Reviews

Secret Garden Party 2014 Review

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“The longest yard”

Wow, where to start? Secret Garden Party blew my mind. After spending seven hours on a coach to get there, which was inevitably delayed, I got into the festival just in the nick of time and met up with my photographer. We’ve done a dozen festivals together and he took me on the short walk to the campsite where I was reacquainted with our trusty festival tent, the nickname of which I probably shouldn’t share, but nonetheless, this sagging, red mess was our dishevelled but not unloved HQ of the next three days and for its part, it did the job.

So bag down, party gear on, we headed into the festival proper. Our first port of call was the Fox, a giant, hay-filled canid used several times thereafter as a meeting point for lost friends. Atop its tail, during several conversations with excited randomers, I got my first real inclination of the scale and atmosphere and it was impressive, but at that point I had seen nothing.

Our first taste of action was Little Dragon on the Great Stage where thousands were crammed in to take in the surreal sounds of the Swedish synth-pop veterans. It was here that we met our extended group and after we made our way back towards the main area of the festival to take in more of the mise en scene: all kinds of different bars and hang-outs, food vans, huts, shacks, bars, art installations and of course people; lots of people.

“Are those people hanging from the ceiling?”

The next two acts we saw took us by great surprise as they were two of our favourites and yet we hadn’t even realised they were on the lineup. We noticed the familiar gait of Skream silhouetted against a constantly pulsing, fractal visualisation behind him. Then straight off the back of that the MC announced the arrival on stage of none other than DJ EZ who eased us in with some UKG classics before showcasing his flair on the ones and twos, bringing dirtier, grimier sounds to a packed crowd of willing skankers at the Drop, plus a gratuitous three minutes of ‘Deep Inside’. 

I rated SGP highly already. I came to the festival with a head full of names, my top DJs and artists and everyone who I’d planned to see but what I hadn’t bargained for was the rest of the festival experience being so fun. I could have stayed there for a week. Under the dark, expansive sky, bright lights shone and big beats rumbled; a different vibe around every corner. I got my first taste of the Drop coming from the back end and the way the wooden overhangs looked over the arena – like the wall around a fort – meant that the excitement of what I had in store over the next couple of days was growing with every moment. 

As the house beats rolled and the visuals evolved, surrounded by trees, lakes and these wooden platforms, the revelry atmosphere was almost spiritual. Gas canisters lined the floor, we danced on hay bales as night turned into day and the sun came up to techno rhythms. I got to see the festival in a completely new light and it was from this point that I got to fully appreciate the size and effort SGP had put into every single detail. Friends that had been before told me that in fact this year had been scaled back slightly and there were a few things missing and I remember thinking there wasn’t really anything I could imagine being better.

“This is the first festival where I’ve seen a dog shit”

Then came Saturday. All the days blurred into each other, so much overlap – the hallmark of any good festival – but there are distinct parts of each day which makes it impossible to pick a favourite. Saturday started with a walk to the lake where we sat by a cloud on the shaded banks. I could’ve stayed there all day, it was idyllic. We had a picnic, of sorts, and drank happily in the summer heat, the sound of Spitfires swooping above and balloons here there and everywhere.

Most of our group were SGP veterans, unlike my photographer and I who were straight up virgins to the Huntingdon festival, so I was happy to take their lead and they assured that the next stop was the Pagoda. The queue was huge and I couldn’t really see what all the fuss was about. Then our time came and on we got in, a floating stage on the edge of the lake in full sun with banging, hypnotic house and techno. The Pagoda was unbelievable, packed full of likeminded ravers, intermittent squirts of Super-Soakers and scantily clad, golden goddesses. We raved there for hours before heading back to campsite in the evening to recharge our batteries. This where my lack of sleep caught up with me. 

“Make sure you see the fireworks, you’ve gotta see the fireworks, the fireworks are the best bit, are you coming to the fireworks?”
“Yeah I’m coming, sounds sick, can’t wait!”
“Did you go to the fireworks?”
“Nah I fell asleep.”

Yeah I flopped on the fireworks which I was naturally wounded about. I sat down for a rest about 9pm and came-to in a tent around 1am. What I was playing at I don’t know, but I can tell you what everyone told me and that was I was an idiot for missing them and to be fair, the photos looked incredible; and I have it on good authority that Public Enemy smashed it shortly after, just like they had at Parklife when I saw them earlier in the year.

