So, as part of our lookahead, we declared we were very excited about seeing Mandy, Indiana. Now the dust has settled, we are happy to declare we were not disappointed! A healthy mixture of the old and new, this was reassuringly the expected mix of wide ranging vocals, drums being pulverised and earsplitting synths and pulses. First LP neatly in the rear view mirror, second one sounds just as good. We still don’t understand why they were booked to the smallest stage, because this band are huge.
One of the highlights of End of the Road Festival are the “secret sets”. And there was an absolute cracker from DAME Area! Our appetite for heavy heavy bass and repetitive noises have no limit, which is great because this band has both in plentiful amounts. Beautiful vocals, screams and yelps intersperse the noise. This was a floorshaking monster from the Catalan duo. Well worth the wait through two other secret sets. Keep an eye out for this band, they were excellent.
On the subject of secret sets, having seen two members of My First Time and having spoken at length to one of them, we were disappointed no to see them perform a set. We really did expect them, maybe next year. (Although we did get some gossip about the cost of that tracksuit……😂)
We were really enjoying the set from C Turtle when they declared that it was to be their last ever gig. Shocked, but disappointment was the overriding feeling. Not sure what the individual members’ future plans are but this feels like a shame. On this performance the guitars twanged and swooned with some understated vocals. Check out some of their stuff, despite the news.
Irish jangly pop (and noise) is alive and well judging by the Search Results (main picture) set. First up in the Big Top is a difficult place, but this band nailed it. There’s a lot of variation in the sound, and some outstanding drumming drives both fast and slower songs. Guitars do similar, either plucked with subtlety or being thrashed for the purpose of noise. There’s an LP called ‘Go Mutant’ that’s worth a listen. A band to keep a look out for, this was very good.
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