Dot to Dot Festival 2010, Nottingham

 

You know the score: lots of bands, lots of venues, one city, one wristband, chaos ensues and so on. Let me tell you this though: Nottingham was one of the first to initiate the now very popular phenomenon of the one day city festival. Just think about that when you’re queueing for you Gaymers in Camden next year next to some fucking trilby wearing div with a Libertines fetish so hard he’s forgotten it’s not 2004. Yeah…

On to the infinitely more important and interesting matter of music then. One of the first band’s of the day is South London’s Fiction in the Bodega Social. The room is packed but that’s not to say it’s gonna be easy. At first, the sharp, contorting pop of Fiction raised a few middle aged eyebrows accompanied by little exasperated mutterings of  “Fucking Lundon…innit?”. However, before long the crowd really began to warm to the band. With the Eno meets Byrne vocals, the stomping and simplistic drum patterns and the jagged guitar parts, Fiction somehow make you twitch nervously yet manage to smear a silly grin across your face. Excellent way to start the day and if you were to have a flutter on which of this year’s Dot to Dot bands will do the old ‘Played small venue at the festival. Got massive by the time of next years festival. Used by the organisers to promote/show off’ (ala Klaxons, The XX, Wild Beasts), you could do worse than choosing Fiction.

Next the hunt for good music and not-actually-that-cheap-booze-considering-it’s-a-student-union-in-Nottingham leads us to see Small Black upstairs at Trent Uni. The place is awash with pretty happy people and Small Black accompany the good vibes with aplomb. The New Yorkers fill a space somehow between Beach House and Washed Out (both of whom are relative heavy weights on the day’s bill) and they might have been expected to provide us with some fashionable shoe-gaze pop whilst averting their trendy stares blankly towards the floor. Do they oblige in this? Do they bollocks. Good natured Dad dancing, uplifting beats and something far more substantial than of-the-moment-dream-pop is what Small Black give the good folk of Nottingham, resulting in one of the surprise successes of the day.

After a ridiculous wait for a burger at Spanky Van Dykes causes me to fucking miss Washed Out (the burger is alright, it’s a bit dry and a few more chips wouldn’t hurt anyone) , Rock City and Wild Beasts beckon. Last time they played Dot to Dot, Wild Beasts had just released their debut album and entered Rescue Rooms barely noticed. Back in 2008 they slightly embarrassed themselves by getting all falsetto in the faces of about five people. Not to mention embarrassing myself since I dragged a number of people there with talk of it “being a big one”. Great things come to those who wait though, and tonight Wild Beasts are the greatest band of the festival. Utterly enchanting and mesmerising at times as much as they are lighthearted and fun at others, this is a band riding triumphantly to the peak of their game and showing little signs of stopping.

After some serious patio raving, a missed Beach House set and palms beaten almost raw from pounding out the rythms of ‘Idioteque’ on the tables of Rescue Rooms, it’s time for Los Campesinos! in the main Trent Uni room. There’s quite a turn out here for the band but, unfortunately, it’s not something they can capitalise on. This can’t quite be described as a lacklustre performance, but more one implying exhaustion and possible burnout. They try to rouse themselves and the crowd, bless em, but aside from the perpetually fun ‘You! Me! Dancing!’, there seems little sustenance to the frameworks of their songs.

Down in the Rock City Basement now are the newest and brightest of Nottingham’s sons, Dog is Dead. This youthful five piece have recieved much fostering by the organisers of Dot to Dot, but the large and enthusiastic crowd is testament that their 9.30pm slot is far from unjustified. Their spikey but uplifting melodies are perfect for a festival and you can practically see a thousand teen hearts swelling and breaking around the room. Dog is Dead soar together and contort individually, displaying a musical understanding of one another which is genuinely amazing. There’s no question about it: This is a great band going places.

From here it gets a little hazy. JakWob in Rock City did a hell of a lot of basic, thudding dubstep and Zane Lowe after him probably provided a good mix of things. Not really sure about that one. Casiokidsended the festivities in apt fashion with their set in the early hours at Stealth providing a greatly unfocused, wobbly knees up.

Once again, Dot to Dot is a success and the great folk of Nottingham show little sign of tiring of the bank holiday staple. Long may it continue.