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The Long Road Festival 2024 – Reviewed!

September 5, 2024 by Anna Hyams

FRIDAY

It’s that last drip of summer, the deepening skies and smell of woodsmoke in the air. Autumn is on it’s way but we have one last hurrah in the form of The Long Road festival. Nestled in the woodland and fields surrounding Stanford Hall, these Leicestershire lands play host to a little slice of Americana once a year. Bring your cowboy boots and your Stetsons, it’s time to throwdown at the hoedown.

Friday at Long Road is a relaxed affair, with the main stage not being open today there is ample time to wander around the other areas and find our feet. We catch a little of American Aquarium over at The Interstate tent, who start off sounding a lot like punk-rock but eventually settle into a more country style. After a quick tour around the food offerings we opt to take seats on one of the many long benches set out in front of The Interstate, and choose Bayou Kitchen cajun shrimp bowls. This is my go-to food at TLR, so I’m glad to see they’re back again.

We mosey around, stopping to listen in at The Front Porch and once again I can’t help but admire the choice to theme this stage. If you don’t know, The Front Porch is a cabin with… well, a front porch. Bands perform on the porch as if you’re in their backyard, there are rocking chairs and smoke pours from the little chimney. While there is always a small standing crowd up front, this stage is the place to go if you want to have a chilled sit-down to enjoy the music, and tonight there are many doing just that – under the soft festoon lights and dwindling sun.

Taking a stroll around the various shopping stalls, boots and hats enticing us at every turn, we are drawn into the Solo Stove area where bright fires are crackling into the pink sky. The merch stall is already full of people grabbing their TLR t-shirts and caps, and this year there’s an incredible knitted blanket on offer that catches my eye. We decide to finish up our night with a pot of Crumble (incredible festival food choice) and joining in with the line-dancing class at The Front Porch. It won’t be the last time I hear Rascal Flatts this weekend, but hey – now I can Cowboy Hustle to it!

SATURDAY

Today, the arena is in full swing and we are heading in for a day of rootin’ tootin’ antics, off first in search of some lunch. Today we hit up the Brisket wagon, which is a truck that houses proper southern style smokers, for some low and slow fall-apart meat on top of cheese-fries. Heaven.

Suitably satiated we take to the main stage for Kristian Bush (yes, of Sugarland fame), who is bringing some melodic country rock and his dry humour to the proceedings, alongside his brother Brandon on keys.“You tighten one butt-cheek at a time, this is for all you men out there going “oh I have to dance?” that’s how you do” giggles Bush, as they drop into hit ‘Trailer Hitch’ – which I absolutely love for it’s lyrics.

In another smooth move, Kristian talks about loving the UK show Taskmaster, and how he’s watched all of the seasons (huge cheers from the crowd) before telling us that he should get paid more for bringing the sunshine here today and yelling “…this is for all you people who still believe in summertime!”.

“I’ve won loads of country music awards and never wrote a song about drinking. I apologise. Have you ever been at the bar and suddenly you can’t walk? It just happens…” is his leading line into ‘Flip Flops’, a song that will resonate well with anyone who has ever been on a bender… which let’s face it, is the entire UK population.

Kyle Daniel is up next, shouting “Let’s boogie” and launching into some classic country rock with ‘God Bless America (Damn Rock n’ Roll)’ which is, as you can imagine; very singable. A huge crowd has come out to see him today, probably in large part thanks to the exceptional performance he gave here a couple of years ago, albeit with a different backing band. We also get a taste of his epic collaboration with The Cadillac Three – ‘Summer Down South’, which comes with the comedic timing of a side of rain.

We take off after that to check out the Fort Worth x Weber grills area, new to the arena this year. To the side there’s a tiny bar where they’re mixing up cocktails and giving out bandanas and tiny hip flasks as freebies, as well as providing a hot-branding station for leather boots. On the other side under cover, Weber are doing the most mouth-watering cooking demos you can imagine, but there are A LOT of people waiting for taste today so we shuffle off to grab our own food elsewhere. Jonah Kagen is giving the Interstate a good giggle, saying that his British Airways pilot on the way here, sounded like David Attenborough.

The Yeti custom shop has brought back it’s very successful laser-cutter custom shop again, and a double size space to house all the amazing goodies on offer. I don’t know in what world I will ever need a travel cafetière that makes 10 cups of coffee, but I sure do want one now.

Oklahoma kid Wyatt Flores is giving a fantastically energetic performance over on the Rhinestone, but unfortunately the rain is moving in fast and heavy. We run for cover under the Visit Austin barn, and manage to snag ourselves some more freebies in the form of bandanas and tote bags – which have armadillos on them. Cute. There’s even a photobooth in there, nice swag Austin, nice.

After the downpour abates, we hop over to The Showground to watch the annual Hot Dog Eating Contest. Last year was beset by calamity in the form of Brioche buns – and the winning contestant only managed a measly three dogs. No such silliness this year, as the very standard buns are brought over in giant catering trays, to the gingham-clothed table.

