The gentleman Ruairí Dale tells We Are Noise about Terror Pop’s unique experience at Indiependence Music and Arts Festival 2012
We 4 Pops were only at Indiependence for all of 10 hours, yet it succeeded in making an indelible impression on our Saturday there. To pick a Top 5 would be silly so I’m going to list – to the best of my ability – our favourite happenings at the festival.
1. Keith Clancy’s fine work on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam Stage
We played alongside a lot of other young and developing bands (more on those later) on the Red Bull stage at the back – if you consider the Main Stage to be the ‘front’ – of the arena, in a secluded patch next to the Bacardi Party Pad. Due to infrastructural emergencies on Saturday, we had no choice but to carry our gear from the carpark through the thick of the revellers and mud across the span of the arena; a bit daunting considering the value we place on our equipment and Murphy’s Law and whatnot. Just as we were beginning to lose faith in the notions of “hitting the big time” and onsite limousines, sound engineer Keith Clancy took us under his watch and ensured we enjoyed the best possible playing experience – in other words, the *important* element of playing at a festival. Along with his assistants Francesca and Jimmy, Keith Clancy did his utmost to make sure every band was happy with their sound onstage and sounded amazing out front. Having worked with Keith in the heady days of the Quad, it was an absolute pleasure to work with him again. We were bookended by EleventyFour and Toy Soldier, two terrific acts of whom I’d love to see more.
2. Time Is A Thief
On the same note of Keith Clancy and the Red Bull Stage – Time Is A Thief’s set! The lads were – as ever – an absolute treat to watch, and had the best sound of any band I saw all day. Adam did his bit to connect with the INDIE-faring masses by donning his wellingtons but the set was every bit SUPER-ROCK-SHOW: great lighting, tight-as-spandex performance and, of course, brilliant songs. We were even fortunate enough to be treated to a brace of new songs and I’m going to call it now, one of them sounds like Prince.
3. Making history
We did this. Cathal Funge and his team graciously invited us to do a live interview onsite for Phantom 105.2 and we brought our instruments as we were feeling playful – as it turns out, no-one else bothered to do so and as a result we became the first band to play live on Phantom EVER. In any case, the engagement made for a welcome respite after the stresses of a full live set – ten minutes of live chat with charming company, what more could we want?
4. The Best Of The Rest: The Reserve Squad
We were kept on our toes for much of the day and, as we didn’t stay in any one spot for too long in pursuit of the “full festival experience”, I’d like now to make passing reference to a few other thrills.
We recorded an acoustic version of our last single ‘Wait’ for IndieTV in the artist’s area, which should be coming soon to a theatre near you.
We Cut Corners were excellent, and it was my first time seeing them live. I’m a sucker for a bit of two-piece clatter and the size and scope of their soundscape was supremely satisfying. Also, it was there that we met our friend Elaine for the first time in ages and that was top.
Chris and I went to see 2manydjs on the Main Stage, who delivered impressive amounts of bass and drop but also a disappointingly generous portion of clipping-speakers.
Dan, our crewman Barry and I also ventured into the Big Top to see LTJ Bukem featuring MC Conrad and the pair delivered a riveting Dub n’ Bass set.
Much of our pre-gig time was spent galavanting about the arena with the gents from Time Is A Thief, best company until the end of time.
Oh! Watching Feeder play ‘Buck Rogers’ was pretty excellent, too.
I think that is pretty much everything. Thanks for asking about our day, ‘Noise. Thanks, INDIE’ 12!
