End Of The Road Festival, September 9th - 12th 2010

A bit of background and getting the negative out of the way first (because normally it's my focus anyway) - I am sick of festivals. At 26 I've spent far too much of my life stood in a muddy field, surrounded by idiots in wacky costumes (or worse: obligatory festival hat) waiting to see my favourite bands play way too quietly for half an hour to no applause. I'm sick of the smell of greasy burgers and trying to sleep with the sound of a rickety 'fun'-fair run by terrifying carnies. In short I'm sick of a lack of regard for the most important thing about the whole experience: the music. I'm not wanting to come off as a buzzkill - I'm all for partying but if you want to act like a massive prick while I'm trying to watch Chrome Hoof or the Stooges you can fuck off.

...All of which is why I approached End Of The Road, my final festival of this year, with a certain level of apprehension. My festival experience has been bearable at best (with the exception of the always-fantastic All Tomorrows Parties) so while the lineup promised an awesome weekend, it was hard to believe that I was letting myself in for something special. On arriving it became clear that being such a cynical prick doesn't always pay off. It has the feel of a village fete, staff are friendly and the gardens themselves are lovely. The crowd is varied but give the impression of being there purely for love of the music which is refreshing and most importantly - Aspall Cyder is on tap which was highly conductive in getting me very drunk, very early.

Anyway. The festival.

Friday

(Car playlist: Three Trapped Tigers, Cave In - Planets Of Old EP and Les Savy Fav - Root For Ruin)

First massive festival fail - as Andy (my cider-partner for the weekend) and I unpack the tent it becomes obvious that I've forgotten something essential - a sleeping bag. Luckily as an experienced wilderness man (ha) I have enough clothes to make a rudimentary nest so can look forward to sleeping like a rat for the two nights we're staying.

Kicking off the weekend musically for me is Australian bluesman CW Stoneking on the Garden Stage. The sun is shining, we're sat in an actual garden, cider in hand and his 1920s style jazz tinged blues goes down a treat. The band is tight, soulful and wouldn't sound out of place on the 'Oh Brother Where Art Thou' soundtrack. Several ciders and a bit of exploring later and we're back at the garden stage for Freelance Whales - I've never heard them before but judging by their name I'll like them (pointless aside - I usually enjoy a band with a mammalian name eg. Minus The Bear, Deerhoof, uhh...Snoop Dogg?). The gamble only half pays off - their Belle and Sebastian meets The Postal Service indie pop is enjoyable enough but a little charmless. Following them are the Mountain Goats whose folksy twanging fails to hold my attention. Several more ciders (a theme is becoming apparent here) and it's time for Cymbals Eat Guitars in the big top. I know it's shallow but I was a little put off by their terrible album art (seriously), however they prove themselves to be the band of the day by a long way. In some places they bring to mind classic 90s indie rock like Pavement or Built To Spill and in others it's closer to the epic pomp of the Arcade Fire. They're enthusiastic, tight and crucially, loud enough to clear the cobwebs of booze and tiredness. Excellent. We have some food, meet some old friends and then back to the Garden Stage for Modest Mouse. They're a band that I have a long track record of loving (enough to have their artwork permanently scrawled on my arm) so this should have been a highlight. The set has a strong start with massive crowd pleasers like 'Dashboard' thrown out early but by the time 'Bury Me With It' starts, I'm too drunk to want anything but sleep. As I drift off I can just about hear the New Pornographers but even the prospect of uplifting pop isn't enough to motivate me back out.

Saturday

(Top three End Of The Road hangover cures - 1. Cheese straws from the campsite bakery 2. The bracing Dorset breeze 3. More cider)

Saturday comes and Andy and I are both feeling a little fragile so to avoid becoming too institutionalised we take a seriously uneventful trip to Shaftesbury. And I mean SERIOUSLY uneventful, the highlight is seeing the cobbled street from the Hovis advert.

