Family Affair
The crowd has thinned out a bit after The Rakes performance but there are still plenty in the NME/Radio 1 tent. Although the sound is a bit harsh and some of the quieter vocal moments get lost in the mix, singer Adele Bethel leans into the crowd and does her best to engage the front rows, whilst the rest of the band are somewhat inanimate.
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They get an excellent reaction to their upbeat and raucous tunes that are littered with trashy buzzsaw guitars. The songs themselves aren't bad but all too often seem to finish just as they get going. Three songs into their set and they step it up a gear, a choppy rhythm is accompanied by plenty of opportunity for the crowd to sing and clap along and they duly oblige. Scott Patterson provides decent but fairly standard backing vocals on the first few tracks but then takes over lead vocals on the fourth song, a rather Nick Cave inspired number that rumbles along in hypnotic style before moving into a faster break. Bethel dons bass guitar for the next song with Ailidh switching to mandolin. The darker feel is continued and they begin to win me over with more driven songs but they still never quite cut loose.
Some of the drumming is impressive (reminiscent of early Killing Joke in places) and the longer they play the more you find yourself getting into it but I admit I'm having to work at it. They are not the most exciting band to watch either and the feeling of restraint is maintained throughout. The last couple of tracks are better again and they wind up to a good finale, an interesting set that perhaps needs a little restructuring?
To view all photos taken during this set click here. There are 15 available.