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The 'problem' with (and Northern Irish music generally) is consistency. From top to bottom, side to side, this years bill is nothing but quality. Which is why it's a shame team ATL couldn't clone itself and properly review every single band on the bill.
What we could do, however, is have the occasional jog round the site, taking in snippets of greatness and moments of mayhem. Further adventures in the Sperrin Mountains, then….
It started with noise. provide one hell of a welcome, Christening the Spurs of Rock stage. Featuring members of Acidtone who've somehow found new levels of heaviness, an aggressive performance blasts open our ears for the day.
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Small But Massive, 11pm
Describe in a Tweet: Desert island music for the freezing masses.
What Happened: Cashier No.9’s headliner on the main stage provides a wonderful relief to the biting cold that has descended upon the Glasgowbury revellers. Bathed in light and saturated by the sprawling psychedelic strains of ‘Oh Pity’, the upbeat escapism of ‘Lost At Sea’, or the hand-clapping hoe-down in ’42 West Avenue’, you could almost believe that you weren’t even cold anymore.
The awe-inspiring harmonies stretch across the fields and fill every inch of space, while the layered complexity of the Cashier sound hits you in waves, transporting you to the halcyon days of summers past. This is the kind of music you can get lost in: beautifully constructed, interlaced with sleigh bells, washboards, bongos, harmonicas, a different class of music altogether. All that remains is for Cashier No.9 to learn the art of inspiring the crowd in between songs, then they will truly have graduated to a headline act.
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Spurs of Rock, 2:35-3:00pm
Describe in a tweet: Smoky, sweaty, loud and proud.
What happened: Featuring a real edge and a mastery of dynamics the Dogs enthral the revellers with a strong set. Admittedly, the Spurs of Rock stage isn't jammed for the performance, but it doesn't affect the atmosphere. 'Hangman' is as gritty and grunge as ever, a riff that bears the hallmarks of early Queens Of The Stone Age material without relying upon simply gunning it time after time. Don't get us wrong, the Dogs are more than willing to lay down a monumental distortion-laden track, but they've got a lot more in their repertoire. With a few releases under their belts, we're looking forward to the future for this lot - it can be difficult to stand out in the genre, but there's real promise here.
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