Festival Special
Time Out London, May 2005
What do you look for in a festival?
Murdoc: Festivals are about getting back to Mother Nature, d'y'know what I mean? What you want out of a good festival is some great big-titted earth mother or some, er... 'womanly' chicks like Hawkwind's Stacia, with a big keg of scrumpy and a teapot full of Cornish brown acid, celebrating their nakedness, daubed in mud and neon.
You want naked men chucking raw meat on a fire, baying at the moon, with Hell's Angels roaring around selling filthy home-made biker speed! Like the original Stonehenge festivals.
What you don't want is that Worzel Gummidge bloke from Razorlight donig his half-arsed Boomtown Rats impersonation or some dick with a pink tie pretending he's in some '70s New York nightclub. Seriously. You can stick 'My Sharona' right up your arse.
Noodle: Er... okay... anything else?
Murdoc: Yeah. I wanna see some Big Magic Pagan Rock, 50-foot Marshalls splitting the elements wide open and real men with beards invoking invoking ancient gods via the use of sonic medieval overload. This is what a festival should be about. Getting people together to celebrate the real forces of nature; beer, bikes, acid and sound.
Then at the end we can stick all of The Bravery into a great big wicker cage and sacrifice them to the goat gods! I mean if you're gonng have a synthesizer, make it tear the skies apart like The Tubes or Devo or something. Don't use it to make some silly little disco noise. You're in a field in front of 50,000 people, for Chrissakes! The kids should be going ballistic if you're blowing down the right end.
Noodle: We have soms good music festivals in Japan, but these are not so much about the things that Murdoc is talking about. We have the Fuji Rock Festival and the Summer Sonic music festival. These happen arond the same times as the English festivals. Gorillaz played at the Simmer Sonic festival in 2001. I was only just 10 then. I think that Courtney Love played Fuji Rock last year.
Murdoc: I've had her.
Noodle: I've also been to the Harajuku-Omotesando Festival Super Yosakoi. There's a good sense of theatre, combined with street life. Tokyo's Harajuku district is a centre of young people's fashion and culture. There are often street festivals there that feature traditional Japanese drummers, dancers or street performers. There is a great sense of community and celebration.
Murdoc: Well that's one thing we do agree on. Festivals are for uniting people, chasing off evil spirits and letting loose with your buddies. They're not about selling badly made T-shirts of crappy bands that disappear a year later?
Which festivals will you be going to this year?
Murdoc: The Download Festival looks vaguely appealing. If only to chuck stuff at whatserface out of Garbage. Eggs... rotten apples... y'know.
Noodle: Murdoc has 'issues about Shirley Manson. I think he fancies her.
Murdoc: And Velvet Revolver are playing, which should be fun, just to see Scott Weiland doing his Rigsby impression, mincing up and down the stage like rock's own Freddie Starr! Seriously, if I was Axl Rose, I'd smash that guy's face in. He's got hald of the original Guns N' Roses, he's playing Gunners songs and he's even nicked Axl's dance. And if that ain't bad enough, the guy's even wearing the same bleedin' hat!
Noodle: You want to see Slipknot, don't you Murdoc? With the masks?
Murdoc: Slipknot are playing? Are they still carrying that dead crow in a jar? That act's got to be smelling pretty old by now.
Noodle: I would like to go to the Wireless festival to see Roots Manuva. Mr.Manuva appeared on a track on our new 'Demon Days' album. He's going from strength to strength. And we're both going to Glastonbury Festival.
Murdoc: That's the closest thing we have to the good ol' days. Reading's good but that's more like an outdoor gig, whereas Glastonbury, well you can get yourself proper lost there. For a long while. If you... er... do... it... properly.
Noodle: Yes. There are many distractions at Glastonbury Festival. The Zutons, The Coral and Kaiser Chiefs are all playing. I like this festival because there are always a lot more performance-based events going on. So this has a greater connection for me to the type of festivals at Harajuku - the theatrical aspect, which reflects the current climate of a social consciousness.
