Bilbao BBK Live 2012 (Day Three)

‘I love you, baby. This one’s for you,’ Frank Carter growls from a pulsating pit in his crowd. The feeling appears to be mutual as Carter and his new band Pure Love lead the more than willing bunch through a string of songs from their forthcoming debut. He calls out for a circle pit, spitting his way through more swears than you might expect from such an early performance. Frank’s filthy mouth is echoed in his lyrics and Pure Love show the Bilbao audience that they’re quite happy to leave the lights on for a bit of rough and an inordinate amount of tumble on the closing night of the Spanish festival.

Next up, and kicking off the apparent Scot theme for the day, are The View who commandeer the main stage for an early portion of the evening before we head over to the second stage to see Glasvegas with their equally Scottish but doubly miserable set. Whining their way through their dusk turn, the band perform their anthemic tracks to an enthusiastic audience, with set highlights coming from trademark closing number ‘Daddy’s Gone’, complete with crowd sing-along, naturally.

Meanwhile, The Big Pink are echoing the lad-rock notion over on the festival’s smallest stage where the trawl through tracks from their latest album. They might not be totally in tune or time but what they lack in technical accomplishments, they more than make up for in enthusiasm, bouncing around their platform like it’s going out of fashion.

But for real tips on just how to command a crowd, look no further than the evening’s second headliners Garbage. Shirley Manson is fierce. As she struts, flirts and gyrates her way through their short set, all eyes are decidedly on the Scottish frontwoman. There’s no questioning her modesty in both senses of the word as she introduces her band to the masses, declaring with a toss of her trademark red mane that it’s best we don’t get too deep, we’ve only just met, let’s keep this shallow and superficial.

‘Why Do You Love Me?’, ‘Queer’ and ‘Stupid Girl’ all make an appearance before the show is blighted by technical problems but Manson carries on regardless. She, quite frankly, doesn’t give a shit. And it’s bloody brilliant to watch. A fantastic end to the festival.