Festival News - Page 15 of 387 - Summer Festival Guide

Bloodstock Open Air 2024 – THE GIANT REVIEW!

August 15, 2024 by Anna Hyams

FRIDAY

Back to Bloodstock for my 22^nd year, yes you read that right – from it’s humble beginnings in Derby Assembly rooms and my humble beginnings as a baby greebo, here we both are once again. The sun is shining in a menacing sort of way that tells me I’m going to end the weekend a delicious shade of rouge, but I am so ready to headbang my way through BOA 2024’s delectable musical offerings.

Green Lung hailing from London bring their stoner metal flavour to the RJD stage, which is set with an odd collection of Jim Henson-esque monsters for some reason. I really like the furry viking head thing but that horse-raven thing at the side is absolute nightmare fuel to be honest. “This song goes out to anyone who has ever suffered with depression” says frontman Tom Templar, before the band play recent hit ‘One For Sorrow’.

Grand Magus’ set is besieged by technical difficulties early on as the PA appears to be off on it’s own musical adventure when they’d stopped playing, but wow did they recover. Swedish heavy metal may as well be a brand in it’s own right at this point, but I have a theory that bands that unironically wear their own t-shirts – are always great. Next we catch supergroup Haliphron over on the Sophie Lancaster stage for some screamy doomy funtimes with a frontwoman who is possibly of Targaryen descent; “We are honoured to be on the Sophie stage, may she be remembered forever”.

Off for a wander we say a quick hello to local(ish) Tamworth legend SpudMan who is yelling funny things at everyone whilst scooping ungodly amounts of cheese onto potatoes, in the best way. Battle reenactment in the square is drawing a massive crowd of cheers, because who doesn’t want to relive their primary school field trips at a festival? The biggest cheer is reserved for when one from the blue team manages to smack the helmet off a very tall member of the green team (don’t quote me on that, the colours were a blur of shields and swords) as the compare shouts “Aww what lovely long flowing locks he has” just to really dial down the cool-factor.

Next we catch Rotting Christ, who despite their name are actually a band of very nice and friendly looking men doing a lot of shouting and hair windmilling. Black metal in the sunshine really hits different than it does on Spotify I tell you, they’re even *smiling*.

Norwegian metalheads Enslaved come out swinging with their Norse mythology inspired works and runes tattooed all over them, but the tone is immediately sobered as they say “We had some sad news this morning, a friend of ours passed away yesterday” referring to Dave Sweetapple of American band Witch.

Hatebreed up the tempo later on, as the heat of the day finally starts to wane a little, yelling “This is hallowed ground Bloodstock”, “It’s our job to make sure you wake up tomorrow with no voice left” and inciting some giant circle pits. Even the inflatable dinosaurs are up for a crowd-surf this evening, despite them being quite hard to navigate where you’re actually grabbing/passing them above your head…

In what seems like a day of laments, there is also the matter of the Lemmy Forever vigil which is brought to the main stage. A giant bust of Lemmy Kilmister (of Motorhead, in case you’ve been living under a rock for… well, ever) is ceremonially wheeled out onto the stage flanked by the Bloodstock organisers Adam and Vicky, and Phil Campbell. They each take turns to explain a bit about how much Lemmy loved Bloodstock, and what an impact he’d had before the portion of ashes bequeathed to Bloodstock were locked up in a tiny safe inside the bust. It’s quite a cool thing to do really, send parts of yourself to everywhere you loved – what a nice idea. Anyway, during the weekend you can go and ‘visit’ Lemmy inside the BOA art gallery, before he is relocated to Nottingham’s Rock City venue for the next year. If you do visit him, let me know if you also think his bust has very Iron Throne vibes, it’s so cool.

After a brief reprise for a bag of hot donuts, my most-anticipated band Clutch absolutely smash the metaphorical doors off the place with their signature brand of fast paced rock n roll. I will always find it absolutely hilarious that the rest of the extremely normcore coded band stay almost stock still mid-stage for the entire set while enigmatic frontman Neil Fallon wreaks body-contorting frenzied havoc about the place for a solid hour. “I didn’t think I needed sunscreen in the UK, that was a mistake” he jokes, before launching into earworm (and favourite of mine) ‘Sucker for the Witch’.

The awesome cosmic backdrop sadly isn’t on any of their tour merch, which incidentally was almost sold out completely before they ever even made it to the stage, so here’s my petition to Clutch to get it done. In another little stage sound mishap for today; “Hold on the guitar isn’t working… did you turn it off and on again? That’s good enough for rock and roll fuck it” doesn’t impede them for long and we get the excellent ‘In Walks Barbarella’. If you don’t singalong “Weaponized funk” there’s something wrong with you.

On the Sophie stage, The Vintage Caravan look exactly as you imagine they would – sporting the white Stetson, bootcut flares, double denim and jorts style of the US south. Except that they’re from Iceland. Oh. Anyway, I flippin’ love them. Guitarist Óskar Logi Ágústsson may be delightfully twee and joyful to watch, but his work is impeccable clean and complex – straight on my playlist they go.

Operatic all-lady quartet MAB burst the seams of the EMP tent with a huge crowd, but really needed to be elsewhere for the full effect I feel. There’s something slightly janky about trying to contain soaring vocals into an itsy bitsy tent, that is also a bar, that is also surrounded by shops with their own music playing.

Final band of the day for us is main stage closer, Sweden’s premier prog gods Opeth. Now, I will preface this with – last time I saw them I was unenthused. Mainly because I’m not all that into prog, but also because it was daytime and it felt all wrong listening to that kind of music in the blazing sunshine. Tonight however, the crowd is full, the sun has gone down and we are ready for some gloomy good times. ‘The Grand Conjuration’ opens the show and it really is impressive, despite it lasting for around eleventy billion hours. No I’m only joking, apparently the average Opeth song is only (ONLY) 8 minutes and 19 seconds long…

Mikael Åkerfeldt is in a much more talkative mood than last time as well, which is nice because the BOA crowd are feeling a bit heckle-y tonight it seems. “I LOVE YOU MIKAEL” an enormous man in the front row yells, drawing a laugh from the band before someone else shouts “Play Freebird!”. Taking it in his stride, Åkerfeldt shouts back “Freebird? That’s a good song… but no”.

“We have a new record… but we don’t know the songs yet… were gonna come back and play some songs sometime in the UK. Our manager is really angry with me right now for not saying the date but I can’t remember” they joke, but there’s no doubt the new stuff is met with trepidation from ‘Oldpeth’ fans. ‘Deliverance’ for the encore more than makes up for it, it’s a gorgeous, sumptuous show… for Opeth fans. For the rest of us uncultured swine, it’s a litany of lengthy poetry and I am too sleeeeepy.

The Grand Conjuration
Demon of the Fall
The Drapery Falls
In My Time of Need
Heir Apparent
Ghost of Perdition
Sorceress

Encore:

Deliverance

SATURDAY

A showery start to Saturday has us all worrying we’ve brought the wrong clothing, but it soon clears up to be another spicy day in the sunshine, and we’re headed to the Sophie stage to catch the rather beautiful goth goblin that is Ludovico Technique. As the Ringwraiths, ahem, band, make their way to the stage we catch a glimpse of vocalist Ben V swigging something viscous from a plastic cup, that looks suspiciously like he’s downing a blood bag.

The Dementor’s amp up and he creeps into centre brandishing his giant claws at the crowd. I’m really into this resurgence of industrial spooky metal, it has a very MM feel with a bit of a grungy Silverchair esque edge to it. I even like the orc-blood drool (which I guess was the contents of the curious cup).

On the RJD stage, Forbidden are bringing us some classic old school thrash metal, lots of hair and screaming, with Craig Locicero absolutely wailing on the guitar. The dinosaur meet-up on the EMP stage for today’s fancy dress theme, is somewhat of a distraction though. Especially when someone plays a metal version of the Jurassic Park theme.

Mimi Barks is ripping up the Sophie stage with her unique brand of doomy rap over electronic metal beats. Wearing a plastic yellow two-piece with a zip around the entire crotch region, and some impressively scary white-out contact lenses, she looks like some kind of otherworldly futuristic voodoo doll. I dig it, and her music is memorably feral. There’s a huge crowd in here, all going as berserk as she is, which really is the measure of any act I feel.

Unleash The Archers couldn’t be more of a whiplash change of pace, bringing Canadian power metal to the main stage. As you might imagine, they are extremely smiley and nice, but that doesn’t mean they can’t throw down. Frontwoman Brittney Hayes is capable of singing incredible highs AND windmilling her raven black hair at neck distorting speed. Joking about the weather here today, which has now become uncomfortably hot “We recently played rock en seine and it was 40 degrees… So I’ll take this any day” laughs Brittney, despite guitarist Andrew Kingsley being possibly the most sunburn prone ginger man I have ever seen.

Anyhow, I know it isn’t cooool but I enjoy some melodic/symphonic metal and I’d like to see a bigger return to it on future BOA bills.

The chaotically fun Nottingham band Red Rum bring all the pirates to the yard, well tent, for a very silly set of drinking and yelling about drinking. A very sweaty “Open up a circle here bloodstock! No, not for a pit… for a heavy metal conga!” to you all.

On the main stage, Deicide are hotly attended but I wish I could actually hear the guitars over the screaming, and I’m too hot. Whitechapel bring crowdsurfers galore over the barrier, including one lad dressed as a giant inflatable penis, but it’s Combichrist who really up the ante with a scorching electronic set of pure wild abandon. If you’re into NIN and Rob Zombie, Combichrist are gonna be one of your top bands this weekend – and I WISH they’d played the main stage because there wasn’t even an inch of space left unoccupied inside that tent.

Malevolence too go hard the minute they hit the stage, calling for the crowd to split into a giant wall of death, but they are also caught with some sound hijinks like a few other bands so far this weekend; “We are having some technical difficulties but I promise you we’re gonna have a good night together”. After the resolution, vocalist Alex Taylor yells that he wants everyone over the barrier, and the crowd surfers never stop coming.

“We are Malevolence and we’re from Sheffield, but we flew 300 miles to get here because we weren’t fucking missing this” is backed by a crowd-led chant of “Yoooorkshire, Yooorkshire” before an attempt is made at a very silly circle pit. “Show me the biggest fuckin circle pit Bloodstock has ever seen… Hold on make some space. I think I asked for it to go back around the sound desk. Push people out the way. I’m not leaving this stage until it happens”. At this point it occurs to me that they have no idea that there’s actually an ice-cream truck backed up to the sound desk, and very little real estate for any kind of interesting behaviour, but the people give it a go regardless. It looks a bit more like a goth fun-run than a circle-pit but I applaud the effort.

“This is the third time we’ve played Bloodstock, It’s a dream come true to be up here. We hold this festival very close to our hearts” they shout, and leave us with a record breaking 901 count for crowd surfers. Manic.

Sylosis are beset by horrendous technical issues one song in, downing play for over 15 minutes and some very awkward calls for solos. Frontman Josh Middleton (who is rocking a Deicide tee) is visibly beside himself with annoyance as his guitar output goes completely kaput, and refuses to reboot despite several attempts from techies. Eventually he comes back sans guitar and they give us everything they’ve got without it. It’s heavy and the pit is boisterous, but I feel really sad for them to have done it this way.

Main stage headliner Architects blow us all away with their heavy opener ‘Seeing Red’ and a heck-tonne of on stage pyro. “Malevolence earlier had a 901 final count of crowd surfers… we are going to give it shot. Do you have the energy in you? Get on your friends’ shoulders and get over this fucking barrier” shouts Dan Searle before calling Bloodstock “Hallowed ground”.

It’s a strong headline set, but there’s a bit of me that wishes it hadn’t been quite so clinical – a little nod to some of Bloodstock’s history is something we’ve come to expect from bands here, especially UK ones who know what BOA is to the scene, but this felt every bit like a stadium show to me. Regardless, they certainly play tight and the pyro/ticker tape always adds a bit of excitement to a set.

“There’s a guy there with a sign that just says I love anal… I ain’t about to kink shame you brother that fuckin rules” laughs Dan, before some heartfelt shout outs “We would not be a band if it wasn’t for my brother Tom”, Dan’s twin and Architects founder, who sadly died in 2016. “Another person who has really helped this band… Make some noise for Josh from Sylosis” their ex-guitarist who performed earlier today.

‘Doomsday’, ‘Nihilist’ and ‘Animals’ finish up a very respectable set from the Brighton boys, and if you like that Enter Shikari type of sound, they’ve definitely scratched that itch tonight – but I’m hoping next time they’ll feel more woven into the BOA lore.

Seeing Red
Giving Blood
deep fake
Impermanence
Black Lungs
These Colours Don’t Run
Hereafter
Gravedigger
a new moral low ground
Curse
Royal Beggars
Doomsday
Meteor
when we were young

Encore:

Nihilist
Animals

Like any festival worth its salt, the night-time entertainment doesn’t stop at the headliner, but BOA goes one up and has a Sophie Stage headliner too. Finnish folk-metal heroes Korpiklaani take that top spot tonight to an absolutely rammed tent, for a night of Lappish cultural tales dressed up in some downright dirty heavy metal. Frontman Jonne Järvelä is dressed like a Saami Jack Sparrow in a hide-tophat and fringed clothing combo, and he reads as extremely cheeky and prone to hijinks. Ideal.

