Sunday 29/05/11 Dot To Dot Festival @ Various Venues, Nottingham

May 31, 2011 by Andrew Almond | Photo by WENN.com

To most, festivals are as synonymous with 12-inch deep mud, three days of insomnia and trench foot as they are with great music, which is why the concept of a one day urban festival may bewilder and fail to impress some. Dot to Dot, now in its sixth year and expanded to three sites (Manchester and Bristol also), will have categorically silenced the doubters with 2011’s line-up the strongest yet.

Gigwise’s day began in earnest in the basement of Rock City, which is not the most welcoming and hospitable places at the best of time (think warehouse with bar, and volume at ear drum-shattering level). Hostility was not only in the air but on stage in the face of Baby Godzilla who produced a bewildering concoction of screamo anarchy culminating in half the band mounting amps and swinging from the basement’s sound/lighting rig. What the band lacked in anything approaching a melody they certainly made up for in energy - if nothing else.

Following a quick dash down the road Nottingham Trent Students’ Union where Royal Gala were sharing with the world (or at least a few half-cut students at the bar) their British interpretation of the type of Samba more likely to be heard on the streets of Rio than Nottingham, Gigwise returned to the Rescue Rooms to catch the end of Childhood’s set. As clichéd as it sounds Childhood appears to be band with a plenty to offer, proven by both their repertoire of catchy indie-pop tunes and the surprisingly large crowd gathered at Rescue Rooms considering their relatively early billing. Certainly one to file under “watch this space”.

It was then back to Rock City to catch the 80s inflected electronic sounds of Alpines. Falling in the midway between The XX and Bat for Lashes, Alpines’ pitch is without doubt currently on trend, but would be unfair to dismiss them as simply 80s copycat revivalists, as single 'Drive' proved. It was their mid-set track 'Empire', however (as colossal and monumentally magnificent as the title suggests), which really left a lasting impression on all those gathered- another excellent new band destined for great things.

The 80s theme continued as we returned to the basement to catch Foreign Office. Thankfully the band’s performance was more captivating than their name would suggest as influences such as Roxy Music and OMD combined for a performance which matched moments of pure synth pop perfection with delicious lead guitar licks. Single 'On the Beat', with its staccato beat and elastic bass line, was the quartet’s set highlight.

The Naked and Famous justified their position as band of the moment in front of packed Rock City as the New Zealanders rattled through the majority of debut album 'Passive Me, Aggressive You'. A rapturous reception duly greeted them and it was obvious that all those present were desperate to hear more than the 45 minute slot which the band was allocated would allow.

A mass chorus of happy birthday and leader singer Keith Murray crowd surfing his way around the majority of Rock City? It had to be a We Are Scientists gig. For years now the American duo (who were complemented by the addition of former Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows in 2009) has been supplying us hacks with priceless interviews and ferocious live performances, and their show at Dot To Dot was exception. Playing a set which spanned the last five years and including more recent gems such as 'Impatience' and the infectious pop-punk of 'Nice Guys', as well as fans’ favourites and crossover hits 'Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt' and 'The Great Escape', the trio’s performance will surely go down as the spectacle that defined the weekend’s success.

Finally it was up to Guillemots to round off what had been an exhausted but nonetheless impeccably executed day. Opening with 'Yesterday is Dead' from latest album 'Walk the River', Fyfe Dangerfield’s immaculately pitched vocals and gift for melody were no more obvious than on debut album 'Through the Window Payne’s Made-Up Lovesong #43' and 'Trains to Brazil'. The band’s hour long set of avant garde wizardry came to a close in a suitably epic crescendo as Dangerfield and co hammered out a magnificent Sao Paulo before disappearing into the wings.

And that was it; the complete festival experience without the trench foot, mud and insomnia-perhaps this was the 'Great Escape' that We Are Scientist were singing about.