10 Things We Learnt At Standon Calling

Champagne, CSI and an underwater disco – here are the 10 things we learnt at Standon Calling…

The Magic Numbers should have gone sock wrestling.

We caught up with Magic Numbers backstage and asked them whether they’ve got more demanding when requesting stuff for their rider. “No, we just try to get as much booze as possible and smokes if they’ll allow it,” explained Romeo.

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But bandmate Angela revealed that the group have one unusual request, “We usually try and get socks but we thought we’d be pushing it today.”

Maybe they should have taken part in the sock wrestling…

Jeffrey Lewis likes to test out new songs live before recording an album.

“I’m working on a bunch of historical projects,” explained the singer. “A new chapter of my history of communism film series, well they’re illustrated songs so that’s what I’ve been mostly immersed in. I have a new piece about the French revolution which I’ll hopefully be able to do tonight. I feel like I’m in between album cycles. I’ve got a bunch of new songs and I should probably put out a new album before going into a new round of touring. I’ve got into the habit of performing new stuff live so by the time it gets to recording it has evolved.”

Murder Mystery is the best theme for a festival ever.

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The festival saw bemused punters being dragged into secret rooms and asked to help solve crimes, fancy dress to the extreme with full CSI teams cordoning off sections of the site and more people than you would think wanting to get their haircut in Sweeney Todd’s barbershop. We soon realised our evil moustache and cape made out of a bin bag just wasn’t going to cut it in the costume stakes…

Having Liars, Etienne De Crecy and Buena Vista Social Club play on a Main Stage at the bottom of a hill is a great idea.

The quality of the headliners and the general hyperactivity levels of the punters at Standon Calling resulted in plenty of cider fueled super fans running towards the Main Stage and not being able to stop when they got to the bottom of the hill. These moments added to the all-round brilliance of the sets, and made us laugh a lot.

Champagne at a festival? It’ll cost you £42.

Only for the more discerning festival goer.

Dr Dre might have been playing… according to Esben And The Witch

We caught up with Esben And The Witch to find out who they were looking forward to seeing over the weekend and they revealed that the rapper and record producer might have been playing. “We were really looking forward to Pantha Du Prince. But there was a queue outside and we could hear Dr Dre. We were wondering if it was Pantha Du Prince playing Dr Dre or if it was someone else. Or maybe it was Dr Dre! Dr Dre was in the tent,” joked Thomas from the band.

We should have taken our swimming costume.

We missed out on the infamous Standon Calling pool party because we forgot to take our bikinis with us and didn’t fancy a dip in our underwear. But the festival goers who did were treated to DJs all day and night and even underwater speakers so they could hear the music while practising their butterfly stroke. Perfect, as long as you didn’t think about the 3 days of festival grime floating around in the pool after sweaty revelers decided to wash off there rather than in the shower…

Don’t leave your hardcore punk hating friend watching Fucked Up on their own.

Fucked Up brought their normal level of chaos with them to Standon Calling, despite Damian bringing an end to the circle pit because they “don’t work on the carpet” and fans might have tripped over. Pink Eyes praised the audience, especially the younger fans who cheered more than the adults. “Usually kids run away from me,” the singer laughed. But the highlight of the set was when we went to the bar at the back of the marquee, only to turn around and see Damian running straight at a friend who’s not exactly a hardcore punk fan. The look of terror in her eyes will stay with us forever.

Steve Mason has never played so many festivals.

Steve Mason told us after his Saturday Main Stage gig that he was enjoying playing more shows in muddy fields than he did with Beta Band. “I’ve never done so many festivals in my life,” explained Steve. “With Beta Band we wouldn’t do as many but I’m doing two each weekend at the moment. It’s amazing. Then we’re trying to get things ready for the tour in October. I can’t wait to play a venue again, people who come to your gigs are coming specifically to see you and the festival slots I’ve been getting are quite early. It’s fine for the moment but hopefully next year I’ll get more evening slots.”

These New Puritans are taking a conductor on tour with them.

Jack Barnett told us backstage: “We’re going to play a series of shows that are the album from start to finish, pretty much like it was recorded. The Barbican, the Pompidou Centre in Paris and this really amazing little Warehouse in Germany. It’s with a ten piece wind band, brass and woodwind, then three percussionists and a conductor and us lot. It will be amazing to play The Barbican, we’ve never done anything like this before. It will be the pinacle of this year for us.”

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