Neil Young at Hyde Park

Hard Rock Calling 2009:
Neil Young
Fleet Foxes
Seasick Steve
Ben Harper & Relentless 7
The Pretenders
Hyde Park, 27 June 2009
So the promise of seeing Neil Young live for the ninth time brought me out for (sadly) my one and only festival-style experience this summer. But it was a great day that seemed to encompass the best and worst of the British weather, starting out sunny and uncomfortably hot and halfway through dark clouds suddenly gathering over the crowds in Hyde park and drenching us all in rain.

I miss the Nymphs

The Nymphs at the Marquee show I never saw

Back, when I was still at school, I discovered this really cool band called The Nymphs led by the fiesty Inger Lorre. Most people only knew them because of an incident following Guns N Roses stealing their producer, Bill Price, in the middle of making their first album. Left hanging and unable to complete their debut for months and months, it led to singer Lorre infamous retaliation: urinating on the desk of Geffen A&R man Tom Zutatut's desk!

The Mars Volta at the ICA

 
The Mars Volta
ICA, 18 June 2009

The first time I saw The Mars Volta was as a fairly slim (compared to now) five-piece back in 2002, supporting Les Savy Fav. I was one of the few in the crowd specifically there for them, but despite the lack of a big crowd they were electrifying, combining all the energy of the At The Drive-In days with a new musical confidence (plus at the time they had a kick-ass female bassist - always a bonus). By the time I saw them again headlining their own show the following year they had attracted an army of dedicated fans since the release of their debut album De-Loused In The Comatorium, changed personnel, become even more assured and turned into this jazz-inspired, jam-friendly rock monster. It was a pretty epic transformation and, maybe because my fragile little mind couldn't take it, hearing my favourite songs from the album turned into sometimes pretty unrecognisable 30-minute jams was a bit much for me at the time.

Faith No More at Brixton Academy

 
Faith No More
Brixton Academy, 10 June 2009

Back when I was 15 my favourite band in the world was Faith No More. I had The Real Thing on cassette and, in my room covered with FNM posters, I played that thing to death. Even when I decided I wanted to play bass, I saved up and bought one that looked like Billy Gould's. The first time I saw them live was actually supporting Guns N' Roses at Wembley Stadium, which was a weird show to say the least (Soundgarden were also on the bill and Brian May was Axl's surprise guest) but it was only a few months later that I finally got to see them headlining their own gig, at the infamous Brixton Academy where they recorded their sole live album and accompanying video (which I, of course, had watched a hundred times). L7 supported and it was awesome. Sadly I got into trouble with my parents, who didn't know I was sneaking out to Brixton for a gig with my friends, when I got home. My trouble-making older brother had gleefully told on me while I was out.

Dinosaur Jr at The Forum

 
Dinosaur Jr
Clinic
The Forum, 9 June 2009

Despite being late and missing the first act (Hush Arbors, a pleasant if unremarkable folky group I had already seen supporting Vetiver earlier this year) and arriving mid-way through Clinic's post rock friendly instrumental set, the venue wasn't that full most likely due to the tube strike, which saw people bail on the chance of seeing one of the few bands who always sound great at The Forum (which usually is notorious for being one of the worst sounding venues in London).