“Within the performance there’s a bit of uncertainty. It’s so easy to say every gig is amazing. With my favourite bands, you never know what the performance is going to be like until they go on stage” said The Horrors’ Faris Badwan when speaking to Gigwise earlier.
And having witnessed his own band tear the roof off the Hangar (second) Stage last night, we’re not going to argue with that statement. With five albums under their belt and a range of styles that switches from electronic dance pop to shoegaze, post-punk and beyond, their hour long melting pot thrills the audience whilst captivating even the most casual observer making them the ideal second stage headline act for this balmy Friday evening in Transylvania.
While the setting may have provided an opportunity to play the rarely aired gothic garage of their first record, the band having hinted at that earlier, The Horrors passed up on that instead favouring a set heavily centred around their later material. ‘Still Life’, ‘Sea Within A Sea’ and ‘Something To Remember Me By’ all dazzled the large audience out front.
Beforehand, Southampton metallers Bury Tomorrow played an energetic set to a small but dedicated audience, eliciting circle pits, crowd surfing and a general feeling that this was something of a private gig regardless of their status on the huge main stage. Frontman Daniel Winter-Bates riled up the assembled throng in between songs, playing a set heavily dominated by this year’s ‘Black Flame’ long player.
Hungarian post-punk outfit Middlemist Red also gave a stark reminder of why they’re considered one of the most exciting acts in their part of the world right now. Playing an hour long set comprised of eleven songs including a revamped take on Radiohead’s ‘Lotus Flower’, their pulsating mix of Chameleons inspired darkwave caused a minor sensation on the Hangar Stage post teatime.
Netherlands based trio My Baby also wowed a buoyant Main Stage throng with their funk driven blues rock while six legged Danish groove machine Off Bloom took us back to the halcyon days of the early nineties when bands such as The Wonder Stuff and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin were all the rage.
Later on, Canadian dubstep producer Excision took us into the early hours with an exhilarating fusion of bass heavy dubstep and deep house catering perfectly for an audience reared on all forms of electronic dance music.
Other acts to play included Mura Masa, Son Lux, and Jackmaster.
Today, Gigwise are back onsite at Banffy Castle where London Grammar were expected to draw one of the biggest crowds. The trio have cancelled their set, however, due to illness. Lead singer Hannah Reid is, sadly, known to have been suffering from glandular fever.
Little Boots, Icelandic experimentalists Múm and Warp Records legend Richie Hawtin are among the acts we’re looking forward to seeing.
