Peter Twomey
The festival season is upon us and line-up announcements are beginning to trickle out. So to help you decide on which field you want to endure the piss-stained, puke-y tents and the ineluctable torrents of rain, we at UT have put together a short guide of the bands hitting the festival circuit this year:
(a) Indie Stadium Rockers:
1.Arctic Monkeys: With a new album expected later this year, these Sheffield-natives return to the main stages after a year long break. If Humbug is anything to go by though, expect more sombre than fun (i.e. increase in ‘My Propeller’, decrease in ‘Mardy Bum’)
Where?: Oxegen, Eurorokeennes, Benicassim, Gurten festival, Hurricane Festival, V Festival.
2.The Strokes: Belated fourth album Angles is out in March so expect to hear many songs from that, as well as much-loved oldies. The Strokes played a handful of festival slots last summer but 2011 should prove to be their true live-band resurrection.
Where?: Benicassim.
3.Arcade Fire: Having just won the Grammy for Best Album, Arcade Fire proved their heavy-hitting credentials in 2010 with blistering third album The Suburbs. Summer 2011 will be your last chance to catch Arcade Fire before they return into their inevitable hiatus, as they have done in the past.
Where?: Benicassim.
Arcade Fire – We Used To Wait by MiscMusic
(b) Folk:
4.Sufjan Stevens: Ever since his breakthrough Illinois Sufjan Stevens has captured the heart and minds of lovers of soft, instrumental music and touching lyrics. His new record The Age of Adz is Stevens gone electro, which should make for a very interesting live spectacle.
Where?: Primavera.
5.Tallest Man on Earth: Heralded, like so many, as the great pretender to Bob Dylan’s throne, it is indeed true that TTMOE’s voice and style bears a reasonably strong resemblance to the king of folk. Where TTMOE excels, however, are his live performances, something that Dylan is constantly berated for. Not to be missed.
Where?: Primavera.
Tallest Man On Earth // A Field Of Birds (Yellow Bird Project theme) by Stayloose
6.Beirut: There is a lot to be said for strength in numbers, which seems to be a strong belief behind the music of Beirut. Generally, Beirut play with a group of seven, implementing the sounds of wide-ranging instruments such as the flugelhorn, the trombone, the tuba and the accordion. These all afford for rich Balkan folk infused with more modern styles and create a type of music that generally wouldn’t be appreciated by the festival fan-bases they play to.
Where?: Benicassim.
(c) Legends:
7.Pulp: Reformed after a eight year break, Pulp’s shock return has inspired similar jubilation as Blur in 2009. They have already confirmed to play Wireless, Isle of Wight and Primavera with more surely in the offering, this summer could potentially be sound-tracked by past hits ‘Common People’ and ‘Disco 2000’.
Where?: Primavera, Wireless, Isle of Wight.
8.The Cure: Find me a person who hates The Cure and I’ll show you an idiot (or Morrissey). After enduring an incredible thirty-five year career with thirteen studio albums to boot, The Cure should find it impossible to run short of hits, with Robert Smith’s voice (but perhaps not his appearance) as strong as ever.
Where?: Bestival.
The Cure – Killing An Arab by CoF
9.Bon Jovi: Love them or hate them, Bon Jovi still remain one of the biggest bands in the world today. Last year, they finished as the highest gross earning musical act in the entire world and, with a massive haul of shows already booked, 2011 should be no different.
Where?: Hard Rock Calling, the RDS.
(d) Pop:
10. JLS: Perhaps not the most credible musicians (to put it lightly), JLS still manage to command a huge following among kids, teens… and unfortunate parents. JLS’s charm lies in their malevolent marketing machine, which forces hapless youth to frenzied adoration. Now replace the word ‘charm’ with ‘villainy’.
Where?: Thomand Park, The o2.
11. Alexandra Burke: Beyonce’s evil twin… well her less attractive, less talented and more annoying twin to be exact. Alexandra Burke’s main achievement is surviving the usual turbo downward spiral endured by most X-Factor winners, but is that really an achievement? Probably not.
Where?: Live a the Marquee: Cork.
Alexandra Burke – All Night Long by bangnmash
12. Beyonce: It’s difficult to criticise Beyonce for she is truly brilliant at what she does. She has created hits like ‘Single Ladies’ and ‘Crazy in Love’ that command the charts for weeks and perpetually embed in your brain forever, how can you fault her?
Where?: Glastonbury.
