Radio 6 Festival - Day Three

The Great Hall is packed from the outset on day three and feels very much like ‘the place to be’ for band-of-the-moment Wet Leg.

The duo were guitar heavy - three guitarist guitar heavy. It was an elusive and high powered live set. Any weight of expectation from being on the must-listen list of 2022 does not seem to fall upon their shoulders. Instead they were cool, calm and collected.

Yet it seemed some embraced the performance part more than others. Rhian Teasdale had a hypnotic stage prescience. In her more quiet moments she has the allure of Mazzy Star, yet Siouxsie in her more avant-garde sensibilities. If you can imagine that juxtaposition. Whereas Hester Chambers preferred to focus on the art of her instrument, standing towards the back of the stage, keeping the drummer company. It was a perfect equilibrium between the two – a ying and yang.

They definitely proved that they were too sophisticated for punk or indie rock dogma. They have the spirit of adventure and idealism, yet there’s an intimate relatability to the bands lesser known works. Definitely more so than the enigmatic Chaise Lounge. Which of course - was performed last.

Having just hopped off the plane from California the pair were glowing from the rays of newfound success. They’re sharpness and wit is finely tuned - smirking at swear words, rhyming absurd observations and self-aware jokes. Their most openly cheeky moments appear in Being In Love and Ur Mum. Songs are broken up by giggles, screeches and echoes.

It’s avant grade in it’s purest sense. The same as the following act – Self Esteem.

A good judgement of a bands’ live performance is if you begin to obsessively listen to them afterwards. That’s what it’s like with Self Esteem. Her warts-and-all honestly, justified complaining and (although an over-used adjective) girl-power is contagious.

She was maximalist, excessive and infectiously fun.

After being introduced by Steve Lamacq as a ‘new name in pop’, there may have been the assumption that we are going to witness something dishearteningly commercial, machine-tooled chart fodder, which leaves audiences tiresome before even listening.

Self Esteem breaks that mould.

2021 single Prioritise Pleasure almost takes on a floor-filler status, turning the venue into a nightclub of sorts. There’s pulsating bass lines that slices through the whole room, cuts and pauses to intrigue audiences. It’s incredibly atmospheric and moody. Unsurprisingly, the same goes for the track ‘Moody’.

She’s a sassy performer, who easily battled the nay-sayers. When an hearing an obscure heckler, she cut down him with a: ‘you’ve just got to handle three more of my songs, mate.’

And by the silence, we would hope said heckler enjoyed the last three songs as much as everyone else did.

After Self Esteem left the stage, I witnessed the quickest dashes for wees and drinks in my life. There was barging to get the best view, groups holding hands to muscle their way to the front.

Marr’s introduction onto the stage was perfectly apt. The ‘word legend gets thrown about’ yet it is true in regards to him.

The Smiths’ guitarist strutted on with his famous Jaguar Fender, and with just a short hello jumped into single ‘Armstopia’. Then straight into the iconic (if not unexpected) ‘Panic’. And with a witty changing of lyrics from ‘panic on the streets of Carlisle’ to ‘panic on the streets of Cardiff’ the crowd were firmly in the ‘legend’s hands.

He shows off the ease of his playing, lifting the guitar up into the crowd or towards the camera. Even with the neo-electric complexities of Sensory Street or the electro-soul track Spirit, Power and Soul he shows not one morsel of hard work.

His most recent works from ‘Fever Dreams Pts 1-4’ slots perfectly inside in his set list, with his characteristic guitar innovation and skill stealing the show throughout.

Marr’s eclecticism in performing is not restricted to his own work, as with tracks from Johnny Marr, The Smiths and Electronic he also did a Depeche Mode cover with – ‘I Feel You’.

He does not let the over-looming shadow of his The Smiths legacy take over his set, instead he embraces it, treating fans to hits and cult favourites. And it was appreciated. There’s something incredibly annoying about artists who purposefully skirt around their most popular works. Especially when it’s why most of their fans are stood in the audience.

That famous jangly riff of This Charming Man is matched in volume to the excitement of the crowd. I imagine if Marr were to leave his entire set there the crowd would have been happy. But he was feeling quite generous.

And when the capo was placed upon the neck of his guitar, you knew something was going to go down.

And what it was, was incredibly heartfelt. He dedicated, the already poignant, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out to the late Hawkins. “This is a song that we’d like to dedicate to our friend Dave Grohl,” he said, introducing the track. “Lots of love going out to you guys and all the Foos family. We miss you Taylor, we won’t ever forget you. God bless you. This is from all of us.”

The encore was a mind-boggling combination of Bigmouth Strikes Again and the extended version of How Soon is Now?. It was an astonishing way to end a set, a concert and a festival weekend. It personified the greats of British music, and most importantly why BBC 6 are so important.

If there had to be just one reason the station should stay alive forever it should be that, in 2022, 1500+ people lay witness to the four pinnacles of The Smiths discography live and in person.

It was truly remarkable.

Well done 6 Music Fest.