Friday 20/07/07 Day Two @ Benicassim Festival

It’s gonna be a long night. Gigwise arrives ridiculously early into the arena to catch the tail end of Rufus Wainwright’s set, why festival organisers put him onstage so early is beyond everyone as he packs out the Fiberfib.com stage. When Gigwise arrives Wainwright has donned a dress and some red lipstick and is prancing around the stage for his finale with some dancers performing a brilliantly camp cabaret version of ‘Come On Get Happy’.

What follows is an incredibly long and pregnant wait for Anthony Heggarty of Anthony & The Johnsons' fame to take to the stage. Seeming to have a touch of stage fright, Heggarty appears and disappears numerous times over ten minutes and eventually tiptoes onto the stage dressed ominously in a black jumper despite the evening’s heat and casting a stark opposition to the Johnsons, dressed elegantly in white.

A bundle of nerves he wrings his hands and looks entirely uncomfortable as he breaks into ‘For Today I Am A Boy’ but manages to hold the audience with his still chillingly haunting vocal.

Hidden behind his piano for his most recognised hit, ‘Hope There’s Someone’ Heggarty really comes into his own, allowing his voice to carry away and float around the tent like a spectre.

Breathless but exhilarated Gigwise slip away for something a little lighter. To the Vodafone Fibclub tent for Sweden’s Herman Dune. Bearded main man David Herman Dune graces the stage dressed in a light blue kaftan and jeans swapping electric guitar for ukulele and chatting with the crowd, apologising for not knowing more of the beautiful Spanish language.

Herman Dune’s mix of enchanting indie pop with Beach Boys vibrations and amusing lyrics win over a crowd, most of which seem unfamiliar with the band. ‘1-2-3/ Apple Tree’ shows the universality of the bands songs and has everyone dancing, as well as the instrumental track ‘Giant’ from their most recent album of the same name. Overall highlight comes in the shape of ‘I Wish That I Could See You Soon’ minus angelic female vocals which the crowd fill in nicely, ‘How long ‘till you can see her? Do you really think she will wait for you?’

The ‘Dune’s end see’s a mad rush by almost the entire tent over to the main stage where Klaxons are supposed to be playing. Immediately obvious to Gigwise though not to some of the less sober members of the crowd, the stage is inhabited by a group of skinny guys dressed in lycra skeleton outfits. Who Made Who rattle through their set which includes a cover of Benny Benassi’s ‘Satisfaction’ and finally end with the immortal lines, “We are not Klaxons! We are from Denmark!”