Murdoc: Yeah... er.... right, anyway. The Coral are right back on form. Oh, and The Bees are playing at Summer Sundae. Great band. We did a track with them on the B-side of 'Feel Good Inc'. It's a 'Bee-Side.
Noodle: I'm also interested in going to Truck. It's only about seven years old, but it is growing. It's in someone's back garden on a farm. It's bigger this year, but the idea is that it's back-to-basics, with up-and-coming bands. The Magic Numbers are playing it, and they're good! Someoone called 'Iffy Gyro' and the Towers Of London are playing too.
What's yer tips for surviving a festival?
Murdoc: Tips? Don't bring your Black Amex card. Most of the food tents don't seem to take them. Oh yeah. Bring a big tractor, with a snowplough on the front. For clearing people out the way.
Noodle: I would suggest that if you are going to camp, bring a flag to attach to your tent. This will help you find your way back. You can make this using a pole and some cloth.
Murdoc: I always bring my own Winnebago though, better than a tent, not as pncey as a hotel. And all the chicks love it 'cos it's got its own loo and running water. Well... er... you do have to pump it a bit, but it does run.
Noodle: I suggest bringing a Thermos flask to keep food hot, so you don't spend all your time queuing.
Murdoc: Ermm... bring toilet paper.
Noodle: A good rule for festivals, as for life, is: 'Hope for sunshine, be prepared for rain.' So, er... bring something waterproof. Maybe a cagoule doesn't look so cool, but it's better than looking like a drowned rat.
What essentials should you take?
Murdoc: Bottles of water, slingshot, extra fags, crate of vino, headache pills, spare shoes and socks and a clean towel. Oh, and don't bring any Maroon 5 tapes or any comedy festival hats. Both will make you look like a big tosser.
What would be your ideal day at a festival?
Murdoc: Er... up all night from the day before. Then at six in the morning when what's left of my fried brain is contemplating the eternity of all nature's creation, I want to see a huge shaft of light bursting forth from between two monolithic slabs of ancient stone, creating a sun-powered calendar just to remind me of the immense, all-consuming forces at work in the universe.
Then, right, I want a full English breakfast, a couple of warm lagers and a day full of Olde English Rock. Maybe a classic line-up on the main stage - Steppenwolf, Jimi Hendrix and The Who! Yeah, it'd be nice if Julian Cope appeared too. He's perfect for this type of event.
Worst thing about festivals?
Murdoc: Monday mornings... I always feel so... empty. Strangely down. You know? Like, what's the point in... anything? That feeling's usually gone by about Thursday, though. Friday, I'm right as rain.
What's been your most memorable festival experience?
Murdoc: Once I bunked over the fence to get in free ar the Acid Daze festival in Finsbury Park. I managed to find a good spot, climbed over and then fell straight into the portaloo cesspool. If I wasn't tripping my knackers off, it would have ruined my day.
Noodle: I remember the time when Super Furry Animals used to turn up at all the festivals in their own spray-painted tank. That was very stylish. They are a very colourful band.
Murdoc: D'you remember that Summer Sonic gig back in 2001 in Japan? that was weird. Ten thousand Japanese kids zoned out on crystal meth. Like 'Dawn Of The Dead' or something, man. We finished a song and they were just... silent, just swaying in the breeze. Then they just sort of dropped down one by one. I mean I know it was late, but...
Noodle: It was abot 3am when we went on stage.
Murdoc: Yeah, but there's no need for that. And Dennis Hopper told me a funny story the other day, when he came to do the vocal track on our album. He says he drove his bike to the Altamont festival back in '69 - a great big dirty Harley. He was off to see the Stones play. So he rides it right up to the stage, gets off and goes to grab a couple of beers. Dennis comes back 15 minutes later, and some hippy's kicked his bike over and the whole place has erupted. Bikers freaking out... Keith telling all the cats to 'cool it'. Next thing you know: 'End Of The Sixties'. Festivals, eh? Strange places.