In a bid to get us grooving, their fiddle and accordion-led music is amped up for ‘A Man With A Plan’ and we can’t help but enthusiastically join in, the constant stream of crowd-surfers over the barrier tell me that everyone in here is having a ball. If all of that didn’t satisfy your needs tonight, Jonne also gets his arse out – so there’s that. 10/10 I love Korpiklaani.

SUNDAY

Onto the final day of BOA and it’s another absolute scorcher out there, lots of extremely pink people are gathered at the main stage for the gorgeously melodic Soen. Billed as Swedish Prog metal, but definitively different to everything else I’d put in that category, Soen are captivatingly soft and sombre, as well as remaining heavy and singable. I’m not surprised they’ve had a big turn-out here, I really enjoyed their set.

In a complete 180, Beast In Black are a gut-busting dose of fast and furious power-metal with an electronic edge. A massive neon Tokyo nights backdrop, retina-burning neon green and pink guitars that would look at home in any Goosebumps episode, and incredible themed outfits are the name of the game and I am here for all of it.

Sometimes you just need a band to come out and BE FUN. Beast In Black deliver across the board – I particularly like their choreographed headbanging/guitar swishing, but there’s no doubt about their musical talent either, the riffs are tight. Frontman Anton Kabanen (who looks like he’s ready to host the cyberpunk Crystal Maze), shouts “Are you ready to travel with us to a beautiful country called Japan? We’re gonna spend one night in Tokyo my friends!” and we are treated to a very cheesy but ultimately very catchy afternoon of metal.

Warpstormer have filled the EMP tent to bursting for their low and slow thrash, and Septicflesh are throwing down the hair-swishing gauntlet in the fiercely strong sunshine. “We are Septicflesh from Athens Greece! Are You ready to move with us?” is met with sword-wielding enthusiasm from the front (no really, one guy actually has a sword) but there are a lot of heat-suffering people trying to muster up the energy around the arena.

Ankor in the Sophie tent bring us stunningly energetic punk-edged metalcore, and I sincerely hope that this is a band we see on a BOA stage again very soon – not least because their pocket-sized drummer is an incredible thrash-Queen and their lead singer can screeeeeam.

The Night Flight Orchestra are a Swedish classic rock band, who sound exactly like the montage part of every 80’s action film ever made. Like if you’re going to drive a sports car around winding roads to get to your next Roadhouse, or spend some time learning how to do a crane-kick – The Night Flight Orchestra have your back buddy. Lead singer Björn Strid (of Soilwork fame) is resplendent in an iridescent cape, his backing singers are dressed as retro air-hostesses and the drummer is wearing a full suit and cravat. I don’t know what to say, but I like it all very much.

“Did you bring your dancing shoes Bloodstock? Did you?” yells Björn, and the crowd screams back at him – it seems there are a lot of NFO fans in the BOA crowd today. Instant earworm ‘Satellite’ sees the entire arena start bouncing, and the band call for a group of people dressed as pilots to join them on stage – “Security we need our people on stage, our crew, get them up here”. After hugging everyone, the fans on stage are instructed to begin a conga line with the air-hostesses, as a matching conga takes up in the crowd.

“This is the very last festival for us, make us proud!” he shouts as they hit ‘West Ruth Ave’ which sounds like it would be perfect for a 70’s cop show. I can’t overstate how much I have loved this entire set, and I love Bloodstock for being able to book something so ridiculously fun alongside the more doomy serious bands – what an epic choice.

I feel much the same about the main-stage placement of Irish celtic punk rockers Flogging Molly – a band I’ve been blessed to see a few times now, and every single time they have been utterly fantastic. Today is no outlier, between Dave King throwing out cans of Guinness into the crowd, and his chaotic running around the stage – it’s hard to scratch a moment to breathe amongst the revelry. ‘Drunken Lullabies’ is the perfect opener for a Bloodstock crowd and ‘Tobacco island’ with it’s piratey sound is very BOA coded. “Fuck I need a drink after that” giggles Dave, “I’m gonna look like a fuckin tomato after this I’ll tell you that. The most beautiful tomato you’ve ever seen”.

“You’re absolutely fuckin’ beautiful you really are”, “One of the great things about being in a band like Flogging Molly is, today we’re playing an amazing metal festival and in 2 weeks time we’re coming back to play Moseley folk festival in Birmingham” they joke, but they’re not wrong – some of the great appeal of Flogging Molly is their ability to genre-cross, and I’d wager most metal fans actually listen to a very wide range of music.

‘Devil’s Dance Floor’ features Bridget Regan on the tin whistle, and has the entire arena up and dancing in a way that sort of looks like Riverdance with cattle prods. In a tribute to Motorhead’s Lemmy, “…so this is a song of friendship, and it goes like this…” we get the soulfully beautiful

‘If I Ever Leave This World Alive’, one of my favourite songs of all time. Another truly epic show today, thanks for booking that one BOA.

Carcass might not be my precise jam, but I did have to giggle at the Evil Nation/Live Nation t-shirt, and in their defence – and awful lot of people were having a thrashing good time with them. For my personal preference, Moldovan metal band Infected Rain over in the Sophie tent are the kind of wild I like. Lead vocalist Elena Cataraga (Lena Scissorhands) has a stunning voice alongside being able to scream like some sort of eldritch horror, their bassist is going absolutely berserk and the tent is a swarm of undulating limbs.

Closing the main stage tonight is the long-awaited return of Sweden’s finest – Amon Amarth. As the black curtain falls from the stage, we are immediately blasted in the face by ten tonnes of viking death metal and so much pyro it makes my eyes explode. ‘Guardians of Asgaard’ is powerfully, enormously fantastic – it’s quite hard to describe the frenetic energy of being right in the midst of it all.

“I don’t know if you know the lore but I’m going to say it anyway… don’t worry about it it’s just the lead into the next song” frontman Johan Hegg (who I have affectionately termed ‘Fire Santa’) leads us into ‘As Loke Falls’ whilst standing directly over a raging smoke cannon. The effect is frankly cinematic, but I’m not sure entirely intended as he quickly disembarks the step.

The giant Viking horn drum set, the towering Hnefatafl-like statues flanking the stage sides, the unrelenting blasts of golden orange flames… what an insanely iconic show, again.“Bloodstock have you had a great festival weekend?” is met with an almighty roar from the crowd, before the much anticipated call “Right bloodstock… bring out the epic viking row!”.

Now this, is a uniquely BOA experience (even commemorated on the back of an Amon Amarth tshirt available this weekend) as it was started here, in Derbyshire. If you ever went to a 90’s school disco, you’ll remember sitting on the floor for some inexplicable reason, to do oops upside your head dance moves in weird columns. So take that image and add it to your mental representation of row-row-row-your-boat; but everyone is grown-up, in varying stages of alcohol toxicity, sweaty, tattooed and wearing black.

Almost everyone in the whole arena complies, sits down in rows and begin to… well, row to the commanding calls from Johan, as an inflatable viking ship bobs happily on the stage. It’s surreal and kitschy and I adore it.

For ‘Shield Wall’ they bring out a heap of Viking reenactment types to hit each other and provide a visual cue, and we all take the opportunity to drain our cups (or drinking horns) as they shout “You’re loud and you’re wild and we love that shit, so we thought we’d take this opportunity to raise our horns to you… bloods cheers… skol!”.

“I think we have enough energy for another one how bout you guys… do you wanna party? Well then I guess it’s time for you guys to raise your horns… sing along!” signals the beginning of the end, but the encore includes an inflatable sea serpent being vanquished by Johan wielding Thor’s hammer, under a curtain of pyro. Epic.

“Until next time, be safe, party on, but most important raise your horns”.

Raven’s Flight
Guardians of Asgaard
The Pursuit of Vikings
Deceiver of the Gods
As Loke Falls
Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags
Heidrun
War of the Gods
Put Your Back Into the Oar
Put Your Back Into the Oar
The Way of Vikings
Under the Northern Star
First Kill
Shield Wall
Raise Your Horns

Encore:

Crack the Sky
Twilight of the Thunder God

Oh Bloodstock, there’s no easy way to explain to an outsider how much you feel like home. This might be a small festival on the scale of iconic metalfests, but you bet your ass everyone knows about it – because the community is impeccable here. I raise a glass of Iron Maiden’s darkest red wine to you all (which was for sale by the glass or bottle here), because every single year this festival exceeds my expectations. Next year is already off to a stellar start with the band announcements, and I’m unprecedently early in my preparedness to have my face melted off by Machine Head… once my currently melted face has recovered from Amon Amarth.

End of the Road festival – less than 100 tickets remaining

August 13, 2024 by Graham Tarrant

Less than 100 tickets remain for End of the Road festival this year – you do not want to miss out on this incredible line up, headlined by:

BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY

IDLES

SLOWDIVE

FEVER RAY

ALONGSIDE 50+ WORLD-CLASS ARTISTS

TY SEGALL | EVERYTHING EVERYTHING | THE REYTONS

New additions to the lineup also include Stereolab frontwoman Lætitia Sadier, Brighton trio Lambrini Girls, poetic rock from Joe Gideon, minimalist noise from Ex-Easter Island Head and Baroque-electronic fusion from newcomers The Orchestra (For Now)

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE NOW!

YNOT 2024 – The Big Review!

August 10, 2024 by Anna Hyams

YNOT 2024 Reviewed by – Gavin May & Reuben Mount

Y Not initially came into existence as an overspilled house party in 2005; the sort of party that the cool kid would throw while their parents were on holiday. Cut to 20 years later, and it has clearly gone from strength to strength, with huge named headliners sharing stages with bands making their first foray into festival territory. Despite the phenomenal growth, it is clear that Y Not has maintained that ‘feel good’ ethos.

Taking on a ‘when in Rome’ mentality, we made the most of the time we had and arrived on Thursday afternoon, expecting unbridled chaos in parking and clearing security. However we were (generally) pleasantly surprised here; smooth sailing up into Pikehall, everything well signposted, and straight into the car park. This could be in part due to the fact that the Thursday tickets were an add on – turns out that the Thursday tickets were worth the additional premium, but it does detract from the affordability side of things if you’re then paying piecemeal for the “extras”, especially if you’d be festivalling with a larger group of people, or bringing the family.

Stepping out into the lush greenery and looking out at the clear skies, it looked to be a promising weekend weatherwise, though we daren’t say that too loud (post note: aside from a smattering of rain on Friday, we stayed mostly dry!). Navigating wristband collections and clearing security in itself wasn’t awful, though it was clear that people were still finding their feet – we got sent on a bit of a wild goose chase trying to find the box office, but once we were through both sets of security and had the arenas laid out in front of us, we were golden.

Thursday

As things were still warming up, we took a little time to explore and get a lay of the land. There’s a large array of food options available, with something for everyone – a number of veggie and vegan choices too, which is great to see. Some of the options were a little unexpected (G: I’m looking at you, fudge shop that is shaped like a bus) but safe to say it feels like this weekend is going to have some character to it, if initial impressions are anything to go by.

On our initial wander toward the merch, we caught a snip of Club Malibu starting strong with the dulcet tones of “Karma Chameleon” blaring across the Gold City. The usual fare was available (Y Not t-shirts & hoodies, and reasonably priced too at £25 and £35 respectively). In fitting with the vibe so far, there were of course bucket hats and football stye t shirts too, in a bright pink colour. Those t-shirts were a little steeper in price but were sold out in no time. Interestingly there were also band-specific shirts available to purchase at the merch stand, which was lovely. As we discovered later on in the weekend, these were on rotation, with headliner shirts on sale each day.

We strolled back across a fairly quiet site, grab a gyros (chicken for Gavin & halloumi for Reuben, and park ourselves in the sunshine. Lexie Carroll provided a fantastic, floaty tone during the part of her set that we were able to catch – similar in feel to the wispy tone that Billie Eilish put forward in “What Was I Made For”. Shame that it was being consistently challenged by the dubstep from the Flying Dutchman ride, but it comes with the territory I guess!

As another mood-setter for the weekend ahead, we caught bits of Ten Tonnes on the main stage, setting the vibes for the rest of the evening with some steady but admittedly tonally monotonous rock to a rapidly growing crowd.

R: I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve not listened to Scouting for Girls since 2009, but tonight I got to hear Scouting for Girls in 2009. Energy and feel of the band hasn’t changed in a decade and a half (complimentary, obviously). They had an absolutely impeccable festival energy though, exactly the right band for this atmosphere and crowd, revelling in the response they got for Elvis Ain’t Dead. Their accompanying guitarist, Nick Tsang, demonstrated his musical prowess on multiple occasions during the set, including leading the crowd in a confusing but delightful rendition of Year 3000 as popularised by Busted. Definitely felt like a cheese dream but it was, admittedly, a lot of fun.

