Benicassim

ADIOS

2006-07-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

It's 5am and The Rakes have just put the icing on our Benicassim cake. Shame on Alan Rakes and his blog which said he might not get through fully intact. Not only did he make it through OK, the rest of his band did too. AND the entire Benicassim population that lasted went muchos mentalos to the likes of 'Strasbourg', '22 Grand Job' and 'Retreat'.

What more can we tell you? Alan (Rakes, not Woodhouse) did his customary erratic dance grooves, and - despite being the last Brit-band-abroad on the entire Benicassim bill - they still made us feel like we had five more festival days to go.

And if only we did because this, my festival friends, is a very serious part in the blog. It is the part where we say a) the festival is over, b) it may well have been the best/sweatiest/funnest/most laid back/nocturnal/swimming pool-based long weekend of our lifetimes, and c) The Wighnomy Brothers are playing the closing part in the Vodafone club and I, for one, can't wait.

Adios, muchos gracias y la cuenta por favor

KM, AW, MB, PW, NN, TO, MC, EW, MB, LB

xxx

A DAY OF TWO STAGES

2006-07-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

The organisers of Benicassim are clearly big fans of Little and Large as Sunday has been the festival equivalent of a comedy double act. The main stage has been the dour-faced straight man – all men in black, often leather trousers intent on making us confront our sexuality issues (Depeche Mode, Placebo), while the second stage has been everything from an array of slapstick joviality from We Are Scientists calling Spanish "that witch language" and arguing over ownership of a starched hat, to Art Brut running out of songs half an hour into their fifty minute set and having to fill time by reciting the entire bill of the festival during 'Good Weekend', twice.
And once again it falls to this writer to portray The Truth about Placebo. Despite playing a new album-heavy set - usually about as festival friendly as a helicopter anthrax attack - and not even playing 'Nancy Boy', they rocked like androgynous sex dwarves generally don't, kicking Benicassim's mighty ass and obliterating the memory of a ridiculously overlong Depeche Mode set. Now if you'll excuse me the rest of the NME staff are trying to drag me off this blog to give me my anti-Placebo medication. Little do they know I have an internal implant of 'Once More With Feeling'.

MB

SO...

2006-07-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

...sometimes in the line of duty you have to get a bit wet. Not just a bit wet - VERY wet. And you have to get yer hairy pecks out. Here's a picture of NME's dedicated photo man, genius-type Phil Wallis getting in the pool to shoot We Are Scientists. We got to see his nipples but we're sparing you that by just showing you the shot of him in the water all wet and stuff. We didn't want to frighten too many people. Enjoy.

EW (that's Emily Wright, online features editor who you might not have met before, but she's well ace)

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06724_40726_Philwallis_beni_01.jpg[/image]

ALAN FROM THE RAKES JUST DROPPED BY...

2006-07-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

Hello, this is Alan Rakes. It's 12.30am, Sunday nite/morning and everyone is yawning but Alan rake about to go on stage in 3 hours time. And I have suddenly got writers block I need a mental laxative. In the 3 hours leading up to our show we will be drinking the Heineken that flows free all day and night from the taps like golden nectar, straight from the heavens. Its very good to be alive.

Alan Donohoe x

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06723_235305_AlanRakes_beni_pw.jpg[/image]

GETTING INTO BIRTHDAY MODE

2006-07-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

This correspondent's first ever live experience was Depeche Mode, a long long time ago. So it was great to finally see them again, even if Dave Gahan was the most embarassing frontman ever, with the possible exception of Barney from New Order. A massive crowd watched them do all the big hits, and wish a happy 45th to principal songwriter Martin Gore.

We've also heard Placebo doing 'Running Up That Hill', the second Kate Bush cover on the Main Stage this weekend (The Futureheads did 'Hounds Of Love' on Friday).

And we've also met up with The Rakes, who are on REALLY late. They don't mind, they just can't get trollied till later.

We'll let you know how they get on.

