Two festivals, two years, one location. The only major difference, save for variations in the align, between Underage Festival and Field Day is that the former requires the crowd be no jr. than 14 and no older than 18, whereas the latter is a strictly 18-plus affair. Both events premiered last year, with Underage receiving comparatively ecstatic reviews and Field Day getting a general thumbs gloomy for reasons that we'll come to shortly, import this year there was high first moment for Sam Kilcoyne's fete.
High-pitched vocals are the order of the day at Underage, and not just from the kids. A laptop-focussed Fryars and his operatic pitch draws a devoted crowd to the NME stage, piece pop-rock band Team Waterpolo combine excessive falsetto with anthemic choruses and thumping rhythms. They are truly terrible, especially as the increasingly excellent Wild Beasts (whose singer Hayden Thorpe has a dexterous falsetto of his own) are kicking into action on the nearby Domino stage. It's a shame they're unable to wrestle many of the crowd out from this Killers-esque mixture. Elsewhere a tiny, midget trio of girls called Care Bears on Fire loiter patiently onstage patch sound levels are adjusted before kicking into action with their straightforward but nonetheless lovely take on Riot Grrrl rawk.
Considering we came to Underage anticipating a crowd shrieking like crazy with the airheaded thrills of youth, we're not altogether convinced. That is, until, we come face to face with the hysteria during the Foals' headline slot, when officials subscribe to to the stage after two songs to chew out a push member for climbing a piece of apparatus. For the most part though, the push comprises of young work force holding their balls intensely and girls travelling in packs, garbed exactly the same as at least one of their friends. Coyness and manners: they're the new rock'n'roll.
A disgustingly busy cigarette bar signals that we ar now in the company of the older patronage at Field Day, an event which managed to top a Guardian.co.uk/music poll parrot of worst festivals ever after only one yr in creation thanks to too many people, overly little toilets, not enough beer tents and non enough volume.
Organisers had gone all out to ensure this year wasn't blighted by queues for the water closet so long they wind round the site simply they couldn't do anything to see to it a decent forecast. Miserable, windy weather puts a damper on the day, and though the likes of Lightspeed Champion, New York art-punkers Les Savy Fav and drone-pop trine Telepathe provide stand-out performances, there is little that can be done to save the festival from being a generally deaden experience.
Whatever expectancy you have for a festival comprising of 14-18-year-olds, you're potential to be disappointed. Underage's atmosphere doesn't feel particularly exciting compared to, say, Reading and Leeds (also a whitney Moore Young Jr. crowd), and for the most region the crowd together just looks vulnerable and self-conscious. But then they're not here to be judged by us olds, they're here to enjoy, improbable as it seems, the likes of Team Waterpolo without constant fear of being asked for ID. Let them drink Cola Red Bull, while the rest of us endure forbidding weather and overpriced beer.
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