Scotland’s top music festival is set to take place between July 8-10 next year. A limited number of advance tickets for the festival go on sale this Friday (December 3) from www.aloud.com.

Biffy Clyro will support at both shows with Death Cab For Cutie on the bill for July 2 and Jimmy Eat World are set to play on July 3.

Words by Brendan Monteiro / Photo’s by Marcus Maschwitz

During the recent attack of volcanic ash on our airspace a lot of good shows had to be cancelled but undoubtedly the most significant cancellation had to be Sunny Day Real Estate, the fact that it was set to be their first UK appearance made the prospect of not seeing them all the more worse. Eventually to the relief of fans, the Seattle rockers announced their plans to reschedule. With dates in place the burning question on everyone’s mind was “who is going to open for them”, the aforementioned show was meant to have Saves The Day but unfortunately this was not going to be the case this time. SDRE felt the need to give the fans a little more this time around and soon announced that a “very special guest” would be opening, with a clue that it would be one of the bands playing this years Reading and Leeds festival. Straight away I started strategically running through the festival line-up to see who it could be. Three names stood out from the rest for me; Arcade Fire, Weezer and Blink 182, the latter probably being more of wish than a probable guess.

Promoters, press and the band themselves all seem tight lipped and dead set on keeping the secret as to whom would be opening the show, eventually the time arrived and upon walking into The Forum my first instinct is to check the stage for clues, by the looks of the stage all three of my guesses are wrong. The lights dimmer as they always do and out walks Simon Neil, James and Ben Johnston; yip Biffy Clyro are the secret guest and what adds to the dazzle of them being on the roster is that they’re playing a down-tone acoustic set. Ben is sat on what looks like a box and I’m wondering if or where his tambourine is, Simon eases into Saturday Superhouse and Ben filters in some percussion using the flat of his hand against the box as a floor bass and a sort of knuckleduster type steel ring that he taps as a makeshift snare. The effect is something totally different from a normal Biffy Clyro show, the Saturday Superhouse comes accross so warm, humble and more intimate than ever before, one of those surreal goosebumps moment. They gently run through an amazing little set that includes God and Satan, The Captain and Many Of Horror. All the songs suit the down tempo acoustic spin that they have put on them, even The Captain and it’s intriguing spazziness. Simon’s voice is surreal and emotive and it’s strengthens the impact of his spirited lyrics.

There are a few complaints in the crowd, possibly the signs of some of the guests expecting someone else to open but I think seeing Biffy Clyro in this setting was something so special and different and I personally wouldn’t of traded it for anything different, it was the perfect opening. They come across humbled by the fact that they have been able to open for Sunny Day Real Estate; not like some bands who thank the band then carry on playing their show, instead with Biffy you can seriously see that they are honoured to be here tonight. They finish their set on a solid high note with a majority of the crowd singing Mountains back to them, once again adding to the acoustic charm of it all.

I have to admit that I missed the boat on Sunny Day Real Estate and prior to when they walk out on stage had not heard any of their material, the only thing I really knew was that Nate Mendell and William Goldmist were both originally in SDRE before moving on to Foo Fighters. They make their way on stage and much like Biffy Clyro seem very humbled to be in front of this audience, Jeremy Enigk walks up to the mic and says “We’re Sunny Day Real Estate and we’re going to play some songs”. Looking back on it now it had to be an amazing moment for them, what other band can you really think of that makes their first UK appearance at a packed out venue like The Forum, not many I guess .

They start off the night with what I would later find out is Friday, there is a huge roar from the moment Jeremy rings out his first vocals and straight away I am fascinated by his strained vocal style, it adds a tempestuous depth to the music, it heave’s during the more abrasive parts and then enfolds and layers the melodic moments and for me it flashes back memories of Counterfeit, The Beautiful Mistake and the Clarity album by Jimmy Eat World. These flashes keep filtering to me throughout their set and it’s only in seeing Sunny Day Real Estate that I now finally see how influential they were on so many of my favourite bands. Their songs cannot be described as sounding the same yet each song on the set glides effortlessly into the next, In Circles gets an even louder roar from the crowd as does each song after. Seven is third on the set and standouts as my favourite of the evening, it has such an epic feel to the music but done in such a way as not to feel overdone and over layered. Jeremy erupts the chorus “you’ll taste it” in unison with the whole crowd. I also love how it has a sort of dive bomb feel to the guitars as they break down and then erupt again. I cannot commend Jeremy enough on his vocal range, it has so much emotion in it and makes me imagine what Phil Collins would sound like in a heavier band. When he screams it sounds like he sucks it up right from the bottom of his heart, bringing with it all the passion you could possibly imagine. It’s like he shoots the words out of himself with all the fervour and fiery angst a man can muster.