AW

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06724_35609_DepecheModesetlist_beni_pw.jpg[/image]

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06724_23324_AlanwoodhouseAlanrakes_beni_01.jpg[/image]

THE SMELL OF BRUT

2006-07-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

Hello

Thought we'd let a few of our friends fill you in on the last few hours but now we're back. The last hour has seen a schism in Team NME, half went off to get all electro-nostaligic with Depeche Mode, the other to find out if Art Brut really could fill out an hour and 50-minute set. Check the lovely Alan Woodhouse's soon-to-be-here blog for the official verdict on the 'Mode. In the meantime, here's what we can tell you about the 'Brut (hilariously called Art Burn in the local Benicassim listings mag!)

Bizarre but true, Art Brut seem to be absolutely massive everywhere in the world except dear old blighty. Their shonky art-wonk managed to get a pile of Spaniards (whose English surely didn't stretch to understanding that song about erectile disfunction, nevermind the one about 'Top Of The Pops') going absolutely apoplectic.

Despite Eddie's earlier reservations, they even managed to fill out the whole 110 minute slot thanks to the odd We Are Scientists cover ('The Great Escape') with help from the Scientists themselves.

Now that's over, there's just the small matter of three hours to kill before The Rakes go on. Placebo on the Main Stage it is then...

KM

WE JUST KEEP BUMPING INTO OLD FRIENDS OUT HERE...

2006-07-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

We just keep bumping into old friends out here. Most recently it's been Laura who helped us out on the NME student guide last year (Sheffield freshers you owe all your inside knowledge to her!). Here's how the festival's been going for her so far:

Final few hours of the last night of Benicassim and the party's thankfully still not over. Memories of the opening Scissor Sisters on Thursday seems only a distant memory with hazy reminiscent ideas of The Strokes, Pixies, mighty Moz, Babyshambles and Franz Ferdinand etc making my postcard home pretty exciting.
The mountains, sea and perfect climate just help to make this possibly the best festival ever. Best be off to see Placebo and fresh-from-the-blog hotseat The Rakes before flights back to old blighty. Mr Eavis if you are listening, you still win in terms of band amounts and diversity. But for a touch of paradise adopt some of the ambience from here. Oh, and get people to hand out loo roll in the toilets, too. It's the little things that make a difference.

Laura Benn

AND NOW ZANE LOWE WANTS A GO TOO

2006-07-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

Hello

I'm Zane Lowe and I'm at Benicassim 2006.

I've been here since Thursday night so it's been the full tour of duty. What really sets this festival apart, apart from the obvious location and weather and the people who are always really friendly and welcoming, is the really comfortable artist enclosure! You don't have to fight your way through security like you do at festivals in the UK and there's a pool and palm trees and a free bar for the artists, so you find a lot of bands hanging out during the day and after they've played their gig into the early hours.

The Kooks were smart, they came a day early 'cos they'd heard about how good it was here. By the time they left last night they'd been here 48 hours and I'm not sure how much sleep they got in that time. But you couldn't tell when they walked off stage last night, because I thought they played the most blinding set of the festival so far. I was absolutely blown away by them.

Other people I've seen around are Frank Black, who was walking around in his bare feet, William Orbit - who I got to meet him so that was a moment for me - and Alex Kapranos, who was getting completely mobbed.

I got a chance to talk to Morrissey yesterday for MTV2 too and he explained why he'd had to pull out of Benicassim a couple of years ago. It was because they'd chartered a plane for him but there was a problem with the plane and he's not a very good flyer so his gut just said 'I can't do this'. He made up for it with a great show last night though, and the crowd seemed to give him extra love for it.

I'd also like to give a shout out to my three-month old kid back home, who regularly sits on my knee and looks at NME.COM with me, so I'm sure he'll be reading this: 'Be patient and I'll bring you to Benicassim next year'.

Alright, that's it for me. I've got interviews with Editors and The Rakes later and then my work here is done. See you back in the UK soon.

