All week we had been nervously watching the weather reports hopin’ & a prayin’ that the sun would come out to play for Lovebox last Saturday.  Thankfully it did but then so did the rain just as Florence & The Machine took to the stage.  It didn’t dampen spirits though with the enthusiastic crowd lapping up the variety of acts performing throughout the day.

We arrived at Victoria Park around 1.30pm just as 12 year old Chipmunk (ok ok so he’’s apparently 19 but he looks 12 to us) was finishing his set.  To be fair he was giving it his all despite playing to a crowd of about 10 people.  It looked very much like the main acts would be the only ones capable of dragging people away from the Relentless dance area and fairground rides.

To be honest from our perspective it was very nice to be able to sit down and relax with a few beers around the main stage area without being trampled by a sea of crazy festival goers. This definitely seemed to be the vibe with Lovebox – relaxed, fun and not too crowded early on which was great when all you wanted to do is chill out with your pals.

Up next on the main stage was VV Brown.  We love VV here at UK Music Jobs and think she deserves more credit and respect than she gets.  She’s been pummeling the festival circuit, including a stunning Glastonbury show, giving well received performances but the big problem is that while people know who she is, they don’t know her songs.  VV is evidence that without Radio 1 airplay mass audiences just aren’t going to connect with you at this level. Despite that she’s a great performer and threw herself into the set with Crying Blood (both original and excellent reggae version), L.O.V.E & current single Shark In The Water going down fantastically well with the audience.

Mr Hudson was up next and was OK if slightly underwhelming for me.  I’ve heard lots about the man and while I think he has a excellent voice and bucket loads of charisma (plus his band are tight) the songs are just a bit bland and unexciting.  He did work it though and had the crowd going so its proof enough that his kind of mainstream, uber slick pop has mass appeal.

The retro tinged sound of Rumble Strips seemed to be a perfect choice for a late afternoon main stage appearance.  The crowed had consumed enough beer in the limited sunshine to lap up the shimmery, summery guitar sounds of this interesting indie/pop band.  I do wish the lead singer would look as if he actually wanted to be there though.  Always helps.

So then came a 22 year old singer/songwriter and former performing arts teacher to inject the first bit of blinding star quality of the day.  Florence & The Machine had drawn the biggest crowd with anticipation mounting for her to deliver a set to match all the hype.  She did and then some.  Running out on stage looking stunning and clutching a glass of white wine she jumped straight into a performance rich with drama, emotion, laughs, excitement and bloody brilliant tunes!  Cosmic Love is my favourite track of the entire album and I could quite happily listen to her sing it live everyday.  The emotion and throat tightening pathos she conveys is immense for one so young.   She finished off with her rousing cover of ‘You’ve Got The Love’ which had every hand in the air and so many smiles and wafts of good vibes that I sense it won’t be long before she’s the headline act.

I always thought Duran Duran were an odd choice for a headline act so I made my way over to the Gaymer’s Stage to catch Friendly Fires.  I’m not going to say much because if you were there then you already know just how brilliant their set was.  Quite simply the best live band I’ve seen in the last five years.  Their songs are immense, gorgeous nuggets of electro/indie/pop deliciousness.  Go and see them live whenever and wherever you can. They’ll make you happy. I promise.

So that was our Saturday at Lovebox.  For a mere £46 this has to be the best, friendliest, most organised music related day out of the year.  We recommend you get yourselves along next year.

LIVE GIG REVIEW

ARTIST – Florence + The Machine

VENUE –  Rough Trade, Brick Lane

Well by now pretty much every music fan in the country will have heard  about 22 year old London singer/songwriter Florence + The Machine.  Hyped to the max over a year ago (something our UK music press just love to do) she has been proclaimed and acclaimed without any real chart success even winning an absurd critics choice Brit Award with only one single.  None of her tracks released so far have seriously dented the top 20. Latest single Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) has been buoying around the top ten without finding its feet so is she simply Little Boots part deux?

No, thankfully not. Florence has most definitely some big musical chops.  Her performance at Glastonbury (while not as astonishing as some would have you believe) demonstrated her star presence and a bizarre but beguiling combination of Amazonian fierceness with little girl charm.  More importantly the music is very good indeed but not quite great.  Comparisons have been plentiful with Kate Bush but honestly I doubt there is a track on her debut album (very good also) that people will still be singing in 20 years.  This doesn’t mean that Flo has failed, far from it.  What she has done as stuck to her guns, created an image and sound that is distinctive and credible while getting on with winning over both press & public alike.

In many ways she reminds me of a female Patrick Wolf.  Both have a strong Celtic & bohemian vibe to their music.  He is far more anti-establishment perhaps indicative of how female singers flourish more under record label management than male in the industry.  What they both possess however is a sense of individuality and the ability to genuinely connect with their audience through sweeping, emotive, epic tunes.

Last nights performance at Rough Trade was a nice little showcase of a few of the lesser heard tracks from newly released debut album ‘Lungs’.  Amusingly Florence nipped out to use the toilet after her sound-check and passed us all in the queue.  No one really noticed it was her despite the trademark flaming red locks and black hot-pants and then she nearly tripped going into the bar next door.  As amusing as this might be she mentioned it as soon as she got on stage and it simply added to her charming persona.  She doesn’t take herself too seriously and when she smiles and giggles you can’t help but fall under her spell. Then she starts to sing.

There is no question that her style and voice is marmite but no one can fault her technically. Her vocal range and enchanting delivery of the story is the stuff of which powerhouses are made. The material focuses heavily on the emotional high’s & low’s of relationships and as Florence stated  ’this one is about those times were you just go completely crazy when you break-up with someone. Just me then? OK….’. You get the impression that these lyrics are absolutely her personal view and she’s hoping you’ll get it but if not enjoy it anyway.

