V Festival latest

The Killers, Deepest Blue and Syntax just confirmed. Like that's going to change your minds...

I've been quiet today, beavering busily on busted balance sheets, so HEY! Here's some news written by someone else; The Killers, Deepest Blue and Syntax have been added to the V Festival lineup... An old workmate of mine is in Syntax, friend to the stars, that's me... On with the release:

You’ve been warned: prepare yourself for a hit of pure Las Vegas indie pop at V this summer. Festival organisers have just confirmed that desert-dwelling kings of cool, The Killers will be bringing their ‘marvellously buoyant’ sounds to the line-up this summer. Joining Nevada’s finest will be masters of the contemporary pop anthem, Deepest Blue, and electronic dance duo Syntax, who will be shaking up the JJB/Puma arena at Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffs, on 21st and 22nd of August.

It had to happen eventually. When you survey previous exports from the city of Las Vegas - a ragtag assortment of suspect hair metal bands, one-hit wonder Toni Basil, and Andre Agassi - it was only ever going to be a matter of time until a group would emerge from Sin City and wipe the slate ceremoniously clean, giving the inhabitants of that Nevadan outpost some fresh hope and an escape from their culturally underperforming past. The unique habitat in which The Killers developed – “a world of snuff and nonsense where hermaphrodites dance in casino halls and boyfriends murder girlfriends over bottles of bourbon” (NME, 01.06.04) – as well as their mind-bogglingly kaleidoscopic musical influences (Morrissey, Bowie, Ocasek, Gallagher, Presley, Smith, Sumner, Corgan, Cocker, Byrne, Lennon, to name but a few…), have gone towards creating a band so clearly the product of their environment and yet so perfectly adapted to becoming a truly dominant species in the world of pop. Hailed as “unashamedly joyous indie pop with a sheen of retro cool” by Time Out (01.06.04), The Killers’ debut album, ‘Hot Fuss’, infused with exuberant, irrepressible indie pop, is set to make stars of the Nevadan four-piece in 2004. With music “built to tug you on to the dancefloor”, The Killers’ appearance at V Festival this summer is sure to be a murderously marvellous experience.

With their own brand of radio friendly, intelligent and uplifting contemporary pop anthems, lyrically accomplished and musically innovative duo, Deepest Blue, are currently scoring big. The brainchild of Israeli born producer and classically trained violinist Matt Schwartz, and singer/songwriter/unassuming wunderkind with a complete commitment to his music Joel Edwards, the artistic meeting of minds is central to Deepest Blue. Having worked with a wide variety of some of the biggest names in music (most notably Massive Attack), their inspired lyrics, and polished but fresh sound is down to their eclectic taste and combined musical trainings. With their smart, infectious, expertly crafted pop music, and their live set in V’s JJB/Puma Arena, Deepest Blue are all set to irreversibly capture the imagination of music lovers in 2004.

Who knew that when Syntax’s Mike Tournier and Jan Burton shut themselves into a West London studio to jam, drink, and stir up the spirits of dark hybrid electronic music, it would be the starting point for one of the great synthesiser blues adventures? By chance, a wandering rock singer manque from Wales and a respected avant-dance producer from London had found a majestic route forward out of the repetitive beat trap of pure electronic grooves. A brand spankingly new, vocal-lead, post-electronic band, grafting bloody poetry, fractured states of mind, fevered emotions, and narratives of lust, death, life and hope onto a deep knowledge of club music, and an instinctive love for the Dionysian, epic possibilities of rock, Syntax are poised to be one of the most effective new crossover groups out there in 2004. With their gliding electro hymns and cyber beats of rare gravitas, they’re most definitely going to be one to keep a sharp eye on at V this summer.

Tickets for this year’s V Festival have nearly ALL gone! All camping tickets have now completely sold out and there are only a very limited number of day tickets still available. Get V Festival tickets here or here and support popex or call the box office on 0870 405 0447 for current availability, and to purchase tickets, or visit www.vfestival.com. Tickets are priced £46.50 for a one-day pass.

2004 :: Comment / reply