It was perhaps the most blissful conditions for a music festival in Ireland since, well, ever. A sunny Marlay Park provided the perfect backdrop for the inaugural Longitude festival – and, let me tell you, the new boy on the festival scene has announced itself in fine fashion.
A fine selection of artists has been lined up for the three-day festival, but it was Friday headliners Phoenix who completely stole the show and are likely winging their way back home towards Paris (or wherever their next live date is) secure in the knowledge that they played the best festival set seen in Ireland in many a year.
Playing a 90 minute set comprised mostly of songs from their recent album ‘Bankrupt!’ and their 2009 masterpiece ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’, Thomas Mars and his band launched through hit after hit, with standouts being ‘Lisztomania’, ‘Love Like A Sunset’, ‘The Real Thing’ and, to be honest, just about every other song they played.
Mars, as he is wont to do, took a couple of sojourns into the crowd including, on the second occasion, crowdsurfing directly over your writer who was dutifully holding him up by his shins.
Beforehand, Foals galloped through a pacey set of up-tempo material from this year’s release Holy Fire, including its standout track ‘My Number’. Yannis and co. seem to be heading directly towards full-on arena indie rock, a setting which you feel might suit them down to the ground.
The eclectic Scots/Irish/English hybrid of Django Django made a welcome return to an Irish stage at 6pm. Not seen at an Irish festival since the 2012 incarnation of Body & Soul. ‘Hail Bop’, ‘Storm’ and the outstanding ‘Default’ were notables.
Saturday’s Longitude promises more of the same, with hugely-anticipated performances from Vampire Weekend, Villagers, Local Natives and Kodaline on the agenda. The sun doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere, either. More of the same tonight, please.