Our photographer Kane Howie popped down to Wilkestock just outside of Stevenage and took some photos. The weekend was headlined by We Are Scientists, Slaves and The Dutty Moonshine Band. The three day event had a variety of different genres of music for everyones taste. There were bands, solo artists, DJ sets and more. The main stage had recycled sofas for people to chill out on. In the food court there were burgers, hot dogs, curly fries, pizza, Malaysian curry, toasties, ice creams, waffles and pancakes. A huge thanks to everyone who was involved in making the festival great. Roll on next year!!
In just a few weeks Wilkestock Festival will be taking place at Frogmore Hill just outside Stevenage which is a 30 minute train journey North of London Kings Cross.
This years lineup sees We Are Scientists, Slaves, The Dutty Moonshine! Big Band as the headliners.
Truck Festival was back last weekend with being a sell out. The lineup is incredible with some of the hottest bands and artists around. The festival had great weather apart from a shower of rain throughout Friday night and into the Saturday morning. It seemed to be the only festival that weekend that kept dry and sunny. The weekend was headlined by Wolf Alice, Foals and closed with Two Door Cinema Club.
The site had a huge selection of food vendors which included burgers, pizza, steak sarnies, sausage rolls, tacos and many more. The thing we love about Truck is that the local rotary club have a food tent in which all proceeds go to charity. There were so many amazing acts throughout the weekend and our photographer Kane Howie was there to document it for us.
With being the first time attending Folk By The Oak I wasn’t too sure what to expect as I am so used to a lot more rock music than folk. Attending the festival I entered the grounds of Hatfield Park which is just North of London. The site is filled with grasslands and woodland areas. Entering the festival was really quick and first thing I saw was a huge selection of food and drink vendors from roast pork and stuffing rolls to vegan cakes and tea to freshly made lemonade. There were gazebos and tents with people chilling on their chairs and blankets with picnics. Folk By The Oak had 2 stages which was the main stage and the Acorn Stage both showcasing some amazing acts throughout the day.
My most notable acts were The Trials Of Cato a power-folk trio from Wales. I first heard of these guys from a family member who has seen then busking around the city of Cambridge so I made sure to check them out. The trio put on a fantastic performance with songs such as ‘Tom Paines Bones’ ‘Gloria’ ‘Haf’ and more. I will definitely be checking these guys out again when I can. Their album Hide and Hair is out now and worth having a listen to.
Another band I really enjoyed was the Acorn Stage headliners the Scottish band Elephant Sessions an indie folk band who infuse folk, funk and electronica together. They had the whole tent dancing to their music and I could definitely see them playing the main stage one day.
Another big thing at the festival was The Lost Words: Spell Songs which is a book for children to help learn lost words that are not used as often anymore. They had the book for sale and had an area which had little shows performed by a cast under some trees. Also a musical companion piece to The Lost Words was performed by a collaboration of folk artists on the main stage which was bringing nature back to life through the power of music, poetry, art and magic.
There was plenty of activities for everyone to enjoy including archery, bubbles, arts and crafts, wood carving and then stalls selling nic nacs.
The festival closed with Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls a punk folk style band. They were a little confused as to why they had been picked to play the festival but were very happy to play. A great moment was when Frank mentioned that they usually get the crowd to do a circle pit but considering it was a folk festival they were to do a circle jig, which is probably the first one to be done at a show.
I will definitely be coming back next year to see what more delights Folk By The Oak can offer.
In just a few weeks time, Truck Festival is due to take place in Oxfordshire with being a sell out its sure to be the best festival of the year! The lineup for this year is by far one of the best we have seen. Summer Festival Guide has been covering the festival for the past few years and we think its great to let you know on who we think you should check out. See below for the top bands to check out at this years Truck Festival!!