Drawn from a hat, the contestants fill the tables and are told that they have 7 minutes in which to chomp as many hot dogs as they can, that there’s a sick bucket behind them, and that the ambulance service people off to the side are trained in the Heimlich maneuver. A girl named Jordan (who didn’t even enter) is filling in for her absent boyfriend, and is expertly dunking her bready buns into water cups to consume faster, Aussie Harry seems entirely unbothered and looks like he’s just there for lunch, but the winner is Miles with 8 hot diggity dawgs. Congratulations man! Although I must point out, that champion scoffer Joey Chestnut has just recently downed 83 dogs in 10 minutes at his most recent match. So, there’s that.

Brittney Spencer is our next pick, she’s rocking an incredible laced-flared 70’s floral two-piece and has the most phenomenal voice, one of my favourite performers of the weekend by far. It might be overcast and cold today, but there’s no standing still when she shouts “Get your drinks up, put your tequila whisky or water up!” for ‘I Got Time’, so we are all dancing along with her.

Following Brittney is ethereal moonchild Paula Cole, who is giving ‘next-door neighbour who is actually a witch and will help you hex your ex’. “This song is about my mother” she says about ‘Follow The Moon’ a beautiful melancholy ballad. If you like Tori Amos, Sinead O’Connor or Kate Bush – this is your jam at TLR. ‘Where Did All The Cowboys Go’ and Dawson’s Creek tv show theme tune ‘I Don’t Want To Wait’ close up the show with a big old dose of the 90’s, and it’s really interesting to hear her speak on her most well-known hit; “I wrote this for my grandfather. He came back from Okinawa with more than just physical scars. It affected my whole family.”

Afterwards we take a chance to re-fuel with some delicious chicken and gravy sandwiches from the Roaming Rotisserie, and catch Brittany Spencer taking on (extremely unsuccessfully) the buckin’ bull rodeo game – kudos for trying though, that thing looks difficult.

The ‘American Troubador’ Don McLean is tonight’s Rhinestone headliner, heading to the stage with a big ensemble and not much other fanfare, smiling in his shirt and jeans. Touring through the back catalogue ‘Jerusalem’ and ‘Winterwood’ come interspersed with tales of his musical career, “…don’t know how I found myself in Nashville, but I went and I stayed there, and I have been treated so well by the country music community. I’m sort of a misfit… I have songs from here there and everywhere because I’m interested in everything”.

A cover of Roy Orbison’s ‘Crying’ is lovely, but it’s clear that Don’s voice is waning as he cracks through a couple of notes. My Mum used to sing ‘Vincent’ to my sister when she was little, so we all croon along to that, but it honestly takes until the obvious choice ‘American Pie’ to get the whole arena joining in. With red white and blue strobing stage lights, Don takes the crowd’s enthusiasm for a ride – doing an extra chorus and verse to finish up. All in, I’m glad I saw him live, but I wouldn’t say it was a spectacular set otherwise.

SUNDAY

Kaitlin Butts is giving us gorgeous sunshine vocals on The Interstate as we head over to Lil’ Possum County kids area to play some cornhole and skittles, before hitting up the Weber area for a Chilli tutorial (culminating in tasters of the delicious Elk chilli, made Texas-true – no beans!).

Vincent Neil Emerson is giving a soulful banjo-picking performance in Buddy’s through the woodland walk, and we take the opportunity for a beverage and a sit down. It’s a shame the low tent stage facilitates so few people here, this is one that I wish would grow a bit for next year.

Brooke Eden is stunning in an all-white fringed outfit on the main stage, she’s enigmatic and funny, bringing her loud and proud pop-spiked brand of country to our little corner of the world.

“Have you ever fallen In love with your best friend… I did and she was a girl” she says, to cheers. “I moved to Nashville from Florida… Florida’s beautiful but you know craaazy” she laughs, before telling us “I’ve performed with my Dad’s band in country bars since I was 6yrs old… and you know I thought I’d meet a country guy there, and get married… but I met my wife.”

“They told me if I wanted to keep my career in country music I had to stay silent. Did that for 5 years and… don’t do that. I don’t recommend it. I came out 3 years ago with a music video with my wife in. I just had to scream it from the rooftops.” She says, as she leans into her Trisha Yearwood cover ‘She’s In Love With The Boy’ with altered lyrics to ‘Girl’. Her own single ‘Outlaw Love’ for “…anyone who has had to fight for their love” is the true star of the show though, it’s a cracking set. I will also celebrate anyone who has the courage to be vocal about diversity in a traditionally conservative genre.

Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors sing about family and home in Tennessee, and chats to the crowd like an old friend. Some helpful fan decides to help Drew with the pronunciation of our location and yells “It’s LESS-TAH”, to which he chuckles and says “Thank you for that, a couple of weeks ago we were in Sweden and I got their town really wrong, felt like an idiot”.

Drew also tells a story about his Grandad, who was a ‘big fish’ telling tall tales. Apparently he once told a story about being invited to a dog show at Sandringham, and accidentally getting in a car with The Queen. Years later, when his Grandfather died – they got a letter of condolences from The Queen’s office. The song ‘Dragons’ is a gorgeous tribute to him. Drew also plays the harmonica, signs the jackets of fans, and is just all-round nice. ‘Find Your People’ is maybe my favourite add-to-playlist song of the weekend, and had the whole crowd dancing along.

