The Lightning Seeds, Main Stage, Four stars
Pop’s great lost geniuses trooped on just as afternoon sunshine had deigned to poke through the clouds above Stradbally.
The moment could have been scripted, as Ian Broudie led his ensemble through some of the most luminescent – and perplexingly forgotten – hits of the Nineties.
Already it was turning out to be an afternoon to remember.
Chart conquerer / manbun advocate Hozier had earlier joined his former bandmates in the Trinity Orchestra for a performance of Bowie’s Heroes that lifted the roof off the stage (quite an achievement given they were outdoors).
The Lightning Seeds didn’t try to outdo these theatrics.
The sun is out for @Lightning_Seeds 😎😎 #EP2016 pic.twitter.com/60kylBLedX
— Gillian Nelis (@gnelis) September 3, 2016
Instead they quietly dazzled, with happy/sad gems Lucky You, Pure and The Life Of Riley – the last an unlikely terrace anthem by dint of its second life soundtracking Goal of the Month on Match of the Day a million years ago.
The shy and introspective Broudie has had his triumphs and reversals in the 20 years since showing Generation Britpop that blokes with guitars could conquer the charts without resorting to cartoon lairiness.
.@IanZBroudie and @Lightning_Seeds being very wonderful at @EPfestival just now. #PureandSimple pic.twitter.com/iXvnptSP6A
— Pete Murphy (@PeteFookinMurph) September 3, 2016
But while his career has not always soared in the intervening decades, his finest songs have lost none of their swooping majesty.
The rain was vanquished, the sun was out and Lightning Seeds made you feel giddily glad you were in a field in the middle of Laois. A master conjurer had worked his magic.
