Forbidden Fruit - Sunday | Review

Forbidden Fruit Festival in The Royal Hospital Kilmainham on Sunday 1st June 2014

Brian Deady

Brian Deady has the honour of opening the main stage on the Sunday of Forbidden Fruit, just himself, a drummer and a winning reference to our favourite handyman. Yes, Over Like MacGyver is the smooth soul start to his set, an early showcase of his impressive voice and knowledge of ‘80s TV. The A-Team and Knight Rider get a shout out too, but Deady has more in his arsenal to impress us than pop culture references. He comes out from behind his keys set-up for a cover of Kanye’s Flashing Lights as the drummer throws out a slow disco beat and the backing track provides the effective vocal harmony and percussive chant.

Another vocally-enriched cover follows, a doo wop take on Future Islands’ Seasons (Waiting On You), with Deady’s layered experimentations adding depth to his already refined voice. The Devil Won’t Let Me is fresh off the press (he wrote it on Tuesday), a gospel-style stomper to see out the set. The boy can sing, there’s no doubt about it, and with his deep soulful tones mingling with the main stage sunshine, it’s a fine kick-off to the day’s shenanigans. JMD

Daithi

Daithi hits the Undgrowth Stage late after an apparent mad dash from the airport. There’s no sign of fatigue from the Galwegian though as he bounces on the spot endlessly through his set as though he’s wearing some form of trampoline shoes. He’s evolved greatly since he first hit public consciousness in the All Ireland Talent Show five years ago. His use of vocal samples and a Macbook means that he’s no longer required to work from scratch on each track; he now merely adds the intricate detail and final coat of varnish rather than painting on a blank canvas.

It certainly works to keep the momentum up. He still has his fiddle in hand, though he plays it more with his fingers than his bow. His largely ‘90s influenced dance music does connect and offers a kit of energy to the crowd still trying to feel their way into the day. SN

Sounds Of System Breakdown

That main stage can be a cavernous place, but no such thoughts come in to play when Sounds Of System Breakdown take us through an impressive set that gets bodies moving and faces grinning onstage and off. The three-piece are an energetic force, with the two men in front of the kit switching between guitars and synth as the need arises. It frequently does, as the enjoyment factor increases along with the energy.

“Are you ready for the first dance of the day, folks?” the singer asks before Skin – in fairness, though, the dancing started as soon as SOSB did. There’s a bit of air drumming from our man on keys, as if limbering up for the imminent cowbell action he engages in. It’s all good dance-y stuff with the band moving from the new songs to those that have been kicking around for a while, finally finishing up in storming fashion complete with maniacal laughter from the multi-tasker behind the keys. JMD

Klangkarrussel

Klangkarrussel prove one of the unexpected highlights of Sunday’s selection. Translated as Sound Carousel, the band consists of DJs and producers Tobias Rieser and Adrian Held, so it was going to be interesting to see how this set-up would hold the attention of the mid-afternoon main stage crowd. They have it sussed – two risers stand either side of the stage, with Rieser and Held manning laptop stations at the rear of the stage. One riser plays host to a live percussionist, the other to the bundle of energy on bass guitar that incites the crowd, acting as both bandleader and cheerleader.

The two men at the back are doing the real work here, but the bassist drives the gig, jumping from riser to main stage, eyeing up the crowd or hopping around with tambourine. Front of main stage is where the party is at right now, the sun is shining and even the two lads at the back are getting the urge to have a bop to themselves. The set ends in a nice mix of soul and tribal dance, the percussionist gives the toms one final rattle and all four exit the stage as the sounds of the synth fades into the ether. Groundbreaking? Not on your life, just highly entertaining and damn good fun. JMD

Public Enemy

Despite lingering rumours that they demanded a full roast turkey as part of their rider, only to turn up with another full roast turkey of their own – we can neither confirm nor deny these rumours – Public Enemy filled the Undergrowth tent for the early evening show. They offer a novel approach to the sound check; it acts as more of a crowd warmer, like a comedian coming on before a talkshow.

The rabble-rousing works, and, by the time Messrs Chuck D and Flavor Flav hit the stage, fevers are at a pitch. What follows in an exercise in crowd pleasing. They may not have the political credibility they once had, the unfortunate by-product of an MTV reality show, but they know what the crowd wants to hear.

Rebel Without a Pause and 911 is a Joke and the intensity doesn’t let up from there. Flav jumps around the stage with the vim of a man 20 years his junior, his trademark clock emerging from beneath his t-shirt halfway through the set. The “Yeah Boy!”s are doled out at regular intervals and hundreds of closed fist are thrust into the air whenever Chuck D demands it.

Flav makes a bee-line for the crowd, where he’s hailed as a hero, during Fight the Power. Meanwhile, Chuck D is singing “Fuck the Queen/You gotta fight the powers that be.” They know their audience and they know how to rile them up, while offering no little entertainment. SN

Little Dragon

Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano inhabits the space centre-stage, flanked by two synth set-ups while drummer Erik Boden triggers off the percussive effects behind them all in the main arena. An ever-present tambourine hangs from Nagano’s wrist, and her energy is certainly infectious – there’s just something about the band’s set that doesn’t ignite on this occasion. Blinking Pigs is a game-changer though, with Boden upstanding to rumble out a roll-on-the-floor tom before kicking into the set’s liveliest moment thus far. Nagano joins him behind the kit to lash into the cymbals, and the set suddenly becomes a more dance-inducing beast.

Not only do Little Dragon pull the afternoon out of its malaise, the sun has finally defeated the clouds that hang ominously in the sky above, and it seems that things just start to go right for all concerned. This one is certainly a game of two halves, but when the band finally hit their stride it’s as much of a dance party as the other acts that typified the main stage sounds over the Sunday. JMD

Warpaint

Warpaint are an unusual choice for an Original Stage slot today. As females with guitars, they are almost unique in the day’s line-up. It could even be debated that Warpaint aren’t really a ‘festival’ band, despite it being how most of their Irish shows come about. Their 21st century shoegaze sound struggles to bridge the gap to the crowd.

Even with Undertow and Love is to Die, two of their big hits, unleashed early on, it’s not really connecting. They are perfectly reproduced, but don’t really sound like festival songs. Disco//Very is the sole energy inducing song in a set which includes another Bowie cover. By our count, their cover of Ashes to Ashes is the third song by the Thin White Duke trotted out over the weekend.

You can’t fault Warpaint’s musicianship – the vocal harmonies on Disco//Very, in particular, are fantastic – or really their performance; it’s just that their sound doesn’t belong on a windswept, open-air stage in the sunshine. SN

Wild Beasts

Closing off the Undergrowth Stage is Wild Beasts, with their vocal double threat of Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming; Hayden’s upper register complimenting Fleming deeper, velvety tones. A band that are darlings of the critics but yet to reach real mainstream acclaim, Wild Beasts offer another rare Sunday treat for the indie kids, an antidote (for those who wanted one) to the strictly dance acts that surrounded them.

Their considered, dulcet sound is a perfect come down from a weekend high on energy, even if it came slightly muffled through the speakers. “This is a song for dancing and saying ‘Fuck you Monday morning’,” Hayden says before introducing A Simple Beautiful Truth, a song that sounds more likely to welcome the sunrise than anything else. It’s on Daughters, a song whose bass tones you can feel in your soul, where Hayden and Fleming play off each other most beautifully.

Each is then given their moment to shine before the set ends; Hayden singing Wanderlust and Fleming All the King’s Men, here showing a brilliant falsetto of his own. It’s a cool, calm, come down; a perfect ending for those not about to hit the town on a bank holiday Sunday. SN