Rain is patchy and the sky won’t permit sunshine, but Becky McNeice insists on the bright side. She laughs that her new jeans are boggin’ but this evening’s plan is to gather the Stendhal festival people and share the vital stuff about love, resilience and keen prospects. “Yesterday’s done falling to pieces,” is a recent refrain, but the music and beats are uplifting and Beck’s voice is undefeated, even on an early song like ‘Problems’.
Becky McNeice, Stendhal 04.07.25. Photo by Stuart Bailie
Also, she’s an assertive performer now, bringing the listeners onside, winning the mood. She wants us to sing the chorus line to ‘Back Again’ and of course, we oblige. Last year she was quietly impressive on the bandstand, but she fits the big stage now, supported by fine players from Dublin, a tonic for messy weather.
David C Clements, Stendhal 04.07.25. Photo by Stuart Bailie
David C Clements is at the far corner of the site, mustering drama and unfeasibly high notes for ‘Life in a Bad Dream’. He’s reaching for a scrap of belief and offering up apologies. The nightmare passes and there is consolation of sorts in ‘Orlock’, a swooning declaration on a blustery sea path by Belfast Lough.
Siânna from Tramp, Stendhal 04.07.25. Photo by Stuart Bailie
The wind in the top field blows the rain sideways, into the Stevie Martin stage, but this is a small inconvenience for Tramp. They are set to inform us about Palestine Action and the Filton 18, about the Magdalen laundries (“scrub the sheets of the Establishment – they will never be clean” they declare) and the many other shades of injustice. Tramp play so well, evolving their wiry funk and finding space for Siânna’s rage and weird glossolalia. New song ‘Roadkill’ hits hard, likewise the more familiar turns of ‘Snakes and Rabbits’ and ‘Free, Safe Legal’. The latter wails even more indignantly into the Limavady night. They challenge us to think about change, regression and a landscape of violence.
Joshua Burnside, Stendhal 04.07.25. Photo by Stuart Bailie
Joshua Burnside has likely achieved double figures at Stendhal billings and he’s effectively a headline act now. The joy is reciprocated and the wealth of music goes back to early tracks like ‘Black Dog Sin’, a tremendous picture of unease, revisited. The new songs burble in the happy-anxious sphere of early parenthood and indeed, “the wee man” is in the audience with his mother. The baby wants to hear “Ee i ee i o”, but dad is planning to sing about a million tiny moths. So, there’s a deal brokered in mid-gig – Joshua will do ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’ backstage, at an actual farm, later. We were hoping for a live rendition ourselves, but we’re consoled by ‘Far Away, the Hills Are Green’, which also suits the terrain.
Junk Drawer, Stendhal 04.07.25. Photo by Stuart Bailie
It’s the first Stendhal for Junk Drawer, who have a posse of admirers at the Henry McCullough stage and some casual spectators who are gawping at Stevie’s batwing robe. When he raises his arms, we see the red hand of Uladh, inset with an all-seeing eye. It’s a bit KLF, mixed with our own vernacular spook history. Meantime Stevie is singing about a chip shop on ‘Loughgall Circus’ and later name-checking Dennis Taylor, the Coalisland snooker legend.
There are lysergic flights, summoned by the flapping of Stevie’s magical sleeves. The older songs that work best at Stendhal have the transcendental rumble like Can or maybe Moe Tucker. ‘Railroad King’ is therefore a useful part of the rolling stock.
Problem Patterns, Stendhal 04.07.25. Photo by Stuart Bailie
Problem Patterns are tour-seasoned and ever-furious. New song, ‘I’m Fine and I’m Doing Great’ is the turbulence of an act in transit, doing the work they enjoy but fraying in the process. Still, we experience the dynamism and the ragged tilt of the times.
Problem Patterns, Stendhal 04.07.25. Photo by Stuart Bailie
Problem Patterns, Stendhal 04.07.25. Photo by Stuart Bailie
We hear the brilliant old stuff like ‘Big Shouty’ and ‘Day and Age’. There’s a horrific validation with the opener, ‘Y.A.W.’ as the femicide rates go higher on a near-weekly basis and the north is forever shamed. There’s no reason for Problem Patterns to relent and of course, they do not. One of their limitations this evening is the slight remove from the audience and it’s little surprise that the band members take turns to hurl themselves at the fourth wall. It’s amazing to witness, as they scale the monitor cases and reach at the audience, causing no small duress to their knees and sundry bones.
Thus, Stendal’s first night of the season passes in style. Over at the Karma Valley stage, Alex from the Orb is mixing ‘Little Flurry Clouds’ with Brian Wilson’s, ‘God Only Knows’. Sigh.
Stuart Bailie
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