ELECTRIC PICNIC: Never mind the sideshows – it's the sounds that count at Electric Picnic. So it's a big thank you for the music, as Jim Carrollgives credit where it's due Plus: reviews from Jim Carroll, Lauren Murphy, Rosemary Mac Cabeand Conor Pope
IT WAS the year of Janelle. There may have been a host of rising stars and grizzled veterans in Stradbally this weekend, but it was Janelle Monáe, the rising funk, soul, r’n’b and pop star from Atlanta with the killer quiff, the dazzling tunes and the thrilling dance moves who wowed all and sundry.
Of course, the weekend provided many other magical moments. There was Conor O’Brien and Villagers coming of age in a packed tent as the crowd sang their songs back to them. On the other end of the homegrown scale, The Frames were celebrating 20 years of ups, downs and ups again with a sterling, memorable main-stage set.
Swedish electropop star Robyn put on the ritz with futuristic tunes and audacious stage moves, while Northern Irish instrumental adventurers And So I Watch You From Afar added to their fanbase with another blistering show.
Old guns Public Image Limited and Leftfield competed for the most wobbly, booming basslines on site, while ageless smoothie Bryan Ferry led Roxy Music to the frontline once more. The Jolly Boys showed that seventysomething Jamaicans are well capable of getting on the good foot and Seasick Steve blazed a trail for gnarly, stomping, greasy bluesmen everywhere.
Others who did wonders for their reputations over the weekend included Oxford's Foals (especially on the more thoroughbred cuts from their new album, Total Life Forever) and Wicklow's Cathy Davey (pop with bespoke, timeless twists).
Last but by no means least, there was Gil Scott-Heron, a man who has lived a life extraordinary. The voice is still commanding in that Old Testament way, and the songs are still majestic. That epic version of We Almost Lost Detroit, building from a Scott-Heron piano solo – before the band came on to flesh out the nuances and underline the sentiments – was one for memory banks.
BRYAN FERRY
It's hard to tell whether Roxy Music are the world's coolest or naffest band. On the one hand, they've got a saxophonist, a leather catsuit-clad keyboardist (female, thankfully), and Bryan Ferry is dressed for a day at the office.
On the other hand, this is what main-stage festival sets are all about: hit-laden, experienced, and teaching most of the young buckos we've seen today a thing or two about crowd-pleasing. If this is dad rock, can Bryan Ferry please be my dad?
LM
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
Under the biggest mirrorball in the midlands, LCD Soundsystem shook their tail-feathers – and cowbells – with aplomb. Making amends for Irish shows cancelled back in April due to Eyjafjallajökull blowing its top (remember that end-of-the-world event?), James Murphy and band poured out the hits. And we know these hits as well as we know our left foot from our right. Both
Us vs Themand the delirious
Get Innocuous, from the now classic
Sound Of Silver, were cosmic wig-outs from the top drawer. Meanwhile this year's
This Is Happeningprovided the whip-smart lyrical slap of
Drunken Girls. There's been talk this year of Murphy hanging up the LCD mantle in favour of the DFA label and other pursuits. Judging by this bright, brash and bold display, though, there's still plenty of juice in the engine if Murphy decides to continue on the road.
JC
JANELLE MONÁE
She came, she saw, she took the Picnic by the scruff of the neck and sent everyone away reeling in delight. Janelle Monáe's Irish debut wasn't something any of us are going to forget in a hurry. From the moment the dude in the top hat and tails came onstage to introduce her, this was an all-singing, all-dancing, all-funking, all-soul-popping extravaganza with Ms ArchAndroid pulling out every trick in the book. Extravagant, majestic, infectious tunes such as
Cold War, Fasterand
Tightropethat make you dance like a loon? Check. Dance moves usually associated with James Brown, Prince, Michael Jackson and Muhammad Ali (Janelle can float like a butterfly and sting like a bee)? Check. A band who know how to dress up a groove or hold down a beat? Check. Two becloaked dancers giving it socks? Check.
Janelle, baby, you took our breath away. Remember where you saw her first.
JC
THE FRAMES
You want something to make you feel old? The Frames celebrate their 20th birthday this year. It's been a long – and sometimes bumpy – road for Glen Hansard and his buddies, but last night was all about the celebration and, of course, the revelation. While he has many detractors in this country, he certainly can't be accused of making people wait for the big reveal tonight –
Revelatewas song two. The crowd went wild and sang it with such passionate gusto that Hansard was almost unnecessary on lead vocals. It's not like it's the band's only gem, mind you, and the frenetic run-through of the best of The Frames' back catalogue had people bopping and singing like mad from the get-go. The crowd loved it. The band loved it. And the gig seemed to take years and years off both. It was good to have them back – swell, even. Styrofoam letters spelling out The Frames were then passed through the crowd. "You're breaking up the band," Hansard said. Ah, don't go.
CP
MARC ALMOND
Well, isn't Marc Almond quite the crowd-pleaser? He bounded on stage with the words "glorious day, glorious festival, glorious song", and launched into a number, appropriately entitled
Glorious. He played a few new tunes, but it was the Soft Cell songs and one from the peerless Jacques Brel that got the crowd going. First there is
Torch, and then
Bedsitterand
Jackie, a Brel song made (more) famous – at least in English – by Scott Walker. He then sweetly asked the crowd if they minded him playing a few songs from his latest album, before finishing the set with
Tainted Loveand a hair-standing-on-back-of-neck version of
Say Hello, Wave Goodbyethat had the crowd singing with gusto. David Gray? Sorry, who's he?
CP
VILLAGERS
That the Crawdaddy tent would be packed to the gills for this Villagers show was a given. After all,
Becoming a Jackalwas a soundtrack for the Irish pop nation all summer long, so expectations were as heavy as a nimbus cloud over the heads of Conor J O'Brien and his slender men as the lights went down. O'Brien started the set standing alone under the spotlight, and threw a sweet, solo
Twenty Seven Strangersour way, allowing the song's slow-burning narrative to pitch the mood and dictate the pace. When the band joined him, what was immediately apparent was how they bend, amplify and emphasise such spooky fairy tales of our times as
Homeand
Becoming a Jackal, Tommy McLoughlin's guitar work in particular cutting a dash. Villagers are up the for the Mercury Prize in London tomorrow – for once, let's hope fortune favours the brave at that posh bun fight.
JC
ROBYN
It was a down'n'dirty dance party in the Electric Arena as Robyn took to the stage. "I know it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon," said the soft-spoken Swede, "but I wanna have a party." The audience wanted to party, too, and, following Robyn's all-singing, all-dancing lead, party they did. The pitch-perfect vocals of
Hang With Meechoed through the tent, while Robyn pirouetted and pranced across the stage, hands and legs flailing – ending on the über high of
With Every Heartbeatand thanking "Dublin" for their attentions. Well, you can't have it all.
RMC
TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB
Watching the rise and rise of Two Door Cinema Club has been one of the most cheering sights of 2010 so far. From being of a clatter of acts to watch from Northern Ireland 18 months ago to packing out the biggest tent here is quite an achievement. You could chalk that down to the power of a TV advert, but that's only half the story. Debut album
Tourist Historyis chock-a-block with tunes that are a little bit indie, a little bit electro and a litle bit pop. What Two Door Cinema Club have done, judging by the large cheers that greeted every darn tune, is put that mix together in the right way. Yes, it's true, something good can work.
JC