Closing out the Thursday were Kaiser Chiefs, a band that we’re both fans of but neither of us expected quite the performance they gave on that stage. There was a reliance on their earlier work, but honestly, we get it. With a professionally crafted and tight set, blistering from song to song, with classics like Oh My God and Ruby getting the crowd riled. Also good to hear beyond six seconds of I Predict A Riot without being cockblocked by Yorkshire Tea.

Plan was to hit up the silent disco after this, but the combination of being knackered and the fact that it comes at an additional cost (no thank you!) had us calling it a night here.

Friday

Another day of basking in the sun of the Derbyshire Dales – once we finally clear security, at least. As expected, the number of people arriving today has spiked, meaning that clearing the first set of security is taking an age. Wish there had been an easier way to sort out day entry, but we don’t always get what we want, eh? When we eventually manage to clear security, we make a beeline for the loos (bad choice – TL;DR the queues are HUGE and the toilets are frankly a state), then get to the Big Gin just in time to catch Black Honey.

Black Honey kicked off the festival proper with their distortion heavy melodies tinged with a sweetness echoed in the country music aesthetic of the lead vocalist. If you think Dolly Parton if she fronted 90s band Hole and you’re almost there. Needless to say that 90s grunge is very much alive in 2024 while Black Honey are around (R: And I’m living for that). Lemonade was their stand out song from the set, and was preceded by an anecdote about their first ever main stage at Y Not with a crowd of 3 and an exploding bass. Far cry from that now, with hundreds of people sitting in front of the big gin absorbing their sound. (G: I last saw them do a set at Bestival in 2018 and they’ve developed so much, but haven’t lost that unique and raw sound. I also particularly appreciated their shout out to women and non-binary people in the crowd, with the explicit statement that “everyone exists here”).

We had a little bit of a gap, and a bit of a gap at a festival means one of two things; a drink, or picking a stage at random. Venus Grrrls were the result of us taking the second option and what an incredible set. Wistful lead vocals mixed with far more aggressive guitar riffs than expected, creating a glorious “fuck you” atmosphere. To put it in their words, “the best way to get rid of creepy men is to hex them”. They shared meaty bass lines that LITERALLY made the floor shake in The Giant Squid. Initially a small crowd, but they were all clearly vibing, and it didn’t take long for them to catch the attention of passers by.

Next we caught Soft Play, a punk duo formally known as Slaves, who burst onto the stage with a visceral energy that feels like it’s missing currently in music, which is probably due to their opening claim that Punk’s Dead. If this is true though, to incorrectly quote Rachel from Friends, Soft Play had a hell of a time at the wake. They closed the set with The Hunter too, a great call too, which let the new songs to breathe (or scream). G: While we had a great time, I get the feeling that Soft Play were a bit of tonal whiplash from other acts on The Big Gin today; similar to their Download set there were shouts to “fuck the hi hat” which caught a few parents on the back foot when their kids joined in with the chanting. Delightful, in its own way.

Another returning artist to Y Not, following their Thursday headliner slot in 2022, and it is clear that there are some avid fans of The Kooks that have been waiting for their return. After opening with Always Where I Need To Be, the energy stayed high, though it quickly felt less like a festival set and more like a Kooks gig – don’t get me wrong, they sounded great, but felt almost formulaic and uniform.

They did share a new song with the crowd; the catchy Sunny Baby. It contained all the energy you’d expect from The Kooks but felt musically more complex, with a lovely use of layered vocal harmony in the choruses. Seemed to be a hit with the numerous kooks fans at the front! As to be expected, they closed out with Naive, which went over like a dream.

R: At this point, I went off on a little adventure of my own, having seen the start of The Kooks, there was a band on my agenda I was feverishly excited to see live. I traded the open air and indistinguishable fruit scented vape clouds for the darkened enclosure of The Quarry stage to watch The Lottery Winners. This was a band that were clearly having a lot of fun with it, to the point that they feel like the only band so far that was genuinely enjoying themselves. They played Burning House as expected, but the highlight was their anthem for neurodiversity Letter to Myself.

Next I swung by my headliner for the Friday, The Mysterines, ending my Friday on a melancholy note in the best possible way. Sultry vocals, bits of vocal distortion and some of the quite frankly sexiest bass lines I’ve heard (honestly, just listen to Sink Ya Teeth). This wouldn’t be out of place playing in the background of the Blade films, and I mean that as a compliment.

G: As the Friday headliner, the pressure was on for Snow Patrol, but they came out of the gate strong with their 2006 hit You’re All I Have, paired with an eye catching snowflake decal on the screens behind them. As an audience member, you can see that they clearly want to be there – Gary Lightbody’s regular audience interaction pays testament to this, with an opening joke about “falling on his hoop” due to the unexpected fine rain, and bantering with the crowd about sharing some new music (“are you having a good time? Well, let’s put a stop to that!” Which raised a few giggles).

Naturally, there were some of the expected classics interspersed in the set, including 2003’s Run (which had everyone singing along in a frankly moving way), Open Your Eyes, which received a brilliant reception, and their pre-encore closer Chasing Cars which went down about as well as you would expect. There was also material from their upcoming album The Forest Is The Path – they played The Beginning, which felt slightly meatier than the rest of tonights set, but it got the seal of approval from the crowd, which seemed quite rare for any new material this weekend. Disappointingly, their set wrapped up earlier than the billed time, but on the whole it was fantastic.

Regrettably the loo situation has gotten markedly worse. Y Not have shipped in some more portaloos, but the queues for those are still stretching across the site. Heading back from Snow Patrol to meet Reuben, I made unfortunate eye contact with a girl who had tried to pee in a bush, gotten stuck, and was having her friends try to rescue her with all the discretion of two seagulls fighting over a bag of chips. Poor lass.

Saturday

The energy today is a lot more relaxed than yesterday (though that might well be fatigue from the Sigma DJ set last night…), though people are generally still in very good spirits. There are a number of people drifting around the festival in fancy dress (we’ve seen a fair few gaggles of nuns) which is causing equal parts confusion and delight for those who clearly were not aware that there was a fancy dress contest happening.

The annual paint fight has already taken place when we arrive, and safe to say there are a number of victims wandering around. Turns out that Y Not weren’t kidding when they said that the powder paint would be hard to remove, as evidenced by a number of festival goers who are markedly much more citrus and/or blue than they were on Friday.

A genuinely incredible start to the our Saturday, Pale Waves injected our days with a jolt of indie pop energy. Not much audience interaction but a tight set performed flawlessly and it’s always a sign if people are walking away from your set singing your songs, which we spied a couple doing after this. A highlight of the whole festival so far.

In the short amount of downtime we have today, we made a break for Sgt Pepper Meadows to scope out some of the other retailers that are here. It’s clear from our excursion that a lot of people were not expecting the sunshine this weekend, with a LOT of people looking quite pink, but in fairness who expects sunshine at a British festival? One retailer that caught our eye was The Jazzy Frog, a quirky craft shop selling assorted jewellery knick knacks. Cue Gavin leaving with two pairs of earrings, because they just have no impulse control when it comes to unusual jewellery. The Dexter’s Laboratory earrings are already a firm favourite for the collection.

As is tradition by now, festival grub is high on Gavin’s ‘to do’ list. Order of the day is carbs, so we head over to The Yorky Roast and treat ourselves to The Duchess; veggie sausages, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy all loaded into a giant Yorkshire pudding (R: The most expensive single thing we ate at £14, but worth every damn penny). Made a welcome change from the freebie Swizzels Squashies and Coke Zero, which has been the usual fare so far today.

Another perfect match to the energy and audience of Y Not, Declan McKenna was one hell of a crowd pleaser. The biggest response was to Brazil, as entirely expected, but most of his set went down well. It should be highlighted to that this was the only act to use the screens on each side of the main stage in an interesting way with colour filters for each song, and an excellent 3D-glasses-like effect used at one point.

We had a little time here for a quick breather – and by breather, of course, we mean cheesecake. It isn’t like we would have been short of options, but the loaded cheesecake van caught our eye on the way in. While £7.50 seems like a lot for cheesecake, this was RICH. One of few times that Gavin has been able to share a dessert without being told to do so.

G: At this point, I slunk off, making the pilgrimage to see fan favourite, Frank Turner. Making another triumphant return to Y Not, Frank graced the crowd at The Quarry stage with show number 2929 (not like he has been keeping count or anything).

Armed with only his guitar, Frank Turner delighted the crowd in the packed out Quarry with music from his newest album, Undefeated, and safe to say it carries the same sharp balance between humour, rebellion and occasional existentialist sentiment that he has become well known for. Notable highlights from this section of the set were Do One and The Girl From the Record Shop, which both pulled in a huge crowd singalong.

Notably, during a musical interlude, Frank took the time to get applause for those “on the ground” who are making the festival happen, from security to bar staff and everyone in between – a real ‘good guy’ move.

The set closed with Polaroid Picture, which felt raw and real. The crowd were encouraged to learn the lead vocal line from one another and continue to sing while Frank took on the other vocal line, and honestly it sounded (and felt) fantastic. A definite Y Not highlight.

R: With a packed out crowd around the main stage a long time before they even started, Saturday main headliner Jamie T was due a warm reception and the screams of the crowd proved that immediately. There wasn’t a blistering start to the set, with a few slower tracks to open. But, soon it kicked into energy with their typical cheeky London charm and catchy guitar licks. He hit all the greats from his close to 20 year career, of course, with Sticks N’ Stones and Sheila getting incredible reactions. Then closed with a high energy, almost punk, version of Zombie to end the night on a tremendous high.

Sunday

After clearing two lots of security again, we made a beeline to see Milton Jones at Flamingo Jacks; unfortunately for us, so did everyone else. That definitely pays testament to the popularity of a great comedian, but it also feels a little like Y Not had perhaps underestimated how popular he would be (R: Didn’t help that his set time changed slightly too but the app hadn’t updated the times).

Admitting defeat, we headed over toward The Quarry, and caught Leicestershire local Rainbow Frog Biscuits in action. She put forward a diverse set with strong vocals and a range of musical styles, and it’s clear to see how she has become as popular as she has. Her music was interspersed with some audience interaction, with a recurrent theme being surprise and delight at how many people had turned out to see her, and honestly it was refreshing to see an artist be so open and frankly human about their experience while on stage.

After (yet another) browse of the various shops, we returned to the main stage to catch Holly Humberstone and her trademark folk/indie pop to continue the feeling of levity that we started with Rainbow Frog Biscuits. Genuinely hard to pick a highlight from what was such a strong set, but if pressed, The Walls Are Way Too Thin and the bittersweet Falling Asleep at the Wheel were must listens. (R: Honestly would have loved more than the 45 minute set as it flew by. One of my personal highlights of the festival)

Time was not on our side here, as Sunday was jam packed with bands we frankly NEEDED to see, so in the half hour gap we had, we swung by Chick’n Tenders for, you guessed it, “chicken” tenders. The cheapest meal that we got all weekend at £9.50, and frankly it was delicious. G: as an absolute carb fiend, I give this a huge thumbs up. Simple, filling and too damn tasty for its own good.

A swift dart back to Big Gin, and we just catch the start of The Vaccines. Honestly, we both forgot how much we knew by The Vaccines until their set, and recognised a hell of a lot more than we thought we would. They carried the good feeling that was brought in by Holly Humberstone with a frankly excellent set. The stage was set with carnations, in keeping with the theme from their newest album – a nice touch! You can tell they’re good at what they do – they sound JUST LIKE their recorded music, tonally, so they’re not victims to autotune hell. The use of reverb is enough to fit the style without being a distraction, and Justin Young was as suave and charming as ever.

R: Another solo excursion for me and football themed intro aside Dylan John Thomas kicking off (pun grudgingly intended) with Jenna immediately brought the energy of the small audience to a fever pitch (another terrible pun). I’ll stop now because I don’t like football and am running out of knowledge to draw on. The crowd might have been small, but they and I loved every second. Both Fever and Up in the Air were the clear highlight, with the latter blending melancholic lyrics with music dangerously close to ska. Exquisite.

From the soft indie tones to the politically charged rap metal of Bob Vylan proudly proclaiming to start war against the state. Genuine passion blazed through this set and great banter with the audience that the whole of the Giant Squid tent were absolutely living for. They named themselves “Best Band in Britain” during one such chat, and it’s hard to disagree after a set like this. Highlights were Ring the Alarm and the damn timely despite its age We Live Here.

G: Noel Gallagher was also there.

If you’re a Noel Gallagher fan already (and there are many if we go by the amount of bucket hats and shades nearby) you’re set, but otherwise there’s very little to catch your attention in the early portion of this set.

Notably, theres an unusual change in cinematography compared to other artists. While the likes of The Kooks and The Vaccines cut to the crowd at regular intervals, the camera seems fixed on Noel and occasionally other band members. There also seems to be a lot of just dead time between songs. Screens off, everything just stops until he’s ready. There’s a very interesting use of the screens behind him during the songs though, moving through a city skyline for Council Skies and a kaleidoscopic effect for We’re Gonna Get There In The End.