When I woke up, alone at the campsite, with a phone with no battery I set forth into the festival to find someone, anyone. Our group was led by the high leader Larry whose bright, yellow face you could pick out of a crowd from any distance; Larry was a flag. But after two hours of looking for my compadres – while simultaneously dancing ruts into the ground as I circled the Drop, Temple of Boom and everywhere in between – I decided probably just to make some new ones; and so I did. A bold claim maybe, but I think SGP had the best crowd I’ve ever seen (aside from one or two goblins and Technicolor madmen) and even the brief but fierce rainstorm couldn’t dampen my spirits.

I managed to find the crew just in time to see Route 94 at the Drop and when he brought in ‘My Love’ just as the sun was rising up, followed by his remix of ‘Fly 4 Life’, it was going off; that was until the technician told him to pack it in and (light-hearted?) boos rang round the venue.

“We’re a travelling rebetiko band”

After that I found myself on my own again, in a peculiar little tent in the early hours with fiddlers three and all kinds of mad ukuleles and mad, eccentric instruments being strummed, plucked and banged. I sat on a bench and a man in a fez carrying a violin pulled apart the curtains that formed the wall and sat down next to me. We sipped (“proper”) cognac and chatted at length about all sorts, then all of a sudden he popped up and said “oh I’ve gotta play now,” and off he went onto the stage.

SGP is the first festival I’ve been to where the place itself was more impressive than the music. There were bars hidden in secret wooded paths. You could go through a wardrobe in a fence and into Narnia, with snow-covered paths and its own ice rink and a toilet cubicle through which was a field of six-foot sunflowers and various specimens of wristband-wearing flora and fauna. Hay bales stacked 20 feet high with hologrammatic faces singed into them, fire pits, rolling fields, soft hillsides and ponds and lakes surround you; believe me I’m going back next year.

“It’s going off in these glasses”

Sunday came and it was a dream. Off we went again to the cloud by the lake and lay in the sun, swigging Kopparbergs like they were going out of fashion. We got to the Great Stage to see the Correspondents tear it up – another hot tip from the regulars – then we had the paint fight. If you’ve never been in a paint fight with tens of thousands of people, I’m inclined to say you’ve never been to a proper festival, but then again that wouldn’t be fair. 

Cannons of dry paint, fireworks cracking in the sky, grenades of powdered blue and red tossed back and forth between the two sides and no one left unscathed. Everyone was covered in dry paint, gold glitter and all kinds of festival wear and tear as ‘Jump Around’ blasted out across the heavily populated fields and hills. David Rodigan was next to do his thing, with sweet reggae music pumped loud from the Funktion Ones, followed by more bass-heavy sounds from Fat Freddy’s Drop in probably the most chilled environ possible.

The rest of Sunday was spent exclusively at the Drop with b2b sets from the likes of Joy Orbison, Optimo and Jackmaster. In between pounding four-four beats and intangible vocal whirls came classics like ‘Sugar is Sweeter’, timed to perfection – this was heaven for me. There’s something about house music that never ceases to amaze me and I found myself in awe at times wondering how the DJ was gonna play himself out of this tune or that tune, but they always did. 

“Chaise-Lloyd”

Rather than go out with a bang however, the music fizzled out around midnight and we were left to collect ourselves and head back to the campsite. Somewhere in the distance lightening filled the sky, like one final goodbye, and that for me was the end of Secret Garden Party.

Review by Lloyd Wall

 


Created with flickr slideshow.

 

Photos by Paul Taylor

Tramlines Festival 2014 Review

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Tramlines Festival has become one of the biggest events on the inner city festival calendar. From its early days as a free-to-enter event subsidised by the local council and corporate sponsors, the festival now attracts visitors to Sheffield from all over the country due to the fantastic value of £28 for a full weekend pass to see some of the biggest names in a wide range of music genres including Katy B, Sister Sledge, The Cribs and Public Enemy.

Last year saw over 100,000 music lovers attend the festival, and although this year’s statistics are yet to be announced, attendance had been forecasted to be even higher, which is feasible judging from just how packed the city centre was over the weekend.

Tramlines brought a carnival atmosphere to Sheffield. The city had a palpable buzz, with bars and pubs full to the brim, revellers spilling onto the streets and people of all ages and music tastes enjoying the wide variety of artists on the bill.

