Festival report: Fluff Fest 2011, day one

Everyone has heard about the amazing Fluff Festival, so I think there is no need for any special introductions or talks. Due to the fact that this was my first visit to the fest, I'll just take a line or two to write about the very place of the happening and we can move on to the bands. Located at the well known Rokycany Airfield, the fest and the camp circling it take up a huge space on the vast green field between a woodland area and the nearby town. In contrast to the extremely big and actually almost endless camp space, the festival spot is small, but packed with distros, a movie tent, smaller stage tent, eating place and the main stage itself. All in all, just the perfect place for an event such as this and it really is a nice sight to behold and the organization is great.

As I already mentioned in the previous gig review, my friends and I decided to skip the actual pre-Fluff gig and go to the "Anchor" show in Prague, thus our first day in Rokycany was on the 22nd. Strolling through the forest with a bit slower pace and taking our time to leave our bags and everything, we came a bit late to the fest, the sounds of "Hopeless" greeting us as we arrived. I wasn't that much interested to hear them play, except for the song "Warehouse" and it was really funny how once we stepped into the festival space the song started playing. After some running and witnessing the most important part of the lyrics ("Getting fucked in the warehouse out of sight") next to one very peculiar person, a small number of my friends and me decided to roam the distros instead of sticking around. We took it slow and spent a lot of time on that endeavor, also skipping "50 Lions" in the process.

So after ravaging, or much likely being ravaged by, the distros came the first band we actually watched fully on Fluff and it wasn't even on the main stage, but in the tent. Extremely chaotic and maniacal tunes drew us closer to the stage and in the next thirty minutes I watched and listened with pure amazement. Allow me to introduce "Nikki Louder". Forget everything you heard about their recordings, forget your experiences with them at home, this Slovenian trio is ready to rip your brains apart during live performances. Spasmic, choking and sometimes rending riffs, massive drum explosions and insane bass lines followed by all sorts of howls coming through the microphone, the sheer amount of noise and ear devastation coming from just three members is unbelievable. During their set it was extremely hard to think of anything else, since they are relentless and unpredictable with their tunes. I actually didn't catch the beginning of their performance and we didn't have a printed out time schedule, so I didn't know the name of the band until the very end. I approached the bass player and shamefully asked for their name, so when he said "Nikki Louder" my jaw rolled to the floor. Prior to the trip I took a listen to their tunes and they were intriguing, yes, but they can't be compared to their live manifestation. This was easily one of my favorite performances on this Fluff Fest, so if you ever get a chance to see them play live, do so, you are in for a remarkable surprise.

A break followed in the tent, so we strolled down through the distros again, still coming no way near the main stage which in my humble opinion had the weakest lineup on the first date in the three festival days. After half an hour "Owls Are Not What They Seem" started playing in the tent. I was really looking forward to seeing them live, since the moment I heard their tunes at home I immediately fell in love. This four piece screamo outfit from the Czech Republic managed to break free from the generally dark sound coming from the country and bring an interesting melodic and mellow creation. Their self-titled EP brought six songs bearing a high influence from some French screamo bands, packed with great nonstop pace changing songs and a peculiar vocal performance. And to my great pleasure, their set was as expected, just pure enjoyment to watch. Yet again we didn't know the name of the band, but once the first song started ringing through the tent I immediately recognized their music, since it has a strong dose of uniqueness within. It was planned for me to do an interview with the guys from the band after the show, but my brains were completely blown away, so that we talked and decided to do the interview online and you can expect that in the near future. All in all, amazing band and an even better performance.

We walked around again after "Owls..." finished, went to grab something to eat and overall nothing worth the note happened for us until 7pm when "Touche Amore" started playing on the main stage. I'll be completely honest with this one. Bunch of people are infatuated with them, bunch of people utterly hate them and personally I am found somewhere between the two. I enjoy some of their recordings, yet I had no real expectations due to previously watching a number of their live footage and each time they failed to impress. And to stay completely honest, they managed to really surprise me with their performance. Their songs seemed as a perfect copy of their recordings, just a great flow of sound coming from the stage followed by an energetic act and even constant singalongs and stage dives by the crowd. "Pathfinder", "Home Away From Here", the two tracks from the "La Dispute" split and of course, one of my favorite pieces, "Honest Sleep" are just some of the songs which flooded over the audience during their 45 minute set. Definitely entertaining to watch and listen, I'm somewhat glad that they managed to shake off my thoughts that they aren't so appealing live.

More food was needed, some more walking and hanging out with some people I was so eager to meet for the first time and after all that it was time to see "La Dispute", yet again on the main. Some of the people following my ramblings on this blog know my thoughts about this band, but for the sake of those who don't I will just repeat myself. "Vancouver" blew me away once I first heard it and I still love that release very much, but all their later work, excluding the "Touche Amore" split", is a bit too mellow and "artsy" for my taste. I have some songs I enjoy on "Somewhere at the....." album, but still their first release is a personal favorite and I disapprove of their later work. Of course, their set on Fluff didn't see a single song from "Vancouver", instead the band focusing on "Somewhere..." and the above mentioned split release. So songs like "Andria", "Damaged Goods, "Sad Prayers For Guilty Bodies" and "Bury Your Flame" were played, luckily the last two songs being tracks I like. Their performance was actually quite entertaining, since they sounded perfectly, as if listening to their music at home, a completely clear sound and no fumbles along the way. Although providing an excellent performance, I have to spill some of my thoughts about it, since I had a theory of sorts and it was proven correct. Thanks to the high amount of emotions, mellowness and general intimacy within their music, I was certain that the atmosphere wouldn't be so great during their performance and I was right. "La Dispute" is definitely not an open air festival band, much rather excelling at a smaller venue where the contact and interaction with the audience can be greater and more direct, which as I said proved correct when I saw them in Budapest for the second time. But more about that in another gig review which will follow shortly. All in all, their set was great, but nothing overtly surprising.