The first musical thrill of the day comes from an unlikely source. It's uplifting, positive and at times brings tears to my eyes. Yes. Anvil! The Story Of Anvil is on in the Little White Lies cinema tent and it's wonderful. Completely wonderful. We emerge blinking in to the daylight better people, our friendships confirmed by heavy metal. We head to the Garden Stage and Phosphorescent have already started their set of country tinged indie, it's a little too gentle after the cinematic onslaught (seriously - if you haven't heard the proto-thrash anthem 'Metal On Metal' I dare you to listen to it without a grin) so more cider seems appropriate. We manage to catch Canadian five piece the Wilderness Of Manitoba who play some haunting campfire folk before my personal highlight of day two - Israel's Monotonix. Musically they play the kind of sludgy punk that brings to mind early Melvins but as a live band is where they really shine. The set starts and they're at the front of the stage. I can't see any of them. Suddenly a snare drum lands by my feet, the crowd opens and they're setting up for the next song...in the middle of the tent. It's a glorious mix of Lightning Bolt and an olympic crowdsurfing competition. Thirty intense minutes later, crowd and band are back out in the sunshine and it's over. It's a short dash to the Local stage to catch a majority of Three Trapped Tigers set and they continue the high standard set by Monotonix, coming somewhere between 65daysofstatic and Battles it's an electro-math-whatever freakout. Dancey without becoming repetitive but techy enough to keep those missing John Stanier happy. I'd rather see them in a club in the middle of the night but it's still an awesome show and they're definitely in my top three of the weekend. Iron & Wine on the Garden stage later is a bit disappointing. I'm a big fan of Sam Beam's records but strangely tonight the show lacks the intimacy that makes his performances so interesting so we wonder into the fairy-light illuminated woodland. It proves an excellent choice as we stumble across Moddi playing some Norwegian folk songs and then some of his own at a small stage decorated like a Victorian sitting room. It's these kind of stripped down, impromptu performances that make End Of The Road so special and we walk away feeling like we've shared something secret with only a handful of others. It was a tough call whether to watch Yo La Tengo or Black Mountain but knowing the formers tendency towards extended jams and psychedelic improvisation, classic rock won. Black Mountain take the best bits of Led Zepplin (the riffs) and combine them with the best bits of Fleetwood Mac (the vocals) making something that's at once both incredibly heavy and spacey. 'Stormy High' makes me want to bang my head and the songs from new album 'Wilderness Heart' sound massive. After that Caribou just isn't what I'm in the mood for so I retire to the tent. Only to be tempted back out after hearing Jarvis Cocker's excellent DJ set - The Cramps! Motorhead! Brilliant! A few ciders later and I'm back up, stumbling into a lit dancefloor in the woodlands, taking in the inspiring sight of a hundred music nerds bumping and grinding to Shaggy, sipping whiskey from a hipflask and talking rubbish with strangers. I'm not sure what comes after this...

Sunday

(Driving home car playlist: The Jesus Lizard - Liar, Butthole Surfers - Electriclarryland and Sonic Youth - The Eternal)

All I know is that I wake up SO COLD. IT'S SO COLD. WHERE IS MY SLEEPING BAG?! WHY DIDN'T I BRING IT?! I've placed watching bands below achieving a normal body temperature and maintaining blood flow in my daily priorities so don't manage as much. First band we catch is the Antlers, musically they remind me of Sigur Ros but vocally a lot more folky, the harmonies are pure Justin Vernon and it's a lovely combination. Manage to catch a bit of Django Django and frankly, it sounds to me like a rubbish hippy jam session. Yuck are next and are a band who have been on the receiving end of a lot of superlative words from the hype machine recently so I approached them with a degree of cynicism. I have to be honest - they're actually really good. Combining the lush feedback drenched soundscapes of My Bloody Valentine with more conventional indie rock makes for just the right mix of noisy and catchy. Like Three Trapped Tigers yesterday - in a years time these guys will be huge. Errors follow and as much as I've enjoyed them in the past, I'm not totally convinced that they're ready for a stage this big - the sound is massive, the bass is making my sternum hurt but they just don't seem to have the same connection as in a sweaty club. Having said that, the triple whammy of 'Mr Milk,' 'A Rumor In Africa' and 'Pump' gets a few more throwing shapes at the front so give it time and I'm sure that good things will follow. By now I'm seriously burned out and in need of one last blast of energy - Pulled Apart By Horses have also been pretty heavily hyped over the past couple of months and their show makes it clear why. "This is a beautiful festival...we're here to fuck it up" - thirty minutes of buzzsaw pop, grunge fuzz and youthful abandon make the perfect end to an otherwise very chilled out weekend. I really can't say enough good words about End Of The Road - on the whole an excellent antidote to the soulless Carling-sponsored-boring-headliner-Soni-bullshit and I'll definately be back next year. Good work.

End Of The Road Official Site