Live: London Calling festival, Amsterdam
Even before the entire line-up had been announced, the autumn edition of London Calling festival in Amsterdam sold out. The Bullet was able to score tickets at the very last minute, by pulling every string we could get hold of.
Friday Novmber 24th
The first band to warm up the crowd at the small stage is The Holloways. These guys from North London immediately set the right mood with their happy tunes. The Brittish in the audience attempt to dance, while the Dutch take a bit longer to defrost. Verdict: 6.5/10 Official website In the main hall, the evening starts off with Little Man Tate. If the number of people sporting a shirt of a certain band is a competition, Little Man Tate would definitely win this evening. Their music is pretty poppy; happy and cheerful with a decent tempo. Not bad, but not very exciting either. The crowd has warmed up and even the Dutch are moving their body to the music. The Brittish sing along to Man I Hate Your Band, The Agent and What? What You Got?. Good warm-up band, nice show. Verdict: 7/10Official website
Then we’re back at the small stage for the 747’s. This band seems to come straight from the 60’s instead of 2006. Their music is old-fashioned and reminds us of The Beatles. The festival people describe the band as ‘a mix between psychedelic rock and Coldplay-like melodies’. We have trouble staying awake, like the majority of the crowd. 6/10 Official website. Luckily, Milburn is up next. Again at the small stage, which is about to burst. These gentlemen have played here before, supporting the Arctic Monkeys, and attract a huge crowd. A lot of people – mostly intoxicated Brittish – climb onto the stage to sing along with the band or dive back into the crowd. Milburn turns the small stage into total chaos! Verdict: 8/10 Official website
Saturday November 25th
This second day of the festival we start at the main stage with Jamie T, a singer-songwriter from London, who mixes a lot of different styles. His songs fit both the reggae and ska-scene and with a good beat and a nice voice, this is a good crowd warmer. We’re not staying long though, if you want a decent spot at the small stage today you have to be there early. Verdict: 7/10 Official website
As said, it’s very full and hot in the upstairs room, where The Pigeon Detectives will be playing. Singer Matt is trying to cool himself down by emptying bottles of water over his head – and the crowd. The five lads from Leeds’ energetic way of playing is infectious and people are jumping along. Like during Milburn, the stage is full of fans hugging Matt, shouting in the microphone and stage-diving. The band doesn’t seem bothered by this extra occupation of the small stage. Matt joins in and jumps into the crowd, which only encourages fans more. When a chubby boy gets ready to throw himself into the audience, we hear a scared ‘ooooh’. Luckily he grins and then calmly steps off the stage. The Pigeon Detectives are definitely the best band in the upstairs room this weekend. Verdict: 9/10 Official website
Guillemots is the odd one out this weekend. No trendy indie-rock band, but a singer behind a double keyboard, accompanied by a saxophone player, drummer and a lady on a contra bass. Experimental and interesting, but some of the songs are a little hard to digest. I got a giggle-fit when I saw that the singer (Fyfe) was a guy who I’d threatened to chop off his legs with my axe if he didn’t get out of my way. Seriously! He stepped in front of me just before Milburn and he’s tall as hell, so he blocked my view. I forgot to bring my axe though. "Luckily", he said, "because I’m not in a chopping-mood.". Haha. Fyfe is multitalented and has a lovely voice. Verdict: 7/10 Official website
During the spring edition of Londong Calling 2006, the small stage was way too small for Bromheads Jacket. This time the gentlemen from Sheffield get the opportunity to try to surpass that legendary performance – where singer Tim ended up finishing the set with a bleeding forehead - on the main stage. Don’t let the plain look of these three musicians fool you, from the second they start playing the place will be turned upside down. Today it’s no different. Tim, bass player Jono and drummer Dan go through the songs from their debut album Dits From The Commuter Belt in a fast pace. The crowd goes wild on What If’s and Maybe’s, Shopping Spree and a cover of Nirvana’s Breed. Of course this show isn’t complete without a dive in the crowd, after which Tim grins when he discovers he has a bleeding face yet again. His comment: “Well they wanted blood, and now they have blood!” After reading the interview we did with the band before the show, do you have to guess who ‘they’ are? We didn't either. And our suspicions were confirmed when we had a chat with Jono after the show. Sneaky bastards! At the end of the set they smash up their instruments in true punk style. Not as legendary as the spring edition, but definitely magic. Verdict: 9/10 Official website
After the party with Bromheads, The Automatic is a little tamer than expected. The entertainer of this band isn’t singer/bassist/front man Rob; it’s keyboard player Pennie – who jumps around the stage like a kangaroo with ADHD while doing the backing voice – who steals the show. The poppy songs definitely want to make you lift your feet and dance, but the band is not capable of getting the audience – still tired from jumping during Bromheads – to move. Only during current single Monster Paradiso suddenly oozes energy and people go wild. Raoul, You Shout You Shout You Shout and the surprising cover of Kanye West’s Golddigger do pretty well. Perhaps The Automatic will do better in the future. Verdict: 7.5/10 Official website
Verdict: Getting Bromheads Jacket to come back and play the main stage was definitely the best choice of the autumn edition of London Calling festival. Unfortunately we missed the Klaxons, who were very good (or so we were told). Again a great weekend. Milburn and The Pigeon Detectives were the highlight of the small stage.
You can listen to all of the shows played this weekend, On VPRO's 3voor12 here