This was my first visit to the Hinterland festival which I believe started up last year. The tickets were only £16 each which was great value. The bands were staged at several live venues around the city centre of Glasgow with the big acts playing in The Arches.
To be honest the only person that I was very interested in seeing was Jeffrey Lewis but I am always willing to experience new music. The first band that I saw in Ivory Blacks (the former Strawberry Fields) was Little Yellow Ukuleles, an extremely young looking group, who were competent if not exciting. I was wearing a Chumbawumba T-Shirt/Black Flag T-shirt that I’ve had since I was at school and I think my clothes were older than any member of the band. Scary thought.
The next band I watched was British Sea Power. I’m not in any way familiar with their stuff although I do know that they have something of a fan base. They just didn’t move me. They play competent, energetic indie rock but they said nothing new and their sound was fairly off-the-shelf. I didn’t hate them but I wouldn’t go to see them again or listen to their stuff through choice. Why listen to British Sea Power when you can listen to Philip Glass, Sonic Youth or Refused? Twenty thousand British Sea Power fans are shaking their heads in disgust…..
French Wives were much more exciting in every way. They are a funny looking (sorry) Glasgow indie band who seem to be mining a bit of a Nick Cave/Handsome Family vein. They have some bursts of brass instrumentation and they were showcasing a guest violinist who I hope stays with the band. Their last song sounded very like the Talking Heads and when I have time and money I will buy as many of their records as I can. A band to watch.
The final set that I watched was Jeffrey Lewis and it was definitely my personal highlight. I’ve been listening to his ’12 Crass songs’ record a lot for the past couple of years and I really enjoyed his Watchmen lecture thing at the GFT last year. This was the first time that I’ve been able to see him play music live and it was great. His songs are funny and philosophical. He’s fairly creative and he did a great audio-visual thing about the life of Sitting Bull and the plight of the Native Americans in the 19th century. It was much cooler than it sounds. He also performed an anti-mosquito gangsta rap thing and some other great folky numbers.
It was a good evening and well worth sixteen quid. If I can I’ll do it again next year.
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