Although I didn't manage to see as many artists as I did on Saturday, Sunday actually ended up being the most entertaining day in terms of music. Some of the best sets I've seen this whole year, let alone at Field Day....

EAGULLS
I actually think that I might have enjoyed them more here than I did when I caught their headline set here. It just felt a lot more relaxed, the crowd were definitely more responsive and the band really fed off this - absolutely killer set to start off the day.


DIIV
I've been psyched to see this band for ages now, I'm actually a little surprised that I hadn't seen them until now. Either way, they were awesome! Perfect for a summer morning. Their debut album Oshin sounded glorious live and their new songs from the upcoming album sounded just as strong. Of course when the bass riff to "Doused" rang out headbanging kicked into overdrive. I look forward to much more from this band.


MAC DEMARCO
The talk of the weekend! The most charming hillbilly in the world 100%. This felt like the most improvised set of the day. Most of the time it just felt like a jam session, it was so comfortable and personal. Obviously got a little bit rowdy towards the end, with hotdogs and footballs being thrown on stage and Mac being thrown off it - euphoric atmosphere.


PATTI SMITH
Absolute legend. I felt nothing but honoured to be in her presence that day. I just remember saying "it's sad that nobody really sounds like this anymore". Killer set, and it just felt so effortless. It's definitely easy to tell when an artist has been performing for a while - seasoned but fresh. To top it all off, she played the entirety of Horses - yes!


SAVAGES 
Honestly, the best set that I have seen in 2015. I can say that with some confidence. Savages are like a myth. The intensity in the tent was palpable. They're like a band you'd tell people about and they wouldn't believe you. For them to be able to start off a set with "City's Full" already suggests the calibre of their tracks past, present and future. The whole experience just felt spiritual. This is not a band you want to sleep on - outstanding musicians. Also, Jehnny Beth is a marvel to behold - my goodness! 


RIDE 
I didn't really know too much about Ride before seeing them headline but it was a nice way to end a great weekend. Chilled out summer music. Although a lot of their songs sounded very familiar, I'm sure that I haven't heard anything by them before. Cool old/new discovery for me.

So, Notting Hill Arts Club is fast becoming one of my favourite places in London and it's all thanks to New Shapes. They've gone two for two, first Superfood and now Mapei - might have to start looking for apartments in the area!

Earlier this week (12/08/14) I headed over to the venue ready for another cool set but this was way more than I could've ever expected. First of all, I was actually under the impression that it was Charlotte OC's headlining show and Mapei was supporting. However, when I walked in and saw Charlotte walking around the club getting ready to go up, I figured that she was the support. Having seen her a couple of months ago at Field Day here, I already knew how fabulous Charlotte was, but even still, she blew me away. Opening with one of my favourite songs of hers "Hangover" and playing through the rest of her huge hits, again she had the crowd screaming by her final song "Colour My Heart" - I'm sure she made a lot of new fans that night. Generally it was a pretty intense set, she is consistently great live - absolute marvel! Tough support to follow. Quick shout out to Dashy Dashy DJs again - absolutely smashed it! Tune after tune and no time to rest. Love these guys.

Originally I was going to write about Mapei as a "new discovery" but when I found out about this gig I thought I'd just wait until afterwards to write about her in this gig review. I'd only heard her two songs "Don't Wait" and "Change" before coming to the gig and they didn't the least bit prepare me for the awesome show I was about to witness. Mapei stepped onto the tiny stage with her two back up dancers joining her bassist and drummer and already the atmosphere was heated. Her dancers were great - seriously added to the atmosphere. Even though I was on my own after a few songs I found myself full out dancing as if I was up there on stage with them. Also, I didn't know that she rapped so much, she really reminded me of old school artists like Lauryn Hill throughout the set and her outfit was very Erykah Badu inspired. Amazing stage presence and a really calm aura. And then of course there's her band.  Her band were on FIRE! Her bassist was amazing, switching between his bass (a very nice bass at that) and his keyboards and playing both fantastically. Then her drummer shone when given chance for a solo - the crowd couldn't blink as fast as his hands were moving! I had such a good time - extremely enjoyable set! Every song that she performed, I liked - I just can't wait until her debut record Hey Hey out on the 23rd of September. The best first impression of USA's new star, Mapei.

Overall Rating - 8.5/10


Here are some pictures from the night...

In case you didn't catch the review of Day 1, you can have a look at that here. As amazing as some of the artists on day one were, I still feel like overall the calibre of shows on day two might just have pipped it slightly...

PANES
Had never heard of these Londoners before Field Day but their ambient vibe started the day off slowly and really didn't manage to make a lasting impression on me. Had I not written their name down, I doubt I'd have remembered seeing them. In terms of their genre, they may be the creme of the crop, they just weren't up my street.
  
THE WYTCHES
This band on the other hand reeeally caught my attention. I'd been hearing lots about The Wytches before Field Day but this was the most I'd ever heard from them and it was brilliant. I actually felt like the festival officially started with this set. Three pretty young guys were able to fill the main stage and impress the whole crowd this early on in their career. Yes.

