Saturday. Hackney. Miles Kane is spotted wandering down the Cambridge Heath Road. Mare Street Market are selling Hackney Gelato vegan chocolate ice cream. It’s Visions Festival day, and throngs of alternative music fans are enjoying one of the most enigmatic line-ups of 2019. The crowd is very white, pretty young and clutching bags of cans, strolling up and down the road between venues.
Putting up some of alternative’s new bands today is Oval Space, Hangar, Sebright Arms, The Arches and Pickle Factory. First though, it’s the paddock behind St. John at Hackney for the Visions Dog Show. Where the rest of the day can feel fairly serious, and even pretentious, this noon-time event is a lovely one, and hosted by the very funny and perfectly-cast Ash of Happyness, who falls again and again on the grass in stripper heeled boots. She orchestrates members of Our Girl, Shame, and HMLTD, who decide on the winners of ‘Waggiest Tail’, ‘Cutest Pup’ and more essentials, including a dachshund in a denim jacket and sunglasses.
To the music, and it’s a head-fucking first listen in Hangar with Scalping, who draw us twelve hours forward into the early hours with their brain-melting techno-metal. Yes, we’re suddenly in Berghain, where it’s encouraged to be drenched in pitch darkness at 2 in the afternoon. Their taut, writhing, minutes-long sounds twist and repeat to the uncanny body horror of their accompanying visuals. Yes, guitars go with computers and absolutely don’t require vocals - who ever told you otherwise?
Over at The Sebright Arms, Great Dad are overusing their vocals; unsettling, esoteric sounds perhaps too esoteric for many. A more cogent, tauter stage presence would benefit songs which clearly have plenty of important and interesting content - though of course, it’s highly unlikely that’s the point. Still, several people leave the basement mid-set to escape the cacophony.
For Squid: a packed room of devoted listeners here for the krautrock and the caterwauls. Tighter than ever, the group busy themselves with a reputation-cementing set of post-punk, experimental rock and disco. It’s crowd-rousing stuff, with bouncy new single ‘The Cleaner’ falling on delighted ears.
Back at the glistening Oval Space, and Anna Meredith leads a troupe of bewildered-looking brass instrument merchants into absorbing, cinematic Fantasia. Then, back to Hangar and Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, who move a feral crowd through the brooding sludge of their psych metal insanity, at one with the punishing relentlessness of the instruments. Some of the loudest sounds of the day, yet still perhaps the one your colleagues are least likely to ask you to turn down.
Much of Visions conjured groups of people straight out of a Poundland Bandit starter pack, including, I'm sure, my own throng. The kind of people wearing T-shirts emblazoned with bands you'd be lucky to know more than one song by. A serious crowd with challenging conversations to have. A crowd who no doubt had their tastes made even more eccentric by their Saturday out in Hackney. The perfect day for people looking for the newest avant-garde. Or for dogs in tiny sunglasses.
