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The picturesque grounds of Hatfield Park welcomed home one of it’s best events of the calendar year. A festival known as ‘Folk By The Oak’. It which showcases some of the best of of the Folk music genre.
The all day Sunday event was packed full of amazing activities for all the family to enjoy.
The Willow Foundation had a stall selling preloved clothes and items which you could grab a bargain from. In one area of the park it featured a large children’s activity space with a climbing wall, story telling, games and even a stall about looking after bees, what a great idea to teach little ones about looking after all inhabitants of our world, no matter what their size.
There were tents filled with handmade crafts with demonstrations in how to make certain things like pot painting, leather work etc. Ideal for anyone who loves a hobby in crafting.
The scents of the huge array of food & beverage vendors filled the air which aromas to suit everyone’s tastebuds.
The site itself had two stages, the Main stage and the Acorn stage showcasing the very best in music.
The first act I was able to see was The Wilderness Yet who performed music full of well written lyrics and showed a very keen interest on wildlife. The band had mentioned they had also worked with a charity to help save the bees who are a vital part of the environment.
On the mainstage were The Longest John’s who sang a lot of folk and sea shanties. They were also very humorous which earned a lot of laughter from audiences.
Back to the Acorn stage which featured Nick Hart, an award-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist. He is becoming one of the most acclaimed performers of his generation with his music. On stage was the man himself and a guitar. He really knew how to captivate the audience with his songs.
One of the best acts of the day was This Is The Kit. They had performed twice in the day once of the main stage where they had technical difficulties with some of the instruments but carried on through which was entertaining to watch. They then stepped in to headline the Acorn stage with a different set of songs. It was such a delight to witness both of their sets.
Sona Jobarteh graced us with her set bringing her cultural Gambian sounds. She played the Kora which is a 21 stringed instrument that combines the harp and the lute sound. This was definitely fascinating to watch and the audience participated with the language in the songs and danced along.
Unfortunately the artist most well known for his hit “Cucurucu”, Nick Mulvey had to cancel his set on the main stage due to illness (get well soon Nick!), so the Acorn Stage headliners Cut Capers moved onto the mainstage and put on one hell of a show! The band were displayed so much energy on stage and with a big selection of different instruments. The crowd loved to party to them! They are now a new favourite of mine.
Headlining the night was Folk rock band The Waterboys who put on a great performance which ended with a glittering firework display.
This year’s Folk By The Oak festival was a lot of fun, but yet just so mellow. Perfect for a Sunday out!I very much look forward to attending Folk By The Oak in 2024!
Black Coffee, DJ Tennis, Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim, Jamie Jones, Tale of Us and more all play
Sardinia’s Phi Beach in Arzachena is a unique location of rare beauty and charm that offers fresh musical encounters and blissed out party fun in an iconic venue on the Costa Smeralda. This summer it has plenty of stars lined-up to play including Claptone, Bob Sinclar, Jayda G, Black Coffee, DJ Tennis, Carl Cox, Bora Uzer, Folamour, Tale Of Us, Fideles, Themba, Peggy Gou, Purple Disco Machine, Bedouin, Diplo, Blond:ish, Fatboy Slim, Jamie Jones and many more.
Phi Beach is a stunning open air venue that feels like a VIP experience under the hot sun and with the sand of the private beach between your toes. It has an outdoor bar and plenty of places to enjoy the stunning sunsets each evening as you dance the afternoon away and into the night accompanied by breathtaking video mapping and visual effects.
It serves creative cocktails, allows you to dine in pure gourmet style and really gets the emotions going with its elegant and refined design, combining natural materials such as wood and stone with modern and minimalist elements. And for those seeking even cosier atmospheres, the Rock Club terrace can be intimate and exclusive in the best possible way, with a separate entrance that ensures privacy.
The July lineup at Phi Beach features Jimmy Sax, Bob Sinclar, Bazar By Sasson, Francis Mercier, Claptone, and Fiona Kraft. In August, stepping up to the decks between Tuesday 1st and Sunday 27th will be the likes of Jayda G, Black Coffee, DJ Tennis, Carl Cox, Bora Uzer, Folamour, Bob Sinclar, Desiree, Tale Of Us, Fideles, Jimmy Sax, Bazar By Sasson, Kungs, Themba, Parallelle, Meduza, Peggy Gou, Claptone, Purple Disco Machine, Bedouin, Diplo, Blond:ish, Matt Sawyer, Fatboy Slim, and Jamie Jones. September will feature special guest appearances by Louie Vega and Themba to close out an epic summer.
These are all true heavyweights in the DJ world, always headlining the best clubs worldwide from Ibiza to Miami, from London to the Emirates, and so you can be sure of a truly unforgettable time when they headline Phi Beach so make sure you check it out this summer.
It’s a drizzly morning in London today, which isn’t stopping thousands of people from descending on BST Hyde Park for New Jersey legend Bruce Springsteen tonight. On one side of the park we have the Trans Pride march in an array of gorgeous colourful outfits and placards, on the other – the Dad-Mecca. Cargo shorts as far as the eye can see, aged Springsteen shirts held as artifacts or badges of honour, and of course The Baseball Cap™. If Merrell walking boots ever did a convention, this should be the location.
Heading into the arena we decide to check out the merchandise, but sadly find the limited edition print poster already sold out. There are plenty of tshirt options though, featuring various motor-city style artwork and images of Bruce looking moody, as well as not one but two baseball cap options to appease the previously mentioned Dads.
Deciding to grab some early dinner we head to a taco place for some absolutely delicious barbacoa beef, before checking out the brilliant James Bay. Rocking out in his signature black hat, a neckerchief and skinny jeans, his voice soars across the site. We are treated to a set of absolute bangers. ‘Best Fake Smile’ and ‘Just For Tonight’ are impossible not to dance to, but ‘Endless Summer Nights’ and ‘Hold Back The River’ are the true epics of this show – James Bay is a fantastic booking for Springsteen day at BST in my opinion.
On the Birdcage stage, Oscar Corney is giving us feel-good Americana soft rock with a Telecaster in hand, and a decent crowd on deck. “We feeling good? Now that rains fucked off right?” he quips in his distinctly-not-American Cambridge accent, before playing ‘Afterglow’ in a gravelly singing voice which is reminiscent of the Boss himself.
