THE UNDERAGE FESTIVAL

Ok, Ok so it's a week late (sorry, over that) but THE ANTI has had a blogging break and is now going to bring you an Underage review in top form.

On 08/08/08, a funny date, a wonderful thing happened. Kids usually having to blag their way into gigs or be turned away at the door were bought together in a musical celebration of what it is to be young.

To anyone who attended the festival, the picture above should look familiar. The queues stretched right across Victoria park hours before the gates open- not brilliant for impatient teenagers.
The lineup included huge names like the Maccabees, Dizzee Rascal and Gallows- but this wasn't it. The Underage is aimed at the young and music-savvy, so the lineup included everyone from well known on the NME and Converse stages to very new faces on the Music Space stage.


TOPMAN NEW MUSIC STAGE

The best stage by far was the Topman stage- THE ANTI caught a good few bouncy bands there. Nick Harrison- a fairly new comer but a good start to the day- was the first to play there. The tracks on his myspace aren't even a fraction as good as he and his band sound live. They got the day going in perfect style, a person favorite being 'Summer', which is about the summer holidays- perfect for a crowd so young.
Also on this stage were the brilliant Cheeky Cheeky and the Nosebleeds- it was great to see them live as there is so much hype around this band. 'I've Grown Quite Fond of You' and 'Slow Kids' were the best songs of their set. If you haven't heard of this jumpy 5some then check them out- they are mood lifting and got the crowd going. Others playing there included Team Waterpolo, the brilliant synth-pop rockers who seem to have sprung from nowhere, along with other new faces like Pull in Emergency, the Rascals and the Rifles. By far the best set on this stage was Florence and the Machine, who packed out the tent and completely blew the crowd away. Mesmerising vocals in Between Two Lungs and Girl With One Eye and matching mind-blowing energy in Kiss With a Fist make Florence a perfect live performer- she's edging in at the top 50 chart right now so if you're planning to see her in her current tour I'd advise grabbing tickets as soon at possible

NME STAGE
Now before you go assuming THE ANTI's opinion of the NME stage may be biased, understand I am trying to be as professional as possible, but it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say this tent had an awful atmosphere. Admittedly, I only saw a bit of this tent but during frYars set there were more walking out of the tent than coming into it. That's not to say frYars is bad- he is an inspirational young artist with a lot of talent- but there were technical difficulties to begin with and the music isn't much to jam to. Although the bill was set to be decent, the atmosphere was dull and hardly anyone danced.
This went on until Foals set, when things got so wild one of the barriers broke and Yannis had to ask the crowd to move back, that things picked up. Foals enegry and jumpy set managed to save the day, although timing did clash with Gallows so they lost audience towards the end.

CONVERSE CENTURY STAGE
Gallows, Dizzee Rascal, The Maccabees, Bombay Bicycle Club... All the big names played this stage. As it was an outside stage, the bigger crowds came here. The Maccabees saw a sea of umbrellas due to rain, and then a sea of hands making heart shapes during 'First Love' when the rain cleared up. Dizzee Rascal was a time for the Indie Limeys (yes I just said that) to bop around and admit to knowing the words to hip-hop songs. Dizzee suprisingly drew a massive crowd dispite being the only r'n'b artist on the bill.
The atmosphere was great at this stage and it surely had the most photography and news coverage. The band who most surely stole the show were the headliners- the of course wonderful Gallows. Frank Carter jumping into the stage and directing the crowd into a circle pit was a huge hilight, but the thing that made this band's preformance so epic was the massive circle pit which lasted two whole songs.
Although video footage captures the size pretty well, it doesn't show the feeling. Down in the crowd was utter madness as everyone sprinted round. The entire thing resembled a P.E. lesson in skinny jeans.

Although it would have been great to have seen newer acts on the Domino and Redbull stages, there simply wasn't enough time. The day all in all was great, everyone there seemed to love it- from the random guy dressed as a hot dog (there's always one...) to Frank Carter himself (who, as the crowd cheered, mocked us and said " 'woo' You sound like you're on Blind Date!'). Underage 2009 is sure to be an even bigger success, so get your early bird tickets as soon as they are announced!

