SWN: THURSDAY

Various Venues, Cardiff | October 18th

The sixth annual Swn festival saw its seemingly relentless expansion continue apace. Now fully established as one of the UK’s outstanding inner-city festivals, the breadth of musical offerings and variation of venues meant we entered the fray eager and expectant.

We headed first to the Cardiff University’s in-house nightclub Solus, where Gulp, the new musical offering from Super Furry Animals bassist kicked Guto Pryce kicked off our Swn. It wasn’t going to take much for us to love them, and vocalist Lindsay Leven’s statue of liberty headband made it easier still. A highlight was Diamonds in the Sky which features on their new Game Love EP. The vocals teased us into a trance as Lindsay pranced about the stage making nice noises over the kind of psychedelic folk that makes Gulp a welcome addition to the Super Furry Side Project Club.

Gulp were followed by much-hyped Mancunians Egyptian Hip Hop, a set which was sadly blighted by an unshakeable feeling that they really didn’t want to be there. For all the promise of debut full-length Good Don’t Sleep and the buzz around their return from relative obscurity, today it seems their tripped-out swagger could not quite emerge from what at times melted into an illegible mash of sound. As Alexander Hewett announced that they were finished, only to be prompted in his ear that they had two songs remaining, the set’s culmination was unsurprisingly flat.

Django Django, on the other hand, were hugely impressive. The band branded as ‘so good they named it twice’, their matching shirts and the biggest tambourine of all time won our hearts from the offset. There is nothing quite so infectious as a band and an audience joined in having an amazing time, and instant classics Hail Bop and Default rung out as one. Tommy Grace, the band’s synth maestro, ran the show from stage right in a joyous justification of why these are one of the most in-demand bands in the country right now.

It’s difficult to surmise Charlotte Church’s set. Given an intriguing midnight slot upstairs at Dempseys, we entered with a genuine desire to perhaps prove a few people wrong and hear an artist arriving in her own right. Unfortunately, the first thing we heard her say was “I was a reading an article about myself in the Daily Mail …”, swiftly launching into a spiel about the injustices of fame and the media. It’s a shame, as there was evidence to suggest a definite broadening of horizons and songwriting nous, as well as an undeniable level of musicianship on display from her band. But sorry, you lost us at Daily Mail.

All in all, a highly promising opening day to a long weekend of brilliant music. Consider our appetites duly whetted.

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Words: Teleri Glyn Jones