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In what was truly a ‘sound’ festival, Liverpool moved, sung and laughed with over 700 bands across this emphatic weekend of delighted eardrums.
The festival boasted an impressive line-up with great diversity and there was something there for everyone. The city showed up and so did the acts who have further developed the reputation of this niche festival.
Sound City surely had a unique aesthetic. The dockland provided visceral views which were pleasing on the eye.
The D.I.Y stages and monuments of the festival reflected the keen nature of the Liverpool music scene which was given a monumental elevation over the weekend. Yet, nothing was more visually astounding than The Flaming Lips.
Our cooky brethren from across the pond gifted us with walking suns, fibre optic light vines and a spot of zorbing. Lead singer Wayne Coyne was even dressed as a toad. The experience was surreal and the music was life affirming.
Highlights of The Flaming Lips’ set included ‘Do you Realize?’, ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part 1’, and ‘The Yeah Yeah Song’. Coynes ability to inspire the crowd can only be matched by that of Martin Luther’s King ‘I have a dream speech’. Overall it was visually appealing, entertaining and uplifting. This is a band who has been ranked among Time Magazines ’50 bands to see before you die’. They certainly shown why.
One of the greatest aspects of festival season and more so when it comes to less commercial festivals is the emergence of new musical talent.
Promoters aim to give premature artists the chance to show there sand and there was many which did not disappoint. Up and coming four piece Oranj Son played their first live performance on board the Kraken stage where Edge Hill University’s record label showcased there latest crop of future headliners.
The band rattled through a musically expansive set and drawn more support as they went on. Brooding soliloquies such as ‘Tap Deck’ shown the ambition of such a young and while gun go anthems such as ‘Psycho Disco Face’ had hips swaying.
For losing their live cherry the boys did astoundingly well and look set for bright horizons. The even more astounding aspect is that there only output thus far is a bunch of demos which are currently on their sound cloud. If you were are one of those people who like to say ‘I knew them before they were big!’ give them a listen.
Honourable mention to the two females who were dropping jackin’ beats within the Red Bull dune buggy. Dancing next to a hot dog van never felt so good.
Scottish veterans Belle and Sebastian closed the festival with true class as they sent the crowd of with positive affirmations. The song writing genius of Stuart Murdoch was apparent and the crowd truly interacted with the crowd in a truly honest and human way.
They invited people upon the stage and danced in celebration as the moon bowed down upon the closing curtain of a truly remarkable weekend for the city’s culture. The act provided what has been described as ‘wistful pop’ and pleased the crowd. Songs such as ‘White Collar Boy’ and ‘Funny Little Frog’ went down as good as a £4.90 lager (or cider, we all have a preference).
Being a later arriver aboard the Belle and Sebastian train I was able to enjoy the music first hand for the first time and I truly appreciate the artistry and message which the band convey. Light hearted and truly enjoyable, I couldn’t have picked a better closing act which put the cherry on the concrete sundae, which was Liverpool Sound city.