Zane

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06725_152912_Zanelow_beni_km.jpg[/image]

EDDIE ARGOS FROM ART BRUT GUEST BLOGS!

2006-07-23T12:49:00.000-07:00

I'm eddie from art brut,writing a blog about benacasim which i've only been at for about an hour,so am not much of an authority on,at the moment i can hear madness reforming over and over in the backround,and had some food earlier it was nice,i'm especially disorientated as we've just come from the arctic circle where we were playing with motorhead and catching fish,this disorientation has led me to try and create a new image of glam casual,(head of gene simmons,body of alan partridge or ziggy stardust at home) its only cost 2 Euros which i see as a good sign,jasper swears i'm gonna regret it,i have to go now as we're supposed to be playing for an hour and fifteen minutes (3 times the length of our album) so need to write some new songs,

the nme keyboard has lots of key's missing,this wouldnt happen at kerrang.

EA

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06723_224740_ArtBrut_blog_beni_pw.jpg[/image]

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06723_225342_ArtBrut_blog_beni_pw_01.jpg[/image]

SHOWERS & SUGGS

2006-07-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, your correspondent writes this while still coming to terms with the previous evening's events. My hotel room-sharing 'pal' who shall remain nameless (NME snapper Tom Oxley) locked us both on the balcony, with phones etc still inside the room. At 5.30am.

Eventually after a good 40 minutes of yelling fruitlessly for help a fellow guest came to our aid and we were saved. But it did look at one stage that we might have to sleep out there. Cheers Tom!

As last night's headliner Moz said once, I can laugh about it now but at the time it was terrible...

But inbetween, we've seen a wonderful performance from Franz Ferdinand, despite drummer and new dad Paul Thomson's temporary absence (they dedicated 'Take Me Out' to him) and bassist Bob Hardy told us afterwards that they even got the honour of being allowed to use Morrissey's backstage shower. He was ecstatic at how the band had played, adding that he "didn't even notice Paul wasn't there". It wasn't meant as an insult, though daddy, honest!

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06723_203751_AlannBob_beni_01.jpg[/image]

We're currently awaiting the arrival of Madness. Chatting to Club NME DJ Jeff Automatic backstage earlier, we both bumped into Madness singer Suggs, and Jeff delightedly told him his school steel band played on their classic single 'Wings Of A Dove'. Suggs said to us: "Who'd have thought we'd be playing on the same bill as Depeche Mode?"

Ver Mode have not been spotted cavorting by the pool yet. But we're lying in wait.

AW

PS: I got locked out last year too.

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06723_202722_SuggsnJeffAutomatic_beni_aw.jpg[/image]

SCORCHIO SCORCHIO SCORCHIO

2006-07-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

The Mayor of Benicassim is in the house for his annual festival press conference and he wants us to know that this year’s event has been one (rough translation) scorchio success. Pah! As if we needed him to tell us.
And it’s not even over yet. As Team NME arrived on site just moments ago Art Brut, The Rakes and We Are Scientists were already lounging around the backstage bar eyeing up the nearby pool and chatting about an incoming glam-rock renaissance (Eddie Argos has even painted his nails a sparkly pink in preparation). All three bands are playing later today, as are musical megaliths Depeche Mode, Madness Editors and rounding off the whole thing the, erm, Wighnomy Brothers. Nope, we’ve got no idea who they are either, but we’ve got a funny feeling we might all still be up at 6am to find out…

KM

MADNESS, DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN...

2006-07-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

...go out in the midday sun. Well, alright, mid-afternoon, but nonetheless it was Suggs and his bruiseresque cohorts who were first to the backstage poolside bar the second the gates opened, sadly bereft of hankerchiefs knotted over their heads, Union Jack swimming trunks or sunburn requiring urgent medical attention. Also, reports that they stomped to the bar and growled 'twelve pints of mushy peas with a lager top, Manuel, and none of yer fackin' foreign muck, alwright!" may have been grossly exagerated.

