Metropolis Festival
Zuiderpark, Rotterdam
06/07/03
I think it’s almost official now that Metropolis would win the festival of year vote from Incendiary. At least if I was in charge of the voting. I still can’t fully comprehend that people would get together and put so much effort into holding a free festival like this, but I hope they don’t give up on the idea.
My reason for being such a fan is that the organisers presented 3 stages full of varied, but interesting music, as well as 3 additional stages (containers) for smaller Dutch acts.
Last week, Parkpop was more interested in getting people through the gates to read their advertising and to watch the organizers pat themselves on the back, whereas Metropolis was attempting to present a festival bill full of upcoming bands and promote the best of new music.
There was rarely onsite advertising or even self praise. Instead non-stop music was available to anyone that wanted to seek it out, and being free meant that there was also a large cross section of people, from old ladies out walking their dogs, to little children just wanting to dance to anything, back to a wide selection of typical concert goers. It was also the first occasion in my life where I was to witness the “moshing beggar”. Something for everyone I guess.
What is even more impressive is that much of the performances were made available by the collaboration of venues from all over the country, and I have never heard of anything like that before unless there was a large profit at stake.
Getting to the music though, I attempted to see as much as I physically could handle…
Opening the main stage, the Riplets are supposedly the main riot grrl force of the Netherlands. This is purely because they are girls though, and not because they are the best the country has to offer. They aren’t terrible at what they do, but it’s what they do that isn’t very interesting.
They play straight ahead girl rock/punk in the same manner that a band like the Donnas does. Some people like that but there are plenty of other women in the world writing far more interesting music with guitars.
During a gap between songs in the Riplets set, I heard a much more interesting sound coming from the Vera Waterfront Tent. On closer inspection, this turned out to be Dutch rockers, Mono. It also so happens that they’re actually from Rotterdam (according to the Metropolis blurb), and I had just started to think that no good bands come from here.
Anyway, as I got to the tent they were blasting out jagged indie rock in the style of Fugazi, with screaming vocals provided by guitarist, Bart. They seemed extremely tight and knew what they were doing, plus each song had enough twists in them to make it sound like they were five separate songs; in a good way of course.
Their set was a pleasant surprise and I’ll look out for them in the future.
There was a little bit of hype building before this performance from the Black Keys. Sadly, it only served to disappoint me because the Black Keys are the White Stripes in too many ways for their own good.
There is the guitar and drums line-up, the heavy riffing of blues guitar, and well don’t even start me on the name. I feel bad for this band in a way because they will always be compared to the White Stripes no matter what they do, but then I remember that it’s partly their own fault.
My main issue with them was that the songs didn’t sound very interesting on first listen though. Maybe I need a copy of their album to see if there is any truth behind the hype, but on the day I’d have been happier if it was the real White Stripes on that stage.
Despite the mid-afternoon appearance, there is no doubt that Electric Six were one of the main acts of the festival.
They were already drunk and performed a set which was as ludicrous as anyone could hope for, and I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: as a band they are not going to change the world but they’re certainly fun to watch.
They even arrived onstage early to receive a longer set time (thankfully) and rocked the audience with their cheesy style of rock and roll. Along the way, Mr Dick Valentine did press-ups and sit-ups on the floor, whilst the rest of the band pulled rock poses galore for the cameras.
The biggest cheers were for ‘Gay Bar’ and ‘Danger! High Voltage’ of course, but the whole performance was popular. Eventually they ended with their cover of ‘Radio Ga Ga’ before retreating backstage to get even more drunk. Fair enough. It was the last day of the tour after all.
I am sure the Electric Six will be back here as soon as they can. They may not have the same band members next time, but they don’t seem too bothered by the prospect.
After having some unexpected time to kill I peaked into the Vera Waterfront Tent once more to check out the Robocop Kraus.
I had never heard of them before but it was another pleasant surprise. Turns out they’re a bunch of Germans and they were also playing some jagged indie rock. It was decent material though, and reminiscent of what Hot Hot Heat are currently getting famous for. Good luck to them as I’ve seen many bands that are a lot worse.
The Buffseeds almost lost me immediately. For a few initial moments I felt they were driving too close to JJ72 territory and if you present such horror to me then I rarely forgive it. I kept on trying though, and my overall opinion just fell slightly on the side of positive.
Coming out of Devon in England, I wasn’t very confident in the voice of, Kieran Scragg, but it was boosted whenever the rest of the band chipped in with backing. Each song also varied enough in style to keep me wondering whether I liked them or not. As I’m feeling generous today, I’ll go with a yes, but with further consideration necessary.
Sadly, Green Hornet proved to be a major disappointment in comparison. I had heard the name of this Groningen 3-piece banded around quite a lot lately so I expected something good from them. As it turned out, their brand of garage rock is drowned in thick pools of Hammond organ so it was just not to my taste. In fact I knew I didn’t like them almost immediately but stuck it out for as long as I could handle.
The problem with the Tyde's set was that it was so bland that I can’t remember much about it to actually review. Parts of the set were inoffensive or maybe even reasonable. This was probably when their retro guitar sound reminded me of Teenage Fanclub and Big Star, or a similar jangley style.
Overall, they weren’t brilliant though.
Tekitha feat. M.O.D.
Even though I was standing in the R.E.P. Tent, I could hear an almighty boom coming from the main stage so I decided to explore. It turned out to be the Wu-Tang related Tekitha and some MC’s, but it didn’t appear to be going very well.
Sure, the beats were dirty and heavy, and there was enough bass being blasted out to induce pregnancies in at least three local hospitals. Apart from that, not many people seemed very interested in what the MC’s were “Yo-ing” about, in what turned out to be a very small main stage audience.
I feel the need to review this DJ set in revenge for the torture inflicted upon me as I stood awaiting the Thermals.
Extremely loud music was blasted out for almost an hour and not only was it completely unnecessary, it was not even scheduled for that point. I wouldn’t mind so much if there had been more of a warning or if the DJ had even been good. As it stood, it was simply one record being played after another, as if the tent had been converted into a temporary wedding reception.
Apart from wasting my time, it also buggered up my hearing so the Reject Club are well and truly rejected by me.
Despite the pain of the Reject Club, the Thermals were worth the wait. This was their first ever date in Europe and the trio seemed genuinely pleased to receive such a good reception.
News of their Subpop album More Parts per Million is spreading fast throughout the Netherlands and the response is all seeming to be positive. The band blasted through a quick set of songs from that, as well as the odd new one chucked in for good measure.
It really has to be said that any band that can get me in the front row and head banging must be doing something right. The songs are short and catchy but that’s not the true essence of them. The real power of the band is the energy they bring out live. Miraculously, energy they even managed to record on the album.
Guitarist/Singer, Hutch may be the loud focal point of the band, but Kathy perpetually bounces whilst playing bass and there’s only one thought going through my mind when I watch Jordan on drums… “He’s Animal!”
Yes, he really does flail and pound the drum kit like a modern day Animal, and well, if you don’t find that cool then you’re clearly mad.
Steven McCarron
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