Rockness 2010 - Saturday Review - Dan Le Sac, Plan B, Alabama 3, Leftfield...
Friday, 18 June 2010
Written by Louise Henderson & Ross Gilchrist
Clouds roll off the hilltops and the grey skies don't truly break either side of the horizon and a guy in some tent near me shouts, "'Mon the sun!" at a minute gap in the homogenous grey. 'Mon the sun indeed.
The Saturday line up is more dance orientated allowing those who have not been to bed to continue the dance-a-thon all day and into the night. On my way to get breakfast I wander through Clash tent only to see Killa Kella perform his profoundly layered beat boxing and for all it's prowess and technical ability I know I cannot bear to listen to this for a full thirty minutes. It's not that I find beat boxing to be a lesser art form... but in my heart I know it doesn't speak to me more than coffee and crepes do right now.
By the time I get myself together with some coffee it's time for The Cuban Brothers, who expertly manage to radiate sunshine from their charisma loaded impresario act. From congo bums to (empty) threats to shag your mum, Mike Keat's musical oddity is a fantastic anecdotal antidote to the colossal threat lumbering above. They pay tribute Michael Jackson, they sing songs about Buckfast, they are a great act at any festival and deserve any main stage place they get.
"It's a bit early for a gig, but we'll try and get through it." Dan Le Sac vs Scroobious Pip tear up an early afternoon Clash stage with, 'The Beat That My Heart Skipped', one of the most loved tracks from their debut 'Angles', and he would be right there. Early afternoon is a ridiculous time for an act who could pack out this tent this early and still have time for tea and a good film before Aphex Twin. It could be that the marquee value of the acts today is somewhat thin and that's more than likely to be true. It's certainly not the name aspect that drives fans to Rockness though. Famous for being the dance heavy party that it has been since it's inception it's no small wonder that the Saturday line up is an electronic dominated, rock-light day. Yet, rock and roll is never truly forgotten.
In this day of "all milk no cream" pop rock, it is a glorious sight to behold the numerous camouflage clad posse sieging the stage in communist salutes, oh yes, Alabama 3 are here and are open for business. Cigarettes and other substances of doubtful licitness are smoked, wine is drank and all are content. Alabama 3 are a band cursed with holding the fort of the mid card when by all accounts they should have risen well beyond this placing some time ago. The Very Reverend Dr. D. Wayne Love is possibly the most charismatic man to ever wear a suit, whereas Larry Love is possibly the most volatile man ever to... just ever. They make for such a natural paradox onstage. The differences in veneer account for what is the clash in styles they have made their own. There is no pretentious prattling or vacuous exaltations of love, just honest perception. 'Mao Tse Tung Said' is as fantastic a few minutes of revolution inspiring acid perverted country rock as it was back in 1997 and the new material from 'Revolver Soul' sounds no less compelling.
Afterwards I decide to stay at the main stage for Plan B, an artist whose studio work I cannot say I love. Yet, when the gangster graces the stage to play the most diverse and one of the most entertaining sets of the festival, I warm to this multi talented 'geezer'. Ben Drew is backed by a huge band from horns to synths and is doubtlessly comfortable and assured as a frontman to this massive ensemble as they switch from soul to hip hop to rap metal and back again. He performs two covers 'Kiss From A Rose' and 'Forgot About Dre' which entice all of Rockness into huge fits of nostalgic bouncing, but it is his own work 'She Said', which irks one guy standing next to me to the point of him uttering an expletive in a sharp tone but is received by everyone else around him like a neglected spouse, lost in the desert and very, very ill, unexpectedly getting a box of chocolates via camel mail.
I head over to quickly check out Aphex Twin and I'm sure I see Dan Le Sac standing to the left of the stage as I enter. Richard D. James plays some of the most beautifully textured, chaotically percussed music in the goddamn world this Saturday night. Strolling through themes from 'Ambient Works' he steals my heart and destroys it's petty fragments with crushed snares and sliced bass drums.
Thanks to un-forseen circumstances Soulwax swapped times with 2 Many Dj's and the Jarvis Cocker award for most eclectic set of the weekend goes to...
The undisputed kings of mash-up twist and turn from 'ZombieNation', into 'Money' and henceforth into ABBA. The duo have a video montage of the audience running through the whole set displaying a sweet, "Tune" sign and the rest of the gathered mugging for the camera with ecstatic faces it's undeniable that Leftfield have an overwhelming task ahead of them.
On that it turns out Neil Barnes' clique are well suited for. By this time inhibitions and precipitation worries are all forgotten, Leftfield massacre the festival with gargantuan bass drums and soulful vocals delivered by a silver siren collide backlit by a menagerie of synths. It's a shame that the other half of Leftfield's sonic collaboration is unable to see this sight (he is busy working on a solo project).
As the rain comes on during the walk back to the tent I am glad of one thing, only noobs forget wellies.
Photos by Louise Henderson
Words by Ross Gilchrist
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