Following the aftermath of the intense Friday and Saturday showings at Lovebox, its chilled out counterpart Citadel took over Victoria Park on Sunday to cap off a momentous weekend.

She Drew The Gun’s dreamy, lyrically evocative psych-pop was the first show I managed to catch over at the JagerHaus stage. Completely captivating throughout, the four-piece were super tight, whether it was the dreamy and wistful ‘Where I End and You Begin’ or the more politically-charged ‘Poem’. The debut album Memories of the Future has an incredibly varied song list and the set reflected that.

Over on the Communion stage, Twin Peaks’ lo-fi garage rock sound was the perfect tonic for a Sunday afternoon as the Chicago band ripped through a gig featuring all three of the band’s albums. Their frenzied, anything-goes performances have earned them notoriety with their brand of on-stage harmless recklessness and, although the crowd were not as inebriated as the six-piece may have wished, it certainly dusted the cobwebs off.

I then decamped to the main stage for the rest of the festival to catch the end of Laura Marling’s set. The multiple Mercury Prize-nominated, Brit Award winner may not possess crowd-pleasing hit singles, but she still has the ability to construct a well-paced set list from a six-album back catalogue that the audience lapped up.

Next up were Wild Beasts. Always traversing the space between indie and pop, the UK band have produced some of the most honest and delicate songs of this century, but the new record has added an element of dance to proceedings which carries an even greater potency to the live show. Gliding effortlessly into Two Dancers favourite ‘Hooting and Howling after ‘Ponytail’, the multitude of genres flow seamlessly together on stage. Other highlights included the groove-driven Present Tense anthem ‘Wanderlust’ and a lively rendition of the filthy ‘Get My Bang’. Frontman Hayden Thorpe then serenaded the crowd for set closer ‘All The King’s Men’.

Miles away from Calvin Harris and the EDM scene, Bonobo (aka Simon Green) creates dance music that moves your soul as well as your feet. His early evening full band set started slowly and built up into a magnificent cathartic showing from his 11-piece band. The live instrumentation offers an organic vigour not found in his solo shows. This was a performance of subtle pleasures, where the electronic and the organic were blended together seamlessly. His willingness to share the spotlight is key to his on stage success.

Headliners Foals then took to the stage shortly before 9pm and once again proved that they are now one of, if not, the UK’s most cherished rock bands. Now indisputable stars, the Oxford group have headlined Reading and Leeds Festival and sold out Wembley Arena in the past 18 months and have perfected the art of catering for their math rock origins alongside their slightly more grandiose sonic explorations. They get the balance right and possess a marvellous collection of festival-friendly anthems that brought the Sunday night crowd to life.

Whether it’s the foundation shaking opener ‘Mountain At My Gates’, the intricate ‘Red Sock Pugie’, the groove-laden ‘My Number’, the raucous ‘Inhaler’, or the enthralling, cathartic set closer ‘Two Steps, Twice’; Foals are a ridiculous live act and a headline slot at Glastonbury surely beckons for the fifth record.
Paul Hill

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