HOT MILK – Saturday-The Nest-13.15
YONAKA-Friday-The Nest-19.30
DODIE-Sunday-The Market Stage-19.00
DECO-Saturday-Truck Stage-14.15
STRANGE BONES-Sunday-This Feeling-20.45
MARSICANS-Friday-Truck Stage- 15.00
ALFIE TEMPLEMAN-Sunday-The Market Stage-14.45
We hope you liked some of the bands we chose. You can see the full line up and more information at the Truck Festival website https://truckfestival.com/
Our photographer Kane Howie went to Milton Keynes to check out Marshall Live at Arena MK. There were two stages at the event, the main stage and the Discovery Stage in which new and upcoming bands played and had the public vote on who they wanted to play the main stage that evening. Headlining the event was The Hunna with support from Yonaka, Barns Courtney, Keywest, Press to Meco, D_Drive, Rews, King Creature, Bad Touch and Thousand Thoughts. The night was hosted by Daniel P. Carter. Check out the photos below.
There is nothing better than a show at an old school music venue on a school night. We were looking forward to catching the second date in the short Teleman Tour. Kane and myself turned up early to grab an interview with the charismatic four piece, while the support act, Uh, were performing their soundcheck. We were surprised that the usual queues at The Junction were not forming, but put it down to people getting a bite to eat before the show.
The Junction is a great venue for getting close up to the action. It is purpose built on the old cattle market site and holds a capacity of 850 people. The acoustics are always good and it is basically a square space with a small stage against one wall, the mixing desk normally against the opposing wall, and the rest of the dark space for the crowd. Small bars either side mean you can get cold drinks without missing the action. It’s also very well set up for people with disabilities with helpful staff on hand, so it is pretty much all that a music venue should be.
The venue was slowly filling up when the support band, Uh, took to the stage. A male and female duo, Uh announced that they were going to start with meditation. They then went on to play a hypnotic electronica song with spoken lyrics. Their set contained various songs of a similar ilk, which at least got the crowd swaying. It was all in all very ‘Cambridge’.
Once they had completed the stage was bathed in blue with the customary smoke slowly filling the area. We noticed that the venue was now full, and our first fears that it was going to be a quiet night were unfounded. The very eclectic crowd waited patiently until the appearance of the main act was signalled by the stage plunging into darkness and silence from the amps. A heavy bassline signalled a start to the proceedings and the stage was engulfed in a red hue as Teleman took to their positions on the stage. The unmistakable synth intro of ‘Fun Destruction’ rang out as the cheers from the crowd were dying down. The crowd really started grooving to ‘Family Of Aliens’, the title track of Teleman’s new album.
The setlist was always going to have a fair share of numbers from their new album, but Teleman mixed it up a bit with tracks from their previous two albums and some from their EPs. As Tom had told us in our interview, they also had some fun with the live numbers, with more instrumental interludes, where all the members of the band could show off their musical skills. They like to keep their shows simple, to let the music do its talking. The lights were subtle and fairly static, except for some elements of strobing during songs like ‘Cactus’ and the interaction with the audience was fairly minimal. In fact it was not until the end of ‘Repeater’, five songs in that Tom said ‘It’s nice to be back in Cambridge.’
It was obvious that the band like to jam in a live environment and like to play with sound. ‘Submarine Life’ was full of distortion, but also had Tom playing a tambourine and the band clearly enjoyed this number, as did the crowd. Pete Cattermole put down his bass at one stage and swapped places with Jonny Saunders. Tom proclaimed that if they were swapping over they were trying something new and said ‘That’s exciting isn’t it?’ The crowd responded with a ‘WOOHOO’. Now Pete and Jonny were on synths, accompanied with Hiro’s simple percussion as they preformed ‘Sea Of Wine’, a song that really showcases Tom’s vocals.
It was after this that we were treated to an insight into the Rock N Roll lifestyle of Teleman on tour. They had, had a nice day at the Botanical Gardens, but being the Rock N Roll Rebels they are they had broken in! Well when I say broken in they said they had just walked in really! This drew a lone ‘Good on Ya’ from one of the fans.