As expected, there is some classic Oasis in there, which fills the second half of the set as well as the encore. Surprisingly, there’s a cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division as the pre-encore close. The cover felt very different from the original, with a wiry Britpop spin that I’m sure some people would have enjoyed. The set fully closed with Don’t Look Back in Anger, which went down a storm. Despite personally not being a Noel Gallagher fan, I couldn’t help but get involved here.

G: Having had chance to unpack and get my head clear, I’ve got a few closing thoughts about Y Not this year. It was my first visit, so I can’t say whether this is the standard fare, but Y Not is easily one of the best “vibes” festivals I’ve been to. It was clear from the off that everyone was just there to have a good time, and that feeling carried on right the way through from the Thursday afternoon to the end of the headliner on Sunday.

There were a few issues around organisation, and I’m hoping that these are tackled before Y Not 2025 – the main one being the loo situation. It felt as though Y Not might have been a victim of its’ own success here, though, and an attempt was made to rectify the situation by plonking in extra portaloos, but it just wasn’t enough. This problem could have been lessened if the loos in VIP were working as they should, but as only one of the four toilet blocks was working in there, people were being filtered out into the main arena to use the already overcrowded facilities.

Particular shout out has to go to The Oktoberfest Band – over the course of the weekend they have been doing some LONG sets in The Watchtower Bar, playing fantastic arrangements of well known feel good bops and interspersing it with some great banter. While I wasn’t able to catch a great deal of their performances, the parts I did see were high energy and really engaging, and it’d be frankly rude of me not to give them a mention.

Overall I had a blast – same time next year?

R: As a music festival goer, not a vibes festival goer, I wasn’t sure how much I would get out of Y Not, but I’ll admit I was surprised. Folks weren’t really there for the music, but to have a good time and this was obvious from the moment we walked through the security checks. Everybody was happy and friendly and chatty, all in ways I’ve not experienced at all festival before. Even if I’m pretty certain I’ve seen enough bucket hats now to last me until roughly 2034.

It wasn’t without problems, of course, and the toilet problem that Gav mentioned cannot be understated. I have genuinely never seen a toilet situation at a festival that bad before. Also, I truly believe that festivals should stop taking the piss so much with the pricing of things when you’re there. The food was great but the prices were exorbitant, and the sheer amount of things billed as activities during the festival that had additional charges was audacious.

As a huge music fan, it’s hard to pick my highlights from the many sets we saw. But, I would say that you owe it to yourself to see The Lottery Winners live at least once, and Venus Grrrls and Rainbow Frog Biscuits are a couple of artists to keep an eye on in the future. Whether I will be raring for Y Not next year definitely depends on the lineup of bands, but if there’s some choice bands on the roster, I’ll see you at the main stage.

All headliners for BLOODSTOCK 2025 & more announced….

August 10, 2024 by Anna Hyams

With 2024’s event underway and already laying claim as one of the biggest and best BLOODSTOCK‘s ever, festival HQ have set the wheels in motion of 2025’s heavy metal juggernaut by announcing not one, not five, but nineteen bands for its hottest summer yet, including all headliners. BLOODSTOCK 2025 will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 7th-10th August.

Full info on how, when, and where to buy tickets – including cheapest options and when high demand VIP packages go on sale – can also be found below.
Are you sitting down?

BLOODSTOCK is thrilled to reveal Friday’s headliner are the UK’s adopted sons, gargantuan riff goliaths TRIVIUM. Matthew K Heafy declares, “We’ve always said that the UK is a second home to Trivium. It’s where our band really took root way back in 2005 and our relationship with it has only grown deeper over time. Our headline set will span our entire 20 year history and we’ll also celebrate ‘Ascendancy’ by bringing both the music and art to life. Bloodstock is the home of heavy metal in the UK and we’re thrilled to once again be called upon to headline it along with two long time friends. We promise you this will be the biggest and best Trivium set you have ever seen!”

Saturday’s headliners are none other than masters of metal and mayhem, MACHINE HEAD. Robb Flynn enthuses, “We honestly couldn’t be more stoked about hitting the stage at one of our favourite festivals to play. Bloodstock will forever hold a special place in our blackened hearts after our, now legendary, not-so-secret-secret-show on the Sophie Lancaster Stage back in 2022. That show, which marked our return to the live arena post-pandemic, was one of the hottest, wildest and most intense shows we’ve ever played on UK shores and we now want to recreate that magic again, and take it even higher in August 2025. Bloodstock, get ready because Machine F**ckin’ Head is coming to town and we want to see all you Head Cases lose it! BEERS UP!”

Sunday’s headliners dazzled the world with a gold-medal performance at the Olympics opening ceremony just two weeks ago…the almighty GOJIRA! Last headlining BLOODSTOCK with an all killer no filler, jaw-dropping spectacle back in 2018, when Metal Hammer called them “one of the best bands on the planet,” we can only dare imagine what the band will have in store for 2025. Keeping it succinct, Joe Duplantier states, “We are psyched to play Bloodstock again next year! Hold on to your socks, it’s gonna be brutal!!!” Of that there is surely no doubt.

Not content with unveiling the Ronnie James Dio stage headliners, BLOODSTOCK can also excitedly divulge all headliners for the Sophie Lancaster stage!! Wrapping up Thursday night will be Nergal’s bewitching side project, ME AND THAT MAN. Friday night concludes with impressive Canadian death metal beasts KATAKLYSM. Sure to set sparks flying as they close Saturday’s shenanigans, it’s STATIC-X! And there’s nothing like some seminal Floridian death metal to finish your neck off late on Sunday, so that can only mean the last band taking the stage at BLOODSTOCK 2025 will be the legendary OBITUARY.

Swooping in as special guests under TRIVIUM on Friday are influential black metal icons EMPEROR. Start your petition for a bonus Heafy x Ihsahn IBARAKI live track now.

Elsewhere on the RJD Friday bill you’ll be able to catch the ever glorious, gothic metal act LACUNA COIL and in their only UK festival slot for 2025, the unmissable ORANGE GOBLIN.

Shaking things up in the pit on Saturday’s RJD stage will be boisterous horror punks CREEPER and modern metal bruisers KUBLAI KHAN TX.

Joining the Ronnie James Dio line-up on Sunday will be melo-death squad THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, medieval metalheads FEUERSCHWANZ, theatrical dark rockers LORD OF THE LOST, and metalcore mainstays AUGUST BURNS RED.

BLOODSTOCK is also delighted to reveal special guests on the Sophie Lancaster stage will be Norse-inspired warriors ALL FOR METAL (Thursday), flamenco metal fusionists BREED 77 (Saturday) and NWOBHM-meets-power-metal kings 3 INCHES OF BLOOD (Sunday). Friday’s guest – and around another 100 bands across 2025’s heavy metal party of the year – are still to be announced!

TICKETS FOR 2025
Weekend early bird tickets (Thu-Sun) for BLOODSTOCK 2025 are available to purchase at the box office on site for £175. Child weekend early bird’s are £45 (ages 4 -11). Mini moshers under age 4 can come for free.
Wednesday early access is also available for those who want to max out their BLOODSTOCK experience – an early bird adult Wed-Sun ticket costs £200. There is no additional cost for children under 4, or aged 4-11, to arrive with a parent on Wednesday.

This is the cheapest way to buy a 2025 ticket, with no booking fee.

From 09:00 on 12th August, early bird tickets will be available online in the 2025 Ticket Store with a booking fee. Once early birds sell out, adult standard weekend tickets will increase to £199 + fees (£224 + fees inc early access). Child weekend tix will rise to £59 + fees once early bird’s sell out.

All Serpents Lair VIP and Campervan tickets will go on sale at 09:00 on 14th August.
Campervan tickets must be bought in addition to your festival ticket, and will be priced £120 without power / £240 with power. You do not need to buy these together, but must have both by the time of the festival.
VIP ticket pricing varies depending on the package. A limited number of VIP Patch Of Grass tickets will be available at the same time, 09:00 on 14th August, with a 6-month instalment plan to assist those who would prefer to spread out payments.

An instalment plan for standard weekend tickets will launch later in the year as usual.
Please note, early access on Wednesday is still under planning discussion for Serpents Lair VIP, accessible, and campervan campsites – stay tuned to socials for update at a later date.

These are expected to sell out very quickly, so if you want one, be ready!

TRUCK FESTIVAL 2024

August 5, 2024 by Kimberley-Anne Simmons

Nothing beats visiting Hill Farm in Oxfordshire for the amazing Truck Festival every July. This years line up is cracking! Idles headliner the Thursday night, Jamie T on the Friday, Wet Leg on Saturday and The Streets close the weekend on the Sunday.

After attending Truck for over ten years its mad to see how much its grown and the huge array of bands there is to offer. Like always getting into the festival is straight forward, there was barely any queueing to get in. The site layout has been similar for the last few years so it is always easy to navigate on where you need to be. The site is filled with several stages, fairground rides, food and drink stalls, shops and more.

One thing that I have always liked about the festival is the feelgood tent which is all run by locals supplying the hungry festival goers with comforting food in which all proceeds are raised for charity. Alongside this is various other food and drink vendors which serves something for everyone to enjoy.

Over the weekend I got to watch bands that I had seen before and also I got to discover new bands as well. Some of my highlights were Wet Leg, Fat Dog, Mandrake Handshake, English Teacher and Heartworms. Below are some photos of the whole weekend. Truck caters for all ages and is one not to miss. Early bird tickets for 2025 are available to purchase on the Truck site.

Human Rias and Dobé revamp Ukrainian anthem ‘Guelder Rose’ as fundraiser for a charity rescuing Ukrainian children

August 5, 2024August 5, 2024 by Alex Jukes

Human Rias IG

DOBé IG

BUY

“Guelder Rose” is a Ukrainian song with ancient roots. In 2022, it became a widely recognized anthem of Ukrainian resistance and global solidarity as the world rallied behind Ukraine.

Human Rias, DOBé and Olha’s rendition is rich in optimism with hopeful chords rising up through the mix. The drums roll onwards and elevate your spirits, while the gorgeous vocals convey messages of hope. It’s a brilliantly stirring track that packs a devastating punch with plenty of the signature sophisticated production you expect from Rias and DOBé. This melodic techno piece, inspired by the Ukrainian song “Chervona Kalyna” and featuring lyrics in both English and Ukrainian, is more than just music—it’s a call to action.

In response to the heartbreaking Okhmatdyt tragedy in July, which brought global attention to the suffering of Ukrainian children, artists Human Rias and DOBé, together with Ukrainian activist and artist Olha Borovyk, have launched a fundraiser to support the child victims of the war against Ukraine.

Scheduled for release on August 2nd, 2024, on the Ukrainian label SVET, “Guelder Rose” will be available for purchase on various digital platforms and Bandcamp, where buyers can contribute any desired amount towards the cause. The fundraiser is meant to collect funds for Save Ukraine: a Ukrainian charitable organization established in 2014 that coordinates dozens of organizations, volunteers, individuals, and legal entities to help those affected by war, with a special emphasis on children.

Artist Human Rias and Ukrainian activist Olha Borovyk debuted their powerful new track «Guelder Rose» at EXIT Festival, on July 12 at the renowned Dance Arena.

For additional details on Save Ukraine and to make direct contributions, please visit Save Ukraine’s official website at https://www.saveukraineua.org/donate/.

Artist(s): Human Rias, Olha Borovyk
Title: Guelder Rose
Record Label: SVET
Release Date: 2nd August 2024

Tracklist:
1) Guelder Rose (Radio Edit)
2) Guelder Rose (Extended Mix)

End of the Road – Line up announcement

August 13, 2024August 1, 2024 by Graham Tarrant

End of the Road festival is back this year from 29 August to 1 September 2024.

2024’s headline acts are bigger than ever and make the award winning festival at Larmer Tree Gardens essential for music lovers.

BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY

IDLES

SLOWDIVE

FEVER RAY

ALONGSIDE 50+ WORLD-CLASS ARTISTS

TY SEGALL | EVERYTHING EVERYTHING | THE REYTONS

IDLES return to End of the Road after triumphant performances at Glastonbury and Truckfest earlier this summer.

Cult favourite Bonnie “Prince” Billy returns with his beautiful songs of darkness, while folk legend Richard Dawson will kick things off on Thursday.

Shoegaze legends Slowdive go head-to-head with Richard Hawley in an impressive clash on Saturday night, followed by incredible after-hours acts you must not miss. The joyous John Talabot comes over from Barcelona for what will be a must-see DJ set. Also, Casisdead will surely demonstrate why he defied expectations and came away with a Brit Award earlier this year.

Fever Ray brings the Woods stage to a close on Sunday, while the beautiful Garden Stage concludes with the mighty Yo La Tengo.

It’s not only the music to enjoy at End of the Road. An impressive comedy lineup includes the unique Stewart Lee (the 41st best stand-up according to his own routine), Taskmaster favourite Fern Brady, and Josie Long, winner of the Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe all those years ago.

There’s also an outstanding cinema line-up, including Blur’s new documentary ‘To The End‘, following by a Q&A with director Toby L, while celebrated filmmaker Andrea Arnold curates the full cinema lineup on Sunday.

