I´d planned to replicate last year´s review, but Mart´s more or less beaten me to it, and since I´m still absent in spirit, all I can offer are these brief collected on-the-spot reflections, made while under the influence of large Cuba Libres:
I Am From Barcelona: Gave an impromptu performance on the steps of the AB Hotel outside the venue prior to the start of the festival. A sort of Catalan Polyphonic Spree. Jordi reliably (?) informs me that they took their name from Fawlty Towers.
The Coconuts: This year´s Grabba Grabba Tape.
Killing Joke: Reminded me of a Killing Joke tribute band. Nice to see some things don´t change. "This song´s about depression": Thunka thunka thunka thunka. "Gracias. This song´s about climate change": Thunka thunka thunka thunka.
If the Spanish and Catalan members of the áudience understood Jaz Coleman, I´m sure they´ll have been bemused to learn that they don´t have any water left in Spain. Well, that´s what he said.
Richard Hawley: One of the best performances of the weekend, by a long way. A Sheffield Chris Mills.
ESG: A Brooklyn Mekons, in the sense that they decided to form a band when none of them could play. Twenty years on and now they´ve learned a note. One note. This was impressive: They had the balls to offer us a one-note instrumental. The same note, plucked over and over, accompanied by percussion. Makes me wish I´d joined a band too. And all I need to practice is the accent: "Cwam awn Barcelawna!"
No Neck Blues Band: Now officially renamed the Some Neck Blues Band. At least ESG smiled so you knew they weren´t taking themselves seriously.
Sleater-Kinney: Slightly-Tiny. Music for the gingham and Doc Marten brigade, and that was just the blokes. Great sound check. Prompted the joke, "What do you call two musicians who hang around a drummer?"
The New Christs: The Old Christs, really, had Christ lived past the age of 33 and looked and sounded like Bill Nighy with an 80-a-day fag habit.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre: For anyone who´s seen the movie Dig, the biggest irony of the weekend was that this is clearly the band to go to for guitar riffs suitable for adverts. The Dandy Warhols are nowhere near as commercial!
That´s about it for this year, I guess. Photos on the way when I get home and have suitably doctored them.
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"Killing Joke: Reminded me of a Killing Joke tribute band. Nice to see some things don´t change": Cruel, but probably fair - they sounded like that when we last saw them live, and that was (blimey!) 21 years ago.
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