Thames Rockets do things slightly differently. One warm September evening we embarked a bright red speed boat at London Eye Pier for a guided tour that genuinely blew our minds. The 50 minute Ultimate London Adventure. We might have started off at the Houses of Parliament, a place we all knew well, but never before had I been told that the flag at the top is the size of a tennis court – and it’s my new favourite fact. We were taken out east past Somerset House, the OXO Tower, the MI5 building, Tate Modern, St Paul’s Cathedral, The Shard, Millennium Bridge and more as interesting facts and new revelations were told in a fun and interesting way to our merry band of six people – all socially distanced of course.

But it’s once you get past the river police building just up from Tower Bridge that things really start to get exciting. Because that’s when the speed restrictions lift. And the driver cranked up the engine as we zoomed and twisted and curved at speeds of 30 knots – which is 35 miles per hour for those of us without seafaring experience. Tunes blared out, we smiled and cheered, and it was an utter delight to be on board. We often walk along The Thames, or cross bridges over The Thames, but are rarely actually on this river that is the life blood of London.

As we cruised back towards our start point, the sun began to set on the city, and it looked as beautiful as ever. A can of Pimms helped. Thrills and spills aboard Thames Rockets are wholly recommended.

Charlotte Hatherley spoke about how the alien dystopian worlds of the films that she has been working on have influenced her own musical output. So much so that she embodies the feel, and will be dressing as an alien on stage for her forthcoming gigs. Soundtracks for her are the music she enjoys, offering an immersive way to switch off and enjoy the soundscape.

‘Music is my first love.’ said director Barry Adams. He  tells stories through music, with the visuals almost an afterthought. It’s not just music, but sound that creates the evocative landscapes and action of his thriller and action movies.

Summer Camp’s love of teen movies, came together in threads at the start of their career, with their first albums saturated with cinematic references in an almost band. manifesto. Elizabeth and Jeremy described their songs as ‘characters in our own little weird teen movies’ on albums that sounded like ‘chewed up VHS tapes.’ Both are currently working on film soundtracks, and expressed how inspiring movies continue to be, with there being a creative prompt to respond to an idea and visuals.

Geremy Jasper is another who loves music, and he finds that music and film are part of the feedback loop of life and art. In film it’s another language, and he uses music as a source of information to convey how characters would feel and viewers should feel. But that’s not always a conscious process. Stimulus goes in and is reimagined and conveyed in a cinematic sense.

It was interesting to hear how the musicians used film, and the directors were more interested in music, proving how creativity and art can not be confined to specific boxes.

Stornaway

Cloud Control

Award-winning Aussies Cloud Control got things off to a dynamic start. Despite an initial guitar malfunction, the drum-beat fanfares, stirring harmonies and formidable tambourine of ‘Gold Canary’, ‘There’s Nothing In The Water’ and ‘This Is What I Said’ got feet tapping and heads nodding without trouble.

Framed by blue sky, glowing rooftops and seagulls above the peaked stage, even those less inclined to enjoy the quirky foursome looked charmed at the end of the set.
Surroundings like these – not to mention the three thousand-strong crowd – would be intimidating by anyone’s standards. But, as soon as Stornoway took to the stage, frontman Brian Briggs’s clear, earnest vocals and the band’s dappled layers of sound had a spectacular effect, lighting up the space with pure enthusiasm.

 

It becomes clear that Stornoway have a real passion for their music, as the soft, poignant openings of ‘Fuel Up’ and ‘The Coldharbour Road’ quickly, enthusiastically plunge into soaring choruses backed by the entire crowd, and as new songs ‘When You Touch Down From Outer Space’ and ‘The Bigger Picture’ are far from tentative performances, carrying the same buzz as familiar ones.
The sound of every voice belting the encore, ‘Long Distance Lullaby’ and ‘Zorbing’, left Briggs and the other band members looking a little overwhelmed. But it’s that interaction between the layers of instruments and the roaring crowd that is exceptional: an ability to use the audience as part of their music, rather than as a backing track.

Every bit as comfortable in larger venues as in small, their transcendent moments were as much in crowd choruses as in solos. But above all, their talent lies in the fluid way they switch between the two – which places them firmly ahead of their more derivative, less passionate nu-folk rivals.