We were treated to a lot of numbers from ‘Family of Aliens’ in the first two thirds of the set, but then Teleman ramped things up with songs from their first album and EPs such as ‘Strange Combination’, ‘Not In Control’ and ‘Cristina’, the latter two being a surprise as they tend to be songs in the encore. The crowd had been moving more and more and by the end of ‘Song For A Seagull’ it was a writhing organic mass from the front of the stage to the back of the venue. This ramped up to a fenzy during the crowd pleasing ‘Not In Control’. This is normally a good time to exit stage left and leave the crowd wanting more, which is exactly what the band did. A drum machine played like the ticking of some unseen clock, and simple white lighting shone on the, now, empty stage.
Tom came onto the stage on his own for the first song of the encore. With a simple spot on him he performed a delightfully stripped down version of ‘Nights On Earth’. The show had seemed to flash by and there was only one song that could now finish off the night. Jonny, Pete and Hiro joined Tom on stage and ‘Dusseldorf’ capped the night. With a heavy drumbeat, hand clapping, everyone signing in unison and the whole place jumping, that is the perfect way to end a cheeky show on a school night.
Thomas Sanders, took some time out to talk to us ahead of the Teleman show at The Cambridge Junction on the 23rd April. As their support band, Uh, were running through their souncheck, we adjourned to the salubrious surroundings of the car park, to talk about their latest album, musical direction and the difference between touring in Europe and the UK amongst other things.
Kane stole my first question when he was shooting a few pictures, so this is not your first time in Cambridge then?
No we’ve played here, I do not know how many times. We have played quite a few headline shows over the years and with other bands. In fact I remember playing cricket in this car park with The Maccabees. We have played smaller venues in Cambridge too. We have played the Portland Arms at least twice.
Your latest album is entitled Family of Aliens. Does this represent you as a band?
Yeah, to an extent. I don’t want to speak for everyone in the band, but sometimes it is a kind of feeling of being a bit detached about everything that is going on around you, and you kind of feel, where do you fit in all this? It is often hard to relate to the stuff that is happening in the world, like politically. You assume that the majority of people are on the same planet as you, and then you realise that there are people living on a completely different planet. You start to question where you belong, where they belong, where do you all fit in?
The new album seems to have a different sound to the other two.
Yeah it does have a different flavour. Each time we go into the studio, we try and push the boundaries a bit further and be a bit more playful. As a writer I have moved away from the guitar quite a lot. Just because I got a bit bored playing the guitar all the time. I still love it and play it in the shows. We do not want all our songs to be focused around the guitar. In fact a lot of our new songs,on what will be our fourth record don’t really have any guitar in. We may have gone to far.
So more synth based?
Yeah, and just anything really. I have been writing on the piano a lot which I really enjoy. Trying to not let yourself get tied down to traditional habits. The way I have been writing my whole life has always been the same.
It is a conscious decision to move then?
Yeah it is definitely. I like to challenge myself. I kind of come from an indie and Britpop background. That was the music that I loved when I was a kind. Those are about the verse and the chorus, a very formulaic structure. Then the second chorus a double chorus and then you get your middle 8. For years I thought this is how you have to write a song and it got so ingrained that I really struggled to move away from that formulae. I guess it is the same with anything you do, not just music. In any creative process you can get in this groove of habit that can be difficult to break. So I have been enjoying writing to one groove that doesn’t change.
I am not talking about more recent contemporary music that is lute based. Songs like Iggy Pop’s The Passenger, doesn’t change, its just one riff for the whole song and it just gets better and better. You don’t get bored, and it is not until someone points out that you realise there are no chord changes. Some Fleetwood Mac songs are the same. A couple of their songs only have a couple of chords, and they are such great songs, that you don’t even notice.
There is beauty in the simplicity then?
Yeah and it can be so hypnotic about hearing the same thing again and again, and if you are loving it for 4 minutes, why change?
What are your influences, you mentioned Britpop?
Britpop is what I grew up on, but I would never call it an influence or a conscious influence on what I am doing now. I am not really aware of anything that is influencing me. I have been listening to some New Order recently and I really admire the way they interweave guitar into music where you wouldn’t really expect guitar to come in. Like music driven by drum machines and synths, it’s quite a fine art. It often sounds quite awkward when you try and fit in a guitar into music that is focussed around electronic music. So that’s quite a good lesson to be learnt from those guys.
