Biffy Clyro bring the weekend at Wakestock to a mighty crescendo
Wakestock 2011 review
Monday 18th July 2011
Sunday started at a new location, Abersoch beach for the big air competition, where the boarders were towed by high speed jet skis onto a jump ramp, from where they literally flew 30 odd metres through the air whilst throwing their biggest show stopping tricks to win the mass crowd admiration, and in turn the big air trophy and pay cheque.
This was a great way to start a morning and create a buzzing atmosphere that carried over to the music site. Which was opened by local heroes Sibrydion, with there catchy Welsh sound which is very very SFA infused, with lead singer Meilir Gwynedd sounding almost like a clone of Gruff Rhys, which in my eyes could be no bad thing.
Most of the young crowd missed this real treat as they were all waiting for man of the moment Ed Sheeran to enter the East tent, not my thing so I watched Pulled Apart By Horses, who even though faced with a tiny crowd really turned it on and turned the amps right up, a promising young band, who were followed by a certain Mr Charlie Simpson, who did get a fair bit of banter about his Busted past when he entered the stage, but fair play to the lad he rode the storm and layed a nice set.
He has reinvented himself again after Busted, going to thrash screemo band Fightstar, he has no gone his own way and is playing more folk infused country pop, quite bland but non offensive, im sure he will make a living out of it judging by the screaming girly fan base he had on shift on the barrier.
Noisettes were next to take to the stage with a very confident Shingai Shoniwa up front they put on a good performance with a very tight backing band the crowd danced and sung for there two big signature songs, and they had quite an emotional last song which the band debuted here at Wakestock and dedicated to a close family member who had passed away the previous day, Shingai performed it half stood on the security barrier then half from on top of a security guard's shoulders.
Next to command the stage were The Cribs, Wakefield's finest really dived head first in with an all out assault on the security, after seeing a security guard try and pull someone off someone's shoulders and rough a crowd surfer up a little, they played their set with real menace and conviction really nailing it with big tracks 'Hey Scenesters' and 'Men's Needs' driving the crowd into a pogoing frenzy, which the security obviously loved!!!
A good chunk of the crowd left The Cribs half way through to go and watch Example put in a good shift on the East stage, a big crowd pleaser of the weekend, but for me the best was left for last on the West stage.
The highly anticipated headline set by Biffy Clyro did not fail to impress even the non fans in the crowd. Their powerfull rock anthems bringing the weekend to a mighty crescendo, with a hit packed hour setlist containing mainly epic tracks from there latest album 'Only Revolutions', you could see why this was one of the hottest tickets about, as they left a trail of destruction through the tent, and no one disappointed.
All in all I think Wakestock did what it said on the tin, a few big name acts and some real gems down through the line-up, and a bit of extreme sports thrown in to entertain, very limited food choices on the site and a few real nice little boutique merchandise stores, but with the shuttle buses providing excellent service to access - local facilities for food and drink this was not a real issue, great organisation on the public transport front, great little site, amazingly beautiful location, and no traffic, see you next year Wakestock!
review by Jamie Licence photos by Martin Evans / Jamie Licence
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