Wickerman 2014: Friday, 25 July
Among the many spectacles at this year’s Wickerman festival are the punters themselves. Aside from the bands, the stalls, the reggae tent and the fairground rides you can amuse yourself for a short while by comparing and contrasting the varying degrees of sunburn on display. The weather on Friday is never short of hot. Not mild, or balmy, but one of those rare, almost mythical Scottish days when the temperature rivals southern Italy and most natives respond by turning a bright shade of crimson.
The mood on site is boisterous, with most folk necking beer at a rapid rate before their cool boxes turn to ovens. The majority are happy to lie outside on the hill and slowly crisp. The crowds in the Solus and GoNorth tents, where the best acts of the day are playing, are correspondingly sparse as the mercury climbs ever higher, and only begin to fill up as the sun goes down.
Looking cool and completely unflustered are Tijuana Bibles. The Glasgow four-piece, resplendent in mirror shades and slicked back hair, have the perfect swamp blues rock sound for these humid conditions. They crank up the volume for new single Crucifixion, and don’t even break sweat in the process – unlike the increasingly disheveled crowd, many taps aff, including a sizable hometown contingent who roar their encouragement. “It’s fucking warrrrrm!” cries frontman Tony Costello, the most truthful statement that anyone in Dundrennan has remarked all day.
Back down the hill on the Summerisle stage, a four-piece brass section is tuning up; a sure sign that a pop-soul act of some distinction is preparing to take to the stage. If ever there was a group that needed no introduction it is Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, but they afforded one anyway and the crowd screams its approval as the woman herself and her two accompanying backing singers appear. “Are you ready for some Motown soul?” she asks, before launching straight into the 1963 classic Heat Wave, a set opener that today feels just so right. It’s fair to say that Martha can’t hit the high notes like she used to, but her energy, enthusiasm and sheer charisma carry her through. What also helps is the small matter of the setlist and the quality of the songs it contains. “I had a real reason for coming here today; for 55 years you have been buying our music,” she beams. It goes without saying that Dancing in the Street provokes an outbreak of sweat-flinging movement from the sun-beaten crowd.
An enigmatic female singer of a very different generation takes to the stage at a near-empty Solus tent silently and without fuss. She is LAW, whose two EPs have gathered rave reviews thanks to her unique vocals and irresistible production, courtesy of good pals and creative collaborators Young Fathers, who are here to see her before their own headline set this evening. Standing alone on stage with only a few instruments and a laptop for company, the biting Number One sounds impossibly huge. Along with the spectral beat of Hustle, it quickly attracts passers-by into the tent. LAW leaves as quietly as she arrived, with many of those wise enough to be here left eager to find out more.
The broodingly intense Vladimir are not ones for on stage banter either. Their post-punk sound is impressive in its bleakness and volume, but hearing singer Ross Murray above the din is a struggle. They unveil a superb industrial take on Underworld’s club mega hit Born Slippy, but it takes at least a minute to work out that Murray is singing the familiar "Drive boy dog boy/Dirty numb angel boy" refrain. When added to the heat of the GoNorth tent, the song has an almost hypnotic effect on those present, with the beery good times replaced by fixed stares and slight head nods to the music. You suspect these Dundonians will class that as a result.
While Shed Seven attract a monster crowd to hear their dreary stagger down Britpop memory lane – despite being perhaps the only mid-90s outfit that even the Bluetones could look down their noses upon – United Fruit pick up the pace in the GoNorth tent and smash anyone’s fading memories of Chasing Rainbows to pieces.
The Glasgow foursome, long-time Skinny favourites, sound reenergised with a second album set to be released and another crowd to win over. There’s a new-found pop-sensibility at work here, but that bite of old remains.
The Solus tent is full for the headline appearance of Young Fathers, with many punters now glad for a merciful break from the sun. The Edinburgh trio have enjoyed a stellar 2014 since The Skinny spoke to them back in January, with praise for their first album proper, DEAD, pouring in from all over the world. But despite their studio accomplishments they remain a group that must be seen live to be fully appreciated. There’s an excitement and warm energy they capture on stage that can’t be heard elsewhere. Tonight they welcome LAW on stage to sing with them on several numbers, including a stupendous rendition of WAR. It’s the sound of a band whose trajectory remains ever skywards.