Deep in the forest

Last night I went to see Travis play on their forest tour with the mother figure. Way back in March, it was her joint Mothers' Day/birthday present that she'd get the chance to be accompanied by me to see a band she really seems to like in the tranquil surrounds of Dalby Forest. I wasn't particularly looking forward to it, but she was. That's the kind of band Travis are though; they're so abominably NICE that Mums just can't avoid liking them.

I ended up quite enjoying myself though, it was a great setting for a gig. We drove four miles into the forest until reaching the clearing where they'd plonked the stage. We really were in the middle of nowhere, and the silhouetted skyline of trees surrounding the crowd was a beautiful thing. Unlike those at Glastonbury this weekend, we even avoided getting wet. My concern beforehand meant I went as far as taking what some people refer to as a 'kagool' with me. Which just goes to show how worried I was - It's generally accepted that only the insane or worried wear kagools. I don't really own one, but I managed to dig an old one out of the cupboard from all those miserable family holidays in Ireland ten years ago. I hate the way it gets hot and sticks to your skin, and the fact the sleeves don't reach my wrist. Anyway, thankfully the bright and clear night meant it wasn't required and stayed in the car.



If I'm honest, I even quite enjoyed Travis' set. In fact when you compare them to the support band, The Harrisons, they're positively mindblowing. Sad, talentless excuses for bands like The Harrisons are a plague on the musical landscape, and there seems to be more and more turgid, flatpack post-Arctic Monkeys imitators like them popping up by the day. Travis had the crowd in the palm of their hand while they reeled off all the hits (I'd forgotten how many they'd had), with Fran Healy and all his loveable, NICE between song banter. When they ended with 'Why Does It Always Rain On Me' (of course) he said he wanted the whole field to jump up and down for the chorus. And they did, all the way to the back. It was quite a sight actually.