Knockanstockan 2013 - Sunday | Review

Knockanstockan – Sunday | Review

Words Frank Hughes and Stephen Byrne

Sunday afternoon brought the type of torrential rain you’d expect to find in a Vietnam war movie to Knockanstockan. Festival goers ran for shelter and in to the grateful arms of bands lucky enough to have performed in the indoor stages. However spirits didn’t stay dampened for long as the artists soldiered on through the elements creating a positive atmosphere for the crowd to feed off. However, Liza Flume deserves special praise for performing whilst stranded on a rock in the middle of the lake during the worst deluge.

Nursery Crimes

Nursery Crimes didn’t need any environmental help to draw a crowd. This family band fronted by Rama Block along with his three youngest sons had the Dimestore Tent rammed. It was the youngest member of the band, 9 year old vocalist Radzee, who stole the show. Over the course of the weekend, very few singers had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand like Radzee did. The band’s rendition of Rage Against The Machines’ Killing In The Name Of would have made the stoniest of hearts melt with little Radzee giving it serious welly resulting in huge cheers from the crowd. Make it your business to catch them at next year’s Knockantsockan.

Ghost Estates

Combining pop sensibilities along with a punk edge Ghost Estates have made a name for themselves over the past few years, especially with their acclaimed self-titled album. Ghost Estates generate a huge wall of sound of that reverberates around the tent. But there was something missing in the performance, perhaps it was a connection with the audience. The songs from their fine album were played with typical verve with Pop Song sounding especially punchy, but that extra spark to turn a performance from a good gig into a great one was missing.

Mumblin’ Deaf Ro

One felt like David Attenborough finding the lesser spotted Mumblin’ Deaf Ro at a festival. In only his second festival appearance, Mumblin’ Deaf Ro treated us to charming tales which he gleefully explained to an attentive audience. Connecting with the crowd is something Mumblin’ Deaf Ro doesn’t have a problem with. listening to What’s To Be Done With El Salvador? and What To Learn And Where To Learn It could be a mind expanding experience for some. There is a quintessential charm to Deaf Ro’s singing style and it seemed neither crowd or the artist wanted Cheer Up Charlie Brown to end. Mumblin’ Deaf Ro must surely become a festival mainstay in the coming years.

Cat Dowling

A heavy deluge scattered most people from the Faerie Field just as Cat Dowling started. But Dowling isn’t a quitter and worked hard to coax back the crowd. Her backing band moved effortlessly through the set adding extra umph to Gospel Song which sounded much broader than the album version. She urged the crowd forward, hopping off the stage facing the elements and generating the atmosphere her set deserved.

New Valley Wolves

In one of those random festival occurrences, the floor in the Jimmi Lee’s Juke Joint collapsed on Friday night. With New Valley Wolves on the bill in the Juke Joint on Sunday night it ought to have been reinforced with concrete. Coming on like the bastard child of Rubber Factory era The Black Keys and White Blood Cells era White Stripes, this duo are carving their own rocket fuelled path on the Irish indie music scene. A packed Juke Joint witnessed them tear through a varied set which started fast with Hells Bells and finished strongly with the raucous Rabbit and Fire In The Blood. New Valley Wolves should be added to you must see Irish act list immediately.

Tandem Felix

Since Tandem Felix returned with the ‘Popcorn’ EP earlier this year, they’ve been making a series of impressive live performances. And this time was no different with another remarkably assured performance from start to finish. It would be unfair to single out one particular song but Tell Yer Loved Ones resonated beautifully. Lead singer David Tapley was in fine voice, with the atmospheric guitars ringing out in slow building crescendos behind him. Perhaps the atmosphere could have been lost in the big open spaces of the main stage but, the Dimestore Recordings tent was the perfect venue to bottle Tandem Felix’s energy.

Overall Knockanstockan 2013 was a resounding success, bringing a wealth of Irish musical talent from a wide-ranging spectrum of musical genres in to focus. A spirit of togetherness permeated the crowd, performers, volunteers and organisers alike, making for a more enjoyable festival experience compared to the larger corporate festivals. That is not to say that everything was perfect, Knockanstockan can certainly improve. The bus service certainly wasn’t perfect but, then again it was the only queue to be faced over the three days and was a small inconvenience in the scheme of things. Knockanstockan has found a niche in the festival circuit and cultivated it to gold ribbon standards. It never went looking for this niche though, it just happened to fill the void by being itself and that is what is wonderful about Knockanstockan. It’s not trying to be anything other than Knockanstockan and long may that continue.