Big Weekend 2009

Friday Night was emo night at this year’s Cardiff Big Weekend, if the rain-flattened lateral coiffures and teen demographic were anything to go by; I was there for London-based North Walian trio The Joy Formidable, however, whose subtle, indie wall-of-sound mini-epics were pretty impressive. I cherry-picked on Saturday as well, only making the effort to see Melopark, fronted by local heroine Sian from Kosheen, who provided an object-lesson in stage-presence; soulful vocals with dense, folky guitar (provided by collaborator Simon Kingman), and catchy, mellow songs (apparently, largely about her mates in the audience) – most pleasant. The main question on Sunday was whether Leisure Society had more songs as achingly beautiful as the Novello-nominated “The Last Of The Melting Snow”; the good news was that they did, and also treated us to an amusing version of Gary Numan’s “Cars”. Having wandered off to find a vaguely hygienic toilet, I only caught the end of Ebony Bones’ set, but she managed to get the crowd going with her crazy beats – if only she wouldn’t dress so dowdily.

My final band of the festival was Camera Obscura, Peel favourites, and one of the pantheon of great, ‘60s-inflected Scottish pop groups; they played a relatively upbeat set which suited the demands of the occasion, and Tracy-Anne’s fragile vocals carried surprisingly well. Lovely.

Re writing, the only good news of late was a repeat fee for “Tracy Beaker” – staving off poverty for another month or so. I’ve also just started another baby play manuscript on its lonely journey around the offices of various theatre companies.