The Chicks (…the artist formerly known as…) are here to present Dallas country and bluegrass with a side of feminism, this is the kind of hoedown I can… get down with. ‘Gaslighter’ isn’t exactly subtle but they sell it well, there’s a lot of banjo and hollerin’ – the sun is out and we’re up for dancing. Yelling “Well hello Hyde Park! Everybody ready for Bruuuce? We are the pre-show entertainment band!” and “London, do you know what a hootenanny is?” before ‘White Trash Wedding’, there’s no denying The Chicks know how to create fun.
It’s getting late, the sun is on it’s way down, and the arena has suddenly filled up. Low calls of “Bruuuuuuce” begin in the crowd, which sort of sound a bit like booing, but I get the intention. Starting early at 7pm, perhaps in an effort to not repeat curfew mistakes of the past, Bruce Springsteen hits the stage yelling out “Hello London Town” in his classic black shirt and peg-rolled jeans, to rapturous applause.
Bruce is holding his beat-up “mutt” Fender guitar, one of the most iconic pieces of rock and roll history that has been his choice of instrument for the last 35 years – or at least, it looks like it… he does notoriously have various copies of it to save wear and tear. Starting up with ‘My Love Will Not Let You Down’ into ‘Death To My Hometown’ and ‘No Surrender’ it’s a bloody good opening, and the sound quality is top notch.
By song seven ‘The Promised Land’, he still hasn’t stopped for even a few seconds break, and now heads down the front steps to greet his fans and hand over a prized harmonica to someone in the first row. The cameras pan down to fan signs during ‘Out In The Street’ where there are a surprising number of kids on shoulders, one holds a slab of cardboard with “This is my first concert” written on it. A lady a few rows back holds a photo of herself being kissed by Bruce at a previous concert, with the words “Make this the best day of my life again” while an enterprising man a little way over has a sign that says “Tequila 4 a harmonica?”. Bruce declines to take him up on the offer despite it being his tipple of choice according to previous reports.
Taking what looks like an explosive can of peroni light from someone in the front row, Bruce heads back onto the stage with dripping wet hands, for ‘Working On The Highway’ which honestly sounds a lot like Chucklevision and now I can’t unhear it.
Commodores cover ‘Nightshift’ is an absolute classic, but as he moves into ‘Mary’s Place’ we’re subjected to rain-based kismet, with the refrain “let it rain, let it rain”. Bruce is soaked to the skin and singing into the sky as if he had a pact with someone above for this iconic moment. ‘Backstreets’ is met with a huge round of applause, but I’ve heard at least three songs about “the streets” tonight already and it’s starting to get funny. Luckily ‘Because The Night’ (Patti Smith collab) is up next to turn things up a notch, it’s gorgeously seventies, that sort of twinkly ethereal sound you associate with starry skies around campfires.
The truly anthemic ‘The Rising’ has everyone ‘la la laaa-ing’ along before ‘Badlands’ sees off the last of the evening light over the arena. Well within the curfew limits we get into the encore with the sensational ‘Born To Run’, ‘Bobby Jean’ and ‘Glory Days’, and Bruce finally yelling “I think it’s time to go home”. Obviously this crowd has no intention of stopping and screams back “noooo”, to which he jokes “They’re gonna pull the fucking plug again! I don’t wanna go home either”. The lady in the crowd holding the ‘Bruce, take me dancing in the dark’ sign, practically faints as the opening notes play, but Bruce is busy wiggling his bum at the stage camera and dancing down the steps.
Yanking his shirt open (which was actually stripper style poppers, a bit less cool than actually ripping buttons off) Bruce thanks the E-Street Band and heads down to lie back into the arms of his fans, before his signature rendition of The Top Notes ‘Twist and Shout’ with a little bit of La Bamba mixed in – the very thing that got him and Paul McCartney shut down last time.
Going out half an hour before Hyde Park’s curfew, on an acoustic ‘I’ll See You In My Dreams’ and softly saying “Thank you so much” renders the crowd absolutely silent. It’s beautiful and a rare musical moment in this type of show. I’m still salty that we didn’t get ‘The River’ or ‘Thunder Road’, but there’s no way to describe how absolutely phenomenal Bruce Springsteen is as a performer and tonight has been a masterclass in classic rock. 73 years old, busting out a 3 hour set with no breaks, back to back 29 songs. Bruce Springsteen truly is The Boss.
Ubud’s unreal jungle club Kabana is turning one with a special anniversary weekend starting on July 14th. It features a special Italian guest plus music from Kabana all stars Touch the Sound, Cattaree, Max Degrand, Verona, Fadi, Shinta and more. There is nowhere else like it in the region, and in the last year it has welcomed the likes of Undercatt, David Mayer, Birds of Mind and many more. Now is your chance to experience the magic at this special anniversary party.
You have never seen anything like Kabana – it is an idyllic party paradise five minutes from Ubud that invites you to dance deep in the jungle with mesmeric lights and lasers, chill by a lush tropical infinity pool and head back to your villa at the nearby K Club Hotel for the afters with your own crew. There are four levels in all and seven pools to enjoy as you please, all surrounded by the deep greens and towering trees of the ancient jungle.
The club boasts a superb sound system from L’Acoustic, designed and built by Léon, a French-born, Bali-based design creative agency. It is sustainably made from organic, natural and local materials, gorgeous wooden decking, miles of bamboo and lush planting. It is enclosed by a jungle that is lit up at night with 3D mapped visuals and a hypnotising and enchanting laser show.
The first year of Kabana has set all new standards for the region and it is now a firm favourite with international travellers, world-wide music lovers and a community of expats so make sure you are part of it.
As this year’s event gets ever nearer, BLOODSTOCK is thrilled to announce that Sunday day tickets for 2023 are now SOLD OUT!! Standard weekend tickets remain available but are going quickly, plus a limited day allocation for Friday and Saturday. Read on for more band news, plus all the details on the RAM Gallery exhibitors, the return of the T-Shirt/CD Amnesty and Planet Rock Signing Tent, plus how to do a one-stop-shop for all your festival essentials.
There’s just 4 weeks to go before the metal hoardes thunder their way onto Catton Park’s hallowed turf! This week the Metal 2 The Masses scheme is closing out this year’s initiative with the final batch of 10 lucky bands who won local heats to score a slot on the New Blood stage.
Friday’s New Blood line up will include the Oxford heat victors, SHOOT TO KILL, who’ll be bringing their metalcore breakdowns and 90s riffs, showcased on their recent video for ‘Crimson’. Also appearing will be modern metal squad, APATHY, whose brutal downtuned guitars and psychedelic soundscapes won out in Devon & Cornwall. Check out their official video for ‘Gravewalker’.
Bournemouth’s winners, TO OBEY A TYRANT also grab a Friday slot. Their blackened deathcore has won many admirers – appraise yourself via their video for ‘Vermillion Moon’. DEVIL’S HENCHMEN picked up the Merseyside prize – watch them bring the retro riffage in the video for ‘Built By Hate’. Grabbing the last Friday slot are South Wales outfit, TORCHBEARER. The four piece dropped their ‘Warrior’ EP just last month, featuring the blistering ‘Catharsis In Karma.’
Grabbing a Saturday New Blood slot will be Cheltenham’s SKORA. The band’s progressive hardcore sound has made them mainstays of the South West underground scene. Find out why via their video for ‘Harakiri.’ Northampton’s PICTURE THE SCENE also win their place. Having picked up Radio 1 airplay and won Arts Council England support, find out what the fuss is about via this live set from North Acre Studios. THE DEAD XIII picked up the prize in the Burnley heat. With a couple of albums and Kerrang! Radio airplay under their belts, they’re no strangers to the touring circuit – watch their video for ‘Killers’ here. Picking up Saturday’s final space are Stoke’s winners, BLOODMORES. This four piece take their influences from all corners of the metal realm, leaning heavily in a melodic death direction. Check out their video for ‘Virulence’ taken from their second album, ‘Too Close To The Sun’.
Sunday’s New Blood line up welcomes Nottingham’s winners, BEYOND YOUR DESIGN. The East Midlands four piece blend massive metalcore riffing with melodic hooks and snarling vocals. Watch them take on an assault of marauders in their official video for ‘United We Fall’.
On Sunday morning, over at the Sophie Lancaster Stage, the party also gets started by the winner of Planet Rock Radio’s band competition. Chosen from hundreds of entries, PHOENIX LAKE came out on top. With comparisons to Evanescence, Parkway Drive and Paramore, their debut EP, ‘Beyond The Flames’ has been picking up a ton of attention. Check out their single, ‘Faithless’ to see for yourself.
Due to extenuating circumstances, a number of alterations to the bill have been necessary. Due to some unforeseen logistical issues out of ZEAL & ARDOR‘s hands, ZEAL & ARDOR are unfortunately not able to perform on Saturday at BLOODSTOCK. Rather than BLOODSTOCKers lose out entirely on what will be a spectacular set, festival management have managed to move the band to Sunday’s Sophie Lancaster stage line up. ZEAL & ARDOR will now play their full 75-minute set, with their full production, directly before headliners, BIOHAZARD. KING 810’s set will now move to Thursday and TRIBE OF GHOSTS to Saturday. In addition, EYES have had to withdraw from the festival and will be replaced by AMBRIUS in the Saturday morning opening slot on the Sophie Lancaster Stage.
BLOODSTOCK is also thrilled to announce the exhibitors in this year’s RAM GALLERY, the festival’s unique, purpose-built art space curated each year by festival founder and globally renowned fantasy artist, Paul Raymond Gregory. Showing across two whole walls of the space will be KILLSWITCH ENGAGE’s bass player & founder of Dark Icon Design, Mike D’Antonio. Mike’s work is featured on many albums from his own band, but you may not know his work litters the heavy music spectrum and also extends to merch including posters, t-shirts, skateboard decks and more, for the likes of 36 Crazyfists, Armored Saint, Crowbar, and Harley Davidson, among numerous others.
BLOODSTOCK is thrilled to be the first ever art space to showcase selects of Mike’s body of work from the ‘other side’ of his impressive career. Also exhibiting at the gallery will be a familiar face to the RAM Gallery, Oliver Andrew (who created the incredible array of handcrafted ‘guitars-as-art’ for the gallery over the years under his Cynosure Guitars moniker). Oliver will be showcasing his new project, ‘Bloodworks’, which sees him using his own blood as the medium for hyper-realistic artworks.
The RAM Gallery also welcomes Dan Seagrave, who’ll be showing 20 outstanding pieces of work, including creations for the likes of ENTOMBED, SUFFOCATION, PESTILENCE, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and more. Also exhibiting is sculptural artist Paul Cutting, who’ll have a winged masterpiece on show and a metal guitar themed around one of the headlining bands. Another familiar face in the gallery is Liam Brandon Murray, whose incredible, sculptural throne will once more make an appearance for all your gallery selfie needs!
BLOODSTOCK is also pleased to announce the return of the very popular T-SHIRT & CD AMNESTY this year. Dig out your unwanted shirts & discs in good, clean condition and hand ‘em over at the INFORMATION/ROCK SOCIETY tent in the main arena. Then head to the PLANET ROCK SIGNING TENT from 10am-12 Noon, Friday thru Sunday, to grab yourself a pre-loved bargain, as they’ll be selling off donated items to raise money for the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. Also, stay tuned to BLOODSTOCK’s socials for details of who you’ll be able to meet in the PLANET ROCK SIGNING TENT this year!
While you’re planning your packing, don’t forget that BLOODSTOCK has introduced a dedicated one-stop-shop featuring all those festival essentials. From the all important cold beers to BOA’s own 2023 merchandise through to camping equipment and much more, BLOODSTOCKers can secure all their must-have items in advance from one online shop, eradicating the need for last-minute scrambles, long queues or searching in multiple online stores for different items.
Ready for four days of heavy metal fun? Snap up your standard weekend tickets inc. camping at the ticket store for the bargain price of just £165 (+ fees). Don’t hang about, limited numbers remain. If you want to make it a family affair, there are child tickets too, priced £45 (+ fees) and mini-moshers below age 4 go free. If you can’t make the whole weekend, but don’t want to miss out, limited day tickets are available priced £75 (+ fees) for adults and £25 (+ fees) for kids. See all options in the ticket store and get excited watching the latest trailer here!
BLOODSTOCK’s 2023 Ronnie James Dio main stage headliners are KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, MESHUGGAH, and MEGADETH. Also appearing are HELLOWEEN, IN FLAMES, BIOHAZARD, EMPLOYED TO SERVE, ROYAL REPUBLIC, SACRED REICH, HEAVEN SHALL BURN, SEPULTURA, FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY, CROWBAR, CANDLEMASS, TRIBULATION, SEETHING AKIRA, UGLY KID JOE, DECAPITATED, GATECREEPER, ZEAL & ARDOR, KING 810, ABBATH, URNE, ALL HAIL THE YETI, DEAD LABEL, BOSSK, CHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULL, BROTHERS OF METAL, PEST CONTROL, GUTALAX, UUHAI, INVISIONS, COBRA THE IMPALER, TROLLFEST, SKYND, FROZEN SOUL, EMBODIMENT, THE VIOLENT INZIDENT, TRIBE OF GHOSTS, DAKESIS, THE ENIGMA DIVISION, THE GREY, EYES, TUSKAR, STENGAH, OVERTHRONE, TORTURED DEMON, CASKET FEEDER, GAEREA, BLOODYARD, WOLFBASTARD, EMBODIMENT, SKIN FAILURE, WITCHSORROW, WYTCH HAZEL, HATE, BLACK COAST, ZETRA and more.
The electricity of teenage fandom is buzzing in the air today at Hyde Park, this is by far the youngest crowd I’ve seen at a BST event, and almost everyone is wearing the obvious colours for K-Pop international superstars BlackPink. As we head into the arena it’s clear there are a lot less people around early today, compared to the previous BST events, perhaps in part due to the overcast weather, but it’s actually quite pleasant being able to walk around the arena with ease.
Checking out the merchandise options you can only imagine my abject horror at finding bucket hats with tiny BP embroidery on for an eye-watering £40 each. Tote bags were also £40 (compare to £20 for Take That, which I still thought was steep), zip up printed tour hoodies for BlackPink are an astonishing £120. Despite my wish to own all the merch from everything I attend, I really couldn’t justify these prices, but there were plenty of people queuing up to catch some exclusive (and hard to find in the UK) items.
The most popular seems to be the BlackPink official lightstick – which, if you aren’t in the know, looks like a miniature mallet with squishy pink hearts on either side, that you can connect to an app which lights up along with the music at the show you’re attending. Well… it would, if anyone on Hyde Park could get any signal at all.
Shuffling off to the Rainbow stage we catch a bit of the completely adorable Annika Benett, who has a gorgeous voice and is singing breakup songs “…I built my life around someone, and it’s awful when that ends”.
Caity Baser hits the main stage wearing a tartan bodysuit that gives Attack on Titan vibes, and the wind begins to pick up around the arena as she too chooses the topic of breakups for her set – “How many of you have been cheated on before?”. Honestly, looking around at the average age of the fans here and I’d say that quite a large portion probably can’t relate Caity. Nevertheless she’s upbeat and fun, and despite the smaller crowd today she’s managing to get them jumping around.
Taking a turn around the arena to see what’s cracking, we take a few minutes up on the Whiteclaw balcony to sit on some comfortable beanbags and drink a fancy drink or two. It’s a lovely view but any stage sounds are impossible to entertain from there, due to the absolute chaos that is the Carousel Swing fairground ride next to us, which is flying at a brutally horizontal angle and making the riders SCREAM.
We catch at bit of self-proclaimed manic dream pixie – Peach PRC, who is sporting her unique iridescent fairy wings and pink wavy hair, jumping around the stage. I like her, she’s good energy and song ‘Blondes’ is a perfect pop appetizer. Speaking of energy though, we need to eat and the options are bountiful, and therefore hard to choose from. Heading over to the Peroni bar we spy The Cheese Wheel, who are preparing fresh pasta inside, well, a giant wheel of cheese. Deciding to go boujie today we order the truffle cheese pasta and then sat in pure silence while we indulged. This may be the most decadent festival food I’ve ever eaten, highly recommend.
Waddling over to the main stage for Korean rock band The Rose, we are greeted with a cacophony of screaming girls. It’s true, they are *very* pretty, but honestly – they’re a great band and I really enjoyed their song ‘Yes’, even if it came with the slightly odd warning “Er, don’t say yes to everything though!”. It’s not hard to like them when they are a very wholesome mix of funny and humble “Our first gig was to twenty people in Korea, seven years ago… and fifteen of them were our friends!”.
The Cuban Brothers are bringing the Funky Nassau to the Garage stage, and Miguel quickly decides to “…change [his] material” for the clearly younger crowd who have gathered in front. Encouraging the kids to yell “Kenny The Pasta” instead of the other thing, has those of us who’ve seen them before, laughing. Yelling “Where the Blinks at?” they immediately have all the young girls along the front row screaming at ear-bleeding levels, and I think some first crushes have well and truly been established today in the form of Young Domenico.
Rebecca Black, no longer the gawky teenager in possibly one of the worst/most iconic music videos of all time, steps out on stage in a very Goth-loli red tartan outfit with all the confidence of a seasoned performer. Not gonna lie, she’s had some solid follow up bops over the years, but it’s fairly obvious everyone is waiting to hear her sing about her car seat dilemmas in ‘Friday’.
Sabrina Carpenter hits the main stage in stacked gogo boots and a metallic pink slip dress, but the crowd is very very thin on the ground, despite her saying “Hyde Park what’s poppin? There’s so many of you god damn!”. She goes on to say “I’ve been to London a few times… your relationship dramas are so wild, I watch Love Island. Who here has been in a situationship?” is met with rapturous… crickets. These kids are like 13 Sabrina… what’s your angle. Her voice is lovely but she ends up being a bit like one of those Pinterest recipes, where I’ve now heard enough of her life story and would like very much to just make the pie (her cats are named Benny and Bjorn, she covers Abba’s ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’).
At this point we are fully stalking the fancy AmEx guest areas to try and catch a glimpse of Hugh Grant whowas somewhere about, bringing his daughter and her friends to see BlackPink tonight. Alas, we failed our mission, he was nowhere to be seen so we shuffled off in favour of getting ourselves ready for the headline slot.
Now, this is not just another headliner it has to be noted, this is the first time a Korean band has ever headlined a major UK festival in history – and a sold out show no less. The crowd is getting fretful now, as the band are a few minutes late in starting, but the ominous “Blaaaack Pink” chant they’re all doing is some horror movie level shit.
Coming in hard with ‘Pink Venom’, Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa take their absolutely earned place in the spotlight to the deafening screams of thousands of fans. Having been mostly a fan of rock and metal, this type of fanatic behaviour is somewhat new to me, and it’s kinda hard not to get swept up in the thrall. Why didn’t I buy a lightstick, damn. Dressed all in white, but different variations on the Leeloo-fifth-element theme, they’ve got quite an industrial gothic look about them – offset heavily by the occasional pink pyrotechnics and sparkles around them.
“London what’s UUUUP” they yell, before dropping the absolutely epic ‘How You Like That’, which was my first introduction to the band a few years ago. It doesn’t matter what musical background you come from, you’ve got to agree that song slaps. The crowd is going absolutely berserk at this point, and there’s a girl next to us who knows every dance move and seemingly every word.
‘Pretty Savage’ includes a saucy chair routine at the end of the runway, and their house dancers are absolutely incredible during their costume change break at the end of ‘Whistle’ as well. It’s such a full on performance, there’s always something happening. The second ‘act’ of the night is each performer’s chance to showcase their solo material, which is truly a genius way of incorporating personal work into your band schedule without breaking the lot or having to split. Why haven’t more bands thought of this?!
Jennie does ‘You & Me’ in a gorgeous lacy tiered coat, followed by Jisoo with ‘Flower’ in sparkly and floral reds with blooming flower choreography to boot, and then a huge explosion of petals across the crowd. I really rate this level of production detail, it’s making everything so magical and special for the audience.
Rosé enters wearing the absolute coolest outfit of the whole night, she is draped in gold chains and looks like pirate treasure, for ‘Gone/On The Ground’. Obviously, there’s a heap of floorwork in the choreo to reflect the ‘ground’ sentiment too, but a ticker tape streamer explosion backfires quite spectacularly, covering the stage lights and a poor unsuspecting security guard due to a turn of the wind. Hey future kids, if there’s a second fire of London, it probably started here m’kay?
Lisa rocks a red bustier and knee high biker boots for ‘Money’ which is one of my favourites of the night, it makes me wish I could actually dance. I kinda wish they’d done money ticker tape here, but you can’t have everything. Coming round into act 3 the whole band is back together for the incredible ‘Boombayah’ in some excellently mad-max style black outfits. Wielding sparkly mics which look quite a lot like the lightsticks is another little touch I think is very well thought out, as they head into the most visually pleasing part of the night yet.
Male dancers with huge burlesque white feather fans head to the top of the stage, as BlackPink emerge on stage on a lift/riser. The fan dance hides each member while another sings, and thes moves fluidly with them as they descend the stairs, it is so well choreographed that it looks amazing from all angles.
‘Shutdown’ has everyone dancing and singing along with them, exclaiming “Wow wow wow, I did not expect this much energy” and “This is a dream come true!”. Now, I absolutely LOVE the feminist message of ‘Tally’, but there’s no doubt that this well and truly moves them out of the ‘wholesome kpop band’ zone. They’ve always been harder edged as a band, but this song deals with sexuality, confidence and equality in a way that I think other female fronted bands haven’t been able to in the genre. Even their video backdrops say ‘Fuck It’, go on gals. I did have to stifle my laughter when the Mum of the girl next to us heard the line “Getting mine like the fuckboys do” and yelled “WHAT”.
For an encore we get the awesome ‘DDU-DU, DDU-DU’ before they head back down the runway and into a cage which is lifted into the crowd on a platform during ‘Forever Young’. The crowd simply cannot be contained at this point, it is decibel curfew shattering levels of screaming all around me. I can’t blame them, you can call me a Blink now too – that was a sensational show. BlackPink are welcome in our area, anytime. Someone send me a lightstick please.
Slovakian trance star DJ Nifra is once again partnering with Tiede Night’s for a unique new live stream from UNESCO World Heritage Site the Masada National Park.
The first stream shot from the Dead Sea last year was a huge success and the team behind the concept have now taken things up a level as they take over the ancient fortress in southern Israel’s Judean Desert. The set premiered on Nifra’s YouTube channel on Friday 7th July 2023.
Nifra is a global trance titan, globe-trotting DJ and tastemaking producer who has released on the likes of Black Hole Recordings and Coldharbour, hosts her own Rebel Radio show, and gets support from the biggest names in the game for her incredible melodies, future-facing production and energetic anthems. This year she plays the likes of Tomorrowland and Creamfields, has a big run of exciting new releases read to drop and made the #10 spot as the highest ranked female trance artist on Trancepodium.
It was during the pandemic lock downs of 2020 that Nifra found herself embracing the virtual world as an outlet to showcase her love for art and beyond. She shot performances at unique locations such as Landschaftspark in Duisburg, Toren7 in Roermond and Papierfabriek in Nijmegen among others before teaming up with Israel’s Tiede Night’s collective for her first live stream in the country at the Dead Sea and her relationship with the team and country has continued to evolve ever since.
Masada; the location for this new production, is unrivalled in its beauty and history. It is a vast plateau overlooking the Dead Sea, with a cable car and a long, winding path climbing up to the historic fortifications that were built in around 30 B.C. Among the ruins are King Herod’s Palace, which sprawls over three rock terraces, and a Roman-style bathhouse with mosaic floors. The Masada Museum has archaeological exhibits and recreations of historical scenes and it is sure to form a breathtaking setting for this live stream.
Tiede Night’s establishes connections in the global music industry between top nightlife figures and club owners to work on creative projects like no other, and live streams are a crucial part of that. They say, “once again we give fans and viewers a high-quality performance in a stunning setting. We have overcome plenty of challenges to make this happen but that is sure to make it all the more enjoyable and exciting.”
Nifra adds, “after working with Tiede Nights on production of the live set from the Dead Sea last year, I knew I wanted to go back and record something together this year as well. I’ve seen some pictures and footage of Masada and as crazy as this idea was, I got in touch with Lidor from Tiede Night’s. We are talking about a very special location that I can’t even believe we got permission to shoot. After the recording it took me some time to realise what we actually did here and the result is breathtaking. I’m very excited about once again pushing the boundaries with an incredible team of people that worked on this project.”
This is a live stream not to be missed and one that invites you deep into the musical world of Nifra in a stunning setting.
LooseFest is the North East’s largest and most ambitious music festival and it makes a welcome return on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th August at the expansive inner-city green space, the Town Moor. This year’s is a bumper offering with the likes of Sean Paul, Chase & Status, Craig David, Patrick Topping, Ben Hemsley, Joel Corry, Andy C, Sub Focus, Dimension, Example, Sigala and Tinie Tempah all playing and now a stage breakdown has been revealed so you can plan your weekend right, but not before you get the last remaining tickets at http://www.loosefest.com.
On Saturday playing the Capital Stage will be the likes of Belters Only, Goodboys, Example, Joel Corry, Nathan Dawe, Sean Paul, Sigala, Tinchy Stryder and more. Trick is headlined by a three hour set from Patrick Topping, plus Ben Hemsley, Kettama and more. What The Funk welcomes A-Trak, Crazy P Soundsystem, Dam Swindle, Fat Tony, Horse Meat Disco and Kenny Dope and Mixtape brings Judge Jules, Artful Dodger, Black Legend, Devlin, DJ Luck & Mc Neat, Kathy Brown and Phats & Small.
On Sunday, Capital brings Chase & Status (DJ), Craig David, Jax Jones, Wes Nelson, Jess Bays, Special Guest Tinie Tempah and more. Lets Get Loose is Airwolf Paradise, Alan Fitzpatrick, Archie Hamilton, East End Dubs, Franky Wah, Hot Since 82, Meg Ward, Sorley and Syreeta and Worried About Henry line up Andy C, Sub Focus & Dimension, Kings of the Rollers, Harriet Jaxxon, My Nu Leng and many more. Utopiar then has sounds from the likes of Andy Whitby, Billy Gillies, Flip & Fill, Ultrabeat and more.
Next to the music across five incredible arenas, LooseFest offers a street food village, funfair, a range of bars and vendors and unique immersive activations, the festival’s very own digital Metaverse as well as excellent transport links and plenty of local accommodation and Air BnBs.
LooseFest has grown at an incredible rate since its debut in Herrington Park in 2021. Last year it set an all new standard for events in the North East and 2023 will be bigger and better than ever. The team behind the festival is made up of experienced industry experts, having created and curated some of the region’s best events, venues, and festivals over the past 10 years. Last year’s event created hundreds of jobs for the local community, working with as many local suppliers as possible, bringing in over £12m to the local economy and delivering an amazing experience to tens of thousands of party goers from across the UK.
Ready for an intro worthy of a year 4 book report? Southside is a medium festival in the south of Germany with 3 big stages and 2 smaller ones. Roughly 65,000 people visit it every year (with the exception of 2020 and 2021) and for the past year, we’re two of them.
We started off strong by not checking if the tent bag did, in fact, contain tent pegs when packing. Turns out tents are much more susceptible to wind when not attached to the floor. So, first order of business was tracking down tent pegs. Good news, they sell those at a stall. Bad news, the stall was on the other side of the main area. After a little hike in the afternoon heat past James Bay and Nina Chuba I got to the other camping area and got hold of the prized cargo. Luckily the security guards let me enter the area again, now in possession of 20 small metal stakes. The tent was finally secured as Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls played behind me. Bit of a bummer to miss them, but I guess that’s one way to learn the importance of checking your stuff when packing.
It was still very warm at 7pm as we grabbed dinner and watched Clueso. It was nice to see someone who’s act has his name on it to be such a hype man for his band. Both band and crowd were clearly so happy to be there, dancing in the evening sun and failing at getting down and standing up as a wave from back to front (but the main thing is they had fun). The set contained several songs that feature other artists on the studio recordings, but they worked well with the band filling in the additional voice parts or Clueso singing the whole song alone.
Queens of the Stone Age were the penultimate act on the main stage. Technically (as in technique, not on a technicality) brilliant, the show had a fantastic sound and interesting stage design. The band was flanked by angled light strips looking a bit like a landing strip. Lead singer Josh Homme had a certain reserved regality (that’s a word now) about his performance, remaining steadfast at the microphone in the centre of the stage. The group in front of me were developing a pretty extravagant choreography during one of the songs that was starting to spread to its neighbours. Sadly, the song finished before the dance got very far. The performance finished with the guitarist leaving the guitar hanging on the mic stand, prompting it to fall over and leaving a piercing ringing sound playing until the speakers were turned off.
Die Ärzte could easily be considered part of the German musical bedrock. The punk rock band from Berlin are known for their antics both in their songs and during live performances and tonight was no different. The banner covering the stage (with a badly cropped image of the band logo on it) fell during the first song to reveal: another banner saying “nearly” before revealing the band a few moments later. What followed was two hours of the band members chatting absolute nonsense, interspersed with a ride through their repertoire from 1982 until 2023. There were semi disco balls covering the stage, there was a fridge disguised as an amp, there were Mexican waves of thumbs up, there were bad jokes and there everybody nodding respectfully in lew of cheering. As the band was essentially a triple comedy act, the drums were at the front in a line with guitar and bass and drummer Bela B frequently walked around while talking before returning to drum standing up. He also went through roughly a bajillion drumsticks, throwing them into the crowd after pretty much every song. Towards the end of the set, he had a full quiver of them on his back for maximum stick to audience transfer efficiency. Also, just for the record: waistcoats without shirts are a vibe.
Placebo were on at 00:30, which was beyond our energy levels since we’ve been travelling all day. We could hear a lot of the set from the tent, including covers of Shout but Tears for Fears and Running up that Hill by Kate Bush.
Saturday
Classic summer weather problems, hot tent in the mornings. We crawled out into the shade and slowly managed to get ourselves to coffee and breakfast. The opening acts across the three stages Domiziana, Kasi and Razz already had very loud, keen crowds. Likely louder than last night despite the size difference. Probably because everyone had something akin to a “good” night’s rest.
Gayle was one of the many female acts on the Blue stage today, the number of which felt like an improvement on past years. Her stage set up was very minimalist, only having the drums and a guitar stand on stage with no backdrop or decoration. The set included a cover of misery business and finished with abcdefu. She announced her songs with the expected punk rock attitude but was humble in her gratitude to the crowd especially at the end, thanking everybody for making it this career possible for her.
Ska punk band and festival regular, Sondaschule, got everybody moving. Not even the most stoic nodder in the crowd could stand still. I saw what was likely the most impressive thing of the weekend in the crowd: a guy wearing nothing but shorts and a half eaten candy necklace, standing barefoot on the searing tarmac of the runway on which the festival is held. Calluses of steel or a heroic level of alcohol are the only likely explanations. The set contained everything you would expect from a punk gig: chanting, clapping, circle pits and all-round good vibes. The final song was dedicated to a friend they lost accompanied by his face on the backdrop banner.
They were followed by the Donots, one of the most energetic and fun punk bands Germany has to offer. Their enthusiasm is always so catchy. From the first tones, smoke flares erupted in the crowd and mosh pits formed. No stranger to joining the audience up close, lead singer Ingo took a photographer with him this year, along with a camera man to record the photographer taking a picture. Both of whom were somewhat apprehensive about the expedition. The crowd courteously parted to let the three walk into the middle before moshing together as the song started up. Singer, photographer and cameraman were carried back to stage. The piece of camera equipment dropped along the way was gently passed along after them. Across the crowd, lost shoes and phones were recovered from the ground and reunited with owners.
Having played the sister festival Hurricane yesterday with the same line up (similar to Reading and Leeds festival in the UK), the Donots told the crowd about having gone for a 2k jog with friend and following act Bosse, only for the latter jumping into a taxi halfway through. This led to the crowd chanting about his lack of physical fitness. A chant they repeated later during Bosse’s own set where he promptly said the record straight that he was saving his energy for his 9k run with tonight’s headliner Kraftklub. After the Donots ran onto the stage during Bosse’s set and started doing push ups he finally admitted to being less fit. Ingo went crowd surfing again and all was well. Bosse’s set was a wonderful performance of positive vibes and hanging out with friends in the summer sun.
During the intervals between acts, tweets mentioning the festival were shown on the screens This had its own entertainment factor as standard tweets, like sending love to people are sharing excitement for an upcoming band, turned into conversations about lost (or stolen) beer pong tables, arranging swaps of airpods for a sack cart or one guy photographing his tweet on the big screen, posting the photo, the photo getting shown on the big screen, the guy taking a photo… round in circles at least 4 times.
Peter Fox released his first album in 2008 and is therefore firmly baked into German millennial consciousness. Now in 2023 he’s back with his second album. The split between the two albums could be felt through the set, the older one’s clearly getting the crowd going more. The new songs were good too but didn’t feel like they had the same impact. The stage had a large split level set up with an urban graffiti vibe. The upper levels were full of backing dancers for most of the show, giving the whole thing a street party vibe. The band looked like they were wearing pyjamas or at least loungewear. Peter Fox did make the cardinal faux pas of addressing us as Hurricane Festival but didn’t seem to register the booing that ensued. The show drew a massive crowd, securities needed to tape off the sides of the crowd to keep access free in case paramedics needed access.
Tash Sultana performed on the Blue stage starting off alone on stage and building up songs through a loop pedal and an impressive range of instruments. They were later joined by some additional musicians, but the core of the performance remained the loop pedal process. At the start of the show, they proudly declared “to all those who thought it was fake, it’s real” (but with more expletives). Musically very interesting and a really nice ambience.
Doing a bit of a sprint over to the Red stage, we managed to catch the first few songs from Enter Shikari, complete with fireworks and pyrotechnics. Two block towers of screens flanked the stage with a big screen behind. The crowd was relatively small but committed. Unfortunately, there was a lot of sound bleeding over from the Blue stage, so unless the Red stage was really going for it, there was a bit of a muddle sound wise. The British band introduced themselves as being European in German, which still feels like a statement worth making. One song was accompanied by a slow build-up of lines across the screen representing temperatures alongside the year number ticking up. It was a solid start to a set, but unfortunately the schedule meant we had to rush off to Billy Talent on the Green stage.
Billy Talent was delayed coming on stage, so we could have stayed longer for Enter Shikari, but sadly I lacked the gift of premonition to know that at the time. While stage crew was rushing around with tape, the crowd was being entertained by having the cameras pointed at them. People were starting to leave by the time the set started, but it was definitely worth the wait. The band was on top form, the sound was fantastic, and the crowd bought the energy. Loved the church aesthetics of the opener Devil in a Midnight Mass. There was a little exodus after Rusted from the Rain as the Blue Stage headliner loomed. Unfortunately, we had to head off as well, as much as it hurt to hear the rest of the set from afar as we waited for the final act of the night.
The thing is though, it was worth it. Kraftklub are one of the best live bands Germany has to offer. It was high energy from the start, streamers flying with the first chorus. The stage was initially split in half by a grid of lights, being reminiscent of the side off a cargo train carriage. For a later song, the guitarist was standing on the platform while the singer was below, the blue and red light respectively gave the whole thing a heaven/hell vibe. The grid moved throughout the show which made for a cool visual. Right near the beginning the band made a clear statement about moshing rules: pick each other up, everyone should feel welcome (not just massive dudes) and zero tolerance towards any sort of harassment. Later in show there were clear statements against racism, homophobia and transphobia along with massive pride flags being waved. The mosh pits, while a great vibe, were incredibly dusty, so much so that I couldn’t stay there for long. A few others had thought ahead and given left over COVID masks a new lease of life. The band played a few songs in the middle of the crowd, instruments and all, parting the audience like the red sea. One song in the set is often decided by a wheel of fortune spun by a fan. This time someone was holding a sign asking to be chosen, he came up, spun, and then asked to perform the song with the band. There was obvious apprehension both by the band and the crowd, as these things can often be a little cringey. Luckily the band agreed, and the palpable reservations evaporated as soon as the song started. This dude nailed it. Perfectly duetting with the lead singer, mannerisms down to a T, great stage presence. The crowd went wild and you could see the amazement on the bands face. This felt like one of those concert moments to remember. Incredible show start to finish.