They did, however, take to the stage for their souncheck stripped to the pasty English beer bellies, performing the reggae classic 'Chase The Devil'. A quick burst of 'Oh Viva Espagna' out of the question, nutty lads?

MB

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06723_201639_Madnesssoundcheck_beni_mb_01.jpg[/image]

OVER AND OUT

2006-07-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

Just back from Franz's set where the crowd went more mental than they went to the Pixies, Strokes and Morrissey put together, divided by ten, multiplied by 50 and added to infinity. Best song? 'Take Me Out' of course, tonight dedicated to Paul Thomson and his new baby which still doesn't have a name. Out money's on Enrique. Don't know why, just sounds good.

Hasta manana mis amigos

KM

THE MAN FROM UNCUT SPEAKS

2006-07-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

And if you thought getting Luke Kooks to write a blog was a coup, here's Michael Bonner from NME's other favourite music mag Uncut with a few words for you:

Evening, and welcome from NME's sister title, UNCUT, interloping our way merrily around sunny Benicassim. We're here, of course, to bring you what we hope is a considered and robust analysis of the festival's events. We are Newsnight to the NME's Channel 5 news. You get the picture.

Cor blimey that Shane MacGowan, what a bleeding state he's in these days, eh?

UNCUT bumps into the esteemed toper and professional Irish troubadour shortly after lunch, the man's pallor a ghostly white, flitting around Pete Doherty like the ghost of Hamlet's father, a grizzly warning from the future. We arrive on site to catch Vancouver's The Organ, a kind of all-girl retread of the jingle-jangle Eighties' indie pop sound, the kind of thing the Sarah label would have snapped up back in the day, but singer Katie Sketch throws a few Ian Curtis shapes, guitarist Debora Cohen doing insouciance to the point of indifference.

The Mozzster, then, singularly fails to hit the mark. Arriving on stage at 9pm, the dying rays of the sun dusting a purple blush across the mountains in the distance, he starts off well with 'Panic'. You want him to do a Greatest Hits set – even at this time of the night, he could take the festival by storm. As it is, the odd smattering of Smiths songs (four in total) and solo single isn't enough to raise the set, mostly drawn from the latest album, to Olympian heights. The songs – too many mid-tempo torch songs, goddammit – fail to ignite, though there's some redemption clawed back via a fiery 'How Soon Is Now?'. You suspect that these days he'd rather be at home, his feet up with a glass of wine, than on the road.

Later, we have the mighty Soulwax/2 Many DJs to entertain us. The festival, as ever, will crank up a notch well past midnight. Medics to the rave tent!

N.B. Obviously he's talking Newsnight crap and really Morrissey ruled.

Yours always, the BB crew x

THE MORE YOU IGNORE HIM...

2006-07-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

Ah the distracting effect of hard, free booze. For there were Queens Of Noise backstage, complete with in-tow MTV camera crew, exchanging phone numbers of z-list indie drummers with Zane Lowe, himself with full Radio One portable studio stuffed in his back pocket, so deep in back-slappy conversation that they both completely missed Morrissey scarpering by within inches, disguised only in a flat cap. Fools! And where's our picture of the fleeing Moz? Um, yeah, we're just waiting to get our digital camera back from Prontoprint...

MB

LOOK, IT'S LUKE FROM THE KOOKS!

2006-07-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

Ten minutes before The Kooks were due on the Main Stage we caught up with Luke Pritchard backstage. He didn't have time to come over to NME blog HQ but he did ask us to record this message and pass it onto you lot. Over to you then, Luke:

"Hello, Luke from The Kooks here. We've been having a lot of fun at Benicassim, hooking up with friends and stuff. We've been on tour for the last two or three months which has been pretty full on so we've got a load of people we know tickets out to join in the fun. We've seen Zane Lowe out here too, he's someone I consider a good friend so it's nice to have a chat with him. I do get all weird when I think we're playing on the same stage as people like The Strokes. It's so mad, I can't even believe the slot we're playing in between Morrissey and Franz Ferdinand! What are we going to do after? I think we're just going to have a few beers. We've got a really early flight, like 6am so I think we'll just stay up for that – there's no point trying to go to bed for two hours. I hear the beach is nice so we might wander down there..."

