Friday
Indie darlings Wolf Alice kick off a night of female-fronted festivities with ‘Formidable Cool’, a track that befits Ellie Rowsell, who struts on stage dressed in metallic briefs that scarcely have space for her in-ear box to clip onto. Musically, this was also a tight set, one that demonstrated how an artist can change their sound but still take their audience with them – with the band ploughing through a neatly organised tracklist ranging from heavier cuts like ‘Giant Peach’ and ‘Play The Greatest Hits’, to delicate fan-favourites like ‘Bros’ and the Bowie-esque ‘The Last Man on Earth’. Rowsell douses herself with water throughout – clearly not getting the memo about the drought – resulting in a look not dissimilar to Skins’ party girl Effy Stonem. But unlike the previous evening’s party-girl headliner, Rowsell doesn’t rely on backing tracks; bassist Theo Ellis, guitarist Joff Oddie and drummer Joel Amey are live and obviously kicking in the mix with her.
One class act rolled into the next with the HAIM sisters strutting their stuff over on the Revolut stage. They opened with Shania Twain-esque ‘The Wire’ before playing a smattering of hits on the thrust platform, serving as a catwalk into the crowd for the evening’s talent. Renowned playright Franz Kafka opined that if you have something on stage in act one, it must be used by the end of the play – otherwise what’s the point? HAIM’s overhead ticker sign alternately served as subtitles for new lyrics, forthcoming album title name riffs – “i quit relationships”, “i quit dick”, “i quit love” – and even subtexts to some of their bigger tracks, most impactfully used during ‘Relationships’ when, as the band played, real-life scenarios scrolled above the band:
While an entertaining crowd gimmick, reactions to the ticker at times threatened to drown out the vocals, and the interaction with it as if it were a personified magic eight ball was somewhat cringy. HAIM were at their best when the music was front and centre – the band were tight throughout, but the telepathy between the band’s session drummer and Danielle in particular was joyous to behold as Danielle kicked straight into ‘Relationships’ without a break or looking over her shoulder and they swapped roles mid-way through a song so that she could drum and sing while he played slide guitar, adding yet another layer to their rich mix.
This was a performance where the sisters shone in their idiosyncratic ways, all drumming, Este on bass (and faces), Alana working the sample pad and cowbells in between riffs, and everyone excellent on vocals; and the session musicians weren’t stand-ins – they could really play. The moment when saxophonist Nick was coaxed to the front was another nice touch, introducing the crowd to the band in rock’n’roll tradition… and Nick spent a good two minutes soloing while everyone present cheered him on. If nothing else HAIM’s performance was fun, the crowd was brought in and not a minute, person or prop was wasted.
Beach House went in the opposite direction with their staging; drenched in darkness for most of the proceedings, their soporific set was a technically excellent live execution of songs, including ‘Silver Soul’ and ‘Gila’, but not much was offered by way of audience interaction and, at times, it bordered on boring. It was more art school kids performing in front of a projector at a house party than it was mainstage fare before a headline act; while the Sabrina stalwarts to the right of us were tutted at for sitting down, even as Beach House fans we needed a little ‘Espresso’ to perk us up.
If Beach House’s set was moody and minimalist, then Sabrina Carpenter’s was maximally manufactured, with her and her troupe elegantly engineering the best performance of the weekend. The ‘Busy Woman’ confessed to being jetlagged, but there was nothing drowsy about her show, which had it all – from the Grease-esque ‘because i liked a boy’ ballad, through to a Weather Girls ‘It’s Raining Men’ cover, as well as the live debut of ‘Manchild’. The thing about Sabrina is that she knows she’s there to perform; there’s no snobbery, there’s no too-big-for-my-boots, just welcome to my world – where I shine and do shots with my roadies on-stage – let’s share this moment together. The experience is opened and closed with mid-20th century-style news programming and title slides and is interspersed with infomercials and a phone-in dance contest. It’s camp in a “our parents liked this which would have been lame but it’s pastiche so we can all relate to and enjoy it” kind of way.
Sabrina is a modern-day Dolly Parton, subverting her Disney-princess image with real-life experiences – see ‘Manchild’, ‘Juno’ and ‘Taste’. Carpenter’s cartoon sparkle is so engaging at times she feels like a living Barbie doll – each smile to camera could be followed by a “ding!” of light bouncing off perfectly white teeth. And, if she keeps boxing up shows as good as this one, just like the Mattel figurehead, she’ll undoubtedly endure for years to come. Throughout the set we repeatedly heard “reina guapa” from the Spanish speakers – but, like Carpenter, we didn’t know what this meant at first. When it clicked, she smiled and lightly brushed “beautiful queen” off, and yet, of the talented women who stormed the stage on Friday night, it’s safe to say she earned that crown.