CHEERS, THE ANTI x

DANCE! DANCE! DANCE! DANCE!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I think I've found 2008's Big Summer Anthem. It's the cutest thing since last year's summer anthem, which was of course the Holloway's brilliant 'Generator' (unless you're going to credit Rhianna's EH EH EH as an Anthem).
Yes, it’s here, even if summer isn’t. It is of course Black Kids' ‘I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You’ (single cover pictured right). I know it’s been kicking around for quite a while but this uber-cute band are just becoming known. Recently appearing on Later With Jools Holland, Black Kids are truly headed for the top. They’re signed and they’ve got a few decent songs under their belts. They have a cute music video and sound a little bit like a mix between Late of the Pier and Joy Division (you’ll see what I mean about them sounding like LOTP when you hear their brilliant track Hurricane Jane). How can they NOT become massive? If you haven’t heard this track then get on their Myspace right now, seriously. There's also a brilliant dance-mix up on their page of 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You', mixed by The Twelves. Definitely check that out if you're into Justice's mixes or this band.

When speaking of summer music, there is one immediate thought which springs to mind. Festivals, festivals, festivals. However, which ever festival you're headed to this year there seems to be quite an odd lineup. Glasto's got Jay-z headlining the main stage for one night. He is also playing at 02 Wireless in July. Seeing as last year's Wireless lineup was so good, it was surprising to see such a bleak lineup. It's the sort of lineup which makes you shrug and look out of a window, rather than pounce on the £40-45 day tickets without a moment's notice. Reading's lineup is, as always, the cream of the crop. It's too painful to re account the lineup, as I'm sure other non-Reading-goers will agree. Have fun if you're going. Have fun with the lovely little NME stage. Peh.

A festival which is much more of a Pounce-fest rather than a Shrug-fest is this year's Camden Crawl. It just seems to have EVERYONE decent on the music scene right now, whatever you're into. With a lineup including the likes of Crystal Castles, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Florence and the Machine, Operator Please, The Ghost Frequency, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong, Robots In Disguise and so many more. It's across 2 days, and at £49.20 for a 2 day ticket, it's not that much for unlimited access to all Crawl venues, after show parties and daytime activities.

If you're into something a little quieter, try looking at the Redhill Redfest festival in Surrey. It's a small festival, with only 5,000 tickets. Prices are at a mere £64, including parking and camping. The lineup sees the likes of The Maccabees, Late Of The Pier and Lightspeed Champion, and for such a low price in such a small festival, this truly is too good to miss.

If you're not going to any festivals this year, you're probably wiser than the rest of us. You're saving the money and probably the tent too. I'm praying the Strokes will miraculously get back for a final album and decide to headline Reading next year. Never going to happen? Ah well.

I'd like to finish this 3rd edition of THE ANTI with it's first ever gig review. The gig took place on the 9th April and was of course the Teenage Cancer Trust comedy night presented by Noel Fielding. But no, I will not be reviewing the comedy, nor Noel's hair (which was nice, just a little too short), but I will be reviewing the music!

To the entire audience at the Royal Albert Hall (about 5,000)'s surprise, Razorlight's Johnny Borrell and Andy Burrows came on to play a two-song set including 'America' and 'Before I Fall to Pieces'. Surprising, it was actually very mellow and nice. It was an acoustic set, and although it was short, I've started listening to Razorlight again. Oh dear.

Anyway, Razorlight wasn't the music which blew 5,000 people away. It was the Mighty Boosh's first musical onstage performance which shocked everyone so much. Preforming 'Electro', 'Nannageddon' and 'Charlie' live for the first time, the Mighty Boosh were truly amazing. Noel Fielding was of course the Front man, with Barrat on guitar and later joining them was Dave Brown as a screaming backing singer. For the final song, Rich Fulcher also made an appearance in his famous Blue Suit. The gig was immense, and too good to sit down for, and a few of the audience in the Pit got up and danced.

Footage can be seen;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlRUnF72lW4 - 'Electro'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm6q-MlaoIM - 'Nanageddon' only 1/2 :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V7yuZQGc3A - 'Charlie'

Everyone who was already anticipating The Mighty Boosh's promised debut album this year will now be even more excited. I know the 5,000 people already are! The Boosh are set to play Big Chill this year, will it be comedy or music they'll be showcasing though? I guess we'll have to wait 'till summer. As if we weren't waiting for it already.