If you’re lucky, you may still be able to get a ticket at www.endoftheroadfestival.com

Camp Bestival (Dorset) 2024 – Review

July 30, 2024 by Graham Tarrant

Truly the best family-festival of the summer, Camp Bestival returned to Dorset with a kaleidoscope of music and entertaining fun for all ages.

This years theme was out of this world, with intergalactic aliens and astronauts joining the love-bot at Lulworth Castle.

Throughout the magical weekend, there was something for everyone – from the toddlers, children or simply the young-at-heart.

Bluey and Hacker T Dog, our favourite terrier from Wigan, brought the CBBC magic to life on the main stage early on Friday, before Ellie Sax, appropriately came with the glitz and glamour, playing a mix of old school house and rave favourites.

The Magic Numbers followed, showing they still have their incredible harmonies and timeless classic melodies and bittersweet love songs. Although much of the crowd may not have remembered them from their early 90s hey-day they appeared to win many new fans.

Designer-turned-DJ Gok Wan returned to Camp Bestival again, this year on the main stage, for an invigorating set of party favourite tunes, ensuring the crowd were jumping throughout. This was followed by the inevitable DREADED CLASH ON THE LINEUP! It happens every year at all events, but it means the crowd have to make a choice, as well as, of course, Summer Festival Guide. Do we photograph and cover the main stage with McFLY or our personal favourites, ORBITAL in the Big Top?

We opted for McFly who never fail to impress live. The band played a string of their catchy tunes, including Five Colours in Her Hair, One For The Radio, Shine a Light, and Star Girl. Before ‘All About You’, they selected young super-fan Grace from the audience to play tambourine, Clearly overwhelmed, she did a great job on a night she’ll clearly remember.

The party intensified on Saturday. Camp Bestival regular favourite Mr Tumble returned with his antics and confetti canons for the young ones, before 90s BBC legends Dick and Dom played a selection of ‘noughties’ (or is it written 00’s) bangers while repeatedly shouting their catchphrase ‘Bogies’. They’re no Ant and Dec, but maybe that’s a good thing!

Not to be left out, The Darkness brought the rock anthems (and some expletives) and are always a true festival highlight – clearly working out before each set, singer Justin Hawkins still can reach the high notes on hits such as ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’, and even played the opening lines of their Xmas Hit in the gorgeous summer sun.

The Darkness – Justin Hawkins flying through the air ©Graham Tarrant

Disco hits followed from the frontman of the legendary Scissor Sisters, Jake Shears. Mixing a few of his solo songs with the classics everyone wanted to hear including Comfortably Numb, Filthy/Gorgeous and of course, I Don’t Feel Like Dancing – there was no stopping the crowd partying in their fancy dress and space-suits.

Jake Shears, of Scissor Sisters ©Graham Tarrant

Headlining the Saturday night was self-proclaimed MILF (well that’s the name of her book) Paloma Faith. Playing a mix of songs from her latest album ‘The Glorification of Sadness’, with her biggest hits, she finished with the song which she stated changed her life – ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’.

The beauty of Camp Bestival is the party starts when the headliner finishes each night, over at the eclectic Caravanserai. For the unitiated, its a heady after hours mix of circus, fairground and vintage nostalgia all mixed in a cocktail shaker, with a sprinkle of jaw-dropping entertainers.

Sunday morning begins in traditional style with Mr Motivator to re-invigorate the crowd, but possibly the strangest act seen by Summer Festival Guide followed – Dogshow. Two grown men, positioned in their own instrument cage with poodle face-mask coverings banged out some pretty good techno while howling at the crowd. It has to be seen to be believed – although much of the crowd appeared to question whether they were still recovering from the cocktails at Caravanserai the night before.

Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show – ex Red Dwarf star plays great DJ set
©Graham Tarrant

Craig Charles followed with his Funk and Soul Party on the main stage, before pop royalty Sophie Ellis-Bextor was welcomed back to Camp Bestival again with her kitchen disco. She mixed her own hits with Gimme Gimme Gimme, Vogue, Like A Prayer, before finishing with ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’.

Pop royalty Sophie Ellis Bextor delighting crowds in the glorious sun
©Graham Tarrant

X-Factor’s very own James Arthur was next up, apologising for the fact he was losing his voice, he made clear he didn’t want to miss this special festival. It’s a shame though as he was clearly unable to sing many of his songs or hit half the notes throughout his set, relying on the enthusiastic crowd to sing most for him – perhaps he should donate some of his fee back to the festival’s good causes.

Bringing the main stage to a close was Pete Tong and the far more impressive 60-person Heritage Orchestra, conducted by Jules Buckley. Playing classical versions of Ibiza hits, it was a delight to be transported to the Balearic Island with the impressive lightshow.

After the annual explosive fireworks synced to extremely impressive space themed projections, the night was far from finished. Summer Festival Guide favourites The Cuban Brothers closed proceedings in The Big Top with their hilarious mix of hip-hop, breakbeats and funky infection dancing.

In the words of Camp Bestival co-founders, Rob and Josie da Bank, “wowzers… we did it again and this time the weather was on our side! We hope everybody enjoyed the festival”

We certainly did – roll on 2025. Early bird tickets are available on Friday. See the festival link below:

https://dorset.campbestival.net

WORDS: GRAHAM TARRANT & SAMANTHA MIDDLETON

PHOTOS: GRAHAM TARRANT

2000 Trees – 2024 Edition, REVIEWED!

July 27, 2024July 20, 2024 by Shôn Douglas

‘twas the week before 2000 Trees and all across the nation, the ground was being soaked by loads of precipitation!

After one of the wettest starts to the year in recent memory, hearts were sinking among ticket holders as yet more torrential rain hit the site in the days leading up to kick off – however fears were soon allayed as arrival day saw a sunny start and mostly dry conditions underfoot, even if there was a bit of mud about.

2000 Trees is a much-loved music festival that has lost none of its independent spirit since it was formed by a group of like-minded friends in 2007. The passion felt for the festival is such that multiple attendees referred to its arrival as “like Christmas” – although the weather in the build-up was more akin to monsoon season!

There are a number of ways to get to Upcote Farm, which is about six miles from Cheltenham, including a shuttle bus running on Wednesday and Thursday from Cheltenham Spa railway station direct to site and bringing you back on Sunday for £15 return. The Big Green Coach company also offered coach travel to the festival from further afield.

A taxi to site with a local company (Cheltenham hasn’t really embraced Uber yet) cost £24 which wasn’t altogether unreasonable considering my pre-festival faffing in the build-up and being keen to catch the first band on stage at 3pm.

Many drove, with car sharing encouraged – particularly given the nature of the small B road leading into site – while Campervans were again situated near the entry at the top of the site.

WEDNESDAY

The site itself is within Upcote Farm, a working farm which also hosts a five-mile trail run in Autumn called Run Upcote. The entrance to site involves a few uphill and downhill bits, as well as a narrow bridge, which made my having packed so much a bit of a rookie error, but entry into the festival itself was smooth and volunteers greeted arriving revellers with smiles and cheerful dispositions.

After meeting up with friends, checking in with the Trees team and setting up my tent it was on to the matter at hand – a weekend of brilliant music!

All of the performances on day one were split between The Word stage and The Forest with the main stage area cordoned off until the next day. This made it easy to quickly slip from set to set and not miss too much of anyone. As a matter of fact, Trees’ relatively small size is REALLY helpful in that respect. The organisers produced a super handy clashfinder to help make those difficult decisions but you’re never more than a five/ten-minute walk from one stage to the next – meaning the sort of cross site marathon you’d expect from Glastonbury are not an issue here.

There have been some changes made to the Forest area for 2024, creating more space and with an accessibility viewing platform to allow viewing from further back and its own bar the Forest proved a real favourite over the week.

Kicking off the weekend were Exit Child in the Forest. Continuing with the festive theme, singer and guitarist Anya Pulver proudly stated “This is my family’s Christmas – it’s the best time of the year!” before firing through their half hour set with the bit between their teeth, despite a few initial sound issues. Earlier in the year the band announced that they were calling it a day after Trees and gave this last show their absolute all – leaving the crowd wanting much, much more.

Following the end of the set I headed to The Word tent but it was already overflowing with enthusiastic fans watching Kite Thief so I took a wander to the merch tent to see what was on offer and the answer was A LOT! From limited edition prints to Trees football shirts and band t-shirts there was something for everyone – including a corner selling vinyl. Picking up a Manchester Orchestra print (which handily came pre-tubed) I dropped back to the tent before getting myself back into the Forest for the frankly excellent Pet Needs.

The Colchester four-piecebrought huge amounts of energy and a heck of a lot of fans tree-lined Forest, encouraging them to make the most of fresh voices to set the bar for the rest of the festival. With earworm singalongs ‘Punk Isn’t Dead; It’s Just Up For Sale’ and ‘Tracy Emin’s Bed’ they duly delivered and teed up Lambrini Girls for their own raucous showing.

Lambrini Girls © Joe Singh for 2000 Trees

Frontwoman Phoebe Lunny kicked off proceedings by asking the assembled throng “Who’s ready to fuck?” and the punk rockers duly set about showing us the time of our lives. One of the themes of the festival was support for minority groups, and Lambrini Girls led from the front. Their set covered issues of sexual assault, calling on the crowd to “Believe victims” before ‘Boys in the Band’, shouting “Fuck TERFs” before ‘Terf Wars’ and calling for a Free Palestine. Their set was a highlight of the weekend and judging by the number of T-Shirts on show over the weekend they’ve a load of new fans on board.

The crowd was simmering nicely before Glasgow’s Dead Pony arrived with the first of two sets of the weekend and was soon at boiling point. Entering to The Prodigy’s ‘Voodoo People (Pendulum Remix)’, the band started casting a spell over the crowd from the off with an urgent ‘Ignore This’ from the new album of the same name. A blistering half hour set followed, including the frankly epic ‘MK Nothing’ and ‘MANA’ before a brief cover of Nirvana’s ‘Teen Spirit’ gave way to a thumping ‘Zero’. Honestly, the band’s electro-rock sound wouldn’t be out of place in a mid-2000’s Zombie thriller with Milla Jovovich kicking the arse of the undead and I’m here for it!

Keeping things north of the border, Scottish three-piece The Xcerts returned to 2000 Trees once again. Described by the organisers as “bona fide Trees royalty”, the band have a fanatical following and the Forest was packed out for the band’s set. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the release of their third album, ‘There Is Only You’, the band played the record in its entirety – ending on a beautiful piano-led rendition of the album’s title track and teeing up Thursday’s mainstage set by assuring the crowd they’ll be playing eight songs they know well. “It’ll be flawless!” they promised.

In a bit of a departure from the festival’s usual position on sporting events, and following a whole lot of requests, the Trees organisers arranged to show the England vs Netherlands Euro 2024 semi-final clash in Axiom. This was my cue to check out the bar.

There are several around site, including a very swish Arbor tent and a Westons Cider bar with hay bales beneath a large oak tree near to the main stage. The bars offered lager, ale and cider on tap – as well as a non-alcoholic beer. Spirits, mixers, cocktails, wine and shots were all available – with White Russians proving particularly popular in the Forest.

Dream State were grateful for the crowd members making the choice to come and see them, describing it as a battle between “festival purists and football fans”. To help accommodate all comers, the band had set up a small screen on the stage, as well as a football net and lead singer Jessie donned an England shirt while guitarist Aled rocked a Netherlands kit and Wales bucket hat. While there may have been split loyalties on stage, the band’s heavy set unified all into a maelstrom of energy as Jessie’s vocals veered from melodic radio friendly tones into stirring the pit of your stomach growls – no more so than on 2019 single ‘Hand in Hand’.

Closing out Wednesday’s schedule before the Silent Disco took over were Lancashire rockers Boston Manor and what a close to the day it was! The Forest was packed out and vocal cords that had been warmed up all day were given a beasting akin to a sociopathic PT screaming at you in the gym by a powerhouse performance.

Kicking the set off with recent releases ‘Sliding Doors’ and ‘Container’ and adding some older hits such as ‘Laika’ the five-piece ploughed through a breathless show, rammed with heavy guitars and soaring vocals – especially during a massive singalong version of ‘Passenger’. Unfortunately, technical challenges during their set the next day cut the show short but with an eight-date headline tour across the UK in September to support the release of new album ‘Sundiver’ there will be plenty more chance for fans to see them in action in 2024.

With that, and darkness well and truly upon us it was time for the Silent Disco. In a first for me there was a channel allowing headset holders to listen in to a live performance from an act performing in the Forest creating a bit of a surreal scenario where the drummer’s tapping could be heard but no vocals unless you were on the right channel during Cody Frost’s performance. You can pre-order the headsets for £26 (£20 of which is refunded after the event) and then collect using a barcode or buy them on site for £28.

In classic “going too hard too soon” conduct, my friends and I threw ourselves into Silent Disco HARD and had a total blast. Seeing so many people with their headsets glowing, including members of staff who had worked so hard to get the festival set up in time, was a real grin inducer – as was the elder emo friendly playlist!

