It’s the second day of Lowlands Festival and the wide eyed chaos is settling. Guerrilla games of musical chairs don’t seem as wacky, the lineup doesn’t seem as bizarre.
And then Husky Loops take to the stage.
Rather than plug in and play, there’s a theatre to the way they deliver their searching pirate radio blitz. Embracing the weird slant of their music, they throw themselves into every jarring leap and sudden skip. The songs from ‘Husky Loops’ crackle with electricity and bounce about the place while the new stuff fires with a more direct focus. All the pieces come together but there’s still a wicked grin that suggests they’re making it all up as they go along.
Black Foxxes feel dangerous in a different way. It’s one year to the day since debut album ‘I’m Not Well’ was released and in that time the band have done a lot. There’s little time for reflection though. Facing out from the distorted fuzz, there’s a brightness to today’s performance. A want to be seen. And fair enough, because this is Black Foxxes at their raging, terrifying, beautiful best. From the opening flourish of ‘Slow Jams Forever’ through to ‘I’m Not Well’, they’re without fault. Two new songs see the band settling into everything they are while pushing it someplace new. The big name comparisons are starting to make sense and it feels like the road before them has opened up.
Skepta’s celebration lap continues its hectic run today as a very busy crowd embraces every edge that ‘Konnichiwa’ brings. Sirens blaring, this is a worldwide movement that’s so much bigger than ‘Shutdown’. A late night set from Vince Staples also swells and bucks beyond the expected. Silhouetted against red, there’s still space for showmanship as things get more hectic with every next drop. It teeters on the edge but Vince is always in control.
Like The XX the night before, Alt-J are a band at their best when they’ve got total control. Festivals aren’t easy. There’s a lot of different moving parts but they all come together as the band show off how far they’ve come. Hits are scattered throughout the set, edges remain sharp, and there’s an ease to the way they sway from ‘Pleader’ to ‘Left Hand Free’. The jump off of ‘Breezeblocks’ colours in the landscape Alt-J now craft and it demands a wide-eyes appreciation as everything aligns.
It’s Bastille that properly triumph today though. The band mean something different to everyone and somehow they please them all in a crammed hour set. Backed with an impressive stage show and the want to make sense of what’s going on around them, it’s escapist, confrontational and joyous. ‘Wild World’ is a sprawling record and live, all that fizzy blood starts pumping. The band are all sunshine and smiles as every left turn is met with the desire for more, every banger grows larger than life. Dan switches between An Absolute Pop Star, holding the crowd in the palm of his hand, and yer mate from down the pub asking how you are. He’s in the crowd for ‘Flaws’, somehow keeping his hat in the process, and that connection remains when he’s back onstage encouraging the place to dance and “embarrass yourselves with me”. Bastille are quickly become a band that do a lot of things very well. It’s become impossible to put them in a box. However during the opening spotlight of ‘Send Them Off!’ a message reading ‘here for you, wherever you are’ flashes across the stage, capturing everything the band are in one picture perfect moment.
Photos: Press