And with that he was off, off to dazzle the Escenario Verde crowd with hit ('Naive'), after hit ('Eddie's Gun'), after hit ('You Don't Love Me...') after...well surely you get the it-was-bleedin'-brilliant picture by now.

Wish you were here as ever

the Bene bloggers

xxx

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06721_212852_TheKooks_beni_alanw_01.jpg[/image]

MOZ FEST

2006-07-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Well after taking a while to recover from last night's festivities the evening has got off to a cracking start. Spoke to the Franz boys earlier, and it looks like they'll have two drummers standing in for Paul Thomson tonight. As well as Andy Knowles, who Krissi mentioned earlier, Scott from the excellent Sons And Daughters will also be helping out. They were in great form - Alex and Bob gave an hilarious interview to NME.COM in which they revealed a comedy double act to rival Morecambe and Wise. Well, almost.

And we've been to see Morrissey - you can see the full report on the NME.COM news pages, but after pulling out in 2004, he made up for it tonight with a cracking set. Costume changes, a wearing of the Spanish flag round his waist, a bit of sparring with the natives and a tribute to Syd Barrett, this week's NME cover star. He was clearly in the mood to make up for lost time. NME's Krissi Murison expressed a wish that he'd play 'How Soon Is Now?' - which he duly played almost immediately. The lady's a clairvoyant, I tells ya.

We're off now to check out 2 Many DJs - but will return later, we promise.

AW

LAST NIGHT I DREAMT THAT SOMEBODY DRUGGED ME

2006-07-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

And so, at 7.26pm on Saturday the haze finally lifts and 24 hours at Benicassim zones terrifyingly into focus. Somehow, there was this: a huge outdoor screen playing a cartoon which appeared to be saying 'I am Tom Cruise the vampire'; The Kooks running wildly towards the tent where The Ordinary Boys were playing in typical Brits abroad beachwear; Frank Black almost being knocked on his arse with a heftily-flung toilet door by this reporter ten minutes to stage-time; an ecstatic Pixies set frustratingly muted by the barrier buckling; getting another staffer's pass confiscated by security 'for a laugh'; The Strokes doing their Wireless set again, but this time at an audible volume; literally drinking buckets of lager and measures of vodka tipped into a glass by barmen saying 'Tell me when to stop'; fighting random strangers for a seat in the bus back to the villa; dawn breaking drunkenly over Benicassim beach; Shane McGowan grabbing his first bit of sun since 1984 by the Hotel Orange pool; the sound of Morrissey's helicopter, at this very moment, coming in to land. Best be off to the bar for a vodka, although I think I've lost the use of the word 'stop'.

MB

MORNING(ish)!

2006-07-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

We've just arrived back on site at a record 7.30 Spanish o'clock. Already the festival is beginning to fill up as the crowds filter back from the nearby beaches where they've been trying to grab a few hours kip under the parasols - there are campsites here but the sun gets so unbearably hot by 6am no-one can bear to stay in their tents after that. And as the festival itself doesn't finish til 6am on most days...well, you get the idea.

Us? We're staying in an apartment a little way down the coast so arrived feeling tip-top and sunstroke-free and just in time to watch NME office favourites The Organ sooth the 1,000 or so throbbing heads that had packed into see their ever-so-slightly menacing Smiths-like swoon pop. Then we saw a Spanish post rocker lady called Ainara Legardon (we think) singing in broken English. And then we ate a falafel. Today is already a very good day.

And it's only going to get better what with Moz, The Kooks and Franz Ferdinand lined up after night-fall. Franz Ferdinand have already been spotted round the pool giving last minute coaching sessions to tonight's stand-in drummer Andy Knowles. The former guitar tech has been roped in after Paul Thompson became a daddy to an as-yet-unnamed wee boy nipper a couple of days ago. Aw! indeed.

