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Main Stage,听10pm Saturday
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Tweet: Man + Mic + Box of Tricks = Fun
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What happened?: A storming, at times funny, set of beat-boxing tricks from the World Loop-Station Champion.听 This one man band toys with us, engages with us, and generally shows us a damn good time, building up tracks we know (鈥楩ix Up, Look Sharp鈥, 鈥3 Is A Magic Number鈥, 鈥楥an I Kick It鈥), and those of his own, incorporating storytelling, p-taking, and his family in a show that鈥檚 nearer stand-up than straight musical performance.听 His ability to produce and control sounds, and mastery of microphones and loops goes far beyond what someone in the crowd dismissed as 鈥渨hat you do when you can鈥檛 afford equipment鈥.听 His ten minute set of loops and beats would shame quite a few DJs, and it鈥檚 no surprise when he gets called on to do an encore.
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Shining Light:听 Managing to get us all singing along to 鈥楶ut Your Hands Up For Detroit鈥, somehow redeeming that song, albeit only temporarily.
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Meltdown:听 I need a shower now after that.听 Possibly in bleach.听 And we have to wait until October to see him again.
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Rating: 9/10
Main Stage 3.15pm
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Tweet: G-whiz it鈥檚 Robyn, Shielding his eyes from the sun.
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What happened?: 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to play some nice songs for you.鈥听 And so they did.听 In what is a slightly strange setting for the often maudlin and melancholy tones of Mr Shiels, today accompanied by a band.听 It鈥檚 so gentle, unhurried and unassuming that it can seem a bit thrown together, which distracts from the quality of song-writing.听 The changing delicacy and quiet power recalls the likes of Bon Iver or quieter Devendra Banhart, in spirit, if not in practice, sparse, delicate song-writing brought to focus by the lack of accoutrements.听 鈥淲here Has All The Love Gone鈥 is carried by piano, a late night whiskey song if ever there was one, and seemingly the place has got colder as a result.听 Even the relatively up-tempo 鈥楢ll Hope Lay Dying鈥 isn鈥檛 exactly a happy song, and so the crowd are a bit nonplussed.
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Shining Light: 鈥榃here Has All The Love Gone鈥 鈥 hurry up and record this please, so we can enjoy it more.
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Meltdown: Probably Robyn himself.听 He鈥檚 bound to be suffering away from the dark, dank bars that are his spiritual home.听 If he melted, we wouldn鈥檛 be surprised.
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Rating: 7/10
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Main Stage, 11:30pm Saturday
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Tweet: Do be a Not Square Maaaan.
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What happened?:听 Given the unenviable task of following on from Shlomo, the headliners hurriedly assemble their gear to try and retain the dwindling crowd鈥檚 attention.听 Opening with 鈥楻elease The Bees鈥, they grab the attention of the hard-core party animals at the front, and the couple of wee lads who get on-stage with them (this is becoming the theme of festivals this summer 鈥 none is complete without some wee lads sneaking on stage attempting to steal the show), followed later on by as many of the rest of us as fancy it as they invite the crowd to join them. We鈥檙e even treated to what might be a couple of new tracks, ending their normal set with 鈥楢sylum鈥 before doing a well-needed encore as the stage-times go to hell.
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Shining Light: They do have some absolutely cracking tunes (the aforementioned 鈥楻elease The Bees鈥 and 鈥楢sylum鈥 in particular) and a curiously compelling stage presence for being 3 relatively static blokes who don鈥檛 do much in the way of banter.
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Meltdown: It鈥檚 a small crowd, and the outdoor setting doesn鈥檛 help for an act probably best suited to dark, sweaty, enclosed spaces, and who are probably a little too niche to headline a festival, certainly at this stage.
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Rating: 7/10
