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Slow Club completely pack out the same
tent after, the sweet boy-girl duo's live show continues to shine and a
dreamy cover of The Mae Shi's Run To Your Grave is a notable highlight. The
debut album can't come quick enough.
Gothic O'Children bring a, ahem, dark cloud to proceedings.
Their moody noodlings are entertaining enough but soon become rather samey.
So So Modern save the day with an excellent
set of bouncy electro. Gone are the usual "wacky" costumes they usually
display, but none of the content falls flat, and the New Zealand
four-piece pull in the days strongest performance.
Ex-Mclusky and Jarcrew boys Future Of The Left
's ferocious Shellac-inspired rock falls flat on the main stage
because of poor sound quality. The band don't appear to be particularly
having a blast either (frontman Falco asks the crowd "Are you having a
mediocre time?"). Their new tracks sound as if they continue where debut
Curses left off but this set was a big disappointment.
Not much better are the heavily delayed Ispo Facto, who
come across as nothing more as a shambolic hipster mess. Even less
inspiring are the really-why-are-they-still-bothering My Vitriol
who not only appear to have little new material but also still look as bored to be onstage as they
did seven years ago. Seriously guys, the moody thing doesn't work -
we've grown up now. We don't care anymore.
Blood Red Shoes get possibly the weekend's biggest crowd,
and they're pleasant enough, but we wander over to the Girlcore tent once
more where the party is again in full swing. Sets from Warboy
and Zombie Disco Squad have the droves avoiding the rain on
their feet.
The heavily-delayed Gang of Four close the festival and
manage to do so on a high. Opening with At Home He's A Tourist and
proceeding to play the nearest thing to a greatest hits set, they banish
the memories of the lacklustre Wire set the night before and give the
festival a memorable climax. The smashing of a microwave and a genuinely
amazing Damaged Goods just about saves the day from being a massive
washout.
Offset has great potential, the venue is convenient and easy to get
to and whilst the facilities were somewhat lacking in places, there were
never queues for anything for longer than a couple of minutes and bars
and other amenities were well staffed. More quality control with
the band selections could have turned what was merely an
average event into a great one. Next year, perhaps.
Offset Festival 2008:
Day 1
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