Sunday
Sunday was expected to be the hottest day of the weekend, so first stop was refilling all the water bottles at the free taps in the arena. Others had the same idea, filling up water pistols and soaking hats and shirts. Today’s headliners Muse had bought a walkway to the Green stage, so the area in front was split in half, meaning both sides became entrances and exits simultaneously. That meant the logistics of the day had to be adjusted slightly to account for the fact the front area might fill up quicker.
Two Door Cinema Club attracted a full crowd to the blue stage for this time of day. The stage consisted of a large screen behind the band and all microphone stands were bright red, clashing a little with e lead singers light mauve suit. The band clearly really enjoyed playing in the sunshine and the crowd had a great time dancing along. A water fight broke out next to me as the band started, pulling in the surrounding crowd. The clouds overhead briefly became denser and bought a refreshing breeze which left behind a muggy feeling as they passed.
Bukahara was wonderful in the afternoon sun with their folky indie pop with violin, brass and double bass. The drummer was simultaneously singing, playing guitar and playing the bass drum for some of the songs, which he did in such a chill manner it felt strangely intimate. Like a living room even though we were in a field with thousands of people. The crowd were swaying along and joined in with the Arabic part of one of the songs that the band taught them. They finished ahead of time, so played a genuine encore, decided on by the calls of the audience.
Chvrches came out with fantastic metallic blue eye makeup with gems. I was just thinking how cool her outfit was, a long black shirt that revealed silver sparkly shorts whenever she lifted her arms, when she revealed that the dress she was actually planning to wear got stolen as it was drying backstage. If true, that’s a real douche move. She assured us that her planned dress would have had way more ruffles and petticoats. Her powerful voice rang out across the field, and you could tell she was really feeling it. The performance was really nice, great to watch while resting our feet for the evening ahead.
Kaffkiez was over on the Red Stage and way busier than I expected. They jumped in for a band at Highfield festival last year and clearly proved themselves to have moved into an evening slot this year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them work their way up the stages in coming years. The stage was set up like a provincial bus stop, complete with bench, bin, cigarette dispenser and picket fence. Having to cut their set short at Hurricane festival the day before due to thunderstorms it was great to see the crowd welcoming them with tons of enthusiasm. Three mosh pits grew and grew until they joined into one huge one, one group achieved a triple shoulder stack and during one of the odes to friendships, groups and couples were singing along arm in arm. It was one of those shows where you felt like the band was sharing genuine and relatable emotions through their songs and performance and they crowd shared the experience with them.
In order to make sure we got good positions for Muse, we had to give The Lumineers a miss on the Blue Stage as we headed over to the Green Stage, but we heard Ho Hey on the way past. Madsen were up next on the Green stage but were running a little late. The soundcheck guy was entertaining crowds by playing little snippets of famous songs until he came out, grabbed a guitar and straight up said “I’ve been told to entertain you guys a little longer, so here’s some songs from my own band”. The songs were good fun and the crowd even cheered for an encore. Madsen’s show was great, they really enjoyed the walkway Muse had bought, saying it made them feel like proper rock stars. They also called for Ladies only circle pits, which was great and the women around me were super psyched to party together. One song was announced with “this song was never in the charts”, to which a guy behind me shouted “doesn’t matter!”. While Madsen songs are fun, they do have a habit of dragging them out a bit live, having an instrumental interval and then playing the chorus over and over again. I imagine it’s great if you’re REALLY into them, sadly I don’t share that.
While waiting for Marteria, the front row got some medical attention in the form of asking the securities for a plaster which resulted in the summoning of two paramedics with their extensive supplies. Plaster applied, a spare one given just in case, and we were ready for Marteria. For the first time this weekend I could feel the bass vibrate my skull (through earplugs of course, protect your ears kids). The stage filled with smoke and Materia slowly emerged. The set contained songs from across his discography, all enthralling the crowd. The song about street riots covered the stage in smoke and lights as he held a red flare aloft. His alter ego Marsimoto made an appearance on the screens, announcing his last album but not performing any songs. The rain finally came towards the end of the set, but the hype and energy in the crowd and the pyrotechnics on stage negated any drops that actually reached us. We were hoping that Casper would come on stage to perform some of their joint material together as he was due on the Blue Stage afterwards, sadly that didn’t happen. Having not seen Marteria since before the pandemic it was great to see he was on as good a form as ever. Highly recommend.
Finally, it was time for Muse to take to the stage. Wearing silver masks and revealing a huge burning logo from the new album the show started with theatrics that accurately set the vibe for the whole show. The opener Will of the People went straight into Hysteria, the bassist walking out along the walkway with a lit-up bass, with the expected response from the crowd. The show was interspersed with clips on the screen telling the story of the invasion by and subsequence resistance against demonic aliens. Later, a giant version of the silver masked men took over the back of the stage, rotating round to look at the crowd. For You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween, lead singer Matt Belamy came on stage in a sparkly silver jacket played Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on the organ as an intro. The intro to Uprising was played on a cyber glove by Matt wearing a light up jacket with swirling lights on it. It was a non-stop show of set-pieces and dramatic performances. All the classics were played and still went as hard as they did when I first heard them in middle school. A fantastic way to close out this weekend.
The weather held solid for the weekend, last years water issues were resolved, and the line-up had a great combination of international and German acts. The venue on an airfield meant that half the area is on solid ground, so less susceptible to dust or rain. Southside is a great festival that doesn’t overwhelm with too much with endless stages and a really solid line up on all of them. Can’t wait for next year.
The Prodigy have been confirmed as special guests for Boomtown festival’s 15 year anniversary – on Sunday, August 13, 2023.
Like many other festivals, Boomtown has been seeking The Prodigy for over a decade. Unfortunately, Keith Flint is no longer with us, but Maxim and Liam Howlett still have the energy to get any party started. Last night they played the Mad Cool festival in Madrid, with giant screens projecting their late icon for all to remember.
Mark our words, if you’ve never seen the Prodigy live, this is one not to miss. They will churn up Winchester like no others.
Boomtown co-founder, Luke Mitchell said: “The Prodigy’s energy, immense production value, and influence in the rave scene make them the perfect match for Boomtown, and I’m over the moon that we’ve been able to finally get this nailed down and can now share the exciting news. The Prodigy are the most Boomtown band on the planet.”
If you’re lucky, you may still be able to find some tickets here.
After this announcement, we don’t expect them to hang around for long.
