Get Loaded in the Park - 11/06/11

Despite the heavy showers attempting to turn Clapham Common into the Glastonbury site, the festival carried on with few interruptions. Although the sound was marred by the council limits, the spirit of the annual celebration of all things alternative lived on and triumphed over the adversarial weather. The weather encouraged more punters to buy the incredulously expensive alcohol and brought a hazier atmosphere to the park. There were no fashion statements to be made as waterproofs and wellies started off the festival season early but of course, there were the exceptions in girls who braved bare legs.


Get Loaded started off leisurely with a short set from New Zealand's finest avant garde indie jazz pioneer Connan Mockasin who was subject to sound issues due to receiving the first slot of the day. Nevertheless, Connan persevered with his live band, strumming out his unique brand of disjointed psychedelic pop. However, his almost childlike falsetto voice didn't come across strongly with the crowd as he ploughed through tracks from his album 'Forever Dolphin Love'. Despite not having widespread appeal, there is a certain charm to Connan's set which both enthrals and perplexes. Next on was Darwin Deez, Brooklyn's chirpiest self confessed hipster, bringing London the usual wacky dance routines and even a 3 minute rap performed by Darwin himself, channelling his inner most gangster. Although over enthusiastic guitarist Cole left the band, the Deez's new live guitarist brings even trippier dance moves to the live quartet.


The next change over sees annoying twee at its best with Los Campesinos! who stumble through essentially what would be classed as their greatest hits set. Gareth Campesinos! wails belligerently to cater for the diehard teenage girl fanclub who hang on to his every word and chant them back almost religiously. It's clear that Los Campesinos!' festival performances are arduous for those unfamiliar with their niche brand of twee pop. 

Born and bred in Wandsworth, Patrick Wolf considered this appearance as a homecoming, citing his former labour, making sandwiches in Clapham where he was fired from his job after a day. However, the performance displays a vast contrast from these days, Patrick now displays the kind of exuberance one can only get from a love of his career. Patrick Wolf stands out above the rest of the acts thus far, charming the audience with his energetic nature and showing that you can put on a show regardless of weather conditions. He closes with new album Lupercalia's lead single 'The City', providing an anthemic bombast to the otherwise folky proceedings of his back catalogue, with a giant 80s chorus that would make Hurts tremble in their suits.

Over at the rammed Gigwise tent (due to the rain), O. Children capitalise on the additional spectators. Tobi O'Kandi bellows his trademark baritone over tried and tested Joy Division reminiscent goth pop. Although the sound is slightly scuzzy, tunes such as 'Dead Disco Dancer' and 'Ruins' permeate more deeply than some other Joy Division imitation bands (I.e. Editors). Afterwards, French pop's most recent export Yelle has landed in the UK with sparkly disco pop aplenty  in the same vein of 2009's Little Boots. The live band arrive on stage in safari attire, resemblant of the cover to her recent album 'Safari Disco Club'. Yelle herself looking like the abominable snowman with a weighty disguise used for her intro. She rapidly whips off her costume to reveal a red catsuit and began more lively proceedings. Despite the language barrier, she commanded the London crowd, shrieking 'Dance London' and 'Show me some love!'. The crowd responded obediently, losing their minds to the distinctly French electro pop. Imagine Justice with Marina Diamandis singing in French.

Last but not least, distinct Sheffield duo Slow Club take to the Last.fm stage and commence with a new acoustic song. They proceed with the slower songs from 'Yeah So', their debut album, plus new single 'Two Cousins' which is now available to download from their website (www.slowclubband.com). Nevertheless, the amount of people sheltering from the rain and mindlessly talking during the slower songs took away from the potency of Slow Club's live performance and disrupting what would otherwise be a flawless set or indie-folk loveliness. 

By Toby McCarron and Aurora Mitchell

Get Loaded in the Park 2011 - Festival Preview

Over recent years there has a been a distinct increase in the rise of 1-day festivals. In London alone there is now Field Day, Underage and 1234 Festival to name but a few. One of the more established of these 1 day-ers is Get Loaded in the Park. Now in its 7th year, the festival returns to Clapham Common for its annual celebrations of all things indie and electronic. With previous headliners including Iggy & the Stooges and Orbital, the 2011 line-up has much to live up to. Luckily the festival has delivered this year with a wide variety of acts both established and new set to delight punters. There's crowd pleasing British indie aplenty with the recently Johnny Marr-less Cribs and the ever-reliable British Sea Power. And from other the other side of the pond Darwin Deez brings his comedy dance / NYC twangy indie-pop to cap off the day at the Gigwise arena. Not to mention Headliners of the Absolute Radio main stage, the recently "reformed" razorlight, who like a kind of indie sugarbabes have almost entirely shifted line-up as only one original member remains in ever-arrogant indie sound-bite producer Johnny Borrell who is out to prove you dont need to have all the members of your band to please a crowd. We'll be reporting from 'Get Loaded' but in the meantime here are 5 tips of who to see on the day;

1. Patrick Wolf returns in 2011 with his new album Lupercalia, an exploration of the melancholic and the theme of love. As well as performing new material such as the anthemic sing-a-long new single 'The City', Patrick is sure to pick a set encorporating the best of his previous four albums and delight his hardcore fan base with old favourites 'The Magic Position' and 'Accident and Emergency'. Performing on the main stage, Wolf's blend of Bouncy indie-folk and more traditional lovelorn romanticism should go down a treat.

2. Los Campesinos play right before Patrick Wolf on the Absolute Radio main stage. Gareth & Company write twee confessional teenage odes to such subject matters of depression (The Sea Is A Good Place To Think About The Future) and longing after girls  (Knee Deep At ATP). Three albums into their career and Los Campesinos! have already built up a devoted throng of angsty teens hanging onto their every word and dancing like maniacs to the songs that have soundtracked their progression into adulthood and the difficulties of adolescence. So go catch Los Campesinos if you are fully embracing being young or wanting to be young again.

3. Slow Club, along the same lines as Los Campesinos! provide twee love songs from a distinctively nostalgic teenage point of view. Their second record comes out later this year following the debut "Yeah So" released on Moshi Moshi in 2009, and there is a possibility of new songs on the cards at their Get Loaded slot. The Sheffield duo are sure to enthrawl with bouncy feel good songs such as 'Giving Up On Love' and 'It Doesn't Have To Be Beautiful', and equally pluck at heart strings with "When I Go"

4. O. Children are in stark contrast to a lot of the bands on the Get Loaded line-up. While other bands deal in twee hyper-active indie pop, O. Children are an altogether darker and more epic prospect. They combine  Joy Division-esque guitar reverb, pounding cold wave synths and singer Tobi O’Kandi's amazing deep voice which is so low it's frequency is only just detectable by human ears. Set highlights will include the giant killing bombastic chorused "Ruins" and the more accessible pop sensilibites of "Dead Disco Dancer". O. Children are definitely worth a look if not for their tunes, then for 'that voice'.

5. Connan Mockasin plays early on the main stage following performances supporting bands such as Egyptian Hip Hip and Late of the Pier on tour. Similar to Egyptian Hip Hop, Connan Mockasin is hardly a typical run-of-the-mill act and also includes a similarly lo-fi aesthetic. Connan creates lucious psychedelic storylines intertwined with elements of blues and reverb soaked guitar-lines on his most recent LP 'Forever Dolphin Love' and his performance at Get Loaded will surely be one of the more avant garde shows of the festival.

For more info/tickets: http://getloadedinthepark.com/

By Toby McCarron