Sep 14 2008 12:57 pm, JJ Dunning
Phase: Final day descent towards hometime
Weather: Hot
Mud status: Hot sticky slop
Beard count: 1200 (up from 404)
Currently listening to: Low - 'Walk Into The Sea'
Unnecessary spider deaths: 48
I love Low, but fuck me are they miserable. "All the people I love,' declared frontman Alan Sparhawk last night, "told me they hated me today."
Cue a bemused crowd, followed by an interjection from Mimi Parker, his drumming wife.
"Not everyone." came the whisper into the mic from a safe spot behind the drumkit. Sniff.
Sparhawk didn't seem to listen though, and as his band's mardy-but-ace set came to a close, he started spinning round in a circle and eventually let go of his guitar, sending it arcing, hammer-like, about 50 metres into the crowd.
"I know you guys have had a great time," he said, "but today has just been such a crappy day."
Cheer up son! I thought it was pretty good. Especially 'Walk Into The Sea', which lives on their criminally underrated album 'The Great Destroyer'. I don't get how critics can stick the boot in on that album at all. It's completely amazing. So what if Low made themselves sound louder? Would you rather they did something exactly the fucking same on every record? I for one, would like to see Low do an album of uptempo Hawaiian pop songs on bassoons. Just to shut up the elitist naysayers.
Anyway, go and buy 'The Great Destroyer' right now and stick it to pricks like Robert Christgau (some American twat who pops up on Wikipedia everywhere thinking that he knows everything). I'm definitely going to write a separate blog dedicated to blowing this jumped-up little scrotum right out of the water. When I've got the time, that is. Anyway, here's a link to go and buy it. It's amazing and fuck anyone who says otherwise.
Jesus, I think big Al Sparhawk's angst is rubbing off on me, and Low left the stage more than 12 hours ago.
Anyway, after all that, I was feeling a rumbling in the old tummykin so we trudged off in search of some dinner. Lamb kebabs, cous-cous and salad, and a big bubbling Shashish or Shisha or something. Basically it was a bong with some Cherry-flavoured tobacco in it. Nothing happened, it just tasted quite nice.
We then sat listening to Mercury Rev while eating, smoking the cherry bong and drinking rancid white wine. My friend the Fire Engineer and I then wandered off to get some Swedish schnapps from the Scandinavian Kitchen tent. It was absolutely disgusting, and they'd run out of Kopparberg (super sweet Swedish pear cider) so we had to follow it up with a dodgy lager that was just as scabby as the shot. Fortunately, I had the foresight to buy some Daim bar chocolate, which took the edge off the mankiness of the whole experience as we stood watching the bonfire for a bit. My friend the Fire Engineer was pleased with the general level of security surrounding the furnace, and remarked that the potential of the fire spreading was minimal, owing to the dampness of the ground and lack of further propellants.
After this lesson in fire safety, we opted to wander back to The Local to catch The Chap. This lot were John Peel faves back in the day, and their cerebral, world-weary lyrics backed with Warp records bips and angular pop music guitar hooks make for brilliant viewing. 'Ethnic Instrument' is a good example of this, introduced as a song about "a difficult relationship with World Music". Not really the sort of thing Kasabian would bother to tackle.
Anyway, I'm off to see Josie Long in the comedy tent now. I need something to cheer me up after having been awoken by some tosser with a guitar this morning.
I think I've been bitten by a spider as well.
Nearly hometime!