Well me and the big man 3steel wandered off to Hyde Park the other day for the first day of the 02 Wireless Festival..we managed to blag some free tickets so we could bring joy to the celebrating crowd with our crowd surfing and body blasting techniques...
The park was a great place for a gig, just the right size, really well laid out with the main stage and the other music tents around..we actually stuck to the main stage as the line up was so fucking groovy!
First up was 'The Like', a very pretty trio of indie girlies who entertained us for 25 minutes (should have been longer), really excellent live but I have always been a sucker for girlie vocals...In between bands there was a short break of no more than 20 minutes which was just enough to have a wee and a bit of food (but not in the same place)...3steel made his world debut on the big screens during the break, as you could take a pic and text it to the number to be shown to all 30,000 people present...how coolwas that!
Next up was Gorgol Bordello, absolutely stonking mad but great fun...imagine the sex pistols in an east eurpopean gypsy folk band and you have it in a nutshell...great performance.
Then came the first of the big bands 'The Dirty Pretty Things' featuring ex libertine Carl as the vocalist...didn't really know much of their stuff but they were really enjoyable, this was also our first venture into the mosh pit for the day and some slight up and down bouncing occured throughout the set.
And the next band please....for me the highlight of the day was 'The Raconteurs', who having produced a fantastic 35 minute album blew the crowd away with a glorious 50 minute set. Jack White was fantastically good looking, resplendant with white face make up...the band were just so together and very tight...sound 10/10 vision 10/10...would love to see them again.
We had to have a wee sit down at this point due to our age and weight factor, so we had a nice half hour break in which Belle and Sebastian took to the stage...their set was really good but I was a bit dissapointed as they didn't really seem to get the crowd going, although they were much appreciated by the aforementioned crowd...Stuart was very sweet and very much in awe of the big crowd...quite lovely indeed.
And then it happened...the biggest mosh pit crush in history as 'The Strokes' took to the stage for 90 minutes of madness...it was a bit hairy at the start and we thought we might have to move out of the crowd as 3steel was getting a bit crushed but i soon made a barrier so he had a bit of space. I spent the set with my arms at my side (as their was no room to move them) frantically bouncing up and down to the beat...it was great....
As i said, it was a stunning line up. Mentally and physically it did me a lot of good...they always say that music has therapeutical use...but boy did i pay for it the day after with aching knees, back and feet....oh fuck the onset of middle age!
see you there next year!
Neil x
The Like
Gogol Bordello
Dirty Pretty Things
The Raconteurs
Belle and Sebastian
The Strokes
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