After a sun drenched first day of Way Out West, torrential rain struck Gothenburg on day two. Thankfully the forecast was for the rain to pass by mid-afternoon and with the first two acts I planned on seeing at the covered Linne stage I hoped that the downpour wouldn’t affect festivities.
That still left one problem though – getting to the site. Fortune rather than good planning meant that Gothenburg’s highly efficient tram system ran pretty much directly from the front of my hotel to the entrance gates of the festival. Mission stay dry seemingly completed successfully… until disaster struck.
One thing nobody had thought to tell me is the matting used to protect grass at outdoor concerts can hide deep pools of water when fields get waterlogged. Deep pools of water which only become apparent when stepping onto the matting above them, which I managed to do with both feet, soaking my shoes thoroughly. Still, it proved plenty of amusement for other festival goers as I wrung out my water logged socks when I eventually got to dry land and shelter.
First up for attendees who had braved the weather were Blondshell, who scowled the stage like Courtney Love on happy pills. Running through her impressive debut album she got the day off to a raucous start, especially with the intense set closer Salad.
In my experience there’s two types of people when it comes to the music of Alvvays; those who absolutely adore the band and those who have yet to discover. Sadly I only discovered them six months ago but rapidly they’ve become an overwhelming musical obsession.
Having got myself a prime position on the barrier, opener Pharmacist suffered from initial sound issues before After the Earthquake took over the entire crowd and showed what Alvvays do best – fit more hooks and musical movements into a three minute pop song than feels possible.
Working their way through the highlights of their three albums the set built up to a perfect crescendo, as minor indie classic Archie, Marry Me led to a mass sing along. With the final Hey, Hey still ringing in the air the band launched into the scuzz punk brilliance of Promeranian Spinster before the finale of Easier on Your Own saw the band depart to rapturous applause, with yet more people converted to absolutely adoring them.
With the sun now out and a couple of hours to spare till my next planned act it was finally time to head out for a spot of going to see a random act just for the heck of it. And having not been to the idyllic Hojden stage it seemed a good excuse to visit there.
Turns out though that plenty of people knew who Artemas was even if it was a new name to me. That said his brand of electronic pop mixture wasn’t quite to my liking and asides from a slightly unnecessary Prince cover it was only set finisher I Like the Way You Kiss Me that stood out.
After a rather delicious veggie kebab and discovering a stall handing out free Nutella on bread, it was back to the fourth stage for New York trio Nation of Language, another act picked due to simply sounding interesting on the thirty second teaser provided by the Way Out West app. Having overcome illness and broken equipment to perform their cheerful synthpop provided a pleasant bridge to the evening’s entertainment.
And then it was off to the main stage (now thankfully no longer water logged) for my third fill of Pulp‘s “This is What we do for an Encore” reunion tour. But as the crowd built up I suddenly realised I was surrounded by youngsters who I suspected may well wouldn’t have been born when the last Pulp album was released. My ‘I’m surrounded by people who are going to talk through the entire show’ senses began to tingle nervously… but thankfully, just for once, it proved to be a false alert. After opener I Spy the entire crowd turned into a single bouncing mass to welcome Disco 2000 (including the ones to young to have witnessed the millennium). Even rarities, such as the unexpected but warmly welcomed O.U. (Gone, Gone), were received rapturously.
Jarvis as always was the charismatic frontman as he guided the band through its vast treasures, This is Hardcore sounding so iconic it’s difficult to believe it was seen as a flop when released, whilst Do You Remember the First Time and Babies cemented their position as two of the era defining Britpop singles. But then the issue of the site layout I’d alluded to in my Day One report came to the fore.
Whilst having two stages face each other across the main field meant minimal down time between acts, it also meant that the next performer couldn’t start until the previous had finished. And as Oska Linnros had overrun by ten minutes it meant Pulp had to cut short their encore. Anger from the crowd though turned to joy as Common People built to its unstoppable crescendo to cap a stunning performance.
But activities drawing to a close at the main festival site didn’t mean that Way Out West was done for the day, with the sister Stay Out West event then taking over, with a number of gigs then taking place at smaller venues throughout Gothenburg during the early hours of the morning. Admission to these shows was purely on a first come first served basis, with capacity at the intimately sized venues severely below that for the main festival, meaning that getting in became a race as to who could get back into Gothenburg centre the fastest.
As soon as Pulp finished I quickly made my exit and dashed towards Pustervik, hoping to beat the crowd to see hotly tipped Leeds group English Teacher. As it turns out I somehow ended being one of the first into the venue, giving me an hour to sit and contemplate how tired, muddy and smelly I was. On the plus side my shoes had just about dried out.
Coming on stage shortly after midnight, opening track The World’s Biggest Paving Slab set the tone before the band continued through the majority of their debut album This Could be Texas, showcasing more variety than to have them simply tagged as indie rock. Unfortunately before their set was ending the pangs of tiredness overtook me and limited my enjoyment of the set.
And that was the end of the day two of Way Out West 2024. With two of my favourite bands performing it was always going to be an enjoyable day and as an added bonus my shoes didn’t take any lasting damage from the soaking that they’d received. After a satisfying night’s sleep it was on to the final day of the festival.
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After all that build up about Alvvays I could hardly not leave you with a taster of their performance. Here’s After the Earthquake courtesy of Majstoffe on Youtube, thankfully filmed from an angle that doesn’t capture me on the barrier!
Alex Reviews Gigs 
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