Bringing earlier Interstate performers The National Parks on stage for a boogie during their collab ‘Dance With Everybody’, it’s a great ending to a wonderful set. Call me a new fan.

Randall King, self-proclaimed purveyor of honky-tonk and some classic rock n’roll, is bringing deep south to the rain-spattered main stage; “Do you know what time it is? It ain’t time to go home y’all… it’s tonk time!”. ‘You In A Honky Tonk’ conjures the image of The Blues Brothers having bottles thrown at them unless they play Rawhide on repeat. Randall might be trying to re-write the honky-tonk lore, but if you’re from the UK – you were brought up on cowboy depictions from the movies. “You stood out in the wind the rain, all to listen to some of our songs… I really do appreciate it so much. I get to live the dream on this stage” he says. You can’t go far wrong if you’re nice, nice to look at, and have a great voice. Randall gets my vote.

Russell Dickerson closes out TLR’s main stage offerings with a party atmosphere, gyrating his way across the stage and dancing with his guitarists.

Referencing our bank holiday Monday; “I heard you guys have a holiday tomorrow? So we’re gonna go big tonight right?” is slightly overshadowed by the immediate and hefty downpour – which he is nicely shielded from under the capped stage. ‘Love You Like I Used To’ has everyone up and dancing along despite the soggy conditions, and new song ‘Bones’ garners a roar of approval from the arena.

Russell is a fantastic performer, it’s such a shame that the heavens have opened though, as many people are packing up and defecting to other stages or even home to campervans. There’s plenty to keep everyone occupied around the arena still, with bands continuing on other stages and entertainments all over. Despite the rain, the beautiful soft festoon lights and the roaring fires are highlighting golden joyful faces, a sign of a festival well-done. There’s no other way to describe this festival than overwhelmingly friendly and consciously chilled out.

The tagline for The Long Road is ‘Welcome Home Old Friend’ and after a few years of attending this truly amazing little festival, I fully feel in the fold. Let’s hope for sunnier climes in 2025. See you next year, old friend.

CAMP BESTIVAL Shropshire 2024 – The Big Review!

September 1, 2024 by Anna Hyams

THURSDAY

After weeks of nice sunshine, OF COURSE it is widdling it down the day we’re heading out to Camp Bestival Shropshire. Regardless, we are determined to have an excellent time and head into Weston Park with glee to collect our wristbands.

After wrangling two very excited children, four adults, ten tonnes of snackage, a crate of fancy dress and a partridge in a pear-tree into our home for the weekend – a fancy shmancy bell-tent – we are all knackered and hungry. The arena calls us, with it’s beautiful silk flags waving in the wind (the rain has thankfully subsided). We make our way over to The Feast Collective, find a long bench to house everyone, and go about selecting some delicious dinners to fuel our tanks. Plant-based tacos, chicken katsu bowls, steak frites, smoothies and cocktails served in pineapples… you name it, you can find it at Bestival.

After dinner, a walk around the site is in order and I can definitely say that more attention to layout and decoration has been taken this year. There seems to be something fun to look at everywhere you turn, and things seem to flow more easily than in last year’s set-up. The new Navigation Town, tacked onto the back of Caravanserai and the bandstand, looks absolutely beautiful, and I love the new stamp-able passport initiative for the kids.

We spend the rest of the evening playing in smoke bubbles at the Bubble shop, and buying a Cheshire cat tail at the Tail shop, from a lady dressed as a disco lemur. 10/10 Bestival evening of weirdness, but we defect to camp to get some much-needed sleep before the big weekend.

FRIDAY

A morning of pancakes and delight at the fact that the rain has gone, is followed by donning our brightest funnest clothing and heading out to see what’s up. There’s already a huge queue for the World’s Biggest Bouncy Castle, heaps of people already queuing up for water sports like paddle-boarding and wild swimming, and lovely morning Yoga going on at Slow Motion. You couldn’t pay me to take a dip in the ice-bath though, I’m just not that person.

We talk a walk through the woods, which have been significantly developed since last year – now housing the Scouts and woodland activities such as fabric weaving between trees, bug catching and even mini-archery. We have a go at toasting s’mores on the open fire, crack-out the dressing up box on the woodland stage for a quick soliloquy, and have a good old crash around in the Orchestra of Objects. I particularly liked the teaspoon and tea-pot glockenspiel.

On the main stage, Hacker T Dog & Katie Thistleton from CBBC are getting rowdy in the crowd and blasting interesting versions of the theme tunes from Paw Patrol and Fireman Sam, which is obviously going down a storm with the small beings (and the Dads). During the explosive Braniac show, we pop over to pick up our Kids Pass food packs – at a mere £40 for the entire weekend, I genuinely Believe this is the best initiative a UK festival has ever come up with.

