Stereophonics!
Acoustic set!
They let us in!!!
After the buzz buzz buzz about the Stereophonics starting at the surprise Sir Richard Branson appearance at the press briefing I was excited to see them.
Honestly ,while I've heard the name, I couldn't name a song by the Welsh rockers who were the inaugural artists for V2 records back in 1996.
But the acoustic set at the Molson Canadian Tent had been preapproved media only.
Must have been the rain softening the heart of the folks at Molson as they quietly revised their policiy and let a bunch of us in
And what a show it was Only four songs and it was basically the full on sex dream of the true fan. I managed to squeeze to the front just behind a group of rabid British fans. They roared with joy at the slightest whiff of them coming on stage and then fully enjoyed every moment of the band's appearance. It was amazing to see a band this big, for the very,very first time in an ultra intimate acoustic setting.
We were able to watch them come in and then relax after the first two songs, ("Local boy in the photograph" and "Pick a part that's new") explaining that they were desperately hungover after going out for Indian last night with Paul Weller and Oasis who were set to headline the V fest line up ahead of them tonight.
Throughout the third song" Maybe tomorrow", the band began to let go and were clearly enjoying themselves. It was a daylight performance and they were now actually looking the fans in they eye and smiling.
During the last song ("Dakota") when they reached "Drinking back, drinking for two
Drinking with you. When drinking was new" the guitarist and drummer (playing a tambourine) turned to one another with a long meaningful look and laughed outright. Clearly there were echoes of the previous night in those words
It totally wet my appetite for the show later and earned them a fan. Amazing, tight playing in a really wonderful atmosphere.
And frankly given the oh so smooth gravel of Kelly Jones voice, I wonder what the hell took me so long to give them a listen