Radio 6 Festival - Day One

The start of April saw a trip to Cardiff for the 6 Music Festival. The station, recently celebrating their 20th anniversary is still at the cutting edge -bringing attention to the next big thing, while respecting the shadows of music legends past.

The festival returns from its two-year break with a first-time visit to Cardiff. And I took a trip to the Student Union for Cardiff University, The Great Hall. It was arguably the place to be that weekend, with an array of established and new musicians, and I had the pleasure of being their for all three days.

It’s a respectable venue with a capacity of 1,600. It’s holds the position as one of Cardiffs prime venue, and was a perfect place for Radio 6’s roster of highly distinctive artists.

Although the drinks were rather pricey and sparse (I overheard, I was there as a clear-headed musical reviewer, of course). With a £5 Carling and the choices of cider ranging to two types of Strongbow (dark fruits being there of course). It appeared The Great Hall wanted some of the older members of the audience to relive their cheap-booze drinking, gig-going youths with their now matured bank accounts.

As a note to the performances across the whole weekend - the sound quality was perfection. At times it felt if I was witness to a studio session, marvellously rehearsed and produced. I wouldn’t be surprised if Radio 6 made all artists sleep in a room full of humidifiers and do daily marathons of vocal warm-ups. The range of voices on top-form was delightful, if not a little surprising.

Friday night saw a line-up of the Pixies, Lucy Dacus and IDLES. A stellar start to be sure.

A band as renowned and innovative as the Pixies, appeared to me as an odd opener. They set the bar. And placing such a high bar for all other acts following to jump over seemed to me, incredibly foolish.

Yet by the end of their set I was delightfully proven wrong. They epitomised the coolness, nostalgia and the unexpected which defines Radio 6. They personified everything the weekend was to have in store. And a level of trust was placed in audiences that they were musically literate and curious enough to not bail, once the big names had left. And that cannot be said for most festivals.

A band renowned for their whispered harmonies, booming choruses and buzzy bass-lines, the Pixies bounced around from musical highs to calms in the space of a few seconds and instrumental tweaks. They were full of energy, only slightly calming from their early days of performance. Their distinct spikiness is potent, a stop/start, on/off style keeping audiences continuously on their toes.

Admittedly their style of rock’n’roll has matured towards cool and laid back, over youthful, sweaty and rapturous. But I must admit, the former side wasn’t missed.

If anything there is a worry that a band with such a formidable set of bangers may fall back on them, relying about golden oldies to carry their performance. This could not be said for the Pixies – if anything, they thrived.

They presented a diverse setlist (as much as you can when everyone in the room knows all your songs) with the live debut of ‘Human Crime’, and the Jesus and Mary cover of ‘Head On’.

As well as any film boys’ anthem ‘Where is my Mind’.

I remember I thought of a very witty pun of the ‘audience losing their mind’, but the crowd was too tight with vibing to get my notes app and write it down. Another time, I guess.

The tracks perfect marriage between eerie and cool, surf music and punk rock is ever more clear in the comfortable venue of The Great Hall. Bouncing of the wall in atmospheric pulses.

It was fabulous.

There was a solid 15 minute interval between Pixies and Lucy Dacus, with a mad dash for the toilets and over priced Carlings.

Dacus is an artist that you (as in I) don’t think you know, until you get to the last number on her set, and go ‘ohhh, her!’.

She’s a concoction of soft feminine indie folk vocals, melancholic lyrics, atmospheric live sets and excessive strings. Her act was intricate, heavily layered yet subtle. The was a delicacy in her performance that evened out the two high powered acts either side of her.

Dacus is an excellent storyteller on stage, starting each song quietly teasing audiences into the narrative. With a smile, intricate lighting and characteristically low voice, she constructs her very own land in which her songs take place. Dacus-land in a sense. Until the fabulous finale where it all culminates into an overwhelming experience of sound and feeling.

Her instrumentation was rich in texture, with one higher voiced acoustic guitar with a capo combined with an electric guitar.

She closes the set with the opening track of “Historian” - “Night Shift”. One of her most popular songs, and like Saturdays’ artist beabadoobee popular on Tiktok. And while age-demographic of TikTok users screamed the lyrics out, the obviously non-app bobbed, confused about a hype or trend they have somehow missed.

It almost felt like a love song between fans. With that poignant lyric: “In five years, I hope the songs feel like covers / dedicated to new lovers.” Whoever the ex is, they’ve now been replace by the lovers.

And finally was the IDLES, who matched the Pixies in the length of their set - sandwiching Dacus in high-powered and confrontational rock sets.

They payed respect to their musical forefathers, both to the Pixies and to late Taylor Hawkins. It was truly heartfelt. Hearing hardcore punk and indie rock to commemorate an alt rock genius, felt how any tribute to Hawkins should feel – badass not pitiful, uncompromising and radical not woeful and lamentable.

Although, I must admit it seems that the Radio 6 audience are not one’s for moshing. Instead a interpretative SKA/punk style stomping was seen across the crowd. It definitely took some helpful guidance of Talbot to initiate one.

“Get on the ground. On the ground”.

It can also be said that the IDLES know how to perfectly construct a setlist. With seven songs from CRAWLER, five from Joy in an Act of Resistance, three of Brutalism and another three from Ultra Mono. They knew what people wanted, and divided it up into neat percentage to accommodate.

Who knew the IDLES were so good at ratios – I did not suspect it was in their array of many talents.

Of course their main, strange appeal, is that they are both endlessly attractive and somewhat scary. Thoughtful and aggressive.

Its that appeal of bands that would scare your grandparents. (And no I won’t make a comment about a man wearing a dress, as a lot of recent reviews about the IDLES have banged on about. Although it was a very nice dress).

Yet, if anything their live shows prove their allusive and complicated relationship with the post-punk label. Their eclecticism moves from the characteristics and stereotypes of the genre.

So they scornfully reject the political idealism? I think the subversively self-aware lyrics of ‘I’m

council house and violent [...] I’m scum’ prove so.

Yet what they do not have the minimal musical arrangements, they are not quintessentially relentless, repetitive or with a forced rhythm. They’re rich in instrumentation, they’re refreshingly imaginative and enterprising. To quote Talbot, from 2018 concert in Manchester: "for the last time, we're not a fucking punk band"

And most importantly, it leaved audience geared and excited for the next two nights.