So first up, we show our QR codes to pick up the pack itself, which consists of a Camp Bestival printed drawstring bag (which is a really nice quality souvenir in itself) and a printed water bottle, as well as our sheet of vouchers. The vouchers consist of; 1 lunch, 1 snack, 1 dinner and 1 sweet treat per day. In the next tent over, we go to pick up the lunch items for day one – hand in our token and are offered a choice between a sandwich, a wrap and a pot of pasta. These are full-size meal-deal type offerings, which are then supplemented with a fruit snack bar, a squeezable yoghurt, a box of fruit juice and then two pieces of actual fruit (which you can go back and get more of at any time of day, unlimited. Filling up the water bottle with filtered tap water is also a nice touch, it tastes better than the other water points on site.

I realise I am waxing lyrical about a food scheme here, but I can’t tell you how much stress it took off our shoulders for the weekend. We didn’t have to think about whether the kids would like their lunches – it’s all kid-friendly options, we didn’t worry about getting nutrients into them thanks to the fruit, we could carry the snacks around all day instead of being blindsided by “I’m hungry” every two minutes. The main meals were redeemable at heaps of outlets around the site (personal pizza, kids tacos, hotdogs and chips, even ramen bowls!) and ours chose exclusively ice-cream as their daily sweet treat, of course.

So after our picnic lunch, we took a squiz at all the other entertainments on offer across this area, including skate ramp lessons, a giant game of football and roller disco. Everywhere we wandered had stamp stations for the Navigation passports, so we spent a good deal of time trying to get those done as well.

Rick Parfitt Jr. covers pop bangers from U2 to The Black Eyed Peas, but Say She She really bring the party, with their funky disco sounds. All three of them are not only mesmerisingly beautiful, but incredible vocalists – if you have the chance, they are a must-see.

McFly are my stand-out band of the weekend, coming in with so much energy and joy you can’t help but get up and dance with them. A huge crowd is going absolutely bonkers for ‘Where Did All The Guitars Go’, Tom is jumping around the stage, we get a cover of Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ mixed with the ‘YMCA’… what’s not to love? Kids on shoulders are rocking out to ‘All About You’ and ‘Five Colours In Her Hair’ like it’s the early noughties all over again, and I’m here for it.

After Orbital’s Phil Hartnoll gave his first performance at the CBeebies Bedtime Story Tent (reading Doggy Dance Off), its time for the sonic sounds of gorgeous ambient rave from their decks in the Big Top. Spiraling soft lighting provides a backdrop to their dance party antics, and I can’t stress this enough – if you don’t like ‘Chime’, there’s something wrong with you. Go see a Doctor.

Rick Astley closes the main stage for Friday night, looking truly debonair in a coral coloured suit and his inimitable coiffured hair he struts out to a deafening cheer from the crowd. Honestly he looks like he’s just stepped right off the Hairspray musical stage into Weston Park.

A rousing carousel of his own hits and a few covers ensues, peppered with jokes and anecdotes about his time as a performer. “I’m 58, my knees are shot, my ankles are shot… Not really, I’m fit as a fiddle, drink me in! I don’t really dance as much anymore, I just stand here looking gorgeous. Camp Bestival, do you want to dance with me?” laughs Rick, as he salsas his way across the stage.

“There are people here young people, people whose mums and dads weren’t even born when these Songs were out” he giggles before dropping into 1988’s ‘Hold Me In Your Arms’. After thanking everyone in the entire festival; “…massive thank you to the staff and crew, the security, Brownies over there, Hot Dogs… Chunky Chips, let’s hear it for the Chunky Chips!” and a rendition of AC/DC’s ‘Highway To Hell’ which he plays on the drums, our anticipation is finally satiated with the reverse-rickroll, the one we’ve been waiting for – ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’. It’s a delight to see and hear this in person to be honest, iconic and nostalgic. I bought a t-shirt with it on too because I want to rickroll everyone in my daily life, forever.

The night is still young, so we take a stroll around to the truly beautiful Caravanserai, my spiritual home. Everyone is dancing or crammed into tiny caravans drinking fun cocktails, children are sleeping in trollies or dancing in bubble trails, Bestival at night is the most magical and hard to explain experience, the whimsy and carefree vibe is unmatched. Alas, the small ones will wake with the sun regardless of my wish to live in the night, so we mosey back to camp for bed.

SATURDAY

A morning of Soft Play (for the under 5’s) gives us the gift of post-breakfast energy burn, followed by a couple of goes on EarthBot’s slides, and then seeing Bluey (for real life!) in the CBeebies tent, complete with take-away colouring pages which proved very useful for downtime later on.

Mr. Maker has everyone drawing shapes in the sky with their fingers, and roaring along to his very questionable rendition of Old McDonald (no, Tigers are not traditionally farm-animals, unless you’re Joe Exotic I guess). Morning of the Misters continues with Mr. Tumble who is playing to an absolutely enormous crowd of shrieking children, but we are having a picnic lunch off to the side.

Having hastily chosen our movie only a couple of weeks ago and scrambled to put together outfits, we, the cast of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, scamper over to LoveBot to enter the Fancy Dress Competition. This year’s fancy dress theme of ‘Time & Space’ of course meant that there were about 5 Delorean/Marty McFly teams in attendance, The Flintstones were pretty amazing too, but my vote would absolutely have gone to the Dune-themed family who had turned their festival trolley into the coolest disco sandworm ever. Unfortunately we came second, and the competition went on so long that the kids’ patience had run as dry as Arakis, but we all got rosettes so were pretty pleased with ourselves regardless.

In an effort to appease a tiny gromp, we take to the Carousel for some old-timey action and witness one child screaming (not with joy) their way around the at least 4 minute long ride. Not one to be offput by this, ours thoroughly enjoys herself and then asks to go on the Helter Skelter as well. Seeking a little shade and a sit down, we pop round to Josie’s Post Office, which is set up with colouring and craft tables – a perfect break, especially with the relaxing sounds of Joe Fleming at Caravanserai in the background.

On the main stage, The Amy Winehouse Band are giving us all the hits in the sunshine – though it is bringing back memories for me, of seeing Amy Winehouse at Bestival in 2008, a few years before her death. At that show, she rocked up 80 minutes late and stumbled her way badly through what was left of the set – getting absolutely slated for it in the press. She might not be here today, but it feels like I’m hearing what it should have been like – bittersweet.

Hak Baker brings us a soulful set full of feel-good songs “I see a lot of smiles that’s good, I need that today”, before Gok Wan (who does his own intro “He’s six foot and gorgeous, iiiiiit’s GOK WAN!”) brings his bouncy fun DJ set to the arena. We defect early in search of food, today’s choices include pie, roasted duck fries, and pasta Bolognese with garlic bread.

The Darkness kindly ask if we, the parents would like a censored set from them “…the next song has quite a few expletives, do you want the dirty or clean version? I can swap some of the words, one beginning with C becomes coconut, which has three syllables rather than the original word… so, dirty or clean?” to which everyone obviously screams “Dirty”. It’s an absolute firecracker of a show, with Justin’s undefeatable rock-and-roll frontman sensibilities and the bands’ undeniable energy. I wouldn’t call myself a fan, but it’s hard to deny they have star quality and the songs are unquestionably singable – especially when accompanied by Justin doing a headstand on the drum riser and clapping along with, er, his feet.

Eardrum bursting ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ is the anthem of the evening, every Dad in the arena is rocking out – and, asking an entire crowd of kids to yell Motherfxker is just funny, I don’t care who you are.

Jake Shears (of Scissor Sisters fame) dances across the stage with wild abandon in a blue velour tracksuit, accompanied by drag queen Snow White Trash on the saxophone, for a super fun set. It’s an absolute party on stage, and we too are capering about to the classics ‘Take Your Mama’ and ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’.

In the Big Top, Junior Jungle fresh off the back of hosting the Fancy Dress comp, have kids up on stage with them, throwing an absolutely insane house party, followed by Besti in-house antics from veterans The Cuban Brothers. “This song is about bastards… it’s about the Tory party” Miguelito minces no words and the tent erupts in laughter, before we are treated to their heady mix of hip hop, soul and funk along with some breakdancing and a lot of lewd discourse. I sadly have to love and leave them to run to tonight’s headline act.

Paloma Faith hits the main stage in a cacophony of red, looking like she’d skinned Elmo for fashion, every bit the starlet we expect. ‘Bad Woman’ is “…dedicated to all the girls in the audience. No more ‘boys will be boys’, boys need to act right so we have space to be naughty. I sing this every night to my little girl to remind her to take up space”.

After fighting with her furry red coat and accidentally pulling off one of her grinch-coded gloves, Paloma jokes “I just find drunk people a bit boring” about song ‘Stone Cold Sober’ while she pauses to remove some of her glove from her gob “I’ve got fur in my mouth”.

Telling us “The new album is about my breakup with my kids dad… and about feeling better but guilty and ashamed and bad. So I wrote this song and had a word with myself a bit, for people who will relate to this song – this is for all the single parents out there.” Paloma brings us a little of the new alongside the old. ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’ is gorgeously sensual, and cements the Hackney pop Princess’ position at the top of the Camp Bestival bill.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning feels restful, even here. There’s a lazy quality to the sunshine today as we head over to Woodland Tribe, listening to the Indian Drummers and relishing the slight breeze alongside the waters edge at the Park Pool.

There’s a bit of a queue for Woodland tribe, but once in, the kids are completely fascinated by the chance to hammer nails into bits of wood, paint anything they want to, and just generally being allowed to do things they normally wouldn’t. A sprawling wooden hodge-podge between two Tardis-like doors, kids everywhere are engaged in the very serious business of BUILDING. Building what is anyone’s guess at this point, but I do like that someone has chosen to spend their time making a suspicious looking wooden cat.

Elsewhere in Spinney Hollow Craft Village there is basket weaving and sword making, around the corner from Art Town, Textile World and African Drumming. There’s not enough time in the weekend to get to all the activities on offer here, and to be fair quite a few of them are aimed at older children than ours, but you’ll never be bored.

With the sun up and getting hotter, I wish I’d brought my swimmies with me – but I have things to do and don’t fancy a dip in the old undercrackers. Maybe next time! Instead we head over to Navigation Town to catch an amazing aerial hoop artist, and then a hat juggling performance, with a cheeky mojito in hand from the cocktail bar next door. These are truly the moments I cherish here, sitting in the sunshine watching something that puts the unmistakable expression of sheer awe on tiny faces.

Each performer even had their own stamp for the kids to collect in their passports following the show, which is such a lovely touch. We hang out a little to join in with Nick the Piano Man doing a singalong, and then some Open Mic sign-ups, where a tiny girl called Lotta belted out Taylor Swift’s ‘Our Song’ with the confidence of a main stage artist.

We also watched a contact-juggler doing crystal ball tricks that even the Goblin King would have been proud of, before making our way over to the main stage for Ellie Sax. Dressed head to toe in shiny metallic sparkles, Ellie gives us classic club tunes with a side of saxophone, that you just didn’t know you needed but absolutely do. I LOVE this set, it is such a highlight – and Ellie running down the front barrier high-fiving kids is exactly the kind of wholesome star-struck experience you want them to have. We dance the kids down to the front on our shoulders and have a good old boogie. Ellie finishes up with Klingande’s Jubel, in the sunshine – perfect.

Craig Charles gives a funky, chilled DJ set – “This is how we roll… we play funk and we play soul” and I enjoy his Come Together/Crazy In Love mashup, but it does feel like a bit of a comedown after the raucous Ellie Sax. Level 42 are another outlier if you ask me, they’re good don’t get me wrong, but it’s a thin crowd down at the front, and we take the opportunity to get food and have a sit down.

Sara Cox is plagued by sound issues at the beginning of her set, but spins classics such as ‘Like A Prayer’ with stage dancers who are doing the most, followed by Britney’s ‘Baby One More Time’ and LMFAO’s ‘Sexy and I know It’. It is possibly some of the worst mixing of all time but she’s very fun and everyone loves her so, that’s that.

Luckily Faithless are up next, this time as a full band supporting Sister Bliss’s epic DJ skills, and it is clear from the gargantuan riser filled with an array of different decks, that she means business. No time is wasted in getting to the big guns, ‘Salva Mea’ and ‘Insomnia’ hit as hard as ever and are made even more robust with the addition of the big band accompaniment. Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ given the Faithless treatment is one of my absolute favourites, but seeing Maxi Jazz in the matrix (well, on screens) is going to bring a tear to any old clubber’s eye.

“Camp Bestival, WE COME 1” shouts Bliss “Thank you for being with us on this incredible journey… if you make enough noise, we might have one more for you!” before dropping Dido’s ‘Thank You’ mixed up with some heavy drum and bass to end, replete with lasers and huge smoke bursts. It’s a stellar show, but what comes next is somewhat unexpected. There are no fireworks, there is no ending. No Rob da Bank and Josie coming on stage to say goodbye to everyone and thank them for coming – something that has been done at every Bestival and Camp Bestival forever.

The waiting crowd showed me that my disappointment was mirrored. We saw the fireworks of Dorset a few weeks ago, if this isn’t the kicker feeling of least-favourite-child, I don’t know what is. I felt in my bones that something was untoward – and to be proved completely right, a few days following the festival it was announced that Camp Bestival Shropshire would be “Taking a break next year”.

Whatever the reason, the way this one ended does not fill me with hope for a return. Though the push since has been “Come to Dorset instead”, it just isn’t that simple. We are a five hour journey from Dorset, our friends would be almost 8 hours away with young children in the car (and that’s without factoring the extra cost of travel). Shropshire was so perfectly primed for catching all those outside the Southern circle and I’m truly gutted to have to tell my kid that it just doesn’t exist next year, as after 3 – she’s already as much a Bestival native as I am.

I don’t want to end this review on a sour note though, because we’ve once again had an absolutely incredible time at this little festival. Camp Bestival is a lesson in love, in families taking time out to focus on each other. In parents being able to give their kids magic, in kids being able to see their parents be silly and free. The dancing, singing, hugging, the unmetered joy – something so rare, but so abundant here.

I am crossing everything for 2026, because in this ridiculous world, we all need to be more Bestival.

Victorious Festival 2024 – Review

August 27, 2024 by Graham Tarrant

The biggest festival on the South coast (and arguably the best) returned to the stunning seaside location of Southsea this weekend.

Victorious Festival welcomed 80,000 people over the bank holiday weekend, with something for everyone.

Whether it was headline performances from the likes of superstar DJ Fatboy Slim, indie royalty Pixies or Scottish rock legends Biffy Clyro, or laughs in the comedy tent from performers such as Al Murray, Frankie Boyle and Russell Howard, this was an incredible weekend.

The beauty of Victorious Festival is that each day, they open up proceedings with a huge artist, designed to bring the large crowds into the festival gates early.

This year was no exception with Razorlight opening on Friday lunchtime – frontman Johnny Borrell wasted no time blasting through their biggest hits – “Golden Touch”, “Somewhere Else”, “In The Morning” and the number-one anthem “America”.