THE BOHICAS
Really interesting band. A little bit generic and predictable but I couldn't dislike them for it because they were all extremely talented and the set was great! Even had us moshing a little bit towards the end. All in all, I had a lot of fun but I don't see myself making a huge effort to purchase their music any time soon.

CHILDHOOD
For some reason, I always confuse this band with Superfood but once I'd figured out the difference they'd played an impressive set. Ben (lead) had an interesting voice and a slightly intriguing persona that was sort of endearing. Solid set from the Londoners.

TELEGRAM
Again, I always used to confuse this band with Teleman, either way, be it Teleman or Telegram, this was an electric set. There were a lot of high points throughout this set and a couple of their songs stood out to me. Speaking to them briefly afterwards cemented my liking for the band - very nice guys, who play very nice music.

DRENGE
The most draining yet energising set of the entire weekend. It's my third time seeing the boys but their set never gets old. The inevitable mosh pit had formed less than 30 seconds into the set and didn't dwindle at any point. These two are just pure talent and seeing them again has made me that much more excited for their sophomore album.

THE HORRORS
Having now officially seen both Badwan brothers live, I'm not entirely sure who I like best. I do think that I enjoyed Loom's set more, as it was more engaging but this set still had some amazing moments and was the perfect level of good to lead up to Pixies' headline set.

PIXIES
This was it. The headline set to rule them all. No other acts on at this time so pretty much the entire population of the festival was in attendance. Standing pretty much front row meant that I felt like I'd be crushed to death almost every minute of the performance but I didn't care. They were amazing. Their drummer astounded me on every track (loved when he threw his drumstick to Joey mid set) and of course Frank slayed! Paz really held her own too because Lord knows it's no easy task replacing Kim Deal. Excellent set to end an excellent weekend!

A couple of weeks ago (7/6/14) I went to Field Day Festival in London. Some of you might be wondering why I didn't just go to Parklife on that weekend and the reason is - this was Pixies only performance in London this year and I'm sure that you've seen enough Foals gig reviews from me this year to tide you over. Either way, here is my short, sweet and slightly late take on the first of the two days...

MOXIE
I hadn't heard of her prior to the festival but as not much had started whilst her set was on, we managed to catch some of her DJ set. This was actually the first on many DJ sets this weekend and the that actually surprised me in all of them, was how little people were dancing. I know it was early but c'mon?

PAWWS
In contrast to Moxie, I'd actually heard a lot about Pawws before coming to the show but hadn't heard a lot of her material yet. So of course I went to check her out. I have to say, I definitely don't think that she lived up to the hype completely but she had a few shining moments. One song  particular - "Give You Love" had me dancing and swaying, whilst the rest of the performance stayed fairly safe and predictable. All in all, not the most exciting opening to the live acts.

ECLAIR FIFI
The best of the DJs that we saw this weekend actually. She slayed her set and I think this was the most we saw people dancing too which was nice. I love DJs that aren't afraid of the bass, in the society of techno/electronic, a girl's gotta have a little bass now and again.

CHARLOTTE OC
One of the best performances of the entire weekend, and so unexpected too! As we were walking up to tent we could hear Charlotte take the mic and from the first note I was impressed! We ran into the tent only to be transported into a smokey room somewhere in Europe where Charlotte was crooning about lost loves. Eyes were wide throughout the whole set - best new find this month! Favourite track right now - "Hangover".

ONLY REAL
The first artist of the day that I'd actually listened to before coming. However, after Charlotte's killer performance, I don't think that I was as impressed as I expected I'd be. I really like his recorded stuff - very reminiscent of Jamie T. However, I just don't think that it transferred too well live.

SKY FERREIRA
Where Only Real disappointed, Sky Ferreira actually really impressed me. Whilst queuing for some food I could hear something good coming from the main stage and so I checked my clash finder to see who was on and lo and behold... it was Sky Ferreira! I'd heard some of her stuff before coming and was less than excited by her name on the bill but she actually sounded great live. May have to have another listen.

DUSKY
Upon recommendation from some other festival-goers earlier in the day, we headed over to the dance stage to catch Dusky DJ-ing. It was a cool set, the two played a predominantly house packed set and it was good fun. Shapes were cut and arms were waved.

SEUN KUTI
I had actually not heard of Seun before coming to festival and the first thing I thought was "this really sounds like the kind of music they play at Nandos". But who's complaining? Highly entertaining set getting the crowd pumped for the set to come...

BLOOD ORANGE
Another stand out performance from the weekend. The late afternoon sun was beaming down and Dev Hynes and co. were on top form. Dev's sprinkling of guitar solos throughout the set kept everyone in high spirits - namely Florence Welch who was dancing along side stage. Particular shout out to his bassist who clearly defied some laws of physics during this performance. This show set the bar for the rest of the main stage performances that weekend.

WARPAINT
The girls in Warpaint easily reached that bar, drawing a huge crowd and managing to fill the entire park with their hazy rock music. Being my first time seeing the ladies live, they even surpassed my expectations - everything about their set was amazing. They kept the crowd just as interested (if not more interested), til the end of the set as when they began.