THURSDAY

Emerging into another beaut of a day and with the remains of several of the best French fries I have ever eaten courtesy of Smoking Buns underfoot, I headed into the now fully opened site to have a look around at the main arena.

The main stage sits between rows of food vendors creating a large bowl and allowing a decent view from the sound stage and beyond – including the VIP area’s viewing platform. During this explore I noted a few changes to the scheduling due to withdrawals – including Death Lens and Snayx – which meant some of the bands started an hour later giving me more time to check out the rest of the site.

I headed over to The Word tent to see what was on offer. On day twoit gave way to a range ofactivities for kids such as face painting, yoga and singalongs, as well as comedy in the evenings. Its proximity to the camping area and being between the main festival and Forest stages meant it felt like a bit of a bolthole from the hectic goings on of a busy site.

Further beyond there still and deeper into the woods is the Forest School where a team of experts introduced people to ways of interacting with nature, including den building and bug hunting. It was another peaceful corner of the site helping parents keep their kids entertained in between sets.

On top of these activities there are also a play area and crazy golf – meaning there was loads to do for the youngens. In fact, there were a LOT of kids at the festival, most of whom were living their best lives in fancy dress, face paint and raising their tiny devil horns to the sky saluting their favourite bands. If you’re a parent pondering a festival with a child, then you can do far worse than 2000 Trees.

The night before I’d loaned my charger to a friend which meant my phone battery was running low, but thankfully the charity, Temwa, were on site offering a phone (and vape) charging station. For £6 you can fully charge your mobile and when the charity’s profits go towards works in remote, rural areas of northern Malawi, it seems a small price to pay.

Other charities at the festival included Frank Water who offered unlimited cold, filtered water refills on site for £5 (or sparkling/flavoured for £6), Safe Gigs for Women who work with venues, promoters, artists and gig-goers to fight sexual assault and harassment at live music events and Metal For Good who use the positive values of rock, metal and other alternative subcultures to make a positive difference in communities. Seeing so many charities at the festival, with people donating and buying their merch, added even more to the feel-good factor on site.

One of the bands I was most keen on seeing during the festival was Spanish Love Songs. The LA band had two slots on Thursday, kicking off with a stripped back solo acoustic performance from frontman Dylan Slocum in the Forest just after midday.

Spanish Love Songs © Jez Pennington for 2000 Trees

Clearly anticipation for the performance was high, as the glade was full to the rafters. Borrowing wife and bandmate Meredith Van Woert’s guitar and with a setlist written on his phone (“No you can’t have it”) Slocum led the assembled throng through a ten-song set that delivered more than a few tears.

Brave Faces Everyone’s ‘Losers’ had fans screaming “It gets harder doesn’t it?” into the canopy above, with further leaf shaking vocals during ‘Otis/Carl’ and the always brilliant ‘Losers 2’. At one point Slocum asked the audience if they wanted to hear an “upbeat or a sad song?” and was met with a wall of noise screaming back in unison “SAD” – to next to no surprise from anyone attending – before duly delivering with ‘Exit Bags’ from 2023’s No Joy. The set ended on a – well, haunting version of ‘Haunted’ which only served to add to the anticipation for SLS’ Axiom set later that day.

While watching Dead Pony’s epic main stage set, I sampled Bunnyman’s Bunny Chow for lunch. The stall offers chilli and nachos, as well as the genuinely thrilling ‘Bunny Chow Bread Bowl’ – a hollowed out garlic bread baguette filled to the brim with delicious chilli and topped with the garlicky innards of the baguette and sour cream. It was both incredible AND portable, meaning I could watch on as Dead Pony’s singer Anna Shields made the most of the extra space on the main stage to put in another energy-laden show that had the crowd bouncing.

The next highlight was Canadian rockers NOBRO out of Montrealwhotook the Neu tent by storm during their 30-minute set. Opening with the gospel-tinged intro to the fun as all hell ‘Better Each Day’, the band’s influences Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney shine through on tracks ‘Where My Girls At’ and ‘Set That Pussy Free’. The show included bouts of crowd surfing and jumping off drum kits lending a classic rock vibe – which is probably the only time you’ll ever see that alongside bongo playing. Multi-instrumentalists, the gang switch around for “Don’t Die” by which point they were clearly showing off while having the best time of their lives – and they weren’t the only ones.

Having not yet had my fill of Spanish Love Songs I joined a packed-out Axiom tent for a set filled with anthemic, fist aloft, scream-a-long hits. Joined by the rest of the band, Dylan Slocum spoke about being due to play in 2020 but being denied by Covid. Describing 2000 Trees as being “like someone took the inside of my brain and put it in on show”, Slocum proclaimed Trees as “the best festival in the world” while delivering one of the best shows of the weekend.

Effortlessly mixing new material with old, the passion and volume of singalongs to fan favourites ‘Buffalo Buffalo’ and ‘Routine Pain’ made the hairs on my arms stand on end, with closer ‘Brave Faces, Everyone’ putting a final, resounding ‘period’ down on a day that belonged to SLS.

Kids in Glass Houses were next on the main stage and ready to give the crowd what they want, bringing a dose of nostalgia of simpler times gone by to a sunbathed stage. The set included new single, the synth-tinged banger ‘Theme from Pink Flamingo’, but it was the hits from Smart Casual that really caught the attention as ‘Easy Tiger’ slipped into the instantly recognisable intro to ‘Give Me What I Want’ and we had lift off!Acknowledging they had been away for a while and ruminating being adults, the band announced they had no plans to accept such things, defiantly stating: “Nah, fuck it! Let’s record a new album – HERE’S TO POVERTY!”

Another of the bands I had been really looking forward to was Manchester Orchestra. Despite being on the indie-rock side of the line, 2000 Trees is the only UK festival show the band is playing which shows the two-way love affair between parties is real. The Atlanta band’s opening salvo of ‘Pride’, ‘Bed Head’ and ‘I Can Barely Breathe’ saw amps turned up to 11 and any doubts as to their rock credentials were soon dispelled.

Manchester Orchestra © Jez Pennington for 2000 Trees

A fearsome rendition of ‘Cope’ was followed by a stunning, spine-tingling ‘The Maze’ and then Brian Fallon of Thursday night’s headliners The Gaslight Anthem joined the band on stage for ‘The Gold’. As Fallon and MO frontman Andy Hull’s voices intwined into the evening sky it felt like hearts and minds had been won over. Signing off, Hull thanked the crowd for “accepting us as we are” –

My first big clash occurred with Los Campesinos! and Hot Mulligan going head-to-head – and with it being LC!’s first grass festival ten years I opted to head to the Forest and hoped they wouldn’t be disappointed that the forest floor was covered in woodchip and not grass…

An exuberant set opened with the single ‘A Psychic Wound’ from the band’s new record All Hell before charting every chapter of the band’s almost 20 years in the game. With a limit of 50 minutes the band made no apologies for the frenetic pace as they rattled through song after song, including ‘Romance is Boring’, ‘Avocado, Baby’, ‘Straight In at 101’ and ‘Hello Sadness’ which were all greeted with top of the lungs singing. The last time the band played 2000 Trees was in 2011 and a lot has changed since then – but the band’s politics haven’t. They’re still defenders of the oppressed, with a flag hanging at the front of the stage stating ‘Freedom for Palestine. End the occupation. Stop the Genocide’ lending their voice – as so many other bands over the weekend did – to supporting those without one.

Hotfooting it back to the main stage for The Gaslight Anthem to catch the New Jersey rockers make their Trees debut, Brian Fallon and band got the ball rolling with the anthemic ‘Great Expectations’, ‘Handwritten’ and ‘American Slang’ before taking requests from members of the crowd holding up signs.

Gaslight Anthem © Joe Singh for 2000 Trees

Their triumphant set spanned 20 songs in all, ranging from debut album The 59’ Sound through to 2023’s History Books and drawing from their extensive back catalogue throughout. During ‘Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts’ Fallon tweaked the lyrics to “Buy a house in England, especially how you played the game last night. It’s so expensive in London, you definitely need double income, or we could sleep on the beach all night” simultaneously drawing chuckles from the crowd and stabbing straight at the heart of some of society’s many issues.

The crowd was already at fever pitch before the band closed their set with the almighty “45” (ably supported by Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra) and a throat shredding ‘The ’59 Sound’ to draw a line under one of the most anthemic nights in Trees history. But the music didn’t stop there.

In 2018, Scott Hutchison was due to play 2000 Trees with Frightened Rabbit and his side project Mastersystem but lost his battle with depression and heartbreakingly died by suicide. From Scott’s death a legacy has emerged, with his family setting up a mental health charity Tiny Changes in his honour. Trees also pays tribute to Scott in the shape of Camp Frabbit – one of a number of stages dotted around the campsite where musicians play after hours sets.

Pet Needs returned to play a set, drawing a sizeable and enthusiastic crowd along who delighted in fulfilling the band’s desire for a Wall of Death in between the tents and guylines – even if it was carried out in the gentlest of manners by bodies already aching and fatigued after a long day. At that point it was time to retire ahead of another jam-packed day of music.

FRIDAY

Day three brought an overcast and cooler start with it, which required the addition of another couple of layers in the wee smalls of the morning, along with a few threatening clouds – but thankfully still no rain!

Over in the Forest Eighty Eight Miles capped off their set withan epic cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’, while Bex helped early risers loosen up with an energy-filled set on the Main Stage and four-piece hardcore band Fangs Out packed out the Cave tent with a super heavy portion of rock for breakfast – including ‘Get Grim’ with the call to action of “Let’s all get grim, There’s nothing to it! Savour the sorrow and rejoice in ruin!” which the crowd dutifully obliged in!

Artio were a band on a mission as theydemanded the mid-morning crowd indulge them with a mosh pit. If the vibe check was ever needed at 2000 Trees, here was another act using their platform to lend their voices to supporting the Trans community – announcing ‘Head in the Sand’ as a song about leaving Trans people alone.

The Main stage introduced Norway’s Sløtface to a crowd still jacked up from Bex’s set and kept the momentum going. The band last played Trees in 2018 and in that time there has been a lineup change but the band are still super slick, and their power punk sound led by frontwoman Haley Shea gets the crowd bouncing. Thanking them for coming out early to see them play at their “favourite festival”, Haley reflected on comments she received about how refreshing it was to see a woman in her 30’s fronting a band – a comment that came mere days after turning 30. Saying “I know they meant well, but it hurt” she offered a shoutout to any over 30’s camping at the festival as “the real heroes” before enjoying a very wholesome mosh pit at the front of the stage.

I joined a mysterious queue outside the Marshall Funhouse signing tent which led to a free t-shirt printing service offered by Marshall amps and an amplifier mascot that emerged from behind the presses to entertain both children and adults alike – even if their spatial awareness was found a little wanting…

The Rumjacks arrived on the main stage from the land down under, but their Irish folk infused set could well have pegged them as men from the Emerald Isle rather than the other side of the world. Remarking on “play between a pie shop and a sausage roll shop” and how it made them feel at home, the band got a huge amount of people dancing along to their raucous brand of Celtic punk – especially the penny whistle solos!

Lunch was calling and on recommendation from a friend at the festival I visited the Paellaria stand and for £12 got a big portion of tasty Paella with chorizo to fill the belly for the rest of the day.

Having followed one recommendation for lunch I followed another for my next act – heading into the Forest to see Katie Malco.

A lot of people were taking the opportunity to sit down for the set which offered a welcome sonic pace change, kicking off with the Phoebe Bridgers inspired ‘Fatal Attraction’. Proclaiming herself as a “miserable bitch!” Malco’s half hour set drew a reverential hush from the gathered audience before fulfilling her ambition of shouting “2000 Trees! I’ve always wanted to do that!”.

2000 Trees organisers always put together an official playlist in the build up to the event, including bands from across all stages, of all sizes and types. On listening to that I heard As December Falls and was wooed by their pop punk/early Paramore-esque sound so made sure I was in place for their Friday afternoon main stage slot.

As December Falls © Jez Pennington for 2000 Trees

Hailing from Nottingham, the band last played Trees a couple of years ago and clearly left a mark as the crowd was packed out. In a set filled with rocky bangers the audience moshed, crowd surfed, clapped and “woah oh’d’ along to the catchy tracks including latest single ‘Mayday’ and the call and response of ‘I Don’t Feel Like Feeling Great’ – having a frankly excellent time in the process.

Over in an incredibly busy Cave were unpeople. The crowd were clearly pumped up for a band that recently supported Metallica and they provided a set filled with heavy rock, kicking off with ‘Waste’ from their self-titled debut EP. The band clearly had a ball on stage; “We’re gonna have some fun now” they threatened – and they weren’t the only ones.

Changes to set timings, delays and technical issues are all things that occur at festivals – but having your set cut short by the wheel coming off your van is probably one of the stranger causes! And that’s exactly what happened to Crawlers. Lead singer Holly Minto said the band nearly died on their way to the festival – “One minute you’re eating your Greggs on the M6 and the next your wheel flies off!”. Despite this undoubtedly traumatic event, the band did brilliantly to play even more so to put on such an impressive performance. Hopefully they’ll be back in 2025 to play a full set – maybe staying over the night before next time…

In the Neu tent, Belgian boys Ramkot are here in the UK for only the second time, and they are here to rock! The band waste no time getting stuck into things and their bass heavy sound is a perfect whistle wetter ahead of Death from Above 1979’s set the next day. With a set mostly made up of tracks from last year’s album In Between Borderlines including ‘Exactly What You Wanted’, ‘Tied Up’ and ‘One More’ the Ghent natives are ones to catch when they return to tour in 2025.

