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With the real Apocalyptica having been bumped
onto the Main Stage to accommodate Metallica in the Scuzz tent, the
bill was running late. An awful half hour of Keith Flint's new outfit
Flint preceded the entrance of Zwan, as clouds overcast to
welcomed the Billy Corgan fronted band.
A tropical storm had been forecast for the weekend.
Until now the weather had been more than generous but it would be foolish to
place faith in the cursed British weather. Having opened with the grungy
gospel plow of Mary Star of the Sea, two songs in and Billy Corgan was
singing, ironically about rain, when it began to bucket down. This wasn't a
short spell; it lasted the duration of a conspicuously short Zwan set -
barely forty minutes for a band preceding headliners Audioslave.
A number of unreleased songs where performed such as
the beautiful For Your Love which had everyone itching for some heavy guitar
rawk just so we could jump about and warm up. Honestly and the God's Gonna
Set this World on Fire medley perked things up, but when you're wet through
your boxers and socks, it's difficult to stand about and enjoy a band suited
to a warm dusk slot.
Fan frustrations soon spilled over by bottling the
band. Rather than spread out on the vastness of the stage, the band huddled
in the centre making themselves easy targets. Shirking this, the band
focused and humped through a wishy-washy set received well enough by
devotees at the front. The PA being remarkably honed to perfection (for
once) helped this. Undulating melodies and some tight rhythm work helped
ease some pleasance on this rotten rainy evening.
One sensed the band's frustration, due to
Apocalyptica's appearance, their stage time was cut by a good twenty
minutes. Corgan and co barely said a word to those who braved the brittle
weather which didn't bode well for thousands of dripping wet punters.
Clearly they were just passing the time to get a good spot for
Audioslave.
Just before Zwan were seemingly hitting their stride
following a scintillating Jesus I, they put their instruments down and
walked offstage. No one really seemed to mind, Audioslave were on next. And
so the wet, sweaty girl next to me who spent the best part of 40 minutes
bleating "GO AWAY! WE WANT AUDIOSLAVE!" got her wish.
Damn the organisers for heaping us with the horseshit
which cruelly ate away Zwan's stage time.
BUY Zwan - Mary, Star Of The Sea
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