You have just got back from Europe. What were the crowds like there?
Europe is very different. It is a very different experience touring Europe. On some levels it is much more enjoyable. The hospitality is great and you are looked after better. A lot of the time the people in the towns you play in genuinely appreciate that you have come to their town. They are really made up. In the UK we have an over saturated music scene. I do not mean that in a negative way. Any band you want to see, you know that they will playing in a town near you soon. The competition is high, and the standard in venues is often very low. There is no government funding, or very little that I know of.
A lot of smaller venues, are shutting down aren’t they?
Yeah exactly, for various reasons. But when you play in France, or you play in Holland, the government is putting money into venues across the country and they are astounding, like beautiful places too play in and there is definitely a difference. There is something about playing to a UK crowd that is very special though. It’s much more raw and there is a higher level of energy in the room, I have never really found that in Europe.
So what can we expect from one of your shows?
There’s going to be a lot of energy and there will be material from all of our albums. We kind of rework some of our songs to give them a more interesting twist for live. We don’t really like our songs to sound like they do on the record. I am always a bit disappointed when I go and see a band and it sounds like I have just put a CD on. I could just that at home. It is really nice when you get another angle at a live show I think. We try and make sure that everyone has a unique experience whether they know our songs or not and that everyone has a great time.
London based band Bears Den stopped off on their ‘So That You Might Hear Me’ tour at the legendary venue Sheperd’s Bush Empire, in which is a very important place for them as noted during the show as one member was formerly an employee at a local pub just along the same road as the venue. Both London shows were sold out and it was their last UK show before jetting off to play all over Europe.
Arriving at the venue with a capacity of 2000, the room is filled with excitement from the crowd. Whilst patiently waiting for the first act Tusks to arrive on stage, people were sipping at their beverages , chatting amongst themselves with many also observing the merch stall.
The stage was lit with blue lighting with a gentle haze of smoke while two vintage styled rugs were seen covering the floor. Around 8:00pm, the lights began to dim and support act Tusks took to the stage. Tusks is actually the stage name for performer Emily Underhill. Her style of music is most suited to an electronic indie pop genre. Her sound can be likened to that of London Grammar. The artist expressed that she was very grateful to be supporting Bears Den and especially for two consecutive nights as it is a venue she has always dreamed of performing in. Her set showcased a total of six songs including the single ‘Be Mine’, which is featured on her new album that is due for release in June. She was well received with the crowd who were now really looking forward to the headliners.
The stage was cleared quite quickly and was all set up for Bears Den. With guitars all ready and also a little wooden piano. As the lights dimmed they had the most nostalgic sci-fi style intro as the Terminator theme tune played them in. The duo walked on with four supporting musicians. It was still pretty dark with just a few white lights that focused on the band from below as they played their first song ‘Fuel On The Fire’. Shortly after, their second song of the evening saw singer Andrew Davie said how great it was to play the venue again and that we do have more songs to play. The crowd swayed and danced during the performance. When playing ‘Sophie’ the band turned off all equipment and came to the front of the stage and asked for complete silence and kept it simple with an acoustic rendition of the song. They also performed an unplugged song in the crowd later on in the show which was ‘Blankets Of Sorrow’.
When performing, ticket holders enjoyed singing the lyrics along with the band. Bears Den played a wide range of new and classic songs which included music from their latest album which was only released this month (April 2019). The album is due for release just a few short days after this gig at Sheperd’s Bush. Band member Andrew toasted the show with a shot and expressed a huge thank you to everyone who has supported them over the years.
At the end of the evening the band brought their show to a close with probably one of their biggest hits to date. ‘Agape’. It was the perfect way to end the evening. You can catch the band on their European tour and also at Citadel Festival in London on 14th July 2019.
Rock chick Kt Tunstall stopped off at Cambridge Junction on her 18 date UK/IRE tour on 14th March. She was supported by East London singer Gorran and indie rocker Laurel. The show was a sell out so there was a huge audience for all 3 acts. Our photographer Kane Howie was there to snap the event.