Nova Twins are one of the biggest draws of the weekend over on the main stage. The duo takes to the stage in matching outfits and blast through a 10 track set at blistering pace. “Where all my boss bitches at?” asked singer Amy Love before ‘Cleopatra’ – the bossest bitch of them all! One of the most surprising things about their set was the age profile of some of the audience – little ones no more than 6 or 7 years old on their parents’ shoulders throwing shapes with the best of them and clearly enjoying the energetic performance from Love and bassist Georgia South. The pit was full of people losing themselves in the performance, just as well when both members went for a crowd surf – not missing a beat of set closer ‘Choose Your Fighter’ as they were held aloft by adoring fans. Saluting 2000 Trees, Amy Love declared “It takes a lot for women to play the main stage, even more to headline. Keep supporting women!”

As names befitting a festival goes Bears in Trees rather nailed it, thankfully while there are plenty of the latter at 2000 Trees we were mercifully lacking in bears. What we weren’t lacking in during the South London foursome’s performance was fun. The self-styled ‘dirtbag boyband’ had the crowd in the palm of their hands with keytar solos and dance routines during ‘Hot Chocolate’ before further engaging the crowd by getting in amongst them during ‘Heaven Sent is a Coffee Cup’. Beaming faces leave the darkness of the tent and head back out into the evening light.

In the first of two sets this evening grandson, AKA American-Canadian Jordan Edward Benjamin, emerges on stage with a backdrop of Joe Biden and Donald Trump in a passionate clinch which is still etched onto my eyeballs a week later. His 45-minute set charted an extensive, genre-hopping back catalogue of sound which splices rock, hip-hop, and electronic including ‘Drones’, ‘Something to Hide’ and ‘Despicable’. An acoustic version of ‘Bury Me Face Down’ gives a teaser of the Forest set to come, albeit this one comes with an inflatable alien held aloft.

The Neu tent was packed out for CLT DRP so I headed to the Arbor bar next door to listen in while supping on a few delicious beers and indulging in a much needed sit down. Turns out, knocking on for 40 years old, being on my feet all day and camping takes its toll more than it ever used to!

Revitalised I followed the rest of the festival to the main stage for Bob Vylan. It wasn’t just the festivalgoers making their way to see the duo, as soaring birds of prey spiralled around the main stage to catch their own glimpse of an epic set.

Bobby Vylan begins the set with some light stretching and meditation, encouraging the crowd to join in – which this achy thirtysomething duly obliged in – before renaming the festival “Vylanfest” in honour of their having appeared for three years on the trot and rising up the bill with every year. As Bobby says, “it’s unprecedented and that’s why we’re commandeering this festival”. Bob Vylan go by many names, including: The Most Important Band in Britain, Two Bobs in a Pod, The Cutest Band in Punk Rock, the Slam Dunk Mafia, The Metallica Murderers and the Fred Perry Mafia. What they stand for is to give the people watching their shows the time of their lives.

The set was filled with hits including ‘GYAG’ and ‘Ring the Alarm’ which triggered crowd surfing en masse, including Bobby and his daughter and the littlest Bob – Moonrise Vylan – with a request from the frontman that the crowd look after her (and they did!). Lending her the mic and encouraging her to address the crowd, the littlest Bob asked: “Can I swear?” and when Bobby gives her permission, she shouted: “Let’s fucking go!” followed by a cackle for the ages. Representation is important to Bob Vylan, with a Palestine flag draped on stage and chants of ‘Free, Free Palestine’ they also urged the men in the crowd to step back and allow women and non-binary people down to the front of the stage to mosh without fear of getting clobbered. Ending on Wicked & Bad, Bobby Vylan split the crowd in two and made his way to the sound stage before jumping into the crowd and being carried all the way back to the main stage “where he was supposed to be” – and judging by this performance there are many more main stages to come for this epic duo.

Hunger struck and a pizza from Pommarola Pizza Gardens was calling. I’d had an energy boosting espresso from there the day before and the sight of pizza stuck in my mind, so a ‘Garden’ pizza (the works) for £18 was my choice. It was delicious, with a crisp Neapolitan base and tasty toppings. The only downside was the wait, with everyone seemingly having the same idea – but it was worth it!

The benefit of the pizza stand’s location is that it sat directly opposite The Axiom meaning I could hear Hot Milk in action while stuffing my face. The tent was packed out and Hot Milk have headed back to the UK from touring the US supporting Blink-182 just for Trees. Kicking off with ‘HORROR SHOW’ and seamlessly segueing into a huge singalong for ‘BLOODSTREAM’ the band have the audience in raptures. Arms aloft, crowd surfing, bouncing non-stop and throwing as much into it as Hot Milk themselves the fans definitely made this feel more headline show than support – and they’ll be there before long.

I was torn at this point as to who to see. Metal supergroup Empire State Bastard held court in the Cave and Aussie garage rockers The Chats took to the mainstage for the headline slot. Having been impressed by grandson’s set earlier on I decided to tweak my plans and left The Chats shortly after their set began to head into the Forest once more for a stripped back, acoustic set that delivered the perfect antidote to the rowdy Aussie garage rockers.

After the Forest it was to one of the campsite stages and Camp Turner to bathe in the bearded delights of Sweetchunks who’s comedy songs had the crowd in stitches and singalongs to songs such as ‘Greatest Love song in the World (I Would Punch a Bear for You)’, ‘Bees’ and an ode to the accidental purchase of a submarine instead of a new van for touring in ‘Independent Nuclear Deterrent’. I’ll be honest, the chorus is seared into my psyche even now.

SATURDAY

We woke to the pitter patter of rainfall on canvas and feared the worst for the day ahead, but by the time The Meffs took to the main stage at 11am it had all but cleared giving way to another sunny day.

The Meffs asked the crowd whether they were “ready for some noise?” and the baying crowd was fully up for it. An epic cover of The Prodigy’s ‘Breathe’ was a highlight of the set, while ‘Clowns’ (an ode to the government) and ‘Wasted on Women’ were filled with furious energy.

Snake eyes brought a great backdropto the Axiom tentas well as a well-oiled indie-punk sound that the band describe as ‘grit pop’ and wouldn’t sound out of place on a FIFA (or whatever it’s called now) sound track.

Into the Forest once more and this time Tokyo Toy Company straight out of Bristol. Energetic front man Rhys Worgan led from the front as the remaining five members of the band filled up the Forest stage and played a chaotic set of ‘math rock’ that brought out the cover of the weekend – ‘A Thousand Miles’ by Vanessa Carlton!

Saturday is fancy dress day, with this year’s theme being 2000 Screams – encouraging revellers to embrace the horror and bring their most terrifying looks to this corner of Gloucestershire. This reviewer opted for Shaun of the Dead and set about finding Zombies to dispatch, via an unsuccessful hunt for a Cornetto and a much more successful search for lunch in the shape of No Fricken Chicken’s Three Piece of ‘Chicken’ and fries which came in at £10.50.

One of the weekend’s highlights was the newly formed Interlake, featuring David Jakes of Lonely the Brave (who were also performing with their new singer) and Jack Wrench of Arcane Roots. Jakes left the band due to anxiety in 2018 and while he’s still clearly not totally comfortable being on stage, hiding himself away behind his bandmates, his talent was in no doubt whatsoever. The performance brought tears from crowd members – of which there were a LOT! Closing the set with a vicious cover of Nirvana’s ‘Breed’ the band are clearly supremely talented musicians and it’ll be exciting to see where they go from here.

Sadly, Indoor Pets turned out to be a band rather than an immersive pet-fest with a load of housebound cats, dogs, hamsters and such as I had hoped – but they were a lot of fun nonetheless and didn’t require any antihistamines to be enjoyed. They’ve been around for a while but with their first new record (‘Pathethic Apathetic’) in five years released earlier in 2024 they’re on a bit of a comeback after an agreed hiatus. New songs ‘Fidget Panic Restless Static’ and ‘London (Love to Hate)’ are laden with energy and catchy hooks – it’s a breathless, fun filled set and over all too quickly.

Indoor Pets © Jez Pennington for 2000 Trees

In the first of THREE, yes THREE, appearances of the day Frank Turner has filled the Forest for a Q&A and live set as part of the Mark and Me podcast recording. Turner and Trees have history. Literal history. He was there at the first Trees in 2007, has been immortalised with an acoustic stage in the camping area and has played the festival roughly 100,000 times in the years since. While most of the hour-long slot was taken up with questions, both from the crowd and interviewer, Frank did manage five songs including ‘The Way I Tend to Be’ and ‘Somewhere Inbetween’ as well as a Million Dead song – ‘Smiling at Strangers on Trains’. Frank also teased a potential 25^th anniversary reunion for Million Dead and if it happens you can bet it’ll be at 2000 Trees.

Having laid waste to the Forest on Wednesday evening, it was the main stage that was in The Xcerts path of destruction and they were absolutely bang up for it. The crowd is packed out and bristling with excitement. Kicking off with ‘GIMME’ the boys were ready to thrill fans and win some new ones with a belter of a set. Ending on the ever anthemic ‘Feels Like Falling In Love’ the band were joined on stage by You Me At Six’s Josh Franceschi. They promised it’d be flawless, and it totally was.

I managed to catch the end of Teenage Wrist in the Axiom tent which was absolutely hoaching with bodies. Finishing their set with ‘Earth Is A Black Hole’ the two-piece know how to rock the stage! I definitely need to make sure I catch the full set next time the Los Angeles natives are back in town.

Liverpudlian alt-rockers The Mysterines hit the main stage next bringing their brooding rock sound to rural Gloucestershire. The set was over in a flash, but the time they had on stage was filled with a mix of new material from latest album Afraid of Tomorrows (‘Sink Ya Teeth’, ‘The Last Dance’) and the likes of the gigantic ‘Hung Up’ from 2022’s Reeling. It does feel like they’d maybe have been suited to a later slot, or in one of the tents so the darkness could truly allow them to thrive – but festivals are a lottery and they rolled with the punches.

Into it. Over it were a recommendation pre-festival so I went with an open mind (and ears) to hear what the Chicago-based rockers had to offer. Well, they’re bringing mid-western emo to the Axiom and that is definitely my cup of tea. Last year American Football played and I missed it, so I felt like the 2000 Trees stars had aligned and had delivered unto me the sounds my ears had been longing for all weekend. The band released a new record earlier in 2024 (Interesting Decisions: Into It. Over It. Songs (2020 – 2023) ahead of a UK tour which kicked off at Trees but none of those tracks made the setlist. Instead, the set explored the band’s extensive back catalogue and closing with ‘PROPER’ from the 2011 LP of the same name Into it. Over it gave this and many other elder emos in the crowd exactly what they wanted for an early evening show.

Strapping in for a big night ahead I manage to convene with friends (the phone signal at Trees is basically non-existent) before heading to see Canadian two-piece Death from Above 1979 at Axiom.

I last saw them in 2015 and it is seriously good to see Jesse F. Keeler and Sebastien Grainger back at it. The show at Trees is part of a 20^th anniversary tour of You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine which the band plays through from start to finish and it’s an absolute masterclass. The minute Keeler’s signature bass sound fires in along with Grainger’s frenetic drumming and yowling vocals its hard and fast ‘til the last. Having belligerently thundered through the album they close out with 2021’s ‘One + One’, Outrage! Is Now’s ‘Freeze Me’ and the sexy as hell ‘Trainwreck 1979’. It’s a brutal, heavy as hell set and it’s totally thrilling to see them going so hard. Welcome back, chaps!

And now for something entirely different, but no less brilliant. Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls are on the main stage to the delight of a considerable crowd. The set is packed with a mix of new and old – with this year’s release Undefeated taking pride of place both in terms of the song selections and the massive fabric backdrop. All eras of Frank are on show though, including ‘Worse Things Happen at Sea’ from 2007’s Sleep is for the Weak as requested by 2000 Trees founder James Scarlett on his 2 Promoters, 1 Pod podcast, ‘The Next Storm’, ‘Haven’t Been Doing So Well’ and ‘Recovery’.

Frank Turner © Gareth Bull for 2000 Trees

The audience loved every minute of Turner’s set – singing back every word, crowd surfing and even engaging in a circle pit. It’s perhaps a surprise that Frank isn’t headlining over the weekend, but with multiple performances (more of that later) it probably suited him to come on a bit earlier.

