Great Escape Saturday

The final day of the festival and, too be honest, energy levels are running a teensy bit low. After a leisurely start we decide to make the long trek up the high street to the "It came from Japan" showcase. After a delayed start we hear three delightfully manic performances. Vola and the Oriental machine was probably the stand-out on the day, although Bo-Peep were also pretty good. Can't remember the name of the third band (the free beer and sushi had nothing to do with it) but here is some footage of Vola (the bits with the BBC introducing banner are from Brighton)

VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE Live at UK May,2008


After that we head off to the Old Market for one of the MOJO gigs. We somehow got there early (despite getting lost and stopping in a pub on the way) so get a good spot... apparently there were long queues outside, so we were pretty lucky.

Anyway first on is School of Language - the new band from the man behind Field Music. Now field music were one of the stand-outs from Latitude '06 for me so I had high hopes, but the new band (supposedly more "experimental") don't really do it for me. Neither does Lightspeed Champion, but then he never did. The hat is very nice, but I still don't get what the fuss is about. (on getting home I find out that he did a second gig that evening which was much better so perhaps I'm being harsh.)

Next up is one of my favourite bands, Fujiya and Miyagi who are playing something of a homecoming gig. Unsurprisingly practically everything is from the recent album (transparent things) and they get the large crowd grooving along to their Kraftwerk-influenced tunes.

Last on is Black Mountain and they are by some margin the loudest band of the weekend. From the first thud of the bass drum they produce a powerful performance with Amber Webber singing superbly over the stoner rock they play. Album-standout, Tyrant, goes down a storm as would be expected, as do all the songs from recent album In the Future which I definitely recommend.