After
a night in my own bed (I can promise there's no greater feeling than
leaving a muddy campsite knowing there's a hot shower waiting on you
twenty minutes away) it was back to the Carron Valley. On arrival, we heard some rather interesting noises
emanating from the Baino Stage. It turned out this was the cheery pop
of Teen Canteen, who
are beyond twee but are also fantastic – of all the bands I've
heard who are named after Showaddywaddy songs, they're definitely the
best. Sadly we only heard a couple of songs (including one cover of
Kylie's All The Lovers) but I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for
them.
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| Teen Canteen (Photo by Wullie Crainey) |
Onto
the main stage now for Dead Temple, who
write doomy, stoner rock. Their songs are constructed with little
subtlety and guile, preferring to hit you with a wall of noise for
most of it, save for the odd quiet part which they've nicked from
Radiohead. They're not terrible actually but the fact that the singer
rarely strays from singing one note for most of the songs does grate
after a while. Its starts to rain like fuck and we get soaked so back
into the Baino tent for shelter and for...
...Duncan Drever,
who plays fairly uninspiring folk music and really wants to be King
Creosote. He has a really good voice, but then he goes and spoils it
all by saying something stupid like 'this song is about vaginas' and
proceeding to sing a song about vaginas.
Scran time, and it's up to top of
the hill for some pulled
pork on a piece (courtesy of SMOAK). It's great stuff, must make a
point of dropping into their place in Glasgow one day. Fed, I traipse
back down to the main stage for Withered Hand,
who is always impressive live. This is the first I've caught him with a
full band though, and the expanded lineup brings so much to
the occasion, giving each song a sense of weight and power. Ever a live highlight, Religious Songs brings about a
rather triumphant climax, provoking a mass sing-along. One of the
most enjoyable sets of the weekend.
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| Sacred Paws (Photo by Wullie Crainey) |
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| King Creosote (Photo by Wullie Crainey) |
Sunday
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| The Second Hand Marching Band (Photo by Wullie Crainey) |
It's North American War next in the Baino,
who sound like XTC crossed with the second coming of Be Your Own Pet.
I reviewed their excellent Ivory and Geraniums split 7” a few
months back and it took me by surprise because I loved it, even though it's not normally the
type of thing I'd listen to.We enjoy listening to them
from outside the tent as we get some food.
They wrap up some pretty catchy choruses in repetitive rhythms and
discordant noise and the result is thoroughly enjoyable.
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| Kid Canaveral (Photo by Wullie Crainey) |
Up to the Tenement TV stage for Kid Canaveral,
who are one of my favourite Scottish bands, and certainly one of the
most accomplished live bands I've ever seen. I've seen them loads of
times but this is my first opportunity to hear their new stuff. From what I can hear in this set, it's not a massive
shift away from the guitar pop of their debut, but it's a touch
heavier and bigger. On one song there's even...A GUITAR SOLO! But
anyway, the new stuff has got me soaking in anticipation of the new
album. There's not a weak song among the new lot, and the best for me
was Low Winter Sun. They rounded things off nicely with my favourite
from the first album, And Another Thing. Possibly my favourite set of
the weekend too.
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| Human Don't Be Angry (Photo by Wullie Crainey) |
We
finished our weekend in the Baino tent to see Human Don't Be Angry. I have to admit I was
in the minority wasn't taken on self-titled album when it came out
earlier this year so I feared I wouldn't enjoy them live. I needn't
have feared anything because they sounded far better live than they
did on record. It was a strong set but special mention must go to
NDBA Theme, a real highlight of the set.
So,
my first Doune The Rabbit Hole experience was over. It wasn't a bad
experience at all, although there are definitely a number of areas
that could be improved upon. First of all, they have to make sure
their volunteers are up to scratch on the basics, such as what
constitutes a press wristband etc. As I said in the first part of
this review, we were sent to a number of different places for our
press passes only to discover the wristbands we already had on were
the passes themselves. It didn't waste a lot of our time or anything
but it was just a wee bit annoying. Basic stuff.
As
I also touched on in the first part of the review, the lack of times
on the timetable was just sheer laziness. I suppose it was supposed
to be part of the carefree 'hippy' ethic but I'm one of these types
who like to know what's on and when. I don't think that's an
unreasonable request. At least if you have a list of times alongside
the bands and things start to run a wee bit late on some stages you
can put up a message on the sign next to the stage with updated times
or whatever. The problem with that being that there weren't any
signs telling you about set times, presumably to encourage people to
buy a programme. And the problem with that is that there didn't seem to
be anyone selling programmes. I managed to blag one at the gate and
seemed to be one of the only people at the whole festival who'd
managed to get a one, going by the number of people who came over to
get a look at it or take a photo of it when they saw it in my hand.
They only decided to put up signs with set times on the Sunday at 3
o'clock. And I imagine this was only because there were some major
lineup changes on the various stages that day. Again, it's not really
a major thing but it's something to think about getting sorted for
next time.
One
other thing that isn't all that pertinent to the normal punter but
definitely is to the organisers was the number of times my wristband
was looked at all weekend. Once. One single time. And that was when
the guy actually put it on my wrist at the gate. I know the festival
provides itself on being a bit of a 'free-spirit' but it shouldn't
get the reputation for being easy to get into for free, particularly
when they've had serious problems with paying bands in the past. Just
something for the organisers to think about...
All
of these things contributed to a general lax and disorganised feeling
about the festival. But that doesn't mean I didn't have a good time.
There were so many positives. The majority of the music I saw was
cracking and, from what I've heard from other sources I missed a lot
of excellent stuff too. The only small criticism I'd have here is
that maybe there's actually too much of it...there's genuinely no
need for so many bands to be on the bill at a festival this small
when you could really maximise crowds at three or four stages rather
than spread them out over 5.
The
general vibe of the festival is lovely, a real friendly atmosphere
that I found comparable to the few hours I spent at Wickerman in July
this year. It's definitely one to consider for next year if you're
looking for a more relaxing festival experience with some big names but without
the big crowds. I know I've given it a bit of criticism here but
these are just wee things that can be improved on with a bit of
attention. Hopefully, if the organisers see this, they'll give it a
wee bit of thought. As things stand, I'll probably be going along
next year. Provided it's still being held within commutable distance,
right enough. I hate camping. I fucking hate it.
Fin.
Fin.
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| Hippy in the mud (Photo by Wullie Crainey) |