‘Between Two Lungs’ was the 1st track and it kicked off things nicely  with her powerful voice ripping through the crowd.  Up next was the anemic White Stripes esq. anthem ‘Kiss With A Fist’ which isn’t about her own experience of domestic violence she cheerily informed us but rather about an aggressive, passionate couple she used to see around Camberwell.  Hard to tell whether she was telling the truth or simply teasing the press but regardless it got everyone singing and clapping along.  ’My Boy Build’s Coffins’ is a gothic fairytale both quirky and twisted with a bittersweet sting in its tail… ‘one of these day’s he’ll make one for you’. Great stuff.  You can imagine  her writing songs for a Tim Burton movie one day.

Hurricane Drunk and Drumming Song were good if not particularly memorable while the highlight the wonderful ‘Cosmic Love’ shows why she has all the potential for greatness.  With its Arcade Fire style drums and impressively assured vocals, this is perhaps the most challenging yet rewarding song on the album.  It lifts you to a point where your threatened with a massive chorus but instead it leaves you teetering on the edge without sacrificing any of the power or potency. Genuinely thrilling.

Dog Days Are Over and current single Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) were perfect choices to end the set with and she delivered both with ebullient energy and precision leaving the crowed wanting more.  True sign that a star has been born, coifed, media trained to the hilt and thrown out there for our consumption.  I think she’ll do just fine.

**** (4 out of 5)

Matt Williams

The weekly newsletter from the UK’s favourite entertainment gossip site Popbitch threw up an interesting snippet about the current state of the UK music industry.  Valid points all round highlighting that some of the blame for the ‘hear now, gone tomorrow’ shelf life of artists can be attributed to the those influential media folk who insist on hyping up acts before they’ve actually achieved anything.

While those in the know can big up acts in print & online and insist we pay attention its obvious that without (a) the goods & (b) support of major radio stations the likelihood of real success is minimal.  The UK music consumer is a fickle soul and while many like to keep up with trends others are not so easily manipulated by being told what they should like.  Music is too subjective for any one person or even small group to determine what will make someone go download or buy a track.  Its all a gamble and some get it right but more often they don’t and the artist is the one that suffers.  The industry needs to back off and let the music speak for itself.

”Stop the hype! Save our future pop stars….”

It’s time to put a stop to the Critics Choice “these are the bands you WILL like next year” lists. Not only does it narrowcast music taste to a sheep-like following of what music bullies say you “should” like but it’s counter-productive, placing an unfair burden on the shoulders of artists who haven’t yet had time to develop a fan base or nurture their talent.

Everyone who writes about music falls over themselves to praise the newly-annointed, in a Emperor’s New Clothes desperation not to look uncool. And music fans who might have enjoyed discovering a new artist see the acres of hyperbolic newsprint, and then when they eventually hear the albums inevitably think “Is THAT it?”

Let’s look at this year’s annointed few:

Little Boots’ album entered the chart at five, but then dropped to 40 and right out of the charts. Florence and The Machine – no album yet, and not even a top 10 single. White Lies – two weeks in the top 10 before dropping straight out of top 40. Empire of the Sun peaked at 19; Frankmusik can’t get arrested. VV Brown is written about like she’s Beyonce but hasn’t yet had a hit.

Little Boots

So three cheers for La Roux. We don’t have to love it to be pleased that the UK music industry has one artist that’s actually selling. We only wish it sounded more creative than a copy of early 1980 synth pop. As a fanfirst time round of 80s synth pop, popbitch now knows how original 60s rockers felt when Shakin’ Stevens started topping the charts in the 80s with his erzatz “Green Door” charm.

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Lovebox Festival 2009

We don’t know about you but we love music festival weekends.  Beer, sunshine, good friends, dancing, singing, obsessing about seeing the bands you love and then raving about the ones you discover….happy days!  What we like even more are the one’s right slap bang in the heart of London town.  

Lovebox returns to Victoria Park, East London on Saturday 18th July and Sunday 19th July 2009 and it looks set to be bigger & better than ever before.

First of all Duran Duran are headlining the Saturday night and its their only UK festival date of the year. Rather bizarrely (yet weirdly brilliant) they will follow N.E.R.D who we saw live at the Isle of Wight Festival a few years back.  We weren’t sure how that was going to go but trust me those boys know how to get a crowd jumping.  Quite literally as it happens….

Duran Duran play their own UK festival date@Lovebox 2009

Other acts confirmed are the brilliant Florence & The Machine, Friendly Fires (a band you absolutely must see this year), legendary punk rockers New York Dolls, the sublime Doves, Groove Armada, Noah & The Whale, rising soul diva VV Brown (who’s track Crying Blood we absolutely love) and the magnificent Ladyhawke plus many more….

Friendly Fires set to rock Lovebox 2009

Soul Diva VV Brown playing Sat 18th July 2009@Lovebox

In addition to the mouth watering musical line up the organisers have also extended with an even bigger 40 acre site, 7 stages, the Gaymers Stage (which is London’s largest purpose built tree house), The Pushmi-Pullyu circus tent & the All Star Lanes outdoor bowling championship….phew!!

Lovebox is not only one of the most credible festivals of the summer its also the most fun you could have during a weekend in a field in East London!  The Music Jobs crew will all be there so if you see us come up and say hello! A beer would be nice too….;-)

Tickets are available from www.lovebox.net as well as from Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.co.uk) or by calling 08448472436. 

Tickets can be purchased in person from Stargreen Box Office, 20/21a Argyll Street, London, W1F 7TT.

Ticket prices:

£42.50 + Booking Fee per day ticket.

£75.00 + Booking Fee per weekend ticket.

If you want to be really clever and cool you can follow all the latest news, line-up updates and special offers on Twitter by clicking here;

http://twitter.com/LoveBoxFestival