Offset Festival 2009 by Charlie Ingham

Photo: Charlie Ingham

Offset Festival: 2 days in Essex, plenty of bands to see from the unusual No Bra to the headliners The Horrors and everything in-between - Offset has to be the coolest festival this summer. It actually felt that this weekend was the last weekend of summer. Let’s get one thing out of the way first, there was no mud, no rain, no wellies, no rain coats. Although in true indie-kid style, Barbour Jackets seem to be making a comeback, but only if you couple them with retro ray-bans.

There were way too many bands for me to get round, 170-ish over the weekend, ranging from the good, (Hatcham Social), the bad (No Bra), and the ugly (I’m not saying who). This festival really does feel like you can find some new music just by wandering into a tent to see what’s happening. When I say tent I mean the big white ones with the music blaring out, not the small eurohike ones on the adjacent camp site you fall into at the end of the first day after too much cider (no comment).

So Saturday was all about The Slits. There were of course some bands playing from the off that I should have seen due to the name alone, but didn’t; What would Jesus Drive?, Lekiddo - Lord of the Lobsters!, Sex is Disgusting. I feel bad that I missed them. Err, well, maybe not.

Offset suggests that this festival "joins the dots between exciting new bands and the artists who influenced them" and you really do get a sense of things to come. A band that oozes energy and excitement are Dananananaykroyd. It’s difficult to label this band; they have two singers, two drummers, two guitarists and one bass player. It’s jump around like a maniac, scream at the top of your voice, crowd surf, craziness - which after a morning of watching people singing at their feet was just what the crowd needed. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing angry about this band, in fact it’s more pop than hardcore, even the singer Calum Gunn asked the security man if he was allowed to crowd surf. The guy said no, but Calum went for it anyway. At least he asked. This band loved the crowd and the crowd loved them back. Ahh bless. Calum even went as far as to go and hug as many of them as he could at the end of the set.

So the Sunday main stage crowd was pepped for The Horrors, and Clinic (the Liverpudlian medical mask wearing band) were on the main stage next. But I had to make tracks, Hatcham Social Headlined the ECC stage with Tim Burgess DJ’ing just before. True to Hatcham’s form, the ECC stage was rammed, even though the crazy line up schedule meant they were overlapping The Horrors on the main stage. But something was in the air at the ECC stage, the atmosphere was hyped, the band were edgy and security were panicky. Backstage Jerome from Hatcham Social was trying to find a new keyboard as some of the keys had fallen off his. Their manager said “it’ll be ok, use it without that key” but Jerome pleaded, “But I NEED that key!”…

Hatcham didn’t feel the need to play exact replicas of the album tunes, and took to the stage off the bat with some new arrangements. With the excitement of the crowd and the giddiness of the band, the atmosphere at the ECC stage was brilliant. Hatcham Social proved themselves to be a very accomplished band, up against The Horrors for an audience, they gave the show of the weekend. I chatted with the band earlier in the day and we talked about the cancellation of the US tour which was planed for later this month, supporting the Charlatans. “We were obviously gutted” Toby Kidd, singer/guitarist said “but we are supporting Echo and The Bunnymen in the US now which we are excited about”. Excited they should be supporting the post-punk legends, I’m guessing that The Bunnymen will be playing sold out 6000 seater venues.

One last mention for Hatcham Social has to go to Dave’s moustache. Tremendous. If a little Begby.

Another rammed and impressive set on Sunday was from Maps. Their first album was nominated for the Mercury music prize and was recorded in James Chapman’s (aka Maps) bedroom. Maps seemed to be popular not only with the festival goers but also from many of the other bands who were performing at Offset. Maps are one of those bands that seem to play their stuff via an apple macbook. Worth checking out as they are also playing a UK tour throughout October and November.

Other bands throughout the weekend worth mentioning were Electricity in Our Homes, S.C.U.M., Sunderbans, Good Shoes, Goodnight & I wish and Rolo Tomassi. Rolo Tomassi’s hardcore 30 minutes was enough to make grown men cry. Which leads me nicely to ULTERIOR. The lead singer here had a trick, let the band start up, play along for 5 minutes, then come running on dressed up in a hardcore leather outfit and throw your beer into the crowd, then, bandana at the ready, scream out your first song like you’ve got 5 minutes left to live. Awesome. It could only have been better if the guitarist had a top hat, a few addictions, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Okay, The Horrors. They were alright too.

If you’ve not checked out Offset before, it really is worth the trip, it’s a good size, 4000 or so. Great bands in an intimate setting, you get to see the future of Indie pop, with The Horrors, Hatcham Social, Clinic and Dananananaykroyd. You also get to see the not to be missed No Bra, who having played twice at offset is surely a given for next year. Check her at www.myspace.com/nnobra and listen to the epic single ‘minger’.

Anyway, Summer’s over, get yer coat.

To see more photos from Offset Festival go here.