The first day of Sound City was always going to be the hardest. Moving the festival out of the city, making it bigger than ever before, and more expensive, meant attendees to the Liverpool festival were going to be more critical than most. But the evening went seamlessly.
The new site, set out on the in the middle of an industrial wasteland on Bramley Moore Dock, is pretty unique. Quite compact, it has two outdoor stages, and various other stages made up in tents including one record store/venue, and the Baltic warehouse stage, also featuring a coffee shop courtesy of Tim Peaks.
A little drizzle fell on the crowds earlier on at 6pm, but apart from that the evening went seamlessly. Circa Waves did an impromptu show at 7pm on the North stage; the Liverpool band were surprisingly missing from the line-up this year considering their popularity right now and the fact they formed at a Sound City of years passed too. It was great to have a set from them, they did try to bring out the sun by exclaiming ‘It’s a shame it’s not T-shirt weather’ before launching into their eponymous single, currently played at least once an hour on Radio One. Circa Waves are a good band to see, their music is easy-going, nostalgic indie rock and it’s always fun to watch home-grown talent. There were a few mosh pits here and there, but apart from that the crowd was relatively calm, and mainly bopping around to the music.
Next up was East London’s most fabulous export, Spector over on the Atlantic Stage. Liverpool girl group M.O., who are so 90s RnB that you feel like you’re watching Greatest Hits from ’95 on KISS when you’re listening to them, were playing at the same time but as all festivals require difficult choices, Spector won out over M.O. this time. Sorry girls.
Spector were on form. Lead singer Fred Macpherson’s commentary between songs walked that fine line between serious and just being casually sarcastic. He stopped play of ‘Celestine’ because the crowd didn’t seem interested enough which had them figuratively eating out of the palm of his head when the song started again, and cue: some more mosh pits. They played some tracks from their new album which is following more of a dark 80s vibe than the last. New single ‘Bad Boyfriend’ is dark, broody and exceptionally good, and Macpherson’s incredibly low, melodic voice just makes it all the better. They finished on ‘All the Sad Young Men’, the first single from their new album and it’s such a big song, that it fits in perfectly to the festival surroundings. The only issue was a 30 minute set was not long enough.
Art/math rockers Everything Everything were next up on the stage, as the sky was darkening and the post-apocalyptic vibe was heating up, with congos and war dances from Brazilica. Even if you’re not a big fan of Everything Everything, most of their music is recognisable if you spend a lot of time listening to BBC6 Music, and they are a fun band. They came out all dressed in red, with lead singer Jonathan Higgs (one of the most unlikely lead singers ever) in some kind of flowing robe. Their glitch pop/electronica style had the crowds dancing and they were funny too, and putting on an actual ‘show’. It’s nice to watch a band that actually seems to be enjoying what they were doing and tracks like ‘Cough Cough’ and ‘Regrets’ really showed that.
Headliners for the Friday night were English rock band The Vaccines. The Vaccines had potential to put on an amazing show, they’re quite grunge-rock with big sounds that worked well in the weird, post-apocalyptic setting of Bramley Moore dock, but sound issues throughout their set meant for the first 30 minutes, you could barely hear lead singer Justin Hayward-Young. Luckily things picked up in time for songs like ‘Wetsuit’ and ‘Post break-up sex’ from their debut album which had everyone singing along. A 90 minute set seemed quite long for a band that hadn’t released their third album yet, but the visuals and lights on stage were enough to keep you entranced if the music wasn’t your cup of tea.
The first night of Sound City went really well. The setting is pretty cool, the addition of fairground rides was a good one, the music is on form, and apart from some minor glitches, and it seems the festival can start a new legacy out of the city centre.
