Paleo, Friday

After Starsailor and Franz Ferdinand on the big stage Thursday, Friday I was looking forward for an act in one of the lesser stage. Goldie Lookin Chain from Newport, Wales. I knew about these Welsh rappers from my Welsh friend who went to school with one of the many GLC members. Their songs are hilarious and they are making fun of rap and chav and everything else in sight. But their level of humor has reached another stage when I saw them live.

I guess not a lot of people here have heard about GLC. So five minutes before they were due the tent was still empty except for us. In the 5 minutes it started to fill up and at 8pm 8 chav looking guys came out. They were all wearing chavvie clothes (track suits, trainers, caps) and of course some bling-bling. One guy who looked like a dork was wearing a headband and another guy was sporting a mullet. They rapped really good and danced geekily to the music.

I was amazed by the show they put on. It was hilarious! Adam Hussein and friends obviously have a knack for rapping, their rhymes and rhythm are as good as any top rapper. But by taking the piss seriously they have outdone any normal rappers. Songs like Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do and Your Mother Got A Penis are just classic. Their choice of clothing was so awful it actually looked cool.

On stage these guys were just fun. One of them asked for a spliff from the audience and just smoked it. After the show my Welsh friend managed to get backstage ("backstage isn't all that", she said) to meet GLC. Turns out that these guys were totally different than on stage. They were the friendliest people around, they don't act like stars. I guess not all people turn into pricks when they are famous.

On the big stage Rammstein was playing. This of course means lots of people dressed in goth and/or old Iron Maiden t-shirts. I can't stand their music but the show was amazing nonetheless. Pyromania everywhere, explosions, even fire missiles. At one point the vocalist had a back pack and was spewing fire all over the place.

I retreated to another small stage to watch Telepopmusik. They were on when Rammstein was playing and the girl vocalist jokingly said "We are going to make more noise than Ramstin and we don't need no fucking fireworks". Which they then did. Telepopmusik became the revelation of Paleo. I heard of them but never seriously listened to their music. They sound a bit like Lamb and in other songs they sound like Royksopp. Good music.

After more drinking I went home. This time making sure that I stood up in the bus. I didn't want to miss my stop like I did the night before and having to walk 3 km in the middle of the night...