JAGWAR MA
As I'd already seen Jagwar Ma under festival conditions at Glastonbury last year, I actually wasn't too fussed about seeing them but we went along anyway. To be honest, thank God that we did because they were not the same band we saw at Glastonbury! They absolutely smashed it! Huge improvement, from the first song to the last, the atmosphere was perfect!

METRONOMY
And of course the headliners. Although it was like 'Sophie's choice', choosing between Metronomy and SBTRKT, I had to give in a watch the Main Stage headliners because it was set to be something really special and it definitely was. Crowd spirits rose as the band stepped on stage and didn't dampen even during the long journey home. The crowd left, some singing Metronomy along Victoria Park's surrounding areas. Perfect end to the first day...

Well, well, well - Pixies have got to be one of the best bands around at the moment at creating a huge buzz. After all the bassist switches, a new EP and the Field Day Festival announcement, they've come out with a piece of news that tops them all.

Last night I received an email saying "PIXIES TO RELEASE FIRST FULL STUDIO ALBUM IN MORE THAN TWO DECADES. Special Vinyl Release Confirmed for Record Store Day". I didn't even bother reading past that. Finally another Pixies album to add to the already fabulous collection. If I'm honest, I was actually a little surprised by this announcement. Although they'd been putting out new music and videos recently, it had just never crossed my mind that they'd put out a full length! The album Indie Cindy is set for release on the 28th of April.

I'm definitely excited to hear it and to hopefully see a couple of tracks from it at Field Day later this year. If it's anything like the stuff that they've been releasing recently (particularly "Magdalena" and "Blue Eyed Hexe") then I like it already. They've also just released a video for their single "Snakes" - another great new song.

Watch the great new video to go along with it here...

A couple of weeks ago (4/3/14), I went to see Eagulls play at Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath. I was really pumped for this gig because my friend saw them the week before and said that the set was killer, I was getting pit withdrawal and after listening to their debut self-titled record, there was nothing I wanted more than to hear it played live.

When I stepped into the venue and had a look around I saw an unexpectedly older crowd and a completely expected male-dominated crowd, but I didn't think much of it. The first support Virals came on and opened up the gig nicely. Chilled, and occasionally feedback laden indie rock tunes that had the crowd swaying a little bit, beers in hand. The set was little subdued but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and the band themselves seemed to be lost in their instruments from time to time - all round a very solid set. Will be interested to see what they're like in front of a festival crowd if I get to catch them at this year's Field Day.

Next up was Autobahn - the crowd tentatively shuffled forward a few more steps. Autobahn didn't waste any time and got straight to the pounding riffs. Although they played a pretty fast paced, powerful set - the crowd barely nodded along (aside from a few enthusiastic headbangers and fist pumpers), but I thought that would soon change when Eagulls stepped on stage...

George Mitchell and co. skulked on stage looking a little more tired than psyched but as they checked their instruments and their mics, I knew that the set would be anything but. The crowd finally edged up close to the stage, being careful to not tread on the almost sacred logo banner strewn over the front monitor. George took a few swigs from his bottle of wine and with a quick signal to the sound guy they came straight in with "Nerve Endings"... and the crowd barely responded. I couldn't even tell whether they were quietly appreciating the music or whether they were just plain bored, but they clapped and cheered at the appropriate times and stood silently waiting for the next song. It was definitely not was I was expecting.

Mitchell's vocals were turned down a little low too which made him hard to hear over the thumping drums and scuzzy guitars. Either way "Moulting" and "Coffin" still riled me up and hit hard. It was a little disappointing when George had to say "There's not much movement guys" and thank God that I was standing by some guys that were ready to mosh. Before long, eight or so of us were throwing each other about and leaping around a small circle to "Tough Luck". Although it was only a small proportion of the crowd, this did have me smiling and singing along - there was a great feel from the pit, it was just a shame that everyone else was kind of stationary and distant. Nonetheless, we leapt about for a couple more songs, the few that remained, shoving each other with all that we had left, before they ended the set ridiculously abruptly with "Possessed". They did not even reach 10 songs by the time they started packing up and striding off the stage.

The crowd finally piped up and practically had to beg them for an encore. George stepped back on stage to play through "Council Flat Blues", but the whole thing just seemed a little bit tired from both the band and the crowd. I don't know - Eagulls certainly deserved a much better and more energetic welcome that night because they have so much to offer live. I just think that the crowd's vibe brought the whole performance down that night, but of course that hasn't changed my opinion about Eagulls' talent. Great band, dead crowd.

Overall Rating - 6/10


Here are some pictures from the night:

I'm just going to cut straight to the chase - Pixies never cease to impress. Have a listen to their latest single and my SOTD, here...

PIXIES - Magdalena


I listened to this song just over a week ago and there hasn't been a day since where I haven't listened to it at least twice. Absolutely love the riff - the video is a little strange but then again most of Pixies videos are strange. This song is just incredibly catchy, with every new release of theirs I'm just more and more excited for their headline show at Field Day this summer.