Donoghue by a very fragrant portaloo, when he talked to us about their debut self-titled album, which is out next Monday (8th September). He’d received the first complete copy with artwork and case and everything just 2 hours prior to talking to us, and was clearly chuffed how things were coming together.

“It took almost 8 weeks for us to record the album in New York, though it only took me two days to record my parts”… asked what he did for the rest of the time, he mentioned his fondness for drinking and watching the football. “There were two football TV Channels in the hotel room.. one showing English football, the other Spanish… I was slowly learning Spanish from the commentary!” he joked. Caroline’s drums took 2 weeks to get right “which is all the more surprising when you consider I was the least experienced!” he smiled.

As for the rest of the lineup, Paul was hoping to catch Spiritualized over on the mainstage. We joked that we weren’t that impressed with Paolo Nutini playing before Bloc Party, to which Paul commented that he caught him playing acoustically earlier in the year, and thought he was “out of this world”, which certainly put us in our place! He joined just about everyone we’d spoken to in commenting that the setting was just gorgeous, and wishing he could have stayed longer.

After our chat we went to catch Glasvegas on the Guitars and Other Machines stage, and needless to say were blown away. By far one of the largest mid-afternoon crowds had gathered, and blasted through a short yet triumphant set. Geraldine, Flowers And Football Tops and Daddy’s Gone all prove that frontman James Allan has a genuine lyric-writing gift, but at times the feedback-drenched sound was just a bit too much My Bloody Valentine for my liking.

Closing with current single and Radio 1 favourite “Daddy’s Gone”, the chants of “He’s gone, he’s gone, he’s go-one, oooh-oh-oooooh-ohh” could be heard for much of the rest of the day and much of Sunday, easily one of the anthems of the festival. Watch out for them next year - once they’ve played their tour this month, there will be no stopping them. Scotland’s Oasis? No, they’ll be bigger than that.

After the jump: some big photos.

Playing the vast majority of their debut album (which came out yesterday, 1st September) throughout their set, they slowly drew in more and more people with their Klaxons / Killers hybrid and managed to make everyone dance much more than many of the previous bands on Saturday afternoon. Lead singer Ed Macfarlane danced around the stage like a slightly younger Klaxons, playing disco-rock whilst thrusting ecestatically.

“Jump in the Pool” received one of the biggest receptions of the set, as everyone danced like loons, even attracting those of the crowd who were easily old enough to remember rave the first time round, before it even became “nu-rave”.

After the jump: More big photos

Clearly loving the beautiful setting for the festival, James Dean Bradfield and co treated us to a greatest hits set which showed off their amazing back-catalogue. Opening with “Faster” JDB echoed the sentiments of many bands over the weekend: “this is the last festival of the season for us, and it’s amazing to be in such a beautiful place as this!” he smiled before launching into a high velocity “Motorcycle Emptiness”.

“You Stole the Sun From My Heart” provided the first genuine festival sing-along, with the natural ampitheatre of the Oyster main stage providing amazing acoustics for the anthemic sing-along.

JDB introduced “Walking Abortion” from their generation-defining “Holy Bible” by joking that “those who are expecting one of our newer ones with strings can go to the bar for this one!”

“They said this was like an older version of T in the Park…I may need a hip replacement but that’s so not true - you’re all looking amazing tonight!” he smiled before launching into a cover of Rhianna’s Umberlla, which was one of the most inspired (or stupidest) choices of cover, dependent on your level of Manics fanaticism.

Motown Junk was dedicated to Richie Edwards, their missing guitarist and lyricist who has now been missing for over 13 years, and provided a reminder of the bands early days, and shows just how far they’ve come in their career.

Large photos and setlist after the jump.

Manic Street Preachers played the below setlist at Scotland’s Hydro Connect Festival on Friday 29th August 2008:
Faster
Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
La Tristesse Durera
Motorcycle Emptiness
Pennyroyal Tea
You Stole The Sun From My Heart
Little Baby Nothing
Send Away The Tigers
Everything Must Go
You Love Us
Of Walking Abortion
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
The Everlasting (Acoustic)
Autumnsong
Umbrella
Baby Love into Motown Junk
A Design For Life

Plagued by sound issues throughout, they werent very good at glossing over them but musically they were on top form.

