Never Enough Notes e-zine // reviews + interviews + music

Feeling slightly weary by the third and final day of the festival, I crawled out of my stuffy tent and into the Crooked House tent to hear the rising stars of folk rock, Vardo And The Boss. Bringing out the best of the weekend’s sunshine, they pulled quite the crowd. They rubbed the sleep away from the tired eyes of festivalgoers and replaced it with stars as the lead vocalist and guitarist, Laura Jane, sung with incredible versatility. Combined with Lauren Francis’ impressive accompanying vocals and piano, they filled the stage with vivacity. The band shared great chemistry, showing real showmanship and congratulating each other when they nailed a song. It was lovely, as an Essex girl myself, to see such energized talent come out of a somewhat uninspiring county.

The skies really cleared when Lulu And The Lampshades followed Vardo And The Boss onto the bedroom-themed stage. Sailing the growing crowd down a rose tinted stream of heartbreak and fanciful daydreams, the Bristolian songbirds knocked together the most unexpected concoctions of sound. Whorls of typewriter smacking, violin plucking, foot stomping and hand clapping spun Standon into a domestic cocktail of soul. The folk/funk trademark of solid harmonies and percussive drums flowed flawlessly through their set. And to tie their performance up in a cute little bow? Their popular and impossible, ‘Cups’. It sent the tent into a silence of disbelief as Luisa and Heloise Lampshade executed an astonishing show of hand claps and cup slaps that you thought only possible in some kind of circus. The audience leapt into a roof raising applause that continued long after Lulu And The Lampshades jumped off the stage with bashful smiles.

It seems that Europe is having an atomic explosion of electro/alternative talent, and Efterklang from Denmark are no exception! They marched onto the Main stage with moustache grins and pastel coloured shorts. Being more pop than electro (compared to the other foreign acts that visited Standon Calling), their music felt slightly more accessible than the rest. Yet, they still gave the audience the unfamiliar tingles of when trombones, piano and synth are plunged into the same pot. The unearthly combination worked amazingly in their sensitive, crowd swaying, ‘Modern Drift’. Casper Clausen raised his arms to the sky, praising the audience for their kindness. Their performance was truly heart warming. A name translating into “remembrance”, proves that it will be difficult to forget Efterklang.

The band that made me dance the hardest and longest, however, and to be Delorean who headlined the Twisted Licks stage. They played a fusion of infectious dance and pop. Their hypnotic beats throbbed through the bouncing crowd. Every song, particularly their single, ‘Real Love’, was a maze of sensations, swinging me between chill out and electric aural colour. My bones were dancing with excitement as the band pummelled the stage with outlandish anthems. They produced a revelation of sounds that will undoubtedly be pumped in clubs around the country very within the next year.

Standon Calling was breathtaking. Every single aspect of it. The surroundings, the people, the weather, the music, the experience. I drove off that battered straw field with hope-filled lungs (and very greasy hair). The festival made me fall in love with everything, which I hope to share with everyone I meet. Until my next festival anyway…

Thanks for Calling, Standon!