Monthly Archive for May, 2009

My friends and I attended the “Electronic Beats Festival” last night. Since it was sponsored by T-Mobile, ticket prices were reasonable, and the lineup looked promising as Filthy Dukes, Junior Boys, Fever Ray, Phoenix, Gossip and Simian Mobile Disco were all billed to play in just one long night.

Due to its omnipresent sponsor, the festival essentially felt like a setup for a commercial. Which may have been an accurate assessment, as attendees had to give their approval to have their likeness recorded in various visual media, and waive the right to inspect or approve use of the images upon entering the venue. Quite straightforward, one would think. Well, you might want to reconsider after reading these terms of attendance posted by the organizer:

Click to enlarge

Aren’t you just itching to whip out the red marker? I know I was. The text begs the question: Why was there no German version? The festival was staged in Germany, by a German company, with the majority of attendees being German. A badly-translated English version did not make a whole lot of sense to me.

Beth Ditto of Gossip. Weird arm movement included.

It was good to know what we were in for as we made it to the front row for Gossip’s set. Which must have irked someone else who had been firmly planted there since the beginning of the evening, clearly not enjoying any of the other acts which were playing that night. And I guess we were filmed a couple of times, so we were “exploited” according to the legal sheet. I didn’t care because Gossip were brilliant as usual. I had not been too sure about their new single “Heavy Cross”, preferring the Fred Falke remix over the original prior to the gig, but hearing it live totally changed my opinion – it is absolutely mind-blowing. I wish I could see them perform it again soon.

I do apologize for only posting a picture of Beth Ditto, but that’s just because it is the only picture that was taken without flash and is not completely blurred, and I decided after a while that I’d rather enjoy the show than take pictures – which is rare. I would like to point out that for me, Gossip will always equal Beth Ditto plus Hannah Blilie plus Brace Paine.

My best friend likened Hannah Blilie’s drumming aesthetic to the ballet, while I am constantly reminded of a hummingbird when I watch her play the drums. It looks so delicate, and yet she produces these amazing beats. Terrific! I am really excited that she is going to be on the cover of the upcoming album “Music for Men”, and hope that it will help her get the recognition she deserves. I was quite shocked by the large number of music blogs and online magazines who didn’t figure out that it’s her on the cover artwork.

Simian Mobile Disco: Two guys and their amazing magic box

The last act of the night (or morning), Simian Mobile Disco, was absolutely amazing, too. I love their “Attack Decay Sustain Release” album, especially the single “Hustler”, and I will never understand why people go apeshit over those arrogant twats of Justice while completely disregarding the lovable geeky duo from the UK. Their sound was top-notch, the beats were brilliant, the mix flawless, and, most importantly, you could tell that they really enjoyed what they were doing. To top things off, we had a lovely view of Beth Ditto dancing along to almost the entire set on the far left side of the stage. “Almost” because she ran backstage during “Cruel Intentions” when some guys were trying to drag her to the centre of the stage, but thankfully she returned after the track was over.

I may only have enjoyed three out of the six acts that were playing that night (the third one on the “plus” side being Fever Ray), but it was a great night nevertheless, evidenced by the fact that I returned home at 6.15 am.