Underage Festival – Victoria Park, London

Underage Festival 2011: strictly no parents — it says it all. No drink, no drugs. But since when has that ever stopped teen Britons? It’s 11:26am, and the B-E-A-utifully sunny day of my first festival is begun by masses of flower-headbanded, welly-wearing ‘festival indie’ teen girls and Topman-styled lads flooding to the big Underage tent to witness Rizzle Kicks, a young hip pop duo straight in from Brighton.

The twosome’s performance is undoubtedly a big hit for the rapidly growing crowd, as Rizzle insists that fans must sing along, and too right they should — tracks like ‘Down With The Trumpets’ (now a Top 10 hit) go down a treat, perfectly illustrating their fresh ability to blend the old school hip-hop era of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s with modern pop. The boys polish off their set exquisitely with a seriously sick, guitar-heavy cover of The White Stripes’ ‘Seven Nation Army’ and, as they announce their thank-yous to the smitten crowd, the boys are attacked by girls’ underwear from the front row. The childhood friends Jordan and Harley rub their bodies with the frilly pink bras, grinning cheekily. Could you blame them?

Shortly afterwards, I am dragged by a friend to watch south London grime rapper Giggs. Although at first he seems nothing far removed from any other London rapper, it’s soon obvious that the fast-rising star gets his fans sweating and raving. “This song is about sex, so maybe I shouldn’t play it here at Underage,” he says at on point. “but, you know what? Fuck it, I know you all do it anyway.”

After Giggs, I make my way to the Underage tent. Here I come across Crystal Fighters — an unusual, yet somewhat jumpy blend of Basque folk and bassy, electronic dance. A rare mix, you could say — but the five piece surprisingly get away with fusing a history of traditional folk with pounding, bass-wobbling dubstep. Teens scream maniacally as strobe lights trippingly glare, and vocalist Sebastian jumps to-and-fro across the stage, teasing the crowd as the blaring bass line drops: “So you like dubstep, eh?” The crowd obliges by screaming for more.

An hour later Miles Kane takes to the stage. He’s very casually wearing white spotted red trousers, and tracks like ‘Inhaler’ do the sometime Last Shadow Puppets man proud, reviving the slick vibe of sixties alternative rock. Kane’s croaky vocals sync perfectly with the catchy guitar riffs, and as the chorus comes about, the crowd roar, “Inhaler, inhaler, yeah yeah yeah!” Although it may be hard to believe, has Kane managed to revive the rarity of British rock? Only time may tell.

Meanwhile, over at the Topman CTRL Stage, Wolf Gang is on. With his symphonic rock sound, LSE dropout Max McElligot produces a rejuvenating softness, especially the smooth harmony ooh-ing and uhh-ing of ‘The King And All Of His Men’. As the chorus of ‘Lions In Cages’ ensues, the crowd bobs gallantly. Props to Wolf Gang on a pleasant performance.

Throughout the day Victoria Park is graced with acts from the likes of tech-dance group Is Tropical, R&B jazz funk singer/songwriter Janelle Monáe and YouTube sensation parodists Midnight Beast, not forgetting indie math pop band Dutch Uncles, all of whom give a good show. A special performance is given by Nottingham indie pop band Dog Is Dead, revelling in their enthusiastic charm with tracks like ‘Young’ and ‘Glockenspiel Song’, both oozing in melodic harmonies and jazzy sax fanfare. Groups of friends sit around casually, smoking joints one by one, simply appreciating the music.

Unfortunately for the Topman CTRL stage, Slough boys Viva Brother put on a disappointing performance; not due to their lack of charm (although they actually come across as incredibly arrogant, especially when lead guitarist Samuel Jackson shoots rays from his ‘guitar gun’ at the end of every song), but simply because of their same-old sound. Blur, Oasis — the grit of Brit-pop has been done before, and what Viva Brother have done is create a replica with no signs of further development. And it’s laughable when lead vocalist Lee Newell declares, “Yeah, we’re a relatively new band.” Hang on a moment, Lee, weren’t you in emo-punk bands Wolf Am I and Kill The Arcade before this? Who knows, maybe they’d have gotten away with it had they not cockily showboated with their debut album Famous First Words so much. “We just decided to write some songs, turned out they were the best songs in the last 20 years,” said Lee famously. He’s only kidding himself with that one.

However, it’s not long before the evening’s big show takes place — Bombay Bicycle Club. Headliners of the day, the tent is instantly crammed with anxious fanatics. After minutes of waiting, the crowd is finally graced with the presence of singer/guitarist Jack Steadman, lead guitarist Jamie MacColl, bassist Ed Nash and drummer Suren De Saram. The boys begin with first-ever single ‘Evening/Morning’, in which Nash possesses the crowd with his striking bass groove, motivating fans to jerk their hands and crowd surfers to clamber over audience heads (horrifically resulting in a sweaty gooch in my face). Following the tense opening, the band delivers a pick’n’mix set culled from 2009’s classic I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose and 2010’s acoustic folk Flaws.

‘What If’ certainly does the night justice, with its courageous lyrics, “If only one of us / Had the guts tonight,” igniting the sea of roaring animals, whereas MacColl’s barbed guitar patterns and Steadman’s trembling vocals make ‘Always Like This’ a true highlight. Throughout their set, the band teases admirers with tracks off yet-to-arrive third album A Different Kind Of Fix. Sonically leaning more in the direction of their debut, the songs sound great on first listen. ‘Shuffle’ is a jumpy piano-sample based jumble of bassy funk and bouncy drums, and the title is too rightly named — fans are quite literally shuffling. ‘Bad Timing’, ‘How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep’ and ‘Your Eyes’ are also played, not forgetting ‘Lights Out, Words Gone’, a bouncing bass enchantment softly assisted by collaborator Lucy Rose’s sweet voice, leaving fans floating gently back to earth in its wake.

The set is finished, and as many frantically race out of the tent to dodge the youth-traffic, others gulp frantically on free water handouts, red-cheeked, eye-liner smudged, clothes ripped and hair ruffled. It’s been a brilliant day.

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