Keeping the pace going early-on and drawing one of the biggest crowds of the weekend was former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson. This was his first UK festival performance and he certainly didn’t disappoint – the crowd went wild for every tune, whether it was his own solo material, or the 1D classics such as ‘Drag Me Down.’

Bristol’s finest post-punk IDLES followed with an interesting change of pace and total change of genre from Louis – frontman Joe Talbot celebrated his birthday the same day, not that you could tell from the rage and anger as he spat his anti-fascist mantras across the stage. Creating arguable the largest mosh-pit of the weekend, here’s hoping the Louis Tomlinson fans escaped before the carnage and dust flew.

With possibly the ultimate crowd sing-along tunes, Snow Patrol were up next. To the delight of fans, they played their anthem ‘Chasing Cars’ with the huge audience all singing

‘If I lay here

If I just lay here

Would you lie with me and just forget the world?’

Quite a special, moving goose-bump moment!

As usual, at such a large festival as this, there was a clash of sensational headliners. The original funk-soul brother Fatboy Slim dazzled crowds at the main Common Stage with his rockafeller skank, fireworks, confetti canons and light show, while pop-royalty Jess Glynne returned with a stunning show on the Castle Stage, concluding with her huge hits ‘Rather Be’ and ‘Hold My Hand’ – in her own words, there’s no place I’d rather be!

The dreaded UK rain returned Saturday morning, but it did not dampen spirits. Again, the day began with not one but two huge artists.

Tom Walker demonstrated his incredible voice on the Castle Stage, while the Common Stage welcomed a surprise special guest. Last year, McFly delighted fans with their antics, while this year, their supergroup friends Busted took the heralded spot.

Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, professionally known as CMAT came to Portsmouth for the first time and delighted crowds with her Irish charm shortly afterwards, encouraging all the crowds to line-dance before she played her song ‘I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby’ and dedicating her Brit nominated hit ‘Ah Shoot’ to her love of wine! She’s a must-see if you get the chance.

Fresh from supporting Taylor Swift on her legendary ERAs tour, Holly Humberstone followed, before The Lathums, Courteeners and The Amazons all brought their indie music to Victorious.

There’s not many bands which wear the crown as one of David Bowie’s favourites, but the influential Pixies topped the bill on the Castle Stage. Singer Frank Black (or Black Francis if you prefer) still has an incredible voice despite shouting and screaming his way through their impressive back catalogue – fortunately there weren’t too many new songs and they stuck to the classics.

The final day again began with an impressive band who could have easily headlined many lesser events – The Kooks, before Natasha Bedingfield delighted fans with her hits ‘Unwritten‘ and ‘These Words‘.

Northern scallies Yard Act, gave echoes of LCD Soundsystem mixed with Jarvis Cocker – very entertaining, although their set was a little short as singer James Smith advised they had to be back home in Leeds by midnight to be tucked up in bed…

Up next was James Bay who not only had to Hold Back The River, but also hold onto his hat in the strong south-coast winds.

A couple of years ago, Becky Hill was booked to play the smaller Castle Stage, and the crowd size was so large, many people had to be turned away. This year she was back, better than ever on the main Common Stage.

Dressed in an improperly tight mini-dress, Becky focused her set mainly on her new album with its drum’n’bass focus, before concluding with her crowd pleasers ‘Wish You Well’ and ‘Remember’ In her own words, Becky summed up the evening well by saying ‘Massive thank you to the festival organisers for asking me to come back and putting me on this big old stage! You are all amazing!’

Concluding the weekend were two heavyweights.- the mighty Biffy Clyro rocked the Common Stage, with impressive booming anthems, while the new sensation which is Isle of Wight’s finest Wet Leg delighted fans on the Castle Stage. Possibly playing their singalong ‘Chaise Longue’ for the final time, it was a fitting end to their world wind tour – hopefully we can expect a new album if their current roster are to be retired.

James Ralls, Festival Director summed up the weekend well by saying: “It’s been another unforgettable year on the seafront. From huge cruise ships and the return of the Seaside Stage plus incredible headline sets from Fatboy Slim, Jamie T and Biffy Clyro we’ve had it all and it’s great to see so many people enjoying live music, family entertainment and comedy whilst making memories to last a lifetime! We’re sad it’s ended but we’re already excited to welcome everyone back in 2025 for another memorable weekend.”

Tickets are now available at: https://www.victoriousfestival.co.uk

Don’t miss out on this great weekend in 2025.

PHOTOS: GRAHAM TARRANT

WORDS: SAMANTHA MIDDLETON & GRAHAM TARRANT

We Out Here festival – 2024 review

August 19, 2024 by Graham Tarrant

Curated by Gilles Peterson, We Out Here festival is a kaleidoscope with truly something for everyone.

Embracing so many genres, cultures and arts, We Out Here is a beautiful melting pot of a festival with no boundaries.

It’s impossible to paint all the colourful experiences this event offers, but it’s easy to see why it’s won many awards in its short lifespan. We Out Here is certainly the highlight of our festival calendar this year.

The festival makes great use of its beautiful woodland surroundings in Dorset. You could avoid the main stages all weekend and chose to partake in so many activities ~ possibly go for a wild dip in the rivers; walk through the Dorset countryside; try paddle-boarding or relax in the Sanctuary and partake in yoga-sessions; art therapy; or chill-out at gong-baths. There’s even a free roller-skating rink for those willing, DJ’d at times by Mr Peterson himself – just steer clear of the cider tents before zipping up those boots!

With over 100 artists across the weekend, there is something for all lovers of good music, whether it’s laid back jazz, soul, electronic, hip-hop or even flute playing by Andre 3000 – more on that later.

There is a magic walking around the festival, with so many different sounds emanating from the stages – the appropriately named Lush Life offers the likes of the legendary Loose Ends (the first British R&B band to have a No.1 gold album in the US), while Rhythm Corner is a mix of hay-bales and superstar DJ’s including Laurent Garnier and Zero 7 bringing the large crowds and deep-beats. The crowd favourite area The Bowl returned with the likes of Mr Scruff and Hacienda legend DJ Paulette.

We were blown away by some of the performances and it’s such a joy to discover some of our new favourite artists this weekend. We’ll certainly be out there shopping in the local,and not so local, online stores for those hidden vinyl gems. The beauty of having a renowned DJ such as Gilles Peterson with his 40-year career curate the lineup is that you know there will be incredible discoveries.

Personally, and maybe ashamedly, I’d never listened to Dee Dee Bridgewater prior to heading to the festival – but now she is on heavy rotation on the AirPods and soon the turntable. Her mix of disco, jazz and soul along with her infectious smile made it clear there’s nowhere else anyone would want to be.

Elsewhere on the main stage, other discoveries included Ebo Taylor and the Family Band. Celebrating over five decades in the industry, they had more funk in their little fingers than Mark Ronson could handle.

On Friday, Sampha was a pure delight with a soulful performance, including a solo intimate performance of his hit ‘No One Know Me Like The Piano’, sending goosebumps on goosebumps throughout the warm crowd. Possibly one of the most underrated artists we have – hopefully he will get more recognition after this.

Sampha at ‘We Out Here’ festival © Graham Tarrant

Talking of powerful performances, we have to dedicate some space to call out Kae Tempest and his emotional performance. Coming on stage clearly appreciative of the love from the crowd, Kae delivered one of the most moving powerful shows we’ve ever seen.

It truly appeared that Kae has found an inner happiness, and this was defined in his lyrics that he is no longer going around in circles following a change in pronouns. Finishing with the hopeful poem ‘Peoples Faces’, I’m not ashamed to say I wasn’t the only one who shed a few tears of joy after following him throughout his career.

Thank you Kae for speaking out with such honesty, authority and sincerity in front of the crowd – you deservedly won so many new fans today.

We’ve barely scratched the surface of all the music on offer – you could comfortably see 17 different acts each day. There was so much more it would be impossible to cover all the festival had to offer.

Corinne Bailey Rae demonstrated her mature song writing, bringing her album Black Rainbows to life on the main stage, before delivering an astute conversation for over an hour in the appropriately named Talk Tent.

Corinne Bailey Rae in conversation at the Talking Tent © Graham Tarrant

As previously mentioned, Andre 3000, one half of hip-hop legends Outkast, played a collection of flutes alongside his backing band, reproducing much of his album ‘New Blue Sun‘ – many other festivals have had Andre 3000 headlining and it shows the strength of this event that he played early on the sunny Sunday afternoon. Essential powerful poet Aja Monet also played the main stage on Sunday and she is a must-see if you get the chance.

For those who wanted something a little darker, 2024 Brit award winning artist CASISDEAD, the UK’s most mysterious rapper, brought the grime and dystopian future to the Lush Life stage – he’s going to be huge and possibly should have been on the main stage, based on the size of the crowd flocking to hear his razor sharp lyrics.

As if that wasn’t enough, there was a heady mix of electronic beats from Floating Points, Mount Kimbie, Joy Orbison and Loraine James across the weekend.

There was such a strong sense of community at this festival – it’s difficult to paint with words. To help illustrate the good karma, the festival also introduced a Charity Donation Token Scheme – similar to those offered by supermarkets. Every Little Helps after-all.

Each ticket received a £1 donation and attendees could chose one of eight great local causes for part of their entrance fee to go to – whether it’s Dorset Wildlife Trust, Black Lives in Music, who address the current inequality of opportunities which exist for ethnically diverse people, or the Amos Trust who challenge injustice and build hope for those less-fortunate than ourselves. Take note other events – this is creating positive change.

Founder & curator Gilles Peterson commented: “I can’t express how much I appreciate this crowd and everyone coming together once again. This weekend was a truly unique and magical blend of love, support, and pure joy. This is what We Out Here is all about, and I’m so proud to see it growing year on year! A celebration of club culture, live music with the communities that bond it all together. Massive shout out to a growing number coming in from all around the world. Thank you.”

We Out Here truly is a joyous festival and we can’t wait for it to return to Dorset in 2025.

WORDS: GRAHAM TARRANT

MAIN PHOTO: JAKE DAVIS | KHROMA COLLECTIVE

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)