O2 Wireless 2007 (London): Sunday Review

United Kingdom | | 19 June 2007

After the electro dance party last night, the mood of the crowd at Hyde Park is somewhat subdued for an early Sunday afternoon. Hoards of families tuck into their picnics while others in the audience nurse a hangover from the previous evening’s partying, and the lamentable attempts of Under The Influence Of Giants to get the crowd jumping along to their funk-pop set falls on rather deaf ears. 

The Crimea work the crowd over on the XFM stage with a sultry set suited to the Sunday mood culminating in a version of Serge Gainsbourg’s ‘J’taime’, and current single ‘Lottery Winners on Acid’.

When Japanese outfit Polysics enter the fray on the main stage, the families have finished eating their picnics and that ‘hair of the dog’ is working a treat on the hungover members of the audience. All that is needed is a lively soundtrack to kick start the rest of the proceedings.  Playing their bass-led electro punk tunes in bright orange boiler suits, Polysics get Hyde Park warmed up as energetic lead singer, Hiroyuki Hayashi, jumps around the stage like a hyperactive child before he gets the crowd doing star jumps along to their cover of The Knacks’ ‘My Sherona’.

The compere introduces Mumm-Ra as, “the band of the summer,” and judging by their performance he’s not far wrong.  The six piece are currently famous for having their latest single ‘She’s Got You High’ used on a TV advert but today’s strong set demonstrates that the band have far more to offer than your average chug-a-long indie wannabes. Their delicate guitar solos nestle over a backdrop of driving bass lines and style synthesisers similar to the ones Brandon Flowers dragged from the Nevada desert.

On the subject of an average indie band The Cribs’ set today lacked gusto and style. Arrogantly they introduce their set as: “The beginning of the war on boring indie music,” but ironically the subsequent performance offers nothing of sort; even their latest single ‘Men’s Needs’ fell flat on the crowd.

Many sought solace in the XFM tent instead to see The Duke Spirit return to the live stage. Lead singer Leila Moss personifies style and the audience’s gaze is instantly captivated by her as she struts around the stage, reminiscent of Blondie’s Debbie Harry in her youth. Single ‘Love Is An Unfamiliar Name’, sees Moss snarl at the crowd as it becomes highlight of the set.

Another band making a welcome return are Editors who have evidently gained live experience since their debut album ‘The Back Room’. The awkward fumbling around between songs has evaporated, and time has seen lead singer, Tom Smith, grow in confidence and engage with his audience. The end result is an aura of slickness to added to Editors’ live performance. The band fuse hits like ‘Blood’ with the uplifting ‘Bullets’ against the new single ‘Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors’ leaving the crowd instantly impressed.  They sing along with conviction to obvious delight for the band who offer their thanks at the close of their set.

The culmination of the day’s event is an all out feel-good festival sing-a-long with Leeds’ finest, Kaiser Chiefs. Front man Ricky Wilson kicks things off with a rousing rendition of ‘Everyday I Love You Less And Less’.  Polysics’ Hayashi star jumps his way onto the stage for the second time today as he joins Wilson and co for the chorus of ‘Na Na Na Na Na’ - it turns out to be the highlight of the day.

The impressive thing about the Kaisers’ performance is the crowd they attract.  The usual bunch of drunk twenty-somethings are ticked off the checklist but they are joined young families, groups of ‘nu rave’ teenagers, and middle age couples who bellow out every word.  Hits ‘Ruby’ and ‘I Predict a Riot’ are old hand to the crooners as they also sing their socks off to the lesser know tracks like ‘We Are The Angry Mob’.  Such popularity and adoration of the band, by a diverse crowd, is immensely impressive.

Kaiser Chiefs’ set is a fitting end to the festival, as it encapsulates what the Wireless Festival is all about. Rather than just targeting the bill at a certain kind of audience, the organisers of Wireless have created a festival that pulls an assorted crowd in through their hospitality and the extremely eclectic nature of the headline acts.  The feel of the festival has a certain resonance of a local community party, akin to that of Bristol Ashton Court Festival, with a high profile line-up.  As the crowd departs from Hyde Park, with beaming smiles across their faces and chants of “Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruuuuby” echoing down the tube lines, you can’t help but think that the festival organisers have done what they set out to achieve.