After the jump: More pictures.

Photos are after the jump.

Its a bit of a mud bath and a 30 minute walk from the car park, but spirits are high. Once we’d got our tent up in a spot which surely will become a river at first rain, we wandered down to the main arena to find our way around.

Greeted by huggers who gave everyone a free hug as they went in the place has all the elements of a fairy tale castle: gorgeous landscapes and beautiful people.

Photos etc to follow next week

The New York university system seems to be doing well at the moment - first they turned out the amazing Vampire Weekend, and now Syracuse, New York, has turned out the brilliant Ra Ra Riot who played a headlining set at Monto Water Rats last night. Things got hot and sweaty as they ploughed through their 45 minute set in the tiny backroom, playing with so much energy you’d barely believe they’ve played a gig every night this week.

Earlier in the evening, The Daves warmed things up a bit with their radio-friendly anthems. They’re just like Dave TV too - a guilty pleasure, nice to dip in and out of, but also very predictable and unoriginal. Quickly followed by In Between Days, who sounded a bit like Lostprophets in a mixing pot with Biffy Clyro - good, but not really main-support material.

However there was no hiding who we were there for - Ra Ra Riot came on and gave us their rather unique mix of traditional bass, drums, guitar and keys augmented by violin and cello with enough energy to get everyone dancing, even the boring post-work crowd complete with unimpressed girlfriends. By the end of their set everyone was dancing like it was 1999, drenched in sweat with derranged smiles on their faces. As lead singer Wesley Miles commented: “This may not be our biggest gig this week, but you’re certainly the liveliest!”

Closing out their set with the double header of current single “Ghost Under Rocks” and previous single “Dying is Fine”, it was amazing that the six of them managed to stay on stage long with the amount they were bouncing into each other, falling over and generally having an amazing time. The poor soundguys were going to have fun - the cables of mics and guitars were amazingly well entangled from their antics.

Even if you haven’t heard of Ra Ra Riot go and check them out now - they may not make it to the big time, but they might just be one of your favourite secret bands.

Last night’s Reading Fest warm-up show was probably the last chance anybody here in England will have had to see MGMT in a relatively small venue before they return in November for a full tour, and my God was it worth the trek. Oxford’s recently converted and renovated Carling Academy is on nothing like the scale of their other venues (Brixton etc.), and the benefits of brand new sound and technical equipment are incredible. I only found out about this show at the last minute, and after getting exam results yesterday morning, I am definitely glad I made the effort.

I had total faith that MGMT’s performance would be impressive to say the least, but one thing I was slightly speculative about before the show was how exactly they were going to fill a full set with just one forty-minute album. Their lack of material was easily noticeable during the gig but they covered it well - not just playing but performing the entire album with an epic blend of instrumentals, along with two or three new songs towards the end, and a collaboration with the tremendously dreadful support band (I still don’t know what they were called because they were too drunk to remember to tell us..).

I thought I’d seen some bad warm-up acts before, and I’m usually pretty difficult to please unless I’m already a fan, but these guys were the crème de la crème of shittiness - I would have been less surprised to hear that they’d been dragged from the streets ten minutes in advance than that they’d actually been CHOSEN by somebody purposefully. Think homeless alcoholic tramps mixed with wannabe-rockstar dads and you’re about there. Still, they made MGMT seem even better.

It was nice to see MGMT look so thrilled at the reception they were getting from the crowd, which was made up of an unusual concoction of fans, from fourteen year-olds to forty-somethings, but they worked hard for it and easily deserved it. It was nice to see a band play around with their music for once, rather than just playing it exactly how it was recorded, and this really proved that MGMT are real musicians who know how to make music. And my oh my did they make it well - this show was explosive!

Both photos are taken from Pupkin’s flickr stream under the creative commons license. The top one can be found here and the side one here.