Right, enough gushing about babies, we've got work to do and that work is to go forth and find Spain's answer to the Arctic Monkeys. We will be seeing you later.

KM
[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06722_202452_FranzFerdinand_beni_pw_01.jpg[/image]

MAIN STAGE MANIA

2006-07-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

Right you nerds, I got a few texts asking for it, here's what Pixies played. Though, as you'll seen on the NME.COM news pages, they were forced to truncate their set.

It was:

'Bone Machine'

'Crackity Jones'

'Broken Face'

'Levitate Me'

'Cactus'

'Gouge Away'

'Monkey Gone To Heaven'

'Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf)'

'Where Is My Mind?'

'Here Comes Your Man'

'The Holiday Song'

'Nimrod's Son'

'Vamos'

'Debaser'

'Tame'

'Gigantic'

And yes, it was great. And it looks like no one got seriously hurt. That's the most important thing.

An hour later the Main Stage was back in rude health as The Strokes entered the arena. After clearing path from the backstage bar to the stage via a bevy of burly security guards, they proceeded with a greatest hits set that put pay to all those rumours from the Wireless Festival that they not quite as together as some might have hoped.

'Last Nite', 'NYC Cops' and new single 'You Only Live Once' restored order and then some. Just shows what a bit of sea side air can do to five hipster New York souls.

And that's us for the night. We're off to party in the campsites and they don't have wireless there - sorry.

AW and KM xxx

HIGH DRAMA

2006-07-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

Hello

Sorry it's been a while. We didn't manage to push The Strokes into the swimming pool but Fab and Albert were hanging out backstage with our old Camden buddies the Queens Of Noize who play the closing party on Monday and are very giddy to be here.

Also out there in the last few hours were Anna Friel, Preston and Chantelle, Franz and Frank Black (who was kind enough to take this picture with me... - and if it's not here it will be soon). But we've not been spending all our time jollying it up backstage - oh no! - we've also been out to watch arty electro types Colder and alt rock giants the Pixies. High drama at the Pixies show as a few songs in the band suddenly vanished from the stage for half an hour. The official line was crowd control, but we've sent our intrepid newshound Alan Woodhouse away to track him down now and find out THE TRUTH I TELL YOU.

As we write the dulcet tones of The Strokes are stringing up on the Main Stage and so we must go.

KM

P.S. don't know i spoke in the royal we throughout that.

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06722_10933_krissi_and_frank.jpg[/image]

AS IGGY POP ONCE SAID, IT'S ALL DISCO TO ME

2006-07-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hola guapos

So the laziest party of the NME team (i.e. me) has just arisen from our beach-side slumbers (the bus driver home last night took a wrong turning and I didn't get back to the hotel til 7am, so am entitled to a little lie-in, non?) and arrived on site.

OK, so i may have missed Madtooth MacGowan getting on stage with Potty Pete, but in the half hour i've been here i've already got to hear The Futureheads soundchecking for their Escenario Verde (that's the main stage to you) performance in an hour or two, cop a bit of local Spanish talent (they were called Garzon and they sounded a bit like Belle and Sebastian) and, best of all, accidentally amble into the middle of a Pixies press conference.

Now press conferences are hilarious at the best of times but especially, it appears, when they're being held in Spanish language. A bemused Frank, Joey and David (no Kim this time) were desperately trying to keep a straight face as a trail of chinese whisper translations unearthed some very peculiar questions about tape recorders, Argentina, and, er, the Pixies influence on '70s rock. "As Iggy Pop once said, "It's all disco to me", was, we think, Frank's way of explaining that the Pixies didn't actually form til 1986.

And on that bombshell, I'm off to the backstage bar to catch the last few rays of sunshine and see if I can push a member of The Strokes in the pool. Will report back on my progress shortly.

