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Lovebox Weekender 2008: The Flaming Lips, Goldfrapp, Jack Penate

Description: Sunday includes The Flaming Lips, Goldfrapp, Jack Penate, Roni Size Reprazent, Seun Kuti, Sebastian Tellier, Lightspeed Champion, The Go! Team, Lightspeed Champion, Alphabeat, Ebony bones, White Lies, The RGBs, Buraka Som Sistema, Pnau, Hayseed Dixie, Easy Star All Stars, Think Of One, Rachel Unthank And The Winterset, Fat 45s, Disculpos Do Otilia and more.



Rating: 3 out of 5 Evening Standard rating
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Psychedelic shows at Lovebox

Goldfrapp
All you need is love: Alison Goldfrapp gave an exceptional show
Goldfrapp Lovebox

Rick Pearson, Evening Standard 21 Jul 2008


Another weekend, another festival. In a climate where even comedy acts like the Mighty Boosh are staging their own festivals, Lovebox Weekender must be doing something right to mark itself out from the crowd.

Now in its seventh year and still selling out, the glorious sunshine will have helped cement the festival as a staple for next year, as will Goldfrapp's exceptional performance.

Appearing in a multi-coloured winged top, flanked by a six-piece band dressed all in white, Alison Goldfrapp looked and sounded like Madonna's stranger sister. The vocalist delighted the crowd with an eclectic set, which started at winsome folk and ended at glam rock. In between came the majesty of Monster Love; the psychedelia of Happiness, where she was joined by four musical Tellytubbies; and the electronica of Train, which came complete with two bikini-clad dancers wearing wolf masks. Only the tower blocks looming in the background confirmed that we were still, indeed, on planet earth as the thudding electronica of Strict Machine kicked in and gave the set the triumphant finish that it deserved.

This was a good as it got. Up next came The Flaming Lips, whose space rock never got off the ground. The San Franciscans may have 11 albums to their name but with only a handful of hits this side of the pond they lacked the anthems to sing the festival home. "Please sing along, even if you don't know the words," pleaded frontman Wayne Coyne to a muted and steadily depleting crowd. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, Pt 1, prompted a light singalong, while The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song gave even first-timers a pretty decent clue as to what the lyrics might be.

Free Radicals nodded at the funk of Prince's Kiss and Fight Test showcased Coyne's keening voice, which echoed the trembling tones of Neil Young. Throughout, the band were flanked by excitable dancers dressed in superhero costumes. While this added a further sense of wackiness to things, there was a feeling that the party was already over.

As parties go, though, this was mostly a success: great weather, a good atmosphere and one exceptional band. It wasn't quite love, but Lovebox is worth a second date next year.

Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.

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Yeah, what festival did Rick go to?
Playing live is about connecting with the audience, something that Goldfrapp only just managed to do, whereas The F'Lips had everyone on-side way before they even took to the stage. Every second was like the best party I've been to - and as for sing-along anthems; this band aren't about hit singles but the multitude of fans who were there knew all the words to all the songs and joined in with as much passion as they could muster. That gig was the high point of my year, let alone the weekend.

- Steve, London, UK, 24/07/2008 04:30
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Not sure if your reviewer heard Goldfrapp whining that people weren't clapping enough, until after one of her more well-known songs ("You've finally woken up!"). Feel the love! Playing a lot of your new album (yeah, me neither) as 2nd top at a festival is a bit self indulgent.

By contrast the Flaming Lips played all theirs, a cracking Led Zeppelin cover for fun and some oldies for the fans. Everyone in the audience seemed to love the Flaming Lips - getting them to headline was a coup by the organisers. What more can the geographically challenged Rick Pearson want?

- Ronald Donahue, Oklahoma USA, 22/07/2008 15:35
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Agree with Jay, the Flaming Lips were easily the highlight of the weekend, and went down really well where I was standing. The Yoshimi singalong seemed pretty loud to me.

- Jack, Birmingham, UK, 22/07/2008 10:49
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The Flaming Lips were quite simply amazing and the crowd loved them!

- Jay, Rochester, Kent, 21/07/2008 13:48
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