White Lies are coming to the end of their blink and you’ll miss it set of Killers meets synth pop tunes. Gentle nodding all round but these guys clearly have the raw talent that merits more widespread notoriety.
There’s a half an hour wait to get in to Johnny Flynn, and with good reason too. He and his Sussex wit ooze charm from every banjo stroke, and it’s not often you can say that about a band!
The Crescent can’t contain the epic scale of Duels and their new material. James is easily the most impressive drummer of the weekend, and threatens to blow the stage to bits.
It’s half past seven and we’re queuing outside the Dublin Castle for TBC. Rumour abounds it could be Kaiser Chiefs or The Last Shadow Puppets. The sign next to us says Pull Tiger Tail. We think we’ll trust that one.
Elle S’Appelle may have a French name, but they are as Liverpudlian as Anfield itself. The Underworld is a strange venue for their blend of keyboard enhanced guitar pop (or Boss Pop - Ed). According to them it’s “the first moshpit we’ve ever had” - must be the ghosts of metal past at work.
Cuban Bar is well and truly rammed with a queue longer than Pete Doherty’s list of court appearances. No Ladyhawke so it’s back to the drawing board.
A packed Koko loves every minute of the Welsh youngsters set. Original, energetic and hugely charismatic, it’s refreshing to see a band so genuinely surprised by the huge turnout and ecstatic crowd reaction. Every song is solid, but ‘Death To Los Campesinos!’ with added crowd participation is truly great.
“Apologies but due to unforeseen circumstances Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong are now not appearing at Dingwalls at 6:45. Drew McConnell of Babyshambles kindly appears instead.”
What better way to start the evening than Los Campesinos! @ Koko. The place is filling up nicely and it’s 15 minutes until stage time.