KM

DIRTY OLD CLOWNS

2006-07-21T11:43:00.001-07:00

Word had swept around the toothless drug tramp cognescenti of Benicassim that none other than Pope Of Penicilin Shane McGowan would be making a guest appearance onstage with perhaps the only band of the weekend that might make him look even slightly healthy, Babyshambles.

And so, incoherently, it came to pass – after a hit and miss set of dodgy reggae and skat mumbling, on wobbled Shane, possibly as part of Pete’s Portuguese rehab schedule in a kind of ‘face your future’ exercise, to dribble his way magnificently through ‘Dirty Old Town’ and thus was an underwhelming Shambles set vibrantly revitalised.

The only odder sight NME spotted on its way back to the safety of the bunker was a video screen showing what appeared to be a failed auditionee for the Scissor Sisters trying to get off with a puppet with CDs for eyes. It is only eight o’clock.

MB

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06721_205052_Babyshambles_beni_TOX1.jpg[/image]

IT'S MAGIC!

2006-07-21T10:37:00.000-07:00

Bloody hell! We bumped into Pixies drumming legend and sometime magician David Lovering backstage earlier - and after a lovely chat he showed us a trick! It involved two elastic bands, which he twisted together, then rubbed, somehow making them evaporate. Trust us, it was amazing. What a star. Wow.

AW

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06721_181809_MagicTrick_beni_aw.jpg[/image]

AN ORDINARY DAY BY THE POOL

2006-07-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

It's the first full day here at Benicassim, and what a sight greeted us on arrival at the site. Preston Ordinary Boy is cavorting in the backstage pool with his bandmates - when we spoke to him he said he'd been there all day becuse his hotel was "rubbish". Zane Lowe and The Futureheads are also hanging out in the sun.

The Futureheads' Ross and Jaff Futurehead are excitedly learning things to say onstage from a gay Spanish phrasebook, while Jaff is also teaching Zane the chords to Led Zeppelin's mighty 'Kashmir'on an acoustic guitar. He's a good teacher.

AW

[image]http://www.nme.com/images/06721_181300_TheOrdinaryBoysZane_beni_aw.jpg[/image]

FILTHY GORGEOUS

2006-07-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

OK, that last post was actually written a few hours ago, but gremlins in the machine meant we could only post it just now. Since we wrote that one we've been hot-marching around the site discovering the following:

1) There's a pool backstage.

2) There are more British people here than there are Spanish. And they all seem to have been on the Sangria since they got here (ie a few weeks ago).

3) Scissor Sisters are the ultimate Thursday night/Friday morning party band. As we speak they're playing the opening bars from 'Comfortably Numb'. We've just come back from there and the entire festival site is going loco to Jake's glitter-infested, manhood-shrinking trousers, Ana's inter-song banter ("They've got a swimming pool backstage here, any festival that can get me wet is fine by me") and, embedded among the first album classics, a bevvy of new charmers including new single 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin''(the crowd, quite rightly felt the opposite), 'Paul McCartney' (a song the man himself would surely have given the double thumb salute to) and 'I Can't Decide', an instant classic.

And that is it. Tomorrow hope to be back with a lot of backstage, out front and in the pool gossip but until manana, adios NME blog amigos.

xxx

KM

NME REACHES BENICASSIM

2006-07-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it. NME is finally at Benicassim, the best festival outside the UK. We got here just in time to see Scissor Sisters, who are on a bit later (3am!).

Earlier, on arrival at Valencia Airport, we bumped into The Ordinary Boys and The Futureheads, both playing here tomorrow. Preston was in good form, even when an extremely polite autograph hunter interrupted his chat with us. And The Futureheads were their usual breezy self. They were meant to be getting the coach with us but there was a wee-mix up. Never mind, Gonzo's Zane Lowe joined us and showed us some lovely snaps of his new baby. Aww. And glamour model Sophie Howard is also with us, she’s already on the falafel.

See you later. We'll try and prise ourselves away from the pool.

AW