T IN‘THE PARK THE TEARS
The Bays
SM: Great live band.
OM: A nice Sunday breakfast opener.
Ada
SM: Slightly more getting people
in the mood and she's got a great voice with a great electronic vibe I
to it.
Alex Smoke SM: Someone who‘s really
his live set is great. No Lone Swordsman
SM: I just want to see Andy [Weatherall] sing live. He's
Hawtin. always pushing the envelope. You never know where he's going to go next. We heard some great things about their live show. A proper band.
Slam
SM: It says “Slam live' but we‘re doing a laptop set: some of our tracks and some other pepple's tracks.
0M: We put Ourselves on at the a end a number of times but it interfered with our socialising.
SM: And with what we're plaYing right now I think Dave Clarke will be a better closer.
OM: Musically it gives you a bit more freedom.
SM: I think that's a great slot because peOple's hangovers are starting to wear off.
fanbase. SM: He's probably the only guy
after year. We kinda thought we
owed it to him. to get him back after such a massive
year. And he's Scottish and of c0urse it's Scotland's premier festival. " Blackstrobe
actually seeing Blackstrobe. not
be all their own stuff or if they'll have to stay sober enough to see them.
Alter Ego SM: Last year I think every DJ who played played ‘Rocker' so
live next year. OM: And their year's just got stronger. The formula hasn't run out. Just as it was getting tired they tweaked it and moved forward. They‘ve been around a long time and then one single has just catapulted them to the forefront of the new German scene. Bloody hell. that's the eighth live in a row
SM: It's a live-a-thon.
Dave Clarke
OM: The old stalwart. He's finished the tent a number of occasions but I think he really is the finale man for Sunday night.
making noise at the moment. and
another one of these people. like
6. CM: He's had an incredible year. big crossover. he's got a very big
we‘ve had on twice in a row. year
OM: I'm really looking forward to
just Ivan [Smagghe]. I don’t really know what to expect. whether it'll
mix it up so we're gonna definitely
we thought they just have to play
L;
R UR EYES " TE
Suede’s one-time creative core have put away the handbags and got out the guitars again. James Smart talks to Brett Anderson of THE TEARS about
their T debut.
hink ‘Animal Nitrate‘. ‘The Drowners‘
and ‘Still Life‘ are some of the best
songs of the 90s? Don‘t expect the
Tears to play them. ‘We‘re certainly not doing
this to play Suede songs live.‘ says Brett
Anderson firmly. ‘It‘s just not interesting to us.
The last thing we want is people to come along wanting to hear a version of Suede.‘
Of course. when you reform the songwriting
partnership that helped define Britpop. a
certain amount of attention is inevitable. Here
Come the Tears is a likeable return. full of :
Bernard Butler’s ringing riffs and Anderson’s tales of concrete cityscapes and glamorously freakish teens. It‘s a reassuring. familiar record. rather than a great leap forward.
‘We sat down and wrote some songs.‘ says Anderson. ‘We didn‘t think. “Oh, why don’t we try and do Serge Gainsborough meets fucking Kraftwerk.“ It’s not like that. that's what fucking journalists talk like. Those are the kind of reckless points that people who theorise about music have to have. We sat down and wrote some songs and they come out like this. Simple as that.‘
The occasional attack of the grumps aside. Anderson is a bright and entertaining
interview. He proceeds to rave about Philip Larkin (whose poem ‘Femmes Damnées’ is the source of the band‘s name). big up MIA. the Concretes and Franz Ferdinand. and muse on the wisdom of sacking Butler when Suede were at their creative peak.
‘It was probably a dreadful career move. if you‘re going to look at it like that.‘ he says. ‘I think it was a shame. more than a shame. a tragedy. But it happened. We weren’t this neat little careerist band like you get these days. It was all about emotions and passions and fucking up sometimes. It was always do it with absolute passion. and do it as long as we‘re excited about it.‘
Seeing Brett Anderson — a charismatic and kinetic frontman — back on stage with Bernard Butler should be the catalyst for excitement aplenty at T in the Park. And Anderson is upbeat.
‘I‘m always excited about the next track we’re gonna make. We wouldn’t be making it otherwise. I‘m not doing it to buy new chlorine for my swimming pool. you know what I mean?’
X Tent, Sunday.
7-21 Jul 2005 THE LIST 25