All Points East - LCD Soundsystem

First festival of the season for me - opening day of All Points East festival at Victoria Park.

Now let me explain one thing about this entry from a pictorial viewpoint. It is disproportionately skewed to the beginning of the day, when I arrived on my own and could go where I liked and had nothing better to do than snap some shots. As it developed I met one friend my own age, and then the mates I was expecting to meet up with turned up in two batches. From which point we never got anywhere close to a stage.

So let me begin this unrepresentative whirl in the Western Arena, opening with a dance act - Confidence Man. This was actually rather good fun. Beat driven dance music, keyboards and drummer at the back dressed in black beekeeper outfits, with a  front male/female duo in white. 

I didn't think you could buy shorts that short any more

Drummer in black bee-keeper costume

And after a couple of costume changes the bloke returns and strips to the waist . I have to say all a bit gay, but an enjoyable set to open a festival, all very watchable (about more later).

So that over I left the rather humid tent for the fresh air and a look around. At this stage not many people about, well it was about 3pm on a Friday.

Note on the right a rather cool idea - the bar is mocked up as two-storey street. The shop fronts don't have shops - just youngsters in t-shirts selling vastly overpriced drinks. My can of cider was £5.50, or £11 a pint!. The horrible wine the lads bought later was £24 a bottle.

Main stage before the acts began

 So now back to the Western Arena to meet up with my first friend, another lawyer my own age, to see Superorganism. A large and very art-house collective - an art project that got out of hand. Weird images behind. In the humid tent the last thing you want to wear is an anorak, but that was their opening choice. They soon disrobed, after ringing their little bells for a while.

They actually had one or two, (well three to be accurate) good songs. Lead singer was this American girl.

I stayed in the tent because my friend recommended Hercules and the Love Affair. Indeed as I stayed I got the spot dead centre at the front. In the theatre these would be premium seats. So was looking forward to what I might see. I could not have been more disappointed. It was nothing. Another dance act, but in contrast to Confidence Man which opened, nothing to look at. Just two middle aged guys twiddling behind a sound deck. Frankly, there is just no point to an act like this. Yes you might say, but the Chemical Brothers are the same. But no, apart from their music being far more exciting, with them you have a whole illuminated art show. This had just some dull projections behind, well behind Superorganism in interest.

I didn't even wait to the end, but headed off to meet up with David and his friend from Germany who were lurking towards the back of the main stage area awaiting Glass Animals with a restorative beer.

Frankly I can't give any real review of Glass Animals. We were way back and mostly just chatted over their set. A pity as I might have liked them if had given more attention. Particularly liked their geeky lack of pretension.

 But we had to wait at the back for our last two gang members, who were only ever going to catch the last two acts, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and LCD Soundsystem.

Again being at the back and with two new chums to chat to I didn't give Yeah Yeah Yeahs the attention they deserved either, an American indie band with a female rock lead singer who didn't need the shrill hard vocals that I find many women employ in such groups. Her voice just worked very well over the music, and she came across as a nice person too.

 And finally to LCD Soundsystem. Worthy headliners. Although I knew they had been about a long time, I had never seen them and was surprised at how mature (yes, euphemism for old) they looked. But they were very tight, a band who just sound ever so good. Loved the whole set. They also eschewed an encore but just played straight the way through. A lot of their songs are quite long anyway, so wouldn't suit standard encore. They finished with "All My Friends", justly their most popular song. I would say their defining feature is an insistent dance beat with unconnected vocals over the top. That isn't a criticism; it works really well. But if you think about it afterwards the songs don't really relate to the music, they are superimposed.

And yes, this is how far back we were. And it was very tightly packed in front and behind.