Walking around the city, it felt like bands were playing everywhere they could be squeezed in. From car parks to beer gardens, to squares, libraries, museums and even double decker buses, music could be heard. If it wasn’t a band, it was a DJ or an acoustic singer/songwriter. The city was host to a three-day long party, fantastic for the profile of Sheffield and the local economy.

Tramlines has been described as an ‘Urban Glastonbury’ by its organisers. Big boots to fill for a festival only in its sixth year. How did it stack up against its contemporaries and does it deserve such lavish acclaim? We tried to find out.

 

Friday

When the first song by the first band you see at the festival makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, you know you’re in for a special weekend. That’s exactly what happened during Post War Glamour Girls who opened proceedings at City Hall. Roaring single ‘Little Lands’ from the talented Leeds four-piece kicked off a 25-minute set mainly showcasing material from their upcoming second album. Due to being scheduled to play Deer Shed festival at 11am the following day, their relatively early starting time meant they were missed by many, but they fully deserve to be back headlining one of the venues next year.

Bathed in purple light, Sheffield Blessa played in the hugely impressive Cathedral. With parallels drawn to The XX, the dream-pop act drew a crowd of around 300. They couldn’t have suited the venue any better, with vocalist Olivia wearing a nun-style robe and her soaring vocals accentuated by the reverberations of the Cathedral’s acoustics.

A hot, sticky and packed Leadmill was headlined on Friday night by The Wedding Present, an indie-rock band whose success spans a period of almost 30 years and 8 studio albums. Inexplicably starting at 9.30pm rather than 10pm as billed, a constant theme running through the festival, their hits ‘My Favourite Dress’, ‘Corduroy’ and ‘Brassneck’ got a rousing reception from the crowd.

Saturday

Day two kicked off with the masked and feathered post-rock duo Nordic Giants, who drew a near-capacity crowd to the City Hall. The band played soundtracks to five short, surreal and disturbing films designed to provoke an emotional response from the crowd. Right at the start of the unforgettable set a member of the audience asked, “What the hell is this?” but the originality and compelling showmanship unequivocally won the crowd over.

Next up in City Hall were instrumentalists Brontide, delayed around 10 minutes due to guitarist Tim’s broken looper pedal. Luckily, Talons who played earlier donated theirs to save the day – and it’s a good job they did – the trio are all about complex, multi-layered riffs backed up with hard-hitting drums. The short set of five songs was one of the highlights of the weekend; Brontide’s technical intricacy is softened and made accessible by catchy bass hooks and Tim’s fist-pumping and infectious enthusiasm.

“If you added our ages together, we’d probably be over a thousand years old,” joked Chuck D of Public Enemy. Although his comment was tongue-in-cheek, the experience and calibre of the group showed through in their fantastic hour long headline performance. Many fans were left disappointed as they were unable to get into the full to capacity Devonshire Green. Those lucky enough to gain entry were treated to DJs spinning old-school hip hop tunes which got the crowd in a party mood before Flavor Flav in his trademark clock pendant and Chuck D exploded onto the stage blasting out classics including "Bring the Noise" and "Fight the Power”. Their hour long set finished off with "Harder than you Think" before Flavor Flav declared in a final parting rally cry for peace and unity, "The only race is the human race."

Psychedelic indie rock sextet Neon Waltz drew a crowd of around 150 to the Leadmill. Their set was characterised by slow-tempo tracks breaking out into feverish jams. Although the young Scotsmen rarely showed signs of originality, they ended on a high point with ‘Perfect Frame’.

Leicester instrumental outfit Maybeshewill played a captivating 45 minute slot back at the City Hall. Deviating from a typical post-rock formula, the band relies on keyboard and samples, in addition to having a guest cellist and violinist for Tramlines. No surprise that there was a grand, orchestral feel to the gig, which climaxed in a spine-tingling version of ‘He Films the Clouds Pt. 2’, with the vocal sample sung by the crowd.

Headlining a rammed City Hall were Future of the Left, who provided a contrast to the mainly instrumental bands so far in the venue. But FOTL were distinguished by more than just Falco’s vocals; the star of the show was Jimmy, not only a fantastic guitarist, but whose antics included taping a bottle of beer to the head of one of the crowd members, lifting him up and using him as a drink dispenser. All in all a thrilling and memorable end to the day by the Welsh quartet.

