The End Of The Road

I spent the last weekend at what I believe to be the best and most civilised festival in the UK right now: End Of The Road Festival in Dorset. Granted, it's a long way to go for a festival when you don't have wheels (a car). We travelled by train, which was fairly easy if not a little tiring and the festival organisation made it much better than you'd expect. It was actually a joy to travel hundreds of miles on several trains and a coach.

The trains being a mess meant that I missed most of Friday and we did have a tent to put up, so we definitely missed some great acts due to our organisation skills (or lack thereof). However, first band we did manage to catch - a band called Spokes - were very impressive. I'd not heard about them before and they put on a great show. Think epic rock music without being too whiney (I'm looking at you, Snow Patrol). It was a nice way to kick off the weekend's events and we followed it was a soft-rockin' set from Vetiver. I know it sounds unlikely, but they did really get the crowd dancing. Those harmonies helped me drift off to sleep and I missed Explosions In The Sky on the main stage. Never mind, getting up at 7am takes it out of me.

The long, restless sleep of Friday night faded into Saturday all too quickly and I was up and about in the gardens again. The sun was blistering by midday and we headed over to the main stage to see whoever and whatever happened to adorn it. The band that we were treated to were the lovely (if not a wee bit twee) Leisure Society and their cover of 'Something' by The Beatles started my Saturday perfectly. We took in some sunshine, some ridiculously nice organic food and then headed back to The Garden Stage to see The Low Anthem (their second set of the weekend, I missed Friday's set in the smaller tent). I can only say good things. They blew me away. Although there were clearly nervous to be on such a huge stage in front of quite a large crowd, they did well and performed beautifully under pressure. The highlights included 'Charlie Darwin', 'Cage The Songbird' and 'To The Ghosts Who Write History Books' all including passionate harmonies, great melodies and such a relaxing beats that you couldn't help but drift off in the sunshine. Pure bliss.

Later on the Saturday we headed into the Big Top Tent to see Dent May and his Ukulele play a storming set - everyone was dancing about and nodding their heads to the tunes that May was thumping out on his trusty uke. He got quite the reception. Lots of fun. After Dent left the stage, Mr. Malcolm Middleton hit the stage for half an hour. I have, of course, seen him this year already and he was fantastic, but this set was different and Malcolm was airing a few oldies. We got treated to my favourite Middleton number, 'Blue Plastic Bags' from 'Sleight Of Heart'. We were also rocking out to the title track from 2007's 'A Brighter Beat'. They turned him up loud on the sound desk and everyone was stomping along. Great set mixing old and new. Best set of the day by far.

In the evening, after yet more gorgeous food, we headed over to watch Okkervil River play the main stage. They were ready to rock and played a lot of the happier stuff from their catalogue. They ended their brief set with a killer version of 'Unless It's Kicks' from their record 'The Stage Names' and almost everyone around me was smiling and tapping their feet (about as rock and roll as it gets). Then the headliners and the set that everyone was buzzing about this weekend: Fleet Foxes. The field was so rammed that over half of the festival attendees were in there. The band played a great set, but I couldn't help feeling it was more hype than substance this time around. The band seemed ill-at-ease and the on stage banter came across as a little forced. I cannot complain about the music, though. Those harmonies were spot on. It sent shivers down my spine when they started 'Drops In The River' and when Robin Pecknold came on in the encore to do 'Oliver James'. Beautiful way to end to Saturday.

Sunday was the big day for me. The day I was most excited about and, of course, had the best line-up of sets. We started the day with an incredible set from The Tallest Man On Earth. Just one Swede and an acoustic guitar. He brought tears to my eyes and his rendition of 'Sparrow And The Medicine' melted my very soul. I urge you all to check out this wonderful little man's work. After that wonderful set, we headed out for lunch and a nap. I went to watch Magnolia Electric Co. and they were pretty damn good. I wasn't expecting too much. I was tired and I don't know a lot of the band's stuff. But they rocked the Garden Stage and got my head bobbing. Nice to see a proper band rock out. Post- EMC I got a bit excited: Steve Earle was on next and he lived up to all the hype. ALL OF IT. The man may have had a drug problem, been in prison and had seven wives, but his honesty and songwriting was simply spot on for this festival. His on-stage banter between songs was self-depricating, witty and interesting. I don't think I took my eyes off him the entire time. Stunning.

Neko Case was up next, I know most of her work from The New Pornographers. Her voice is one of my favourites of the past few years. Her solo work, of course, is definitely worth checking out and her songwriting has been getting better and better. Her set at End Of The Road was full of banter with headliners The Hold Steady, lots of harmonies, soaring voals and guitar skills. She joked that she was soft-rockin' The Hold Steady off the stage before they'd even hit it. She did a damn good job of trying, to say the very least.

Then it was the big deal. The BIG ONE: The Hold Steady headlining the main stage on the Sunday night. I had been looking forward to this for way too long. It's so long I needn't mention it. The band came out guns -blazin' and opened with a great rendition of 'Constructive Summer'. It was just enough to get the crowd jumping and flailing. Into a set that barely stopped for breath they went. We were treated to a couple of new songs, 'Our Whole Lives' being the one that stood out best with another EPIC guitar solo from Kubler. The golden oldies like 'The Swish' got everyone around me dancing, waving their arms in the arms and bouncing about. This was already a massive night and they'd hardly started. The last track, of course, 'Killer Parties', was perfect in every way and I swear that seeing this band play live gets more like a religious experience every time. It was the perfect end to the weekend. I can't wait for next year!

"If she said we partied / Then I'm pretty sure we partied"

Please enjoy this mix of the best bits that I made using 8tracks: