Primal Scream thrilladelica to close Camp Bestival
Veteran rock-legends on hand to close Dorset festival
Photographer:Sara Bowrey
John Bownas - 01 August 2011
Visually Primal Scream are a band of two halves. Whilst Bobby Gillespie, Barrie
Cadogan and Manni all still carry that aura of angular indie-rockers, it’s noticeable that
these days, guitarist Andrew Innes, keyboard player Martin Duffy and drummer Darrin
Mooney all have a certain dad-lad look about them. Innes in particular has taken to Hawaiian shirts
and a cream fedora hat that make him look as if he’s just back from a Saga holiday.
But then the band
has been together in various forms for a remarkable 30 years now.
As the final headliner at this year’s
Camp Bestival they have clearly pulled a sizeable crowd in their own right as the distinctive Screamadelica
artwork is emblazoned across hundreds of t-shirts…from baby XS’s to maxi XXXL’s. However they don’t
have quite as big an audience as the main stage saw for last night’s Mark Ronson and the Business Intl.
set, and although they deliver a solid performance overall, there are moments when the pace flags, and Gillespie
almost seems to get exasperated with the crowd when they don’t follow along quite loud enough for his liking.
Anyone who has already seen a 'Screamadelica' live show will know that the album playlist is rearranged and
that the show climaxes with a handful of songs from other eras – usually, as tonight, including 'Country Girl'
and 'Rocks'.
So much has already been written about 'Screamadelica’s place in the
rock canon that it’s not worth taking up space here going over old ground. We all know that the album fused genres,
influenced scores of subsequent artists and generally holds a special place in most people’s hearts.
What’s important now is that Gillespie and Co. don’t spoil the magic of that great collection
of songs by selling them short on a live stage. They still have the energy and the passion when it counts, but there are a
few moments throughout the night where the heat drops from a rolling boil to a gentle simmer. That may be because a handful
of the album tracks are naturally less intense, but it’s important that where the tempo drops then the band rally to
inject a little more fire and keep the audience fully engaged.
Click here for the full 2011 Camp Bestival review shortly.
Related Artists
Related Events
Related Articles
Hide Search Results
