Last weekend’s White Noise Festival at Leicester’s Firebug venue highlighted an overlooked music scene. In recent years the city has been known for Kasabian and little else. Perhaps only My Awesome Compilation and Maybeshewill have garnered a small buzz since something like 2003. Its other bands have generally stayed under the radar of the mainstream. Indeed the scene as a whole has had a distinct lack of coverage and with the recent closure of The Charlotte, you might be forgiven for thinking that Leicester’s music scene was severely flagging. White Noise was Leicester’s way of showing to people that it has more and better bands than you might think. Perhaps equally importantly that it has a network of promoters and fans that are passionate about live music. With a weekend wristband costing as little as £4, bands performing for free and profits donated to LOROS Hospice, this was every inch a local community event.
The Friday of the festival was kicked off in fine style by Buenos Aires whose shimmied post-hardcore sat on the rockier side of Minus the Bear. However it was the night’s touring partners that took all of the plaudits. And So I Watch You From Afar are quite simply the best live band in Britain right now and after a month on the road with them, Maybeshewill seemed in a particularly buoyant mood. Both bands produced blistering instrumental sets which culminated with end of tour party scenes (think mass-druming and stage-dives).
The Saturday started with an appropriate wave of white noise. Cunt Rag’s doom laden wrestling masks and phallic imagery erupted into the louder than everything else Diet Pills. After the rest of a muted afternoon Autohype were next to impress with indie-rock melodies that stood in stark contrast to the opening acts. Given the task of headlining the evening were Minnaars, a band that split opinion more than any other in Leicester. They are known to there detractors as ‘Middle Class and Agitated’ and are accused at every turn of aping Foals. Undeniably there are similarities between the bands but unquestionably the quality of Minnaars’ songs stand on there own, their angular melodies capable of competing with their luminaries. What’s more the large audience that greeted the set is testament to their enduring popularity.
Sunday found room for some of the region’s more left-field acts. Peter Wyeth’s penchant for looping sounds did little but mask a fantastic talent for plain acoustic balladry but Theo’s effects pedals were different propositions entirely. His method of looping guitar sounds before accompanying on drums was a mesmerising live experience, as thick and full as most bands. All Idols Fall were similarly engrossing and proved that Leicester still has something to offer the punk-rock circle. This left the always reliable Death of London to bring the curtain down. Blending the more abrasive elements of Fugazi with the punky hardcore of Trapdoor Fucking Exit, theirs was a fittingly bombastic way to draw things to a close.
The weekend was a real triumph for a tight-knit community and made clear that Leicester has a number of bands that are well worth a mention, indeed I must also namedrop Her Name is Calla after their welcome return to the live arena. White Noise has set a new marker for the Leicester music scene, long may it continue to grow.