The whole night I keep beating myself up about the fact that I don’t really know their material because every single song they play sounds like it could be a favourite for me. They sound like one of those bands that just don’t make bad songs, their songs fusion of melody and angst is par with the relationship between the sun and earth, absolutely perfect! They finish the night off with an encore of The Ocean and Sometimes; looking around at the crowd of people all singing I feel an overwhelming sensation of jealousy at the fact that I don’t know the words but you don’t need to know them to know that this was a once in a lifetime show!

The band had an amazing experience on the road and have followed by confirming shows at the Australian festival Soundwave (February / March 2010), as well as a slot on the coveted Coachella Music Festival where they are set to appear on Sunday, the 18th April.

Says Mendel, “I don’t think any of us really ever considered, much less believed it possible, that we would ever get together and make music again, so it is incredible that we’re getting a chance to come over to the UK and play. We are genuinely grateful that there exists a large enough store of goodwill toward the band to allow us to finally make it over there, and we plan on doing anything we can to make it a memorable trip.”

CONFIRMED UK SHOWS

22-Apr London Forum

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“SDRE’s first two records do indeed shine with a singular passion” Mojo

“vital” Rock Sound

“[Diary] a definitive record of the era” DIS

“SDRE saw beyond the constraints of “scene” and envisioned a point where the meek would inherit the arena” Pitchfork

Following an almost 15 year hiatus, all four original members (Jeremy Enigk, William Goldsmith, Dan Hoerner and Nate Mendel) of pioneering Seattle rock band Sunny Day Real Estate regrouped in 2009 to embark on a 20-city US tour as well as the re-issues for Diary and LP2 (or “The Pink Album for its entirely pink cover). Along with Sup Pop Records, the band unearthed mostly never-before-released material to enhance the releases, re-mastered the audio included new liner notes for both.

The band had an amazing experience on the road and have followed by confirming shows at the Australian festival Soundwave (February / March 2010), as well as a slot on the coveted Coachella Music Festival where they are set to appear on Sunday, the 18th April.

Why stop there?

Sunny Day Real Estate will come to the UK for the first time ever, with a highly anticipated one-off show at London’s Forum on 22nd April.

Says Mendel, “I don’t think any of us really ever considered, much less believed it possible, that we would ever get together and make music again, so it is incredible that we’re getting a chance to come over to the UK and play. We are genuinely grateful that there exists a large enough store of goodwill toward the band to allow us to finally make it over there, and we plan on doing anything we can to make it a memorable trip.”

Support is still to be confirmed but tickets will go on sale on Friday 29th January at 10am.

CONFIRMED UK SHOWS
22-Apr London Forum

AVAILABLE NOW FROM SUB POP
SP846 Diary (2009 Edition)
SP409 How It Feels to Be Something On
SP852 LP2 (2009 Edition)

Check them out on http://sunnydayrealestate.fm/

The honored attendees were treated not only to a parade of FF favorites, but also witnessed the first ever live performance of the brand new song “Wheels.” The studio version of “Wheels” will be one of two new tracks the band has recorded with producer Butch Vig specifically for an as yet untitled collection due out this November.

The new tracks–all recorded by Foo Fighters core foursome Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett this year at Foo Fighters’ own 606 studio complex–hold their ground and then some alongside classics from the band’s six platinum-plus, multiple Grammy-
winning studio albums, including individual Grammy recipients “The Pretender,” “All My Life” and “Learn To Fly.” Perennial FF staples–”My Hero,” “Times Like These,” “Best Of You” and more–provide an overview of the band’s 15 year and counting career, while the two new tracks hint at even greater heights to be scaled in the future of this quintessential American rock band.