Live Review

Rockness, Sunday – Loch Ness

• 18th Jun 2009

The live element of the Soulwax performance is the most enjoyable aspect of the gig. The physical exertion Soulwax sweat is matched by their audience. Watching them tinker these tracks, Justice ‘s Phantom and Daft Punk’s Robot Rock in a band format is somehow more impressive than watching a lone DJ mix. All dapper in white suits and dickies.

But it ain’t a a party unless…uh oh who invited Cuban Brothers? Awww yeah! They are more than a novelty act Cuban Brothers are a movement, a cult of PARTY. An unstoppable force tha makes you want to hang out on your festival lawn and cook fresh meat on a disposable BBQ from Tesco.

The Real Stone Roses are good but no one quite seems to know why a tribute band are on the main stage, except the people walking round in Stone Roses T-shirts. Ian Brown aka some fella, narrowly avoids being hit by a bottle. Impersonating the original swagger, the first Manc lad. These great songs, I am the Resurrection, Waterfall, Made of Stone and She Bangs the Drum are all fantastic and performed to a tee.

Erol Alkan draws one of THE crowds of the festival into the Sunday Best tent and purposefully delivers in his promise to Keep Kids Dancing. Possibly the most vital solo DJ performance of RockNess 2009.

Rocking out on the main stage. This a home show…almost, for Biffy Clyro. Listen again on BBC. [link] A performance that stands out as one of the few guitar bands at this mainly dance-oriented line up and a real barnstormer. A powerful set from the Biff that comes up for air with a breather during the delightfully sombre and acoustic Machines. The rest of the set builds through Who’s Got A Match, Semi Mental, Get Fucked Stud,and 9/15ths. A notable highlight is the first festival airing of a new track That Golden Rule from the forthcoming album, which if this is anything to go by will be a rip-roaring frantic riff-tastic masochistic mash-up of time signatures and volumous rock tirade. The set climaxes in an audience participatory rendition of Mountains which rocks and bounces the Loch. Awesome. Best band of the weekend.

Surviving what rumours say might keep Liam Howlett away from tonight’s gig, a bottle to the head at Download the night previous, The Prodigy do not disappoint and arrive..by helicopter. They do however disappoint those who want to hear debut album The Prodigy Experience back-to-back likes it’s 1992 again.

Seeing how this is never going to happen we settle for a Best Of set from the best of the best, and the best of new album Invaders Must Die. Omen, Warrior Dance, Run with the Wolves, Take me to the Hospital, Invaders Must Die, opening with World’s on Fire. There’s Poison, Voodoo People and Their Law from Jilted Generation, with Breathe, Firestarter and Smack my Bitch Up from Fat of the Land. Notable exceptions of any previous album Always Outnumbered. And finishing on Out of Space, just to keep the old farts happy. Boing!