WALES GOES POP!
An all-ages pop weekender over the long Easter bank holiday
Friday 18th – Sunday 20th April 2014 at The Gate, Cardiff
FRIDAY 18TH APRIL 1.30PM
Helen Love
September Girls
Night Flowers
Flowers
Randolph’s Leap
Kutosis
Seazoo
& sets in the cafe/bar from: The Magic Theatre, Young Romance, Cristina Quesada, Francesca’s Word Salad
followed by DJs: Typical Stereo Recs. vs Belong
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Quietly and without self-congratulation or fanfare, the inaugural Wales Goes Pop! festival in 2013 achieved through commitment and good-natured force of will what many budding UK festivals struggle to, and what often seems unlikely in a sometimes moribund South Wales musical community; it reached beyond the listless caricature of the ‘typical’ indie pop fan to attract a diverse, positive crowd, and it also reached far beyond Cardiff, attracting the committed indie pop festival-goer from the wider UK and even Europe. It’s a winning attitude typical of Liz’s approach to booking gigs in her promoting days as Loose; unafraid to aim high, an if-you-build-it boldness that notes the success of Indietracks and sees no reason why it shouldn’t work on a local scale. The Gate is a fine space for it, lending itself perfectly to the sort of bustling market-stall atmosphere that DIY festivals create so well. Using the café bar for short, small-scale sets also works a treat, with a nicely crowded, intimate feel and a decent bar.
As with last year, half the attraction is in a carefully selected and nicely varied line-up that doesn’t oversell it on headliners but cannily guarantees ticket sales. Top crowd-puller is the first Cardiff show in, blimey, 14 years from Helen Love; by my reckoning, her last was a free gig in Clwb with Mo-ho-bish-o-pi and a nascent Mclusky in support. Last year’s one for the dads was the return of the Primitives; this time out The Wedding Present headline the Saturday, ensuring their enduring and reliable diehard following turns out. They’re teasing a Welsh-language EP, which sounds like their most outré statement since the Ukrainians LPs in the early 90s. Laetitia Sadier, re-politicised and with a sharp, minimal two-piece band, and the rollicking, anecdotal indie-folk intimacy of Withered Hand share the honours on Sunday.
As you’d expect from something programmed with such love, there’s much to discover further down the bill. Cowtown’s crazed dayglo electropopgrind, like Melt Banana doing Hey Gabba Gabba! or hyperactive 8-bit versions of Brainiac/Devo post-punk, will be an excellent jolt of energy, while Asturian duo Los Bonsais do a cute garagey take on the template once laid down by Elefant labelmates Juniper Moon. There are, as you might expect, a few sizeable nods in the direction of timewarped c86 classicism, with September Girls’ bruising, brooding Isn’t Anything-era MBV rush and London trio Flowers’ waspish guitars, rudimentary drumming and upper-register girl vocals recalling the heady days of Motorcycle Boy. Young Romance’s doomed-romantic pop is all piercingly direct crystal pop vocals with the shabby grandeur of Johnny Boy – if that means something to you, WELL DONE – while sparky Glaswegians TeenCanteen have a yearning One Kiss Can Lead To Another thing that just wants all that stupid old shit like letters and sodas, and is all the better for it. Honourable mentions to Randolph’s Leap, plaintive like Pictish Trail or Withered Hand, playful and skittish like early B&S, Hefner, even Hidden Cameras, with massed choruses and cute brass and woodwind trills; and to The Magic Theatre, who are, remarkably, two of late-90s Scouse popsters Ooberman. Once you know that, you can hear strains of ‘Blossoms Falling’ underneath the swooping cadences of ‘It Was Glorious’; a confident, subtly modernist take on the kind of pastoral folk reveries that turn up after 40 years lost and spark collector frenzy.
There’s local flavour care of Hail! The Planes, Kutosis, Radstewart, Tender Prey and Seazoo represent a suitably broad spectrum of local noises, while your hosts The School cameo on the Saturday and Sweet Baboo, now deservedly a proper big-stage draw, plays a solo set. Call out your favourites and see where that gets you. You could easily make a case for purchasing a day ticket for any of the three days, all rounded off with noisy indie disco fun, but if anything here piques your interest you really should dig out the £40 for a weekend pass and be a part of it all.
TICKETS: http://www.wegottickets.com/f/6975 / Spillers / Diverse
Under 12s go free! (booking required)
INFORMATION on accommodation, travel etc:
http://www.facebook.com/walesgoespop
http://www.twitter.com/walesgoespop
Travelodges start at £22 triple room, we suggest booking your accomm/travel first if you have to split it so it’s cheaper!
Airports: Cardiff (Flybe/Aer Lingus) + Bristol (Easyjet/Ryanair) or London.
Coach/Train: megabus.com nationalexpress.com arrivatrainswales.co.uk to Cardiff Central Station
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QUESTIONS? walesgoespop@gmail.com xx
