For me, Day 1 of the festival had the most promising line up with many bands who are considered “major” in the UK (Green Day, The Prodigy and Biffy Clyro among them). Each act’s slot was around an hour, with a 20 minute to half an hour overlap where both stages would be live. The day threw up some revelations, with some of the bands completely disappointing me, and others totally surprising me.
Early performances came from Candide, Twin Forks, Balthazar and Rival Sons, the latter of which did the best job in shaking awake the subdued audience. By the time Haim stepped onto the Greenroom stage much of the audience had collapsed onto the grass. It was clear that Haim are not well known to the French but they still received a good response, particularly when they had an impromptu jamming session to a Led Zeppelin number, with “Falling”, “Don’t Wait” and “Forever” receiving the best response, as expected.
Over on the Main Stage Biffy Clyro, again apparently not well known in France, put everything they had into their set, pulling off a fantastic performance despite the fact that much of the audience stood motionless, moving only to enthusiastically clap between tracks. As they powered through “Sounds Like Balloons”, “That Golden Rule”, “Bubbles” and “The Joke’s On Us” it was abundantly clear which sections of the audience were British, because they were all busy partying and moshing for all they were worth. A comedy moment and the first hint of the sound issues came as Modestep, who had struck up on the Greenroom stage, drowned out the end of one of Biffy's quieter tracks. Before launching into the next track Biffy's lead singer, Simon Neil, declared, “We’re gonna play this next one really loud to drown out that feckin' shite!” And so the first sound battle between Biffy and Modestep commenced, confusing the ears of those standing directly between the two stages.
Crossing over to Modestep, the dubstep fans in the audience were not disappointed, and the band was well received as they spat out track after track of bone shaking dance fodder. It was clear throughout the weekend that the sound on the Greenroom stage was much better than that on the Main Stage, although some of the Main Stage’s issues were caused by the sound bouncing around the buildings in the square. Obviously the sound of the Greenroom stage really suited Modestep and every opportunity was taken to drill sub bass through the bodies of the dancing audience.
Back on the Main Stage, the start of Thirty Seconds To Mars’ set was kicked off by four people in suits and coloured balaclavas beating large drums. The band started off well with “Hunter” and “Search and Destroy” among others, and there was a great audience response. A few songs in lead singer, Jared Leto, asked, “Where are my dreamers?” He then proceeded to ask the audience (in both French and English) to chant the name of the band’s new album, “Love Lust Faith + Dreams” before completely overdosing on saccharine, wrapping himself in a flag, declaring his undying love to the audience and France, and sweeping from a Rock God to a sycophant in a matter of moments. There seemed to be a mixed response from the audience, with some lapping up everything the frontman was saying, and others wandering away shaking their heads.
Bloc Party were next up on the Greenroom stage, starting with a rowdy version of “Banquet”. Drummer Matt Tong was notably absent from the line up but replacement Sarah Jones (New Young Pony Club/Hot Chip) did an absolutely blinding job of filling in in Matt’s absence. Bloc Party are due to go on another hiatus, so rumours that Tong has already left the band are rife. Nevertheless the band crashed through some of their best known hits, including “Flux” and “One More Chance”, breaking them up with more subdued tracks such as “Truth” and “Waiting for the 7.18”, before bowing out with a blistering rendition of “Helicopter”. I felt a bit sad that this might be the last time I would see Bloc Party if they do not return from their hiatus.
Over on the Main Stage Green Day received the best response of the day of any band, violently wading through their back catalogue to the obvious glee of the packed arena. They threw in an intro to AC/DC's “Highway To Hell” and a mad sax rendition of "The Theme From The Benny Hill Show" amongst hits such as “Basket Case” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends”. It was a truly mental, but utterly brilliant set, which was topped off by a stunt they have employed before where they pull an audience member up onto the stage and have him sing and play the guitar before giving him the guitar.
Enter Shikari’s assignment was a mammoth one. They were tasked with following up Green Day’s performance over on the opposite stage and were also on immediately before dance titans The Prodigy. Despite the pressure, the band’s brand of dubstep fused rock measured up to the task fairly well. Now that darkness had set in the audience seemed more willing to mosh, although they were not quite fired up enough to do the usual epic crowd surfing fest that normally occurs during “Juggernauts”. Still, the band did a great performance in what must have been a daunting slot.
To the opening bars of “Voodoo People”, The Prodigy began their quest to bring the Main Stage to a close. The set started well, with the band throwing in “Poison”, “Breathe”, “Omen” and classic “Firestarter” amid MC Maxim’s usual chants about warriors (although he did come unstuck a bit when he tried to change his chant up to “Where are my French people?” Erm…what?). But it was at the start of “Spitfire” that things started to sadly unravel. Netsky had started his closing set on the Greenroom stage, and he was absolutely drowning out The Prodigy.
Yes, really.
The audience started to leave the Main Stage in droves because they simply could not hear properly, and Netsky’s more contemporary sound seemed to become irresistible draw. I guess Hospital Records (to whom both acts are signed) will not be troubled by that, but it must have been galling for The Prodigy to see their audience drifting away and being powerless to stop it. It was the first time I had ever left a set by The Prodigy disappointed, and I have been following them since 1991.
Meanwhile, The Prodigy’s loss was Netsky’s gain, and he and his entourage received a fantastic reception to the great set he was playing, which was enhanced further by a live drummer. Most of the remaining audience was dancing, and he seemed to manage to lift the disappointment left by the previous set, closing the night on a high.
Click below to see the intro, my reviews of each day, and my verdict of the festival as a whole.
Mainsquare Festival 2013, Intro
Mainsquare Festival 2013, Day 2
Featuring Mike & the Mechanics, Klink Clock, Local Natives, Kodaline, Saez, Of Monsters & Men, The Hives, Asaf Avidan, Sting, Alt-J, Sting, deuS, C2C and Madeon
Mainsquare Festival 2013, Day 3
Featuring Feini X Crew, Charles Bradley, Left Boy, Volbeat, La Femme, Puggy, Lou Doillon, Stereophonics, Kendrick Lamar, Archive, Wax Tailor and The Dusty Rainbow Experience and Indochine
Mainsquare Festival 2013: The Verdict
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