Sunday

A sparse Sunday afternoon calendar was livened up by Physics House Band at Corporation. The experimental trio from Brighton at first glance seem like a band aimed at other musicians, with mathy riffs and complex time signatures, but their tracks are definitely ‘noddable’ by the crowd, who appreciated the quiet/loud dynamic. Despite the bass being a touch too loud, Physics House Band were one of the top performers of the festival.

Also in the nearly pitch black Corporation were Rolo Tomassi. This is certainly a band to keep in mind the mantra, “appearances can be deceiving”. Softly-spoken vocalist Eva welcomes the crowd and mentions that Sheffield is her hometown. But she’s not softly-spoken for long – once the track starts, she’s growling and hurling blood-curdling screams down the microphone, making for an utterly spellbinding 30 minutes whether or not you like mathcore.

Back to Devonshire Green, The Rifles kicked off a snoozefest on the main stage. Another victim of cranking up the bass volume, there’s frankly more life in roadkill than the Chingford quartet and this reflected in the bored-looking crowd.

Luckily the main stage finale was spectacular with a rousing performance by The Cribs. One of the UK’s top live bands, the Yorkshire trio launched into a crowd-pleasing set heavy on tracks from the album ‘Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever’, ending with the explosive ‘City of Bugs’.

Tempted for one more band before the trip home, Bo Ningen appeared to be an intriguing option for Sunday night. The official programme, describing them as ‘Psychedelic art-rock’, didn’t hint at what was to be the most thrilling and unique set of the weekend. Bo Ningen are a quartet of absolutely insane Japanese guys with waist-length hair, wearing dresses and catsuits. With Queen’s Social Club so rammed that the crowd spilled out into the corridor, the group made the air fizz with their hypercharged brand of glam rock. In an electrifying finale, lead singer Taigen jumped off the stage onto a table at the front of the room and whipped the onlookers into a frenzy, miming stabbing himself with his bass guitar, all the while playing it with sublime technique.

It’s clear that musically the festival was an absolute success, but what about the organisation? A common theme over the weekend was inaccuracy of the printed schedule guide. The Wedding Present, Brontide and The Beat suffered from either having conflicting times published in the programme or being moved without proper communication. Yes, the unexpected usually does happen and bands have to be rescheduled. But how about having an app to send push notifications to attendees when things change? Or even just clearer social media communication. On Facebook, the organisers had announced High Hazels would take Catfish and the Bottlemen’s slot on the main stage. In fact, they took The Beat’s place. We were left having to check various bands' twitter/Facebook accounts directly to determine what time they were due to play.

Another theme of the festival was overcrowding. It’s understandable that world famous acts such as Public Enemy have a pull larger than the capacity of Devonshire Green, but one example of avoidable disappointment was Slow Club on Sunday evening; a homecoming for the successful Sheffield duo and the Leadmill was one-in-one-out, with a queue right down the road and round the corner. Surely O2 Academy, Devonshire Green or another sizable venue would have been a more sensible choice, especially as the festival was winding down and there were so few gig choices at this point.

But even with these minor gripes, the atmosphere in Sheffield was electric over the weekend. It may not be Glastonbury in terms of scale and organisation, but Tramlines is definitely up there with the most enjoyable of the inner city festivals and a bargain for £28 for the whole weekend's entertainment.

Global Gathering 2014 Review

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Global Gathering the festival that sets the benchmark for Top Dance festivals in the UK is back this year at the prestigious long maston airfield in Stratford Upon Avon. This festival goes back 14th year and has won many previous awards for Best Dance Festival. DJ mag were responsible for naming this baby giant and it has always lived up to the name year after year. 

2014’s headliners are set to be big with the likes of Prodigy heading up the main stage on Saturday evening and Chase & Status on Friday . Global is set on Long Maston Airfield giving it a post apocalyptic and industrial feel. The stages here are of true brilliance and are by far one of the best parts of the festival, with unique simplicity stages like The Global Freight Depot and the Bunker always turn a DJs set to stun. 2014 at Global Gathering brought a number of tents such as the returning BBC 1XTRA stage , the futuristic GodsKitchen , UKF Stage , The mighty new Hanger arena and Defected in the House along with many more smaller stages dotted around the landing strip.

Taking the main stage just before sunset, the 25 year old Belgian known as NetSky took the crowd by storm to give them the injection of pure energy, while the hot orange glow of the afternoon sun dropped into the hills around the airfield gearing up the masses ready for the headliners that evening. Playing some of his new material like ‘ Running Low