Here Comes the Tinnitus: Primavera 2009, Day Two

Blog by Nick Mitchell | 30 May 2009
After all that blokey noise rock last night, the sight and sound of Bat For Lashes is a welcome flash of exotic glamour for Primavera. Wearing a snug black and white jump-suit, Natasha Khan is having a lot of fun in the evening sun, dancing all across the stage during more upbeat tracks like Pearl's Dream and Daniel, while the flame-haired former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley nods away in the background. A good way to start the night.

There's little time to waste before Spiritualized take to the Rockdelux stage. We find ourselves quite far back, and it's still the same set they toured last year, so it lacks a sense of occasion for me personally. But despite Jason Pierce's increasing penchant for sedate gospel blues since his comeback, his band still blast out a resounding version of Come Together, which has even the more casual onlookers pushing to the front of the crowd.

There is a formidable queue snaking around the corner of the massive Auditorium building for My Bloody Valentine's indoor show, and the Irish shoegazers' start is delayed by half an hour to let everyone in. Despite the hype from last year's reunion tour, nothing prepares you for just how loud MBV play. Even in this tailor made concert hall the vocals are submerged in the unending sonic torrent, but it's somehow redeemed by the fact that you know there are great songs beneath the racket. That is until they launch into their famous feedback jam to finish, which lasts 20 minutes and gives the impression of being in an underground bunker while a nuclear war rages up above. I half expect the ceiling to collapse, and indeed, some very small pieces seem to be floating down. Extraordinary.

I stumble back to the festival site in a daze. Normal hearing has been replaced by some kind of ultrasonic ringing. With ears impaired it seems absurd to comment on any of the following bands.

But I keep an open mind and make an educated guess that the Dan Deacon Ensemble sound pretty amazing to the normal listener. They certainly put on a show on the Pitchfork stage, with a 13-strong band including three drummers, all sporting white boiler suits that makes the stage look like a very strange visit to Kwik Fit. The portly, bespectacled Deacon is an unlikely frontman, but he punches the air, surfs the crowd and makes a valiant attempt at audience participation with a short-lived 'dance circle'. Needless to say, we all walk away with big stupid smiles.

I honestly wasn't expecting much from our last band of the night. I've seen Bloc Party several times, and have gone from a big fan to an indifferent listener over the past four years. Maybe it's the alcohol in our blood, but tonight the Londoners sound fantastic in the early hours of the morning, and it's like 2005 all over again. Songs like Banquet, So Here We Are and The Prayer are the highlights, and their shredding guitar riffs and kinetic energy send us giddily on our way back into town.