Sunday 03/08/08 Super Furry Animals, The Mae Shi @ Standon Calling, Hertfordshire

Standon Calling attracts a fairly well-to-do crowd, which is unsurprising considering it was originally the private party of someone who lives in a listed sixteenth century manor house complete with acres of land and a private pool.  As such Sunday morning consists of lazing around on rugs in watery sunshine drinking tea from china cups and perusing the Sunday papers with blurry eyes.  Soon the quaint Lordship tent is carpeted with colourful Sunday supplements and stretched out bodies.  Gigwise chooses to go for an early swim before settling down to sweet tea and some local talent from the likes of the astoundingly gifted Laura Younger and her punchier-than-Marling guitar folk-pop.

Around twenty cups of tea later, and Gigwise can just about stand up and focus again.  Which is good, because The Mae Shi are about to invade the main stage with an aural assault of bible-punk and stage-stunts, immediately drawing attention to themselves.  It’s interesting to see how they work their tricks in an open-air environment with nothing to contain them and even less to bounce their infectious energy off.  To counter this guitarist Jon Gray hurls himself from the stage and starts hugging people gathering at the front of the field during songs, while his bandmates leap about like epileptic loons.  Sometimes co-ordination eludes them but the effect isn’t lost as they cobble together noise with sheer enthusiasm.

Not long after Mae Shi finish their set, the heavens open. It’s not just a passing shower, either, but a torrential downpour that has people running for cover.  Not Gigwise, though.  We’re already tucked up on a rug in the Shogun Tent watching Mr. David Viner undo the overdone energy of Mae Shi with a humour so brittle it’s almost tangible.  Flanked by a cellist, a bassist and a drummer that he later tells me have only rehearsed with him once “for about two hours, in the last two months,” the four musicians on stage take folk and blues and country and create a sound so swollen and beautifully orchestrated that it oozes over the watching crowd.

Mr. David Viner is a blues guitarist by nature: easy in his skin and effortlessly professional by nature, his sets are a pleasure to behold.  This distinction is made ever more apparent as we later witness hotly tipped new-pop act, Wild Beasts, play an acoustic set in the Twisted Licks tipi.  Their set is hampered by the band’s obvious affectation of self-importance – they can’t even muster eye contact, let alone a word of thanks for their twenty strong tipi audience – and that forced falsetto doesn’t half begin to grate in such a small space.

As the evening draws on, organiser Alex Trenchard takes to the stage to say his thankyous, claiming, “Standon Calling may be a small festival, but we punch well above our weight!”  It’s hard to disagree, especially when he’s followed onstage by the Super Furry Animals.  Gruff Rhys takes to the stage wearing a bulbous bright red power ranger helmet through which he sings the whole of opener ‘Slow Life’.  The set is one of glorious psychedelic melodies, perfect for the close of a festival, with a few family-friendly gimmicks thrown in for good measure.  During ‘Receptacle for the Respectable’ Gruff throws carrots into the audience so that everyone can crunch in time with the music, while the audience are encouraged to twiddle their fingers on their heads for a brief acapella song composed by guitarist Huw Bunford. 

The best thing about SFA is that even after over a decade of being hailed as critics’ darlings, with underground credibility to spare, they still don’t take themselves too seriously.  By the time their set ends on ‘Keep The Cosmic Trigger Happy’, it’s impossible not to grin at all the unabashed, smiling faces reflected back in the golden stage lights.  Gigwise has one last wander around the tiny site before heading back to the tent, picking up some delicious home-made Japanese food on the way, and soaking up the festival cheer that still radiates from these tiny, special fields.  Standon isn’t big enough to become a bombsite by the end of three days, which means it’s still a lovely place to be by the third day of revelry – quite a feat, really.  In fact, looking about at the hand-decorated tents and teams hard-working voluntary staff that make Standon what it is, Gigwise can’t help feeling that the true British festival spirit is right here, in four little fields, in the middle of Hertfordshire.

Click here to see Standon Calling 2008 in pictures