‘END OF THE ROAD FESTIVAL’ – BLANDFORD FORUM, DORSET 1-4.9.22
End Of The Road Festival Day Three: Saturday 3rd September
If you have missed Days One and Two in our Part One report, then click HERE.
Saturday at the ‘End Of The Road Festival’ is Pixies Day!!! However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, as there is much to enjoy before the legendary Pixies take the stage tonight, not least Sniffany & The Nits, who are the first band on at The Big Top. The London-based four-piece consist of Sister Sniffany (no, I’m not convinced that’s what her parents called her either) on vocals, Owen Williams on drums, Max “Wozza” Warren on bass, and Matt Green on guitar.
At the outset Sniffany asks us to “listen nicely”. As they’ve taken the stage at midday it seems a bit early for the Riot Act to be read, but who knows what kind of passions they usually arouse. She tells us that they “specialise in two minute songs”, and this seems to be a pretty accurate self-appraisal, they are indeed fast and punky. Sniffany herself is very theatrical and charismatic. Her voice is quite shrill, but that adds to her theatricality. At one point she asks if anybody “has anything to say”, and somebody in the audience shouts out “you’re awful!!!”. Sniffany retorts “that’s not very nice”, and she’s right, it isn’t. It’s also not true.
Not everything runs smoothly though. There are a couple of false starts, and at one point they start playing two different songs simultaneously. Sniffany asks us to “find it charming, and not unprofessional”. However, when everything is working well, it works very well indeed. They make a great start to the day. Their debut album is coming out shortly, and they play The Prince Albert in Brighton on 14th November – Tickets HERE.
For something completely different, we head over to the Garden Stage for singer/songwriter Margo Cilker, who is from Oregon in the USA. Margo specialises in Americana rather than country music, and has some pleasingly gritty lyrics. She thinks ‘The End Of The Road’ is a dark name for a festival. Margo’s debut album ‘Pohorylle’ was released last year, and much of today’s set is from it, notably ‘Kevin Johnson’, which details the life of a God-fearing Oregonian from childhood to death. Markedly, it also details the contrast between the expectations that parents had for their children in times gone by. Somewhat chillingly, girls were expected to “accept their lot in life”. Blimey.
Margo has assembled an impressive band. Lead guitarist Max Crawford is fluid but unfussy; bassist Tom Bailey uses a bow on the slower songs, whilst drummer Don Gilleckie uses brushes on the quieter material. Margo smiles throughout, even on the darker songs. For example, ‘Crazy Or Died’ is about how most of the people she has looked up to have either gone crazy or died. It’s a “twisted hymn” about the need for community. Margo is well travelled (she lived in the Basque country for two years), and her travels have fed the lyrics of her story-songs. She’s an artist who is well worth investigating.
Next we make our way to the Tipi stage for Lutalo, known to his parents as Lutalo Jones. Lutalo is a singer/songwriter who grew up in Minnesota in the USA, but is now based in Vermont. His half-spoken vocals betray hints of Lou Reed. He has an interesting guitar style: finger-picking mixed with lead. Occasionally he finger-picks whilst using distortion. Lutalo describes his music as folk music mixed with electronica. Some of his material is quite delicate, some less so. His lyrics are quite thought-provoking, and he is a prodigious guitar talent. Lutalo recently released an EP called ‘Once Now Then Again’, and plays ‘For Now’ from it. He seems to be quite a modest man. He shouldn’t be. This is great stuff. Lutalo has plenty to crow about.
Lutano on Facebook
At short notice, Emma-Jane Thackeray has had to pull out of the festival, and is replaced on the Garden Stage by The Wave Pictures. The band comprise David Tattersall on vocals and guitar, Freddie Rozycki on bass, and Jonny Helm on drums, although for today Jonny is replaced by Dominic Brider, doubtless due to the short notice. I last saw The Wave Pictures at London’s ICA in 2009, and I must confess, have somewhat lost track of them since then. They have a wildly extensive back catalogue. Including early self-released records they have (count ’em!) nineteen albums!!!
As with many bands, humour is never very far away with The Wave Pictures. Their lyrics are very witty, “I Love You Like A Madman” being a prime example. Freddie Rozycki is introduced as “the best bass player in the world”. He plays a most impressive solo to back up this claim. He also plays with Jeffrey Lewis so his chops are clearly much appreciated. At one point they play a song that drummer Dom doesn’t know, David Tattersall announcing “Dom has never played this song in his whole life – let’s see how he does!!!” As it happens he acquits himself pretty well. Their set ends with ‘French Cricket’, the hookline being “I want to play French cricket with you”. Well, we all need to have an ambition. I must confess I’m delighted to have renewed my acquaintance with The Wave Pictures, and I look forward to seeing them again. They play The Brunswick in Hove on 26th October (Tickets HERE), and Guildford Boileroom on the 31st.
We head back to the main stage for Los Bitchos. This is a band that I’ve been meaning to check out for some time. They comprise Serra Petale on guitar, Augustina Ruiz on synths, Josefine Jonsson on bass, and Nic Crawshaw on drums. They are also joined live by an additional guitarist, but details of his identity are somewhat elusive!
