Day 2 of Summersonic 2008 was hot as hell. I’m not too sure what the exact temperature was but I was literally drenched in sweat all day long. Luckily for us we would be spending most of the day in the shade of the dance tent. Although, with hundreds of people dancing in an enclosed area, it wasn’t all too much cooler than outside.
First act for the day was French electro/pop diva, Yelle. I have been a big fan of Yelle ever since I saw her (by chance) at Parklife in Melbourne. She puts on one hell of a show and never seems to stop dancing and ordering the (massive) crowd’s participation. It was almost like an aerobics workout video, arms to the side, now up and down, up and down. It was hilarious watching the crowd go!! Her vocals (all in French) are sweet and cutesy but her beats go from poppy to all out electro in the same song.Yelle’s backing band were fantastic. Consisting of a drummer and a DJ/Keyboard player, they were whipping the crowd into a frenzy and with T-shirts reading “Dance or Die,” well, I think we all felt obliged. I actually thought I might die because I was dancing too much. Every time I clapped to the beat the sweat would fly off me. I was, at first, embarrassed. But looking around the tent I saw there was not one dry body in sight.
Santogold, my favourite artist from the past year, followed Yelle on the “Dance Stage.” Playing to a crowd that was about half the size of Yelle’s, I was disappointed that she didn’t have a big following in Japan. This did make the tent about 50% cooler though, which was a big plus. Santogold is the kind of artist that has no “real” genre. Going from rock to pop to hip hop and back again with absolute ease she can not be called any one genre.
With a very well dressed 5 piece band and 2 of the strangest dancers I’ve ever seen, Santogold played through most of the tracks off her phenomenal, self titled, debut. Highlights include the hard hitting “You’ll Find A Way (Remix),” the rock influenced album opener “L.E.S Artistes,” “the haunting “Anne,” my song of the summer “Lights Out” and the Diplo and Switch produced Hip Hop thumper “Creator.” Really the whole set was a highlight for me. She was just brilliant and damn sexy to boot. Her band were awesome, constantly weirding me out with their strange body movements and the singers were even more out there. Standing motionless through songs then plunging into all out, crazy dance moves, reminiscent of early 90’s hip hop dancing, then back to motionless. They were actually quite scary but made Sainthood (all the more) my festival highlight.
Caught a little bit of punk band, Zebrahead on our way to see the Kills. Didn’t really know any of their songs but their cover of the Spice Girls hit, Wanabe was pure hilarity.
The Kills played in the air conditioned “Sonic Stage” and had the arena packed. I didn’t really know who the Kills were before seeing this set but with quite a few tracks that I knew I quickly learned who they were. It was a great set and I am looking to picking up one of their CDs when I’m back in Australia.
The, newly reformed, Verve played on the main “Ocean Stage.” I have always been a huge fan of The Verve and it was always going to be great seeing them live. Hits like “Sonet,” “Lucky Man,” “The Drugs Don’t Work,” and the, all most too well known “Bittersweet Symphony,” played like a perfect soundtrack to the sunset behind us. They even previewed a new track from their forthcoming album called “Sitting in Wonder” which was a very rockin’ track. I’m really looking forward to what the new CD has to offer.
One of my favourite groups at the moment, Hot Chip, played a blinder of a set. All standing behind their own separate desks with samplers, keyboards, drum pads, chimes, guitars and just about any instrument you can think of, they had the dance tent shaking with their thumping beats. Tracks like “Shake A Fist,” “Boy From School,” “Over and Over,”and “Hold On” were all remixed and reworked in a live environment, which kept the music fresh and new. It’s great when a band plays differently to their album, makes it a bit more of a spectacle.
Unfortunately, we had to leave them early to Catch headliners The Prodigy, but I got my Hot Chip “fix” and I was ready for more dancing.
I have seen the Prodigy a number of time now and still can’t get over how loud they play. Their bass is unlike anything I have ever heard before. You can actually feel it smacking you in the face. It’s great to see a band that has been around for quite a while, still rocking out and jumping around as they always have. Their sets haven’t really changed all too much but with seminal dance classics like “Voodoo People,” “Firestarter,” “Breathe,” “Poison,” and “Smack My Bitch Up” why the hell should they!'!' It’s such a terrifying pleasure to see Keith Flint and Maxim up on stage getting the crowd involved while scaring the living shit out of them. We were jumping around with a group of about 15 Japanese people, arms around shoulders, chanting at the top of our lungs and having an absolute ball.
After Prodigy, with ears ringing, dripping with sweat and legs aching, we stumbled back towards the shuttle bus home, reminiscing on what was a brilliant festival and the phenomenal time we all had. Summersonic was an absolute pleasure and we will, no doubt, all be doing it again in the coming years. I would recommend to anyone to attend this festival. Well organised, great bands and an awesome vibe make Summersonic one of the worlds great festivals.
