The things you do for rock 'n' roll. Last night in Thurles your humble and very damp reviewer stood in the bucketing rain, watching The Manic Street Preachers deliver an incendiary set, the penultimate performance of yesterday's Day Trip To Tipp. Earlier in the day the sun had shone benignly on around 30,000 fans who had come to the Tipperary town for a day-long festival of top-notch indie and dance music.
Scottish band The Super naturals started the day with some sunny tunes from their debut album It Doesn't Matter Anymore, followed by the techno swirl of Fluke. When Swedish band The Cardigans came onstage, the summer atmosphere was complete, and an ecstatic crowd sang along to the band's Top Twenty hit Lovefool, trying to match Nina Persson's sweet voice note for note.
Things got a lot rockier with Reef and, though they sounded like a sort of Black Crowes from the Black Country, nobody seemed to mind, and the crowd went mental to songs from the band's two album's, Replenish and Glow. Singer Gary Stringer roared like a lion in heat as he delivered rootsy rock tunes such as Naked and Place Your Hands.
The Foo Fighters kept things hard and heavy and singer/guitarist Dave Grohl commanded the adulation, thanks to his pedigree with one of the world's biggest bands, Nirvana. Grohl is no longer just the drummer anymore, however, but a formidable frontman in one of rock's most raucous groups. To their credit, The Foo Fighters haven't forgotten the power of melody, and songs like See You, For All The Cows and the current single, Everlong, boast melodies to die for. On the other hand, Monkey Wrench, This Is A Call and I'll Stick Around kick the proverbial ass, and that's not to be underestimated either.
The Day Trip To Tipp really took off, however, with the appearance of Kula Shaker, and a Beatles video provided an appropriate intro for this unashamedly retro combo. Crispian Mills, the son of Sixties film star Hayley Mills, might talk a lot of mystic cobblers, but he also talks a good tune, and he got things rolling right away with Knight On The Town, 303 and Grateful When You're Dead, battling problems with his guitar lead to deliver some killer riffs. The pseudoZen Tattva worked some magic and Hey Dude hit a few high spots as well. Kula Shaker are probably pop's equivalent of the Hare Krishnas, but those chants are bleedin' catchy. The band finished with their smart-smoking cover of Deep Purple's Hush and a collectively conscious finale of Govinda.
The Manic Street Preachers are probably the most credible band in Britain at the moment; the truncated trio have proven their worth with last year's Everything Must Go album. Last night, they proved their magnetism by keeping the crowd rocking through the torrential rain which started to pour just after they started their set. "Now, you believe it, we're the most miserable Welsh bastards you're ever likely to meet", exclaimed singer/guitarist James Dean Bradfield before leading the crowd through sparkling versions of All Surface No Feeling, Enola/Alone, Motown Junk and Motorcycle Emptiness. In honour of the rain, the Manics did Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, but A Design For Life poured the wonderful misery down on everyone's head.
Headliners The Prodigy are a force unto themselves, and the rain was replaced by lightning storms as the band's light show set the sizzling scene for an elecrifying finale. Keith Flint might be the gurning public face of the band, but Leeroy keeps things moving on stage with his tireless rapping. Smack My Bitch Up smacks of sexism, but live it's a gender-bending wig-out; Breathe lets Keith stretch his vocal chords and facial muscles, but Funky Shit gives the crowd a workout they'll never forget. Guitarist Gizz struts his stuff on Mindfields, but Keith takes over for an explosive rendition of Firestarter. This ain't rock 'n' roll - this is complete and utter technocide.
