Saturday 28/05/05 Homelands @ The Bowl, Winchester

June 01, 2005 by Leon Beardshaw

More Homelands

Quite a shock to kick off the festival that kicks off the festival season – Pete Doherty is not only present, but he is early - earlier than indicated on the glossy showtimes card slung around yer average Homelands punters neck – and earlier than poor stuck-in-traffic Gigwise. Sorry folks. However, information is relayed by a bona fide indie kid in the urinal queue that the elusive Mr D gave about 20 minutes of his searing punky whirlwind pop before jumping in a chopper and flying off to Scotland to read poetry. So there.

The Bravery have a similar date with a helicopter, in their case to nip up to Brum to support Duran Duran. But before whooping it up with their favourite 80’s suit wearing shitesters they wow the Live Arena’s smattering of trendy-fringes and bewildered Fila-wearing scallies with a set that is simply powerful, purposeful, soaring choons. Sam Endicott is the only lad in Hampshire who actually makes Ralph Lauren look cool, as he suavely rattles his way through tracks from their eponymous debut. ‘Honest Mistake’ is scuzzed up, beat-led anarchy, whilst new single ‘Fearless’ has a cracking chorus and is delivered with the sneer of a band growing in confidence, tantalisingly improving all the time.

The Audio Bullys open and close their set with current single ‘Shot you Down’ featuring a certain famous fella’s daughter – no problem at all seeing as this, and everything else in between, is tip-top, full on banging funk – an irresistible melting pot of Dirty Vegas, The Streets and Grooverider. It’s the middle of the afternoon yet the live arena is going sick, ‘Generation’ is Basement Jaxx slowing down ‘Rendezvous’ and then injecting it with soul, and ‘Real Life’ has a street-smart, free-flowing groove synonymous with the general quality and tuned in lairiness of their set. Bullying of this calibre is big, and certainly very clever.

Unfortunately for Rodney Smith, aka Roots Manuva, it seems the Homelands punters fancy lapping up the sunshine as he begins his set, which is shame cos he is ****ing ace. His seven piece live band mix old classics such as ‘Dreamy Days’ with sparkling cuts off the excellently dark ‘Awfully Deep’, drawing an intricate line between UK hip-hop, soul and reggae that would perhaps better suit a club venue than a marquee with blazing sunshine and lots of lager outside.

Mr Mylo from the wee Isle of Skye must know he has made a classic debut with ‘Destroy Rock and Roll’, and he also knows how to take it a step further with his expansive live band who underline just how good Mylo’s tunes are. ‘Drop the Pressure’ is the definition of a floor filler both in and outside the tent, whilst ‘In My Arms’ is a feelgood festival classic that actually shimmers with beauty, and is ridiculously perfect for everyone in the massive crowd packing the live arena. Mylo’s set is diverse, he plays keyboards ridiculously smoothly, and his beard makes him look like Chris Martin. ****ing fantastic.

Not so fantastic is the supposedly uber-cool Beck. His back catalogue may span numerous classics, many of which are showcased here, but his languid, laid-back style too often manifests itself as laziness and apathy, for a crowd buzzing after Skye’s finest. Of course, anybody who has their drummer banging on a drum of cooking oil deserves a certain respect, but you just get the feeling Beck could – and should – be trying harder. ‘Loser’ and ‘Where Its At’ are great songs that feel lost by a can’t-be-arsed delivery, pleasing enough for the die hard fan, but drawing a blank for any potential new converts.

Mike Skinner. The Streets. A ****ing headline act to bring the house down and rip-up Homelands to its very core. If you’ve not seen the Brummie/Brixton genius at work, beg, borrow, punch or pillage your way into a Skinner show asap. Exercise classes. Brandy for all and sundry. Ridiculously large bongs. Covers of Mylo’s ‘Drop The Pressure’. Poetry, wit and an entertainment factor backed by tunes to save your soul - Skinner and sidekick Calvin give 90 minutes that will be hard to top by anyone this summer. ‘Original Pirate Material’ cuts such as ‘Has It Come To This’ and ‘Turn the Page’ still sound as fresh as they did three years ago, whilst ‘Dry Your Eyes’ is a predictably emotional singalong. A Karoke-like encore of ‘Fit But You Know It’ brings the curtain down on the live arena – with the kids drifting into the fun-filled delights of four dance tents banging to the likes of Groove Armada and Rob Da Bank until 6am. We Love Homelands.