As darkness began to take hold local legends Thrill Collins came to blow people’s minds with their whirlwind set of immaculate covers. Having played Wychwood Festival and Glastonbury already this summer, 2000 Trees was next up for the boys and they came to burn the mother down! A series of kids got their first taste of crowd surfing, although with security being a little short handed and Creeper and Holy Wars on at the same time the band had to request the crowd surfing stopped. While the crowd surfing did come to an end, the good times did not. Their now patented UK Garage mash up of ’21 Seconds’, ‘Rewind’, ‘7 Days’ and ‘Gotta Get Thru This’ to name a few triggered some confused looks from an American friend but the millennial Brits in the crowd were spitting bars back with gusto. There’ll be some saying I missed a trick not seeing the other acts on, but Thrill Collins are always box office and I regret nothing.

Thrill Collins © Abbi Draper for 2000 Trees

Don Broco were the last of the weekend’s headliners and the anticipation among the crowd was palpable before Rob Damiani and co got things started with an incendiary (well, there were fireworks!) ‘Everybody’ – launching the assembled throng into a fervour for the next hour and a half.

In a set packed with the hits including ‘Come out to LA’, ‘Bruce Willis’ and ‘Manchester Super Reds No. 1 Fan’ there was something for everyone from the band’s extensive back catalogue. They brought out Kid Brunswick for ‘ACTION’ before ending on ‘T-Shirt Song’ and another headliner worthy fireworks display. As the boys saluted the crowd with an “It’s coming home!” and sent fans off into the night, ‘Three Lions’ filled the air in anticipation of the next day’s ill-fated Euro 2024 final between England and Spain. Though the football team couldn’t deliver, Don Broco definitely did – cementing the band’s status as one of the hottest bands in Britain with a powerhouse set.

Don Broco © Jez Pennington for 2000 Trees

Over in the Forest, Skinny Lister were offering an altogether different kettle of fish…or rather jug of unidentifiable spirits to a boisterous audience and the energy-filled set full of sing-along folk tales was frankly mental! They’re the ultimate party band and not a soul was left behind as the good ship Skinny Lister kept the good times rolling to the sound of accordions on tracks such as ‘Rollin Over’ and ‘John Kanaka’. If I had to sum the set up (beyond mental) then life affirming would be my summary – if you get the chance to see them in action then go, and be prepared for a whale of a time!

As people started making their way back to their tents to pick up their headphones for one last Silent Disco, Frank Turner thrilled hundreds of fans with a show on Camp Turner’s stage. The congestion on the throughway did lead to a few grumbles, but it was hard to hear them over die-hard fans singing along to tracks that hadn’t made it into his main stage set or Q&A in the Forest earlier in the day – including a cover of Queen’s ‘Somebody to Love’ and

This was my first time at 2000 Trees which is a bit embarrassing considering I live down the road, but it won’t be the last. The vibe throughout was immaculate, with friendly staff and volunteers, cheerful festival goers, great music, a huge array of food and drink to sample and a frankly lovely setting.

The official Facebook group for the festival was filled with celebratory posts in the days after – all congratulating the organisers for putting on another epic weekend of rock music and sharing their memories (and sometimes lack of) with other attendees.

If you haven’t been before, check 2000 Trees out – this first timer is a total convert. All hail Trees!

BST Hyde Park 2024 – Stray Kids, REVIEWED!

July 18, 2024 by Anna Hyams

The UK summer might have called in sick for the last month and a half, but we’re on our way back up to tropical climes starting today; the final session of BST Hyde Park – featuring K-pop icons Stray Kids. With 50 thousand through the gates and the sun actually shining, we are in for a delicious day in that there London.

Taking a stroll around the arena for a bit of sight-seeing, we clock the lovely uniquely BST pastel faux storefronts that house the bars, even more eateries than in previous years where you can get anything from prawn tempura bao to roast duck wraps or a gourmet pizza.

Volvic are out in force giving away cans of their fruit-spiked sparkling water which is really welcome today, and you can even throw it into your new American Express stanley-dupe cup because they’re giving away free ones all over the site. We make a pilgrimage to the very back of the arena to the toilet block, which honestly are some of the nicest festival loos I’ve ever experienced. Kudos BST, the tickets may be spendy but the perks are perky.

We toddle back to The Great Oak stage to check out another K-Pop crew, also on the JYP entertainment label alongside Stray Kids – NMIXX. A six-strong dynamite gang of fierce women, Lily, Haewon, Sullyoon, Bae, Jiwoo, and Kyujin, bounce out onto the stage with all the adorable exuberance you would expect from a kawaii cartoon. They’re all rocking some very Taylor-Momsen-Gossip-Girl-Era school uniform outfits, featuring tartan, ripped shirts and specially designed pink silk ties, featuring the band name in Korean Hangul.

There’s a massive crowd out already, and they’re all screaming as the band bust out two immediate bangers ‘TANK’ and ‘DICE’ (with some interesting MC Escher style visuals splashed across the giant stage screens). Being a total NMIXX rookie, I was kind of expecting the traditional cookie-cutter approach to K-Pop girl bands but they instantly blow me away with their raw take on the K-pop meets rock sound. It’s clear they’ve all got fantastic voices, and can throw down some classic choreo for sure, but there’s edge and individuality that comes through in both parts. It’s hard to explain but it certainly seems like they’re actively pushing against the uniformity and clean-cut stereotype of K/J-pop that has gone before.

“We are so excited to perform our songs in front of you” they yell out, before hitting us with ‘Run For Roses’ and the hugely popular ‘DASH’. I also really enjoy the tongue-in-cheek juxtaposition of the cutesy candy backdrop and the actual sentiment of ‘Young, Dumb, Stupid’, and I can’t even be mad at their sample platter of covers – Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘good 4 u’, Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ and Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ – particularly when the gorgeous harmonies in the last of those makes the performance better than the real version. I said what I said.

We get a sneak preview of brand new track ‘Moving On’, and they finish strong with ‘Love Me Like This’. They’re unpolished, punchy and know how to push their rock-edge – I’m a new fan.

We caught a little of Alec Benjamin in passing I’m afraid, lovely soft acoustic American-indie in the blazing sunshine, but we are scooting across to the Peroni bar for a swift mini beer and some absolutely delightful lemon butter tagliatelle for late lunch. This lovely serene pretend-Italian scene, is only slightly overshadowed by the ear-piercing screams emanating from the nearby chair-swing ride. Despite the din, I do really enjoy Alec’s ‘I Sent My Therapist to Therapy’ because – is there anything more millennial than that sentiment… and ‘Let Me Down Slowly’ is beautifully done.

Reinvigorated and full of pasta, we head over to The Cuban Garage Stage, 11-year BST home to resident mischief-makers, The Cuban Brothers who promise us a slightly less risqué show due to the average age of the crowd today. Somehow I don’t quite believe them. We get a dance-party vibe, with Miguel giving Music Producer pal Andy Franks an excellent leaving-do on stage, Kengo on rollerskates and Dom busting out the breakdancing and flips. As always, a pleasure, and truly there was only a smattering of rude jokes, bravo.

Next up on the main stage, manic pixie dreamgirl fantasies come alive with the absolutely adorable Maisie Peters. Don’t let her young age fool you, this firecracker knows how to drive a crowd wild. The folksy ballads with her acoustic guitar are great (they bring to mind notes of Taylor Swift and First Aid Kit, and fit right in with her signing to Ed Sheeran’s Gingerbread Man Records) but I want to talk about her scorching power-pop tracks instead.

Before ‘You’re Just Another Boy (And I’m Kinda The Man)’ she jokes about her embarrassment over being sad about a boy, but the softness is quickly replaced with a fiery edge in ‘Not Another Rockstar’ – straight to my playlist that goes. Her breathy cover of The Killers’ ‘Mr. Brightside’ is very soothing and ‘John Hughes Movie’ is, well… exactly what it says on the tin. As a lifelong Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller fan, you can stack me up on the giant inflatable cloud Maisie has along the stage, and let me listen in bliss for the rest of the day thanks. Oh and it absolutely must be said, that the BSL interpreters who have been covering all the main stage acts today, have been incredible and look like they’re having the best time. We stan an inclusive festival.

Following that we scuttle away to the leafy solace of ‘The Hydeaway’ a VIP perk area full of lovely tables to hang out at, with a big bar, extra food options and some even fancier loos. We take a quick squiz at the merch on our way past but lanyards have completely sold out and £40 a tshirt is a little rich for our blood. Cozzie livs innit. Instead we spend our cash on snacks, mine being a cup of incredibly fresh strawberries mixed with marshmallows and covered in dark melted chocolate. It was decadent af, as always I am absolutely sold on the bougie city festival vibe.

Heading back into the now teeming arena, we weave our way amongst screaming teenagers waving SKZ light-sticks aloft. What they’re actually screaming for isn’t clear – it seems to be whenever anyone roadie or otherwise, simply steps one foot onto the stage… ah to be part of hysterical teenage fandom again. Anyway, after fighting our way through the cutesy lolita outfits and homemade signs trimmed with lace, we get to a good viewing area just as a giant red Stray Kids banner is hoisted up in front of the stage.

With the eardrum piercing banshee shrieks of the girls behind us, and the dramatic dropping of the banner, Stray Kids are revealed atop a raised platform at the back of the stage wearing matching beige fatigues in various states of DIY. Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. are all undeniably pretty, and the deafening screams of fans are all but drowning out opening track ‘S-Class’.

Self-proclaimed as a band with an experimental music style, influenced by everything from hip-hop to heavy metal and electro (which has been named “Mala taste music” since, referencing spicy Chinese mala seasoning) they are definitely another JYP Entertainment band who don’t fit that classic clean J/K-pop sound, and it’s evident from the off. Another unusual note about Stray Kids is that they’re mostly self-produced and write a lot of their own music, rather than being fuelled by a team of external musicians – that’s pretty rad right?

‘Freeze’ features a barrage of on-stage fireworks, followed by flame cannons and a lot of raunchy dancing. “You guys miss us?” they yell, to a solid wall of screams in return, from what sounds like all 50 thousand voices in attendance. Having made their UK debut in 2019 to the comparatively tiny Brixton Academy, this is an incredible step up – and it’s easy to see why.

‘TOPLINE’ features striking red, yellow and black text on the screens spelling out the lyrics so that even the casual fan (or dragged-along partner) can join in with the fun, and before long we too are swept up in yelling “Karma!” and “We don’t give a fuck!”. There’s something almost pantomime about K-pop that has a way of making you participate and I really think it’s a big part of the pull – after all, for every early noughts pop fan who learnt the dances of their favourite boyband, this hits that nostalgia button really hard.

‘Domino’ sees the band rushing down the runway and spraying the close-up crowd with bottles of water, and more intricate choreography featuring a lot of holding hands, adorable. They take a quick break as their house band give a truly excellent solo interlude – it’s very metal inspired, and I’m going to have to research their personal projects a bit I think.

Back again with an outfit change to a Timberlake-adjacent double-denim effort, we spot Felix sporting a Louis Vuitton jacket (having been a house ambassador for the brand in 2023) and Hyunjin with a Versace snapback (he was a Versace global ambassador last year). In fact, there’s a lot of bling across the board with this crew, perhaps unsurprisingly as they also made their Met Gala debut as a band earlier this year, as guests of Tommy Hilfiger.

Ballad ‘Lonely St’ is a light and soft pause, before busting out a Korean version of ‘Social Path’, followed by ‘Charmer’ and ‘Back Door’ which I’m sorry but I cannot help but laugh at. Yes I know that they all get the pun, frequently slap each others’ arses and call Lee-Know ‘Butt Hunter’ but, well… bum jokes are funny and the English love when people make mistakes with our language to comic effect. Sue me.

‘MANIAC’ seems to be about Frankenstein (cool) and comes with some Thriller-esque dance moves, while ‘God’s Menu’ is replete with choreography depictions of cooking such as mixing, chopping and frying. Because why the hell not. Nothing surprises me at this point.

Coming in with their meteoric hit ‘LALALALA’ which has been used in so many ad campaigns and tiktok videos you can’t fail to have heard it before, it elicits the biggest scream from the crowd yet, and is accompanied by a huge set of pink fireworks behind the stage. It’s half an hour before curfew but this feels like and ending songe… and it’s at this point that everything starts to fall apart. After that absolute blinder of a song leaving us all hyped up, there follows a long rambling speech, with backing music that completely drowns out anything the band members are saying. It’s confusing, it’s irritating, and we only know what is actually happening when the ripple from the front starts chanting “one more song”.

Equally confusingly, they play ‘TOPLINE’ through again, and then ‘Megaverse’ (which I can’t lie, sounds exactly like Megabus… which then led me to sing Vengabus throughout…). After yet another round of chanting “one more song” the finale is left to the comparatively quiet ‘Haven’. It seems like the sound has been massively turned down at this point and we can easily speak over it, but the Stays are still bouncing around having a lovely dance party. There’s a bit more of a “Who’s seen Stray Kids before?” talk from the band and a “thanks for coming” at the end but it seems very unscripted and messy, compared to the seamless first half of the show.

All in, it’s been great to see another top tier K-Pop band on top at such a massive UK event, I’m just not sure they accounted for the extra time they appeared to have on hand at the end of the show. Hopefully with two years in the bag for BST down this track, we can look forward to another incredible show in the future – topping my wishlist are BTS and BigBang… see you in 2025 Hyde Park!