Optimus Alive

Lisbon’s cobbled streets and beautiful estuary provide the back line characteristics to Portugal’s biggest festival experience NOS Alive (formerly Optimus Alive) allowing for a rich cultural exploration for anyone making the trip to explore the former gateway to the New World. As Crack surveys the colossal monument depicting ten of Portugal’s prodigal explorers from our sailing boat that acts as our transportation to the festival site, Lisbon certainly doesn’t feel like the worst place in the world to suck up some history, as the music at NOS Alive doesn’t start till 6pm every day.

The advantage of 6pm as a start time means those that like to proverbially smash it can do so safe in the knowledge that Lisbon’s coastal beaches are a short train ride away. And for those that don’t, well you don’t even have to concern yourself with a Reading/Leeds style obscene start time. You might even find time to eat well.

There’s a real British feel to proceedings here with the three Main Stage headliners – Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines and The Black Keys – all at the top of, used to be at the top of, or approaching the top of their respective games in the eyes of the UK demographic. This is reflected in the number of British youths around, but apart from what is a very solid set of guitar based headliners, the supporting cast on the Main Stage (Bastille, Imagine Dragons, Foster The People, MGMT) means (with the exception of the wonderful Interpol) we give the Main Stage a wide berth in favour of sounds with a little more depth on the excellent Clubbing and Heineken stages.

Friday sees Pantha Du Prince deliver a DJ set that showcases a mix between edits of his own material and other recognisable techno stompers. But you have to feel for him with his early set-time, which makes it hard to switch your mood in order to face the aforementioned arrival of Interpol as a force on the Main Stage. New Interpol albums have flattered to deceive when placed next to the insane heights they scaled on their first two outings, but gnarling new single All The Rage Back Home feels perfectly apt alongside a set primarily drawn from these bonafide classic records. Paul Banks’ voice sounds stern and heartfelt and Daniel Kessler pounds up and down the stage. Theirs is a look drawn from the majestic gloom of their music and tonight they push it all the way, drawing a suitably large crowd in the process.

After a quick drink of Kelis’s Milkshake, which was massively enjoyed, we head back over to witness Alex Turner and the behemoth that is the Arctic Monkeys. Crack’s relationship with team Monkey has been one of respect rather than adoration over the years, but there is very little denying the sustained impact they continue to have on music worldwide. With a setlist pulled from all their records, the imperious back catalogue they’ve amassed in just over ten years plays out like a modern pin-drop of British music’s charm, wit and it’s ability to convey heartfelt messages while encouraging you to dance. Take the wonderful 505 rubbed up against I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor. Within the wide boundaries rock’n’roll allows, Alex Turner has a song for most seasons, but tonight the lack of communication (when he does speak, he sounds a little worse for wear, though what tone of voice he regales crowds with has somewhat altered over the years) and a maybe a slightly self-indulgent setlist leaves a couple of blips on an otherwise solid outing from Sheffield’s finest.

So again in sharp contrast, we go and tickle our techno bone with Daphni, Jamie xx and Pearson Sound in the NOS Clubbing tent, which sounds absolutely awesome. The last hour sees Daphni and Mr xx go back to back in what feels like a solid exploration of the more upbeat end of the techno spectrum we’ve come to expect from Daphni, and tonight is indulged fully by Jamie xx, who leaves behind the nu-skool garage cuts and The xx remixes in favour of something altogether a bit rougher. It’s a winning combination. After a quick skip over to see Booka Shade play In White Rooms (that one is never getting old) we’re satisfied.

Saturday started with a lesson in deliverance from Parquet Courts, who kept the Heineken Stage intense with their linear and gripping brand of jerky slacker-punk, delivered with a straight face rather than bounding about the place. After ducking in to see Toddla T’s carnival-style set delivered with the usual smile and sense of fun, we explore the more wooded and somewhat Portuguese part of the site. The Portuguese comedy tent whilst captivating, tended to be a little beyond our mental capacit, in that laughing at jokes you can only speculate the punch lines of does wear this after a while. So over to the the bandstand which played host to a rich variety of music ranging from Portuguese folk, to a Caribbean guitarist called Brushy One String, who made quite the noise with only one string and a big reggae voice. It’s in this quieter part of the site it feels like a real festival with a few quirkier things like an area that has rows and rows of table footballs.

The Black Keys are that reliable sort of headline material now, especially in the wake of the crossover success of their last three records. Theirs is a set that draws in the main from these with Howlin’ For You and She’s Long Gone proving to be particular highlights. Au Revoir Simone’s all female, soft electronic fantasy pop is a perfect antidote to Dan Auerbach’s grinding blues rifts before the surprise of the weekend. Crack has never been into SBTRKT. It’s all felt a bit contrived, a bit obvious and a bit overcooked and bits of it still are. The mask sucks, and the fact there is a giant 20 foot inflatable bear on the stage that has a rather naughty look in it’s eye is just beyond comprehension. Though whether it’s the crystal clear sound in the tent or the fact we’re enjoying the caipirinhas, his set tonight feels soulful and edgy in equal measure.

So on to Caribou. Oh Caribou. Winding the day in with the 3am start time, watching this act live consistently confounds your existing parameters of what possibilities electronic music can present you with. Not enough layers with that loose pop structure? Have a few more. Odessa is ramped up to the absolute maximum, new track Can’t Do Without You is unequivocally the anthem of the summer and the metronomic percussion grounds the whole thing wonderfully. It’s a synthesised dream of an hour the come down of which sinks in instantly as soon as it finishes. Gig of the weekend undoubtedly.

Beers on one of Lisbon’s many out of town beaches (all reachable by train) define our Sunday afternoon – an idyllic way to spend your time gassing about the wonders of the night previous. In case you hadn’t gathered, Portugal in July is ‘effin hot and a really wonderful liberal hotbed. With so much on the doorstep, not exploring would be a bit rude, so we returned for The War On Drugs’ majestic Americana, which we digested with gusto, new album having already transported them to another sphere. Phantogram’s electro-dramas feel a bit over the top but are perfectly palatable before we’re stung with clash of the weekend with our feet moving towards seeing Jungle, our head looking to see Daughter and our heart wanting to return to a 19 year-old frame and see The Libertines.  For the next hour or so, we sing along heartily to the band that defined much of this writer’s earliest rock dalliances. Yes they could well be doing this for the money, but Crack gets nicely oiled and scares the surrounding young’uns with our group’s collective enthusiasm to literally all the hits Carlos and Peter ever penned. It was a collective time warp, the kind of which we may never get again and one we we’re thankful for. Time For Heroes is rolled out delightfully early, Horrorshow is every bit as shambolic as you hoped it would be and What Katie Did and Can’t Stand Me Now play the nostalgia card better than most. What A Waster as an encore makes beers and fags fly. Surprisingly tight, and seemingly motivated despite a smaller crowd (have the Portuguese never been to Albion?) we’re all boozy, woozy romance by the end.

Onto two of Crack’s faves to close the weekend, Nina Kraviz with her mesmeric, yearning techno and Nicolas Jaar with a solo show that once again is played out with more gusto and reverence to the house and techno canons he often rejects. Both are perfect finales to a weekend high on acts.

NOS Alive 2014 bears similarities to many of its contemporaries, but its beauty lies in the wonderful city that encapsulates it and the musical variation on show. An immaculately organised weekend.

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Words: Thomas Frost

Photos: James Stables

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