A Very Short Review of Indietracks 2011.

Well if it turns out there’s another weekend during the remainder of 2011 that is even half as full of love and camaraderie, sunshine and shenanigans and, well… beer, as the one just past, I’ll eat my hat.

A more friendly and positive place to spend time would be hard to imagine; even through the hungover journey home yesterday, I was grinning and giggling like a happy fool. Basically I wish I could just scoop up all the people I spent time with during the weekend and go on a big adventure with them. Or just live on a campsite as a strange cult of high functioning alcoholics, whatever’s easiest.

But enough about my private life. Musically there’s not really much more that needs to be said: I went to see all the groups on the bill who I think are great, and they were all great. No big new discoveries or bitter disappointments, but that’s fine. About half the bands I was there to see are friends too, so any pretence of objectivity would get a bit silly. I’ve written about most of ‘em before I’m sure, so you can have a look at my scanned schedule above and do the math. Sock Puppets, Wendy Darlings, Fireworks, Horowitz, Mat from the Specific Heats: youse guys are the best.

Oh, and Zipper and Dignan Porch were really good too, although I don’t know ‘em personally so probably shouldn’t refer to them as “youse guys” or anything.

Of the bigger headlining-type acts on the bill, I’m pleased to report that Jeff Lewis played a blinder, and sad yet unsurprised to note that Herman Dune didn’t - but we can talk about their dispiriting descent into mediocrity another day. I really enjoyed Edwyn Collins’ set despite my unfamiliarity with his back catalogue – from songwriting through sound through backing band selection, he struck me as a guy who knows where it’s at, so overdue investigations will be made. Yes, he played the hit, and yes, it was great.

I felt kinda bad for spending the whole weekend having to tell Crystal Stilts fans how much I dislike Crystal Stilts, but felt at least slightly vindicated when some friends left their set halfway through, citing similar problems to the ones I’ve always experienced with them. I seem to be doomed to miss Milky Wimpshake whenever they play (an extremely minor curse placed on my head by a slightly miffed indie sorcerer perhaps?), so sorry to say it happened again. It would have been nice to see Frances McKee from The Vaselines too, but sadly I didn’t get a spot in the still-very-small church in time.

So that’s that really. Huge thanks to all the people who help make Indietracks happen – still the best example of what a music festival can/should be that I’ve ever been to. To be honest, given the company, the atmosphere, the location, it would have been the best weekend of the year even if they’d just booked local polka bands, so all the great music was a nice bonus. I hope I didn’t do too much minor social blundering when my mouth occasionally overtook my brain, and I’m sorry if I accidentally overlooked anyone amid the huge number of nice people I wanted to chat to, but basically: look forward to seeing everybody same time, same place next year.

Labels: festivals, Indietracks