Cougar Microbes

Whilst the whole world focussed on Glastonbury a few weekends ago I attended what I jokingly called Glasto-lite, Hard Rock Calling. Having featured The Police, The Who and Aerosmith in past years this relatively new festival delivers a valid alternative to those who are unable (or unwilling) to disappear for 4 days camping in a muddy field in South West England.  This year the appeal of the Hyde Park shows was particularly evident with two of the Glasto headliners also featuring in London on the same weekend, and not just any rockstars either.

Saturday featured the ‘godfather of grunge‘ (a nickname that doesn’t begin to pay homage to the man) Neil Young. Having recently read the fascinating biography Shakey by Jimmy McDonough I think its safe to say that I am slightly obsessed with the Canadian living legend right now, but I’m also painfully aware of how unpredictable his live shows and track selection can be. Fortunately my worst fears never materialised as Young took to the stage looking fresh and reinvigorated and offered what was effectively a greatest hit set. Opening with ‘Hey Hey, Now Now (into The Black)‘ it was clear that tonight was going to be a special as he and his accomplished band stormed through 40 years of material.

It could be argued that Shakey was a little self-indulgent dragging his intro and outros on forever (particularly on the never ending ‘Rockin’ In The Free World‘) but when you offer crowd pleaser after crowd pleaser a little excess can be forgiven. Besides,  Young‘s guitar playing was majestic and vocally he didn’t miss a note leaving me in awe, particular during a hair rousing rendition of ‘Heart Of Gold‘ in the acoustic section. As the clouds above grew darker I was starting to worry that this spectacular evening might be ruined by a storm but miraculously highlights like ‘Fuckin Up‘ ‘Comes A Time‘, ‘Cinnamon Girl‘, and ‘Old Man‘ kept coming but the rain never showed.

Neil Young had one more surprise that would take this incredible night to supernova levels launching into The Beatles classic ‘A Day In The Life‘. This has been the choice for encore throughout this long tour but few could have been prepared for the appearance of Paul McCartney himself to sing the upbeat middle section. If I am not mistaken McCartney had never played the track live so to see 2 heroes play one of my favourite Beatles tracks was priceless.

Electirc Moustache nailed the feeling perfectly when they wrote:

“so you are there at the Neil Young concert having a great time and he starts playing “A Day in the Life” and you think ‘Hey, that’s pretty cool’ THEN Paul Fucking McCartney comes out on stage and your man nipples start producing milk. They should have made everybody pay and extra $100 on the way out for the privilege.

I felt that for a while nothing would top, let alone match, the performance I had seen the previous night but one man begged to differ. Flanked by The E Street Band, that man was Bruce Springsteen. Opening the set with The Clash‘s ‘London Calling‘ would have seen any lesser act fall flat on their face yet The Boss performed it with gusto instantly getting the audience eating from his hands.

This would be the third time I would witness this seasoned entertainment machine in action and each time I find myself astonished by Springsteen‘s sheer energy. It has been said a million times before but at 59 the man is old enough to be my dad yet has 59 times as much energy as men half his age. Over a three hour set the crowd was treated to 27 hand picked anthems spanning his entire discography.

Material from his recent albums may have received a slightly subdued reception but when Bruce and the gang broke into the classics such as ‘Thunder Road‘, ‘Born To Run‘ and ‘Badlands‘ the crowd literally erupted. By the end of the night the crowds where dancing in a dark Hyde Park as the sweat drenched band reluctantly bowed out.

Once again they proved there is only one ‘heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking, earth-shaking, booty-quaking, Viagra-taking, love-making – Le-gen-dary E – Street – Band!

TRACKS:

Neil Young – Fuckin Up

Bruce Springsteen – Thunder Road

Working Wireless Festival at Hyde Park last year saw us scattered to separate locations around the festival area. I had been setting up since 7am and the last thing I wanted to do was hear annoying demands from the herd-like punters. A mix up in the official festival program meant that it was not even clear who was playing on what stage and when until the afternoon. Who would be the poor bastards picked by the organisers to take the stage first at 11.30 on this chilly Thursday morning?

At 11.35 the first messages started darting around the site. I was receiving texts from people literally as I was sending the exact same message: “who are these guys? They’re fucking awesome!!!!”

By 11.40 we somehow all managed to drop whatever menial tasks we were undertaking and headed towards the front of the park to catch a glimpse of the mystery band. Due to the aforementioned early hour and the fact it was a workday there were only a few hundred people populating the mosh pit but the band on stage were seemingly unaffected effortlessly flowing from one epic melody to the next whilst channelling pure adrenaline into their exquisitely crafted songs. We still didn’t know who these guys were but we knew they had an ear for a hook.

After a proper easter egg hunt, some bribing, much arm twisting and a couple of wrestling manoeuvres we found out the band in question were Denmark’s own The Kissaway Trail touring in support of their debut album. We had caught them at just the right time, just a few months into an extensive tour they knew each song inside out but had still to experience any fatigue associated with long touring.

Though The Kissaway Trail‘s self titled album doesn’t always reach the dizzying heights shown that morning in Hyde Park there are still plenty of standout moments that are of immediate appeal. The band opted for a multi-layered approach and deliberately focussed production builds a wonderfully moody album. Next time you are at a festival give a thought to those “bastards” who will be playing to an empty field at 11.30 am. They may end up surprising you with an euphoric set peppered with saccharine melodies and dark themes.

The bands myspace page showcases the sublime 61 and the stand out track ‘Smother + Evil = Hurt’. Check these songs out as they are all great examples of what I describe above. For added sonic pleasure i recommend ‘Soul Assassins’ and the anthemic ‘La La Song’ which were both highlights at Wireless.

TRACKS:

The Kissaway Trail – La La Song