Murdoc: Festivals are about getting back to Mother Nature, d'y'know what I mean? What you want out of a good festival is some great big-titted earth mother or some, er... 'womanly' chicks like Hawkwind's Stacia, with a big keg of scrumpy and a teapot full of Cornish brown acid, celebrating their nakedness, daubed in mud and neon.
You want naked men chucking raw meat on a fire, baying at the moon, with Hell's Angels roaring around selling filthy home-made biker speed! Like the original Stonehenge festivals.
What you don't want is that Worzel Gummidge bloke from Razorlight donig his half-arsed Boomtown Rats impersonation or some dick with a pink tie pretending he's in some '70s New York nightclub. Seriously. You can stick 'My Sharona' right up your arse.
Noodle: Er... okay... anything else?
Murdoc: Yeah. I wanna see some Big Magic Pagan Rock, 50-foot Marshalls splitting the elements wide open and real men with beards invoking invoking ancient gods via the use of sonic medieval overload. This is what a festival should be about. Getting people together to celebrate the real forces of nature; beer, bikes, acid and sound.
Then at the end we can stick all of The Bravery into a great big wicker cage and sacrifice them to the goat gods! I mean if you're gonng have a synthesizer, make it tear the skies apart like The Tubes or Devo or something. Don't use it to make some silly little disco noise. You're in a field in front of 50,000 people, for Chrissakes! The kids should be going ballistic if you're blowing down the right end.
Noodle: We have soms good music festivals in Japan, but these are not so much about the things that Murdoc is talking about. We have the Fuji Rock Festival and the Summer Sonic music festival. These happen arond the same times as the English festivals. Gorillaz played at the Simmer Sonic festival in 2001. I was only just 10 then. I think that Courtney Love played Fuji Rock last year.
Murdoc: I've had her.
Noodle: I've also been to the Harajuku-Omotesando Festival Super Yosakoi. There's a good sense of theatre, combined with street life. Tokyo's Harajuku district is a centre of young people's fashion and culture. There are often street festivals there that feature traditional Japanese drummers, dancers or street performers. There is a great sense of community and celebration.
Murdoc: Well that's one thing we do agree on. Festivals are for uniting people, chasing off evil spirits and letting loose with your buddies. They're not about selling badly made T-shirts of crappy bands that disappear a year later?
Which festivals will you be going to this year?
Murdoc: The Download Festival looks vaguely appealing. If only to chuck stuff at whatserface out of Garbage. Eggs... rotten apples... y'know.
Noodle: Murdoc has 'issues about Shirley Manson. I think he fancies her.
Murdoc: And Velvet Revolver are playing, which should be fun, just to see Scott Weiland doing his Rigsby impression, mincing up and down the stage like rock's own Freddie Starr! Seriously, if I was Axl Rose, I'd smash that guy's face in. He's got hald of the original Guns N' Roses, he's playing Gunners songs and he's even nicked Axl's dance. And if that ain't bad enough, the guy's even wearing the same bleedin' hat!
Noodle: You want to see Slipknot, don't you Murdoc? With the masks?
Murdoc: Slipknot are playing? Are they still carrying that dead crow in a jar? That act's got to be smelling pretty old by now.
Noodle: I would like to go to the Wireless festival to see Roots Manuva. Mr.Manuva appeared on a track on our new 'Demon Days' album. He's going from strength to strength. And we're both going to Glastonbury Festival.
Murdoc: That's the closest thing we have to the good ol' days. Reading's good but that's more like an outdoor gig, whereas Glastonbury, well you can get yourself proper lost there. For a long while. If you... er... do... it... properly.
Noodle: Yes. There are many distractions at Glastonbury Festival. The Zutons, The Coral and Kaiser Chiefs are all playing. I like this festival because there are always a lot more performance-based events going on. So this has a greater connection for me to the type of festivals at Harajuku - the theatrical aspect, which reflects the current climate of a social consciousness.
