Get Loaded in the Park
Last Sunday we attended "Get Loaded in the Park", a music festival held in our very own Clapham Common. For those of you who may be unaware, summers in England are jam packed with music festivals. Get Loaded in the Park is definitely one of the smaller festivals - most are like the Philadelphia Folk Festival, where you camp out for days and check out the acts you want to see. This is only two days, with the second day having the main rock acts.
Jamie and I bought tickets for this festival several months ago. We didn't know any of the bands that would be playing, we just figured it would be fun. And it was fun. Myke and Drew joined us as well.
The show was headlined by Babyshambles. Babyshambles is the new band that Pete Doherty, former singer/guitarist of the Libertines, fronts. Never heard of Pete Doherty, Babyshambles, or the Libertines? Don't feel left out - they are mainly English famous. In fact, the Libertines were a very good rock act. Unfortunately, Pete Doherty can't seem to get off the crack or the heroin. Starting to ring bells? He is Kate Moss's on again/off again boyfriend that instigated her cocaine pr nightmare.
Pete was REQUIRED BY LAW to attend this concert as he also has a habit of relapsing and getting arrested prior to gigs. If he missed it or got loaded, he goes to prison for a long time. Which by rights he should be - he's violated his court orders more times than a tame monkey violates his diapers. Their set was entertaining if uninspired. I later learned that the songs I liked were actually from his Libertine days. And they call him the last great Rock star.
We saw De La Soul of "Me, Myself, and I" fame. I don't think it was their type of crowd.
A DJ called Adam Sky played as well. He was really cool. He had two crazy dancing girls and incorporated live vocals, guitars, and keyboards into his songs. And a trippy video screen with messed up animations. Bet the guys on acid thought it was way cool. Unless it freaked them out.
Speaking of freaked out - when I went to use one of the plentiful toilet facilities (thank you event organizers!) some guy was just hanging out watching people pee. Odd. He left after a bit. They had porta-urinals in case you wondered how he was getting into the porta-johns (porta-loos as they say here)
Lots of other local bands played, some we've even heard on the radio! The act I enjoyed the most was The Young Knives. The Buzzcocks were great too.
Lilly Allen also played - you may not have heard of her either - she's a 19 year old singer who became famous on MySpace. Now she has two videos out and a largish following. She was ok live. I wonder if she'll be around next year.
I wanted to check out the second stage acts. I have always found a band that I really liked at a second stage. Jamie and I trekked over to catch The Pipettes, ostensibly a punk girl group. Jamie and I fought our way into the tent where the stage was located, and promptly turned around. IT WAS NOT GOOD. They were a gimmick band, nothing more, nothing less. What we saw was a couple of girls doing 60's motown dances while singing in front of a "punk" band. Maybe they're better than that, but I'm not going to waste my time.
On another note, last night I saw a live band, went bowling, played crazy English pool (tiny balls?!), and sang Kareoke with strangers.
Until next time!
Jamie and I bought tickets for this festival several months ago. We didn't know any of the bands that would be playing, we just figured it would be fun. And it was fun. Myke and Drew joined us as well.
The show was headlined by Babyshambles. Babyshambles is the new band that Pete Doherty, former singer/guitarist of the Libertines, fronts. Never heard of Pete Doherty, Babyshambles, or the Libertines? Don't feel left out - they are mainly English famous. In fact, the Libertines were a very good rock act. Unfortunately, Pete Doherty can't seem to get off the crack or the heroin. Starting to ring bells? He is Kate Moss's on again/off again boyfriend that instigated her cocaine pr nightmare.
Pete was REQUIRED BY LAW to attend this concert as he also has a habit of relapsing and getting arrested prior to gigs. If he missed it or got loaded, he goes to prison for a long time. Which by rights he should be - he's violated his court orders more times than a tame monkey violates his diapers. Their set was entertaining if uninspired. I later learned that the songs I liked were actually from his Libertine days. And they call him the last great Rock star.
We saw De La Soul of "Me, Myself, and I" fame. I don't think it was their type of crowd.
A DJ called Adam Sky played as well. He was really cool. He had two crazy dancing girls and incorporated live vocals, guitars, and keyboards into his songs. And a trippy video screen with messed up animations. Bet the guys on acid thought it was way cool. Unless it freaked them out.
Speaking of freaked out - when I went to use one of the plentiful toilet facilities (thank you event organizers!) some guy was just hanging out watching people pee. Odd. He left after a bit. They had porta-urinals in case you wondered how he was getting into the porta-johns (porta-loos as they say here)
Lots of other local bands played, some we've even heard on the radio! The act I enjoyed the most was The Young Knives. The Buzzcocks were great too.
Lilly Allen also played - you may not have heard of her either - she's a 19 year old singer who became famous on MySpace. Now she has two videos out and a largish following. She was ok live. I wonder if she'll be around next year.
I wanted to check out the second stage acts. I have always found a band that I really liked at a second stage. Jamie and I trekked over to catch The Pipettes, ostensibly a punk girl group. Jamie and I fought our way into the tent where the stage was located, and promptly turned around. IT WAS NOT GOOD. They were a gimmick band, nothing more, nothing less. What we saw was a couple of girls doing 60's motown dances while singing in front of a "punk" band. Maybe they're better than that, but I'm not going to waste my time.
On another note, last night I saw a live band, went bowling, played crazy English pool (tiny balls?!), and sang Kareoke with strangers.
Until next time!
posted by Jamie & John | 10:32 AM
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