Perfect Festival Band
July 8, 2008 by Andrew Booth
Filed under Anablog
So we’re heading deep into the season here. Glasto’s been and gone. The Festival-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is next weekend and the Electric Picnic is still far enough away to seem like a beautiful dream. Many other festivals are reveling right now, indeed roll a dice and wonder into a field and more than likely you’ll find Fat Boy Slim and KISS fighting it out.
All of which leads to the question; Who’s the Greatest festival band?
Here’s my nomination;
[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=9BG6tZFMkvQ]
Elbow. Always brilliant live, with great lifting melodies and soaring instrumentation. The front man looks like a man you met in the cue for humus and there is always a sing along.
ps, please include, where possible, a youtube link to your incredibly hip/obscure nomination.
I think my choice would be Super Furry Animals. Leaving aside the yeti suits, armoured tanks, techno-barrage and air of psychedelic abandon they bring to the festival, they have a brilliant back catalogue to pick and choose from. Last year’s “Hey Venus!” was one of the best records of their career. And now, Gruff Rhys has teamed up with Boom Bip to form Neon Neon, whose “Stainless Style” is completely ace too. In fact, if Mr Bip being an American prevents it from being nominated for this year’s Mercury Prize, it will be the greatest rock ‘n’ roll injustice since Bruce Springsteen sacked two of his roadies because they had lost his canoe.
Counting Crows.