Wireless Art
After a bit of a shite day Thursday I couldn't be arsed with karate that night like I normally would. Besides it felt like Friday night with our cheeky day off for the Wireless festival. We hadn't thought too much about how we'd spend the day knowing that The Flaming Lips were on at 7:15pm, DJ Shadow at 8pm then Massive Attack after at 8:45pm. Really we should have booked a half-day but after watching the Royal Academy of Arts Summer show on telly, it gave us an excuse to see the show for real.
Walking past Fortnum and Mason we approached the Academy through the courtyard arch with Damien Hurst's mother monster scaring the tourists like a zombie guard. Next it was the painted old wood roof frame looking like a run-down old climbing frame. The entry price into the main exhibition (£7) included the catelogue of all the pieces so you could see how much you couldn't afford to buy! No photos allowed unfortunately but memorable highlights were Vic Reeves' unmistakable art, a piece of perspex with tiny bubbles which formed a lying figure and a bowl/saucer shaped piece of wall ceramic. The saucer was so highly polished it reflected your upside down image as you approached it then flipping it right-side. The acoustics of the piece made our giggles spoil the library-like atmosphere.
There was also some crap stuff like the Rich Tea biscuits stuck together with glue. The main piece of an animal fur/pelt covered egg was ok but had to laugh as an old dotty woman scrapped her handbag to losen a wooden brick supporting it. The woman didn't really know what to do with the no-touching-the-art rule though with the slam of the noise, the security guard looked quite used to the regular occurence.
After a leisurely bite to eat, we headed over to Hyde Park for the festival. We didn't realise how hot it was getting and were slightly unprepared for the roasting sun. We headed for the merchandise and stalls where Kerry found a skimpier top. Found the Oxygen bar which boosted our energy whilst Pharrel was on stage then sussed out where the other main tent was.
Hung around to see the first few songs of The Flaming Lips. The first time we saw them live was at V Festival about 4 years ago. It was more like a multi-media art event back then with the audience copying the singer's hand-puppet and fake blood. This time a little more well-known and full of festival experience their stage pressence is probably the most fun to witness. Wayne Coyne, the lead singer asked the audience's patience as he climed into an inflatable Zorb ball. Elsewhere on the stage were giant inflatable spaceman suits (my favourite), American superheroes manning streamer guns, a crowd of Father Christmas's with searchlights and some alien-headed hot go-go dancers on the other side. The build-up instrumental music started with Wayne Coyne 'zorbing' over the crowd and bouncy, floating large balloons filled the air. It was a great sight and atmosphere. Another highlight was their cover of Queen's Bohemian Rhaspsody which had everyone singing. Although their performance is a must to see, their songs are a bit hit-and-miss so Shadow was always going dictate our viewing. Left the main crowd with 20 minutes spare, with a trip to the toilet and more Pear cider for drinks. Problem was that too many other people had the same idea meaning we didn't get to the tent until after 8pm. Luckily technical difficulties meant he wasn't on yet but security had locked down entrance due to maximim admittance. What a pi$$er! Instead for about 30 minutes we stood under a tree looking through the large gap of the tent with the odd nutter breaking free past the guards (though some got caught). With only 15 minutes to go til the end of his performance the guards let us all in after a some non-fans left. It was great to hear his old stuff but some of his new stuff was a bit reliant on live hip-hop which annoyed me a tiny bit. The last track Shadow did really whipped the crowd up into a frenzy.
Massive Attack just felt a bit of a downer after that. We had another blast at the Oxygen bar, listened to a few tracks then decided to escape back home.
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Walking past Fortnum and Mason we approached the Academy through the courtyard arch with Damien Hurst's mother monster scaring the tourists like a zombie guard. Next it was the painted old wood roof frame looking like a run-down old climbing frame. The entry price into the main exhibition (£7) included the catelogue of all the pieces so you could see how much you couldn't afford to buy! No photos allowed unfortunately but memorable highlights were Vic Reeves' unmistakable art, a piece of perspex with tiny bubbles which formed a lying figure and a bowl/saucer shaped piece of wall ceramic. The saucer was so highly polished it reflected your upside down image as you approached it then flipping it right-side. The acoustics of the piece made our giggles spoil the library-like atmosphere.
There was also some crap stuff like the Rich Tea biscuits stuck together with glue. The main piece of an animal fur/pelt covered egg was ok but had to laugh as an old dotty woman scrapped her handbag to losen a wooden brick supporting it. The woman didn't really know what to do with the no-touching-the-art rule though with the slam of the noise, the security guard looked quite used to the regular occurence.
After a leisurely bite to eat, we headed over to Hyde Park for the festival. We didn't realise how hot it was getting and were slightly unprepared for the roasting sun. We headed for the merchandise and stalls where Kerry found a skimpier top. Found the Oxygen bar which boosted our energy whilst Pharrel was on stage then sussed out where the other main tent was.
Hung around to see the first few songs of The Flaming Lips. The first time we saw them live was at V Festival about 4 years ago. It was more like a multi-media art event back then with the audience copying the singer's hand-puppet and fake blood. This time a little more well-known and full of festival experience their stage pressence is probably the most fun to witness. Wayne Coyne, the lead singer asked the audience's patience as he climed into an inflatable Zorb ball. Elsewhere on the stage were giant inflatable spaceman suits (my favourite), American superheroes manning streamer guns, a crowd of Father Christmas's with searchlights and some alien-headed hot go-go dancers on the other side. The build-up instrumental music started with Wayne Coyne 'zorbing' over the crowd and bouncy, floating large balloons filled the air. It was a great sight and atmosphere. Another highlight was their cover of Queen's Bohemian Rhaspsody which had everyone singing. Although their performance is a must to see, their songs are a bit hit-and-miss so Shadow was always going dictate our viewing. Left the main crowd with 20 minutes spare, with a trip to the toilet and more Pear cider for drinks. Problem was that too many other people had the same idea meaning we didn't get to the tent until after 8pm. Luckily technical difficulties meant he wasn't on yet but security had locked down entrance due to maximim admittance. What a pi$$er! Instead for about 30 minutes we stood under a tree looking through the large gap of the tent with the odd nutter breaking free past the guards (though some got caught). With only 15 minutes to go til the end of his performance the guards let us all in after a some non-fans left. It was great to hear his old stuff but some of his new stuff was a bit reliant on live hip-hop which annoyed me a tiny bit. The last track Shadow did really whipped the crowd up into a frenzy.
Massive Attack just felt a bit of a downer after that. We had another blast at the Oxygen bar, listened to a few tracks then decided to escape back home.
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