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The festival opened on Friday afternoon with Mumford & Sons playing to a relaxed crowd who only stood for closing song ‘Roll Away Your Stone’. Their bluegrass-influenced folk songs and four-part vocal harmonies were indications of what End of the Road is all about, and they were understandably well-received. More diverse acts during the day included the rhythmic electro-pop of Loney, Dear, the idiosyncratic storytelling of Herman Dune and a couple of memorable performances at the top of the bill on the Garden Stage.
Dirty Projectors’ wildly ambitious art-pop was remarkable in the precision of its ingenious arrangements, Dave Longstreth’s virtuosic guitar and Amber Coffman’s Mariah-esque vocals. Early in the sextet’s set, Coffman and Haley Dekle’s vocal sparring on ‘Remade Horizon’ was eccentrically brilliant. The weekend’s post-rock highlight followed, as Explosions in the Sky proved affecting without need for vocals, their epic instrumentals impressing the garden crowd.
Later in the weekend, some of the best performances came in pairs. On Saturday, Peter Broderick followed up his performance at the Green Man Festival with a similarly stilling and stunning show in a packed Tipi Tent, culminating in his walking into the crowd for the singalong finale, before Dent May energised the Big Top with a joyful, stage-jumping ukulele dance party, covering The Beach Boys and Prince along the way.
Sunday found Joe Gideon & the Shark as tight as ever, their usual potent live arrangement given an extra kick by Arp Cleveland of Archie Bronson Outfit for the pounding closer ‘Civilisation’, whilst the Garden Stage was treated to the crazed stylings of Bob Log III. Log’s crash helmet and gold jumpsuit were upstaged only by his frantic slide guitar and off-kilter banter (imploring female members of the crowd to come on stage to sit on his knees before he played standout “love song” ‘I Want Your Shit On My Leg’).
Bob Log III was far from the only novelty of the festival, as a number of unannounced collaborations and appearances were dotted through the weekend. Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley followed their retro DJ set on the previous night by accompanying veteran folk songwriter Bob Lind on stage, with some acts (notably The Leisure Society, who’d covered the Beatles’ ‘Something’ earlier in the weekend) playing at the piano stage in the woods. In other events, Robin Ince brought a gang of comedians along for a late-night show in the woods, and Brakes, The Acorn and The Hold Steady’s Franz Nicolay were among those to perform unannounced after midnight in the Tipi Tent.
Other highlights included Blitzen Trapper’s show in the all-too-small-for-them Tipi Tent, which focused on songs from 2008’s Furr, leaping between musical genres but realising each with immediacy and aplomb. Elsewhere, Sunday night’s dynamic performance by The Dodos’ was percussive and hypnotic, while country star Neko Case praised the festival and peppered her smooth set with jokey digs at headliners The Hold Steady.
A festival can live or die in the memory by its headliners, and with the variety on offer there was something to please everyone. After Explosions in the Sky’s success and Fleet Foxes note perfect Saturday slot to a capacity crowd, The Hold Steady brought the festival to a triumphant close with their rip-roaring and reminiscent bar-room tales of debauched youth. Frontman Craig Finn’s customary monologue during Garden Stage closer ‘Killer Parties’ united the assembled crowd as ever, and sent them home ingrained with the community spirit of the festival and, on top of that, a longing for next September to come round sooner.
Tickets for End of the Road Festival 2010 are available here.
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