With a line-up that includes a band with a decade of hits (Ash), a band with one massive hit (Fratellis) and a band who produce hits as easily as a baby produces vomit (Kaiser Chiefs), it was inevitable the majority of the audience came for, you guessed it, the hits.
Ash know well how to work a festival situation and are savvy enough to offer the Marlay Park crowd a streamlined surf through their back catalogue. ‘Girl From Mars’, ‘A Life Less Ordinary’ and ‘Kung Fu’ get a warm reaction, but it’s startling to realise how many of the audience here weren’t even born when the three Downpatrick geeks got together. Predictably, beautifully, ‘Oh Yeah’ gets the loudest cheer of the set, the kind of cheer that its simple adolescent naiveté deserves. On this performance, they still have the magic.
In contrast to the still remarkably high energy levels of Tim Wheeler and co., The Fratellis look tired, sound tired, and lack the swagger and punch the crowd are looking for. They never really soar, but neither do they disappoint. Instead it’s a solid, quietly impressive display. Oh, and ‘Chelsea Dagger’ comes on and everyone goes wild. But then you already knew that, right?
So to the Kaiser Chiefs, who decide to stick some of their hits in right at the start. Opener ‘Everyday I Love You Less And Less’ is a great calling card for the band, advertising everything that makes them likeable: clever lyrics, singalong choruses and the cheek that permeates the best of British pop.
The Kaisers’ second album Yours Truly, Angry Mob seemed underwhelming on first listen, but here ‘Everything Is Average Nowadays’ and ‘Heat Dies Down’ emerge as decent enough tracks that benefit greatly from Rick Wilson’s much-lauded onstage charisma.
Whilst The Fratellis kept their trump card ‘til last (not that they were spoiled for choice), the Kaisers wield their big numbers a little too easily. ‘I Predict A Riot’, the anthem of the middle class wannabe yob, has lost enough freshness that only its bristling aggression remains. ‘Ruby’, ‘Modern Way’ and ‘Na Na Na Na Naa’ are hastily tossed out, until we reach an encore which can only really offer an extended ‘Oh My God’ – never their strongest number. By this stage thousands are streaming out of Marlay Park. They came for the hits.