Lunes 8 Sep 2008, 21:38
Beat it Festival: a review
I'll start by what i though was the worst: the public.
There were two different crowds: the "ladytron public" and the "techno public".
The first were a mass of heavy stones that would slighty balance a few milimeters everynow and then. Apart from them, a couple of fans were there to film with cameras…Worst public i've ever seen.
The seconds, were more enthusiastic but still.. lacked some vibe. I've come from a Goa/psy trance background and i'm used to alot of energy in the crowd.
Now, slighty better but still a bit disapointing, were the short concerts. Come on.. it's seven in the morning and i'm ready to go on for a few more hours.. Anyway, Ladytron only played some songs, and when they were firing up the audience, they ended.. same with Trentemøller and David Carretta. We need want more time next time!
With the extra time needed, maybe the show can start on time, and have a dj for the after hours.
Now onto the concerts:
Polysics were amazing! Even with only a few fans making up for the stony crowd, they gave a great show! The sound was the best of the first three. The energy of Hiroyuki Hayashi, combined with the powerful exibition of the bassist Fumi, the multi-talented Kayo and the drummer Masashi Yano, the show was amazing! well done!
Next came !Trash Yourself. I haven't heard them before, but i thought Heidi Cannon was a washed down version of Queen Adreena. They gave a nice concert, trying to be nice to the public, interacting alot, but the public didn't really gave back the energy, so no wonder they kind of gave up. And their vocals are a bit painful. Hope they can work it out cos they have a nice thing going on!
Next, Ladytron! I admit i was there to see them live, taking the rest of the lineup as a bonus. I was apprehensive about the concert cos i've seen some videos of their concert that were a bit feeble, too static for their sound. The concert took so long to start it was getting boring. Finally, they came up and played some songs from the new album. The sound was a bit tonned down and they fought with bad sound all the concert. They wanted to play Runaway, but something wasn't right so they played Seventeen instead. They played Ghosts which started to heat up the small crowd. Them they started playing songs from L&M and from Witching Hour, which led to the grand finale with "Destroy everything You Touch". I hope i can see them again with them as main "dish".
I went outside for a cig (yep, not allowed to smoke inside the pavillion, at least during the first concerts..) and when i came back, a totally different crowd was there and a huge structure was on stage! It was Etienne de Crécy's cube! Visually the "cube" was very impressive and a joy to look! With a well played balanced sounds, he was building up the atmosphere. Like Ladytron, he ended too soon!
Then the master of the night, Trentemøller! What class! Being served with campagne during his set, having a surreal moment were some girls that looked like they came from a autoshow and "tried" to dance on stage, his charisma came out and the public finally gave back feedback! Playing great mixes from Nirvana to Joy Division, he set the crowd dancing! Again, too short.
Eventually, Dusty Kid went on stage for a very high and down performance, full of twitches, which, although i enjoyed from a tecnical perspective, it got me down a bit. Nevertheless, great!
And then, David Carretta! Another great DJ of the night! His set was simply great! Great beats! Sadly he was cutted down, and the pavillion started to be "evacuated". Next, Red bull air race and a sun burn! Eventually, sleep ;)
In the end, i have to give congratulations to the organization that had to move the festival 2 times, alter the scheduled times, and make this one of the greatest events i saw in north of Portugal! Well done!
Anyway, i've posted some vids in youtube, so check them out! Beat it Festival videos!