Lunar Festival Review! (Sunday 5th June)

Didn't feel quite as awful this morning, but it was the hottest day of the weekend so far, the blazing sun burnt my face and legs, but I did at least meet some lovely people while drinking about a gallon of Pimm's. The Mothers Earth Experiment (6.4/10) and Flamingods (7.2) were both already blowing minds with trippy jazz rock in the earlier hours. I much preferred the later, whose fusion of acid rock and Asian beats give me an idea of how a Hawkwind/Shpongle* collaboration might sound. Khurangbin's (6) gentle Tarantino-ish instrumental rock was a nice respite from the blazing sun. While The Mariachi's (8.4) were hilarious. They said that they realised early on that they could ruin any song, and announced that their next song was a 'Scottish song with a very Mexican Rhythm'. Their set was a mix of mostly 80's pop songs, so everyone could sing along. Paradise Bangkok International Mowlam Band (7.6) were every bit as fantastic live as I thought they'd be. Coming all the way from Thailand and bringing their totally unique sound and weird and wonderful instruments with them. Their music was totally infectious and incredibly funky, and they built up the speed and energy with each song. A lot of fans had turned up for Matt Berry and The Maypoles (5.6). A man of many talents, who is most famous for his comedic acting** but lesser known for his music. I don't think there is any pastiche, but if there is it is a loving one of the 1970's Canterbury scene. His band are very talented and they have some lovely songs, but ultimately it is strictly for fans of 70's soft-prog and fans of his other work. The Zombies (9.2) were fantastic, they sound incredible for a band into their 50th year and they are true English

gentlemen, but also aware of their own importance. They told us which songs charted and which didn't, the history of Odessy and Oracle and who their famous fans were, without seeming even slightly egotistical. They proved to be more than just a one album wonder with a set that spanned decades and included solo work and songs by Argent. 'Time of the season' and She's not there' were obvious highlights but so was Argent's 'Hold your head up'. As usual (for Lunar that is) a procession of drummers, brass bands, people in animal masks and flame jugglers, walked around the site and gave a cloaked Matt Berry the honour of dropping the torch. Super Furry Animals (7.6) had the final headline set of the weekend. A lot of the 90+ minutes dragged for me. I didn't care for most of the acoustic tunes.

But the highlights, Such as the occasional drops of Dn'B, Gruff Rhys singing through a power rangers helmet and the three guitarists lifting their instruments to the sky. Throughout the set they were funny and pretended to play a new song called 'earth' which was actually just a strange audience participation section where we all out our hands on our heads and waved our fingers. The electro-rock masterpiece 'the man don't give a fuck' lasted about 20 minutes. They waved a placars with messages such as 'thanks for the lasers' ,'lasers hate austerity', and 'resist phoney encores' before leaving the stage, leaving one of them to play a short DJ set of strange techno noise before coming back on in their yeti suits, to finish the show. SFA's are experts at putting on a show.

*Google them

**The IT Crowd, Mighty Boosh, Toast Of London, House Of Fools, Garth Merengi's Darkplace...