Music Live 2009

This is Seb Clarke

After expecting a DJ, with a name like this, it was a nice surprise to find a band of 12 madmen, stomping round the main stage. Their effervescent sound is part punk part soul, and comparisons to Dexy’s are well –deserved, and they made an upbeat start to a day of dour weather.

Morning Runner

The drizzle had kindly stopped by 7 and I pitched my spot in the middle of the stage to catch Morning Runner, hotly tipped by such bands as Coldplay they've never fallen short of brilliance on previous occasions.

However Sunday 18th was a different matter, the crowd was a bit a damp and the sound could have been louder.

Thankfully they picked up towards the end as they played their singles 'Gone up in Flames' and 'Burning Benches', but it was little too late as the Reading four piece had seemingly wasted precious time playing new songs and a B-side that the crowd didn't get.

Lorraine

Despite the bad weather, Norwegian newcomers Lorraine pulled an impressive crowd, at least at the beginning.

The band played an immaculate set, with vocalist Ole and programmer Paal demonstrating their obvious on stage rapport throughout.

The relationship between the two was electric, it's just a shame it didn't rub off on the crowd.

The first three songs went down an electropop treat, but after the threesome played their recent top 30 hit "I Feel It", the crowd seemed to lose interest and the numbers dwindled.

Nevertheless, the band carried on, putting every ounce of energy they had into every song, and did a blinding cover of the Psychedelic Fur's classic "Heaven".

Brilliant set, let down by the weather and somewhat repetitive songs.

Larrikin Love

In what was probably the most unexpected change to the line up, Larrikin Love’s ‘upgrade’ to the Main Stage was probably the best thing that could have happened to Middlesbrough Live 2006. 

Replacing The Fratellis, Larrikin Love brought what the main stage actually needed - energy.

It seemed as though Larrikin Love knew they weren’t playing to their typical audience. 

Songs such as ‘Little Boy Lost’, a relatively laidback track, was left out whilst boisterous upcoming single ‘Downing Street Kindling’ featured second in a nine track set.

Larrikin Love gave their all - the smile never left Edward’s face for the entire set (despite coming under the hail of coins and cans) and by track 5, with his shoes and jacket cast aside with trousers rolled up to the knees he pranced around the stage like the kid in school with ADHD. 

The festival feel was brought to a climax in the closing track, which consisted mainly of idiosyncratic drumming from Coz and an array of specialist percussion from Alfie, Michael and Edward, where the unstoppable drumming encapsulated the audience in a mass of pogo-ing. 

The main stage belonged to these four troubadours, no ‘ifs’, no ‘buts’.

Ocean Colour Scene

A beer and chips for refuel, I regained my spot in hope that Ocean Colour Scene would save the day, and that they did.

Playing their monstrous hits 'One Hundred mile high City' to 'Travellers tune' everyone was in full spirits, and the weather mattered no more.

And this time even the new songs from their latest album shone on this miserable day, showing that these 90's Brit maestro’s still had a lot to offer. Closing with 'The day we caught the train' and 'Day Tripper' we've learnt one thing, every cloud has its silver lining.

Reviewers: Natalie Boxall, James Riggall, Emily Slimings, Liam Ormonde