Benicassim // Smooth Sailing

Going through the motions doesn’t satisfy anyone - neither punter nor artist. So it was in equal measure surprising and gratifying to see a band on the very last leg of a long tour give it some proper welly.

While many bands would have been content with a well-polished yet formulaic set and running for the plane (or yacht?) home, Yacht, in contrast, come from a very different school of thought. Lead guitarist Jona Bechtolt swaggered through Byrne-esque movements and casual, funk-riddled splashes of guitar, while über-sexy lead vocalist Claire Evans enticed with, and inevitably seduced, the crowd with intriguing and erotic manipulation of the microphone and its cable. Public transfixed, this band from Portland, Oregan took the night where it was begging and pleading to be taken, to a screaming, white-boy there-is-irony-in-my-awkward-dancing finale. Noize was at the epicentre of said climax.   

Words by Neill Higgins

Photos by Melanie Manneville