Murdoc: Yeah... er.... right, anyway. The Coral are right back on form. Oh, and The Bees are playing at Summer Sundae. Great band. We did a track with them on the B-side of 'Feel Good Inc'. It's a 'Bee-Side.
Noodle: I'm also interested in going to Truck. It's only about seven years old, but it is growing. It's in someone's back garden on a farm. It's bigger this year, but the idea is that it's back-to-basics, with up-and-coming bands. The Magic Numbers are playing it, and they're good! Someoone called 'Iffy Gyro' and the Towers Of London are playing too.
What's yer tips for surviving a festival?
Murdoc: Tips? Don't bring your Black Amex card. Most of the food tents don't seem to take them. Oh yeah. Bring a big tractor, with a snowplough on the front. For clearing people out the way.
Noodle: I would suggest that if you are going to camp, bring a flag to attach to your tent. This will help you find your way back. You can make this using a pole and some cloth.
Murdoc: I always bring my own Winnebago though, better than a tent, not as pncey as a hotel. And all the chicks love it 'cos it's got its own loo and running water. Well... er... you do have to pump it a bit, but it does run.
Noodle: I suggest bringing a Thermos flask to keep food hot, so you don't spend all your time queuing.
Murdoc: Ermm... bring toilet paper.
Noodle: A good rule for festivals, as for life, is: 'Hope for sunshine, be prepared for rain.' So, er... bring something waterproof. Maybe a cagoule doesn't look so cool, but it's better than looking like a drowned rat.
What essentials should you take?
Murdoc: Bottles of water, slingshot, extra fags, crate of vino, headache pills, spare shoes and socks and a clean towel. Oh, and don't bring any Maroon 5 tapes or any comedy festival hats. Both will make you look like a big tosser.
What would be your ideal day at a festival?
Murdoc: Er... up all night from the day before. Then at six in the morning when what's left of my fried brain is contemplating the eternity of all nature's creation, I want to see a huge shaft of light bursting forth from between two monolithic slabs of ancient stone, creating a sun-powered calendar just to remind me of the immense, all-consuming forces at work in the universe.
Then, right, I want a full English breakfast, a couple of warm lagers and a day full of Olde English Rock. Maybe a classic line-up on the main stage - Steppenwolf, Jimi Hendrix and The Who! Yeah, it'd be nice if Julian Cope appeared too. He's perfect for this type of event.
Worst thing about festivals?
Murdoc: Monday mornings... I always feel so... empty. Strangely down. You know? Like, what's the point in... anything? That feeling's usually gone by about Thursday, though. Friday, I'm right as rain.
What's been your most memorable festival experience?
Murdoc: Once I bunked over the fence to get in free ar the Acid Daze festival in Finsbury Park. I managed to find a good spot, climbed over and then fell straight into the portaloo cesspool. If I wasn't tripping my knackers off, it would have ruined my day.
Noodle: I remember the time when Super Furry Animals used to turn up at all the festivals in their own spray-painted tank. That was very stylish. They are a very colourful band.
Murdoc: D'you remember that Summer Sonic gig back in 2001 in Japan? that was weird. Ten thousand Japanese kids zoned out on crystal meth. Like 'Dawn Of The Dead' or something, man. We finished a song and they were just... silent, just swaying in the breeze. Then they just sort of dropped down one by one. I mean I know it was late, but...
Noodle: It was abot 3am when we went on stage.
Murdoc: Yeah, but there's no need for that. And Dennis Hopper told me a funny story the other day, when he came to do the vocal track on our album. He says he drove his bike to the Altamont festival back in '69 - a great big dirty Harley. He was off to see the Stones play. So he rides it right up to the stage, gets off and goes to grab a couple of beers. Dennis comes back 15 minutes later, and some hippy's kicked his bike over and the whole place has erupted. Bikers freaking out... Keith telling all the cats to 'cool it'. Next thing you know: 'End Of The Sixties'. Festivals, eh? Strange places.