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LONDON CALLING
Kevin Mark Trail
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A SUMMER TO REMEMBER
2004 UK summer festivals offered a smorgasbord of musical delights
If you thought last year's festivals were filled with excellent new talent, wait until you hear the news about this year's summer of festival fun in the UK.
We were very lucky with the weather this year. As some of you who have traveled to the UK in “summer” will know, a clear day consists of at least wind and the threat of rain. But it was only Reading that had one day of inclement weather.
Glastonbury, set on a dairy farm in rural Somerset to the far West of London, was awash with its usual unique mix of festival pilgrims. For those who had come to take a break from the conformity of modern living, there's the Fields of Avalon, where you can have a head massage and have your future told by a seventh son of a seventh son, all within a hundred yards of each other. For those who wanted to watch some of the best bands on today's gigging circuit there were over 12 stages of multi-genre acts like Paul McCartney, Lost Prophets, Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol, Kasabian, The Delays, Goldfrapp, P.J. Harvey, Kings of Leon, Wilco, The Walkmen, The Scissor Sisters, My Morning Jacket, The Killers and Black Eyed Peas.
The V2004 festival has two locations and runs over two days in August. One site is based 160 miles north of London in Staffordshire and the other 40 miles east of London in Essex. Every band plays twice, once in Staffordshire and then in Essex. The festival is set up and sponsored by Richard Branson's Virgin group of companies. This festival is incredibly well organized and even have plastic covering all the walkways in case of rain! This year's festival hosted such notables as Muse, Kelis, N*E*R*D, Pixies, Dido, Pink, The Strokes, Jet, Kevin Mark Trail, Keane, Athlete, 13 Senses, Dashboard Confessional, All -American Rejects, Kanye West, Fountains of Wayne, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Josh Ritter.
The Reading/Leeds festival usually occurs over the last weekend in August. This is another festival that is presented in two locations. The first site is in Reading, 30 miles West of London, and the second site in Leeds is 195 miles North of London. The Reading festival is made up of five stages, one of which was a new band tent hosting the likes of Kasabian, The Kills, The Departure, The Glitterati, Sons and Daughters, Secret Machines, The 45s, The Subways, TV on the Radio, Amplifier and The Kaiser Chiefs. The three day event attracted a large number of industry folk and bands from across Europe as well as the U.S. This year was no exception. Featured acts included The White Stripes, Green Day, The Hives, The Distillers, 50 Cent, The Rasmus, Soulwax, Drop Kick Murphys, New York Dolls, The Stills, The Bronx, Jurassic 5, The Von Bondies, MC5, Modest Mouse, Peaches and The Donnas, all treading the boards.
Artists to Watch
Trail Blazes
Kevin Mark Trail is the missing link between D'Angelo and The Streets
“I think a lot,” says Kevin Mark Trail. Although not a prerequisite for writing great music, Trail's pensiveness has certainly helped him craft warm, idiosyncratic and charming tunes. Like his sometime collaborator Mike Skinner (The Streets), Trail's music is the new sound of the London suburbs, a mix of U.S. R&B and Jamaican reggae. His mother is Jamaican and introduced him to Bob Marley and Toots and the Maytals. But he is equally influenced by modern artists such as OutKast, Cassandra Wilson and Sting. Trail's debut album, Just Living (EMI Records), is being hailed as a radical new street soul album and is garnering Trail comparisons to one of his all-time idols, Donny Hathaway.
Wait No More
The Delays Time is Now
The Delays have had an outstanding year. Their debut album, Faded Seaside Glamour, went straight into the top 20 album charts and went to number one on the indie chart. Their two singles, “Long Time Coming” and “Nearer Than Heaven,” both crashed into the top 20 singles chart. Now, on the heels of releasing yet another single, “Lost in a Melody,” The Delays are set to embark on a massive US tour, supporting Mercury Prize winners Franz Ferdinand.
We Are Family
Glasgow group pays their respect to their musical forebears
Formed in Glasgow in the spring of 2001, Sons & Daughters took their name from the lyrics to Bob Dylan's “The Times They Are Changin'.” Their reverence for their musical forebears is also in evidence on their debut album, Love the Cup, which features the song “Johnny Cash,” a tribute to the Man in Black. Recent tours have found them supporting The Delgados and fellow Glaswegians Franz Ferdinand in the U.S.
Thee Unstrung
This London quartet whips through 40 years of rock influences
With an average age of 20, the London-based band Thee Unstrung formed in late 2003 and is a working class four piece rock n roll band at its finest. Full of spunky speed-driven energy, they draw their influences from the last 40 years of rock n roll. Citing The Who, The Small Faces, The Jam and The Libertines as major influences they are the epitome of “britishness.” They write about everyday life, love on the dole and looking for that route out of humdrum life in Britain today.
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