I'll prove to the crowd that I come out stronger - though I think I might lie here a little longer

My final festival day of the year!

Back at All Points East again, but I've upgraded myself this week to a VIP Garden ticket - oooh, fancy! And, once again, I'm not all that fussed on the headliners - in fact, I've only really come for one act. As with last week, I rocked up about 2:15, with the first act appearing about 2:30 - but unlike last week, it felt like it was me and three other people on the entire site at that point. It did get busier, but the contrast was marked - and the audience was also markedly different, with the piercings and tattoos of last week being replaced by hipster beards (as far as the eye could see!). So, who were all us hipsters there to see this week?

Split The Dealer

This felt very much like sixth form indie on a grown up stage - it was a decent enough sound but it seemed like it was enjoyed by about 20 people.

Luvcat

A positively massive crowd of maybe a couple of hundred people turned up to watch this indie-pop/rock group with five members, four of whom are guitarists. For some reason, most of the attention seemed to be on the young, blonde female lead singer in her underwear but she has a great voice and they made a really decent sound - I really liked them. At one point I did wander why I'd never heard of them and then Sophie announced “we’ve only put one song out so far” - so I guess that explains that. 

Wednesday 

This lot had all the ingredients that I usually like with a female singer and lots of guitars, but unfortunately it just didn’t quite work for me - possibly because they just weren't as good as Luvcat.

LANY

He was a bit like Olly Alexander but not so annoying - decent festival fare and I quite liked him. The crowds still weren't exactly massive though.

Gustaf

Oh look - a blonde, female single fronting a band who are mostly guitars! I quite liked it, but again they suffered in comparison to what had come before. I was also intrigued by the female Bez of the band who contributed amazingly little, but seemed to take up a lot of space!

Yo La Tengo 

I'd always thought they were a sub-par Belle and Sebastian but I have to admit I was wrong - they’re nowhere near as good as that. Oh dear.

The Lemon Twigs

Not bad but very retro - they seemed to go down well enough though.

Teenage Fanclub

The first decent sized crowd I’ve seen all day (5:00) and tbh they deserved it. The sound wasn’t great but it was a good set - I’ve never particularly been a fan, but I really liked it. Yes, they looked liked the dads giving it a go at the school fete, but they gave it a good really go and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Sleator-Kinney

I thought they did an interesting set but I can't say I particularly enjoyed it - it was just a bit too much random noise at times.

Everything Everything 

The biggest crowd of the so far but, for me, they were merely ok - a decent enough sound but nothing to get excited about.

Say She She

A decent funky set in the tent, in front of a crowd about 20% of the size we were getting last week, which felt harsh - although I think the music would have been much better suited to have been played outside in the sunshine. They also covered “Slippery People”, which is my second Talking Heads cover of the week!

The Decemberists

And finally we get to the reason why I’m here - I’ve loved them for ages and I have yet to find anyone else that’s even heard of them! That’s not fair though because they actually drew a decent crowd who were an interesting mix of young and old (yes, even older than me) - and so very well behaved. Considering how much I love them, I actually only knew a couple of tracks but I liked them all, so I've obviously got to check out their latest albums. "The Sporting Life" with its "This Charming Man" outro took the set for me though - there was also some great intra-song banter from Colin, although I'm not sure he really needed to remind us we're all going to die some day.

Phoenix

Funky and tight and danceable with some guitar shredding - no complaints from me on any front here!

Gossip

Beth Ditto has a proper voice on her and no mistake but the material wasn't great which was a shame - except for Standing In The Way Of Control, which was an absolute blast.

Death Cab For Cutie

A nice enough sound but it did all come across a bit Coldplay-ish for me.

The Postal Service

This sounded much more up my street, but it was hometime for this old man, so I only got to hear the first couple of tracks on my way out - but I might make an effort to check them out (yeah, you're right - I'll forget).

The Decemberists easily took the day for me, but I'd have been very disappointed with any other result. Teenage Fanclub came a surprising second for me and although Gossip and Phoenix put on decent sets, I'm going to go for Luvcat in bronze medal position - I really liked them.

The VIP Garden area is very nice but I'm not sure I'd have been overly happy if I'd paid full price - especially since my ticket didn't give me access to the viewing area close to the stage, so all it really gave me was access to more tables (and I'm always perfectly happy to sit on the ground). I guess it's all a case of what you want to spend your money on but personally I'm not sure I'll be bothering to upgrade again (assuming I remember any of this next year!).

But all in all, it was another very enjoyable day and I loved finally seeing The Decemberists - I'll certainly make an effort to go back to APE next year (provided I'm lucky enough to get the opportunity to go on the cheap). I'm also very glad we didn't have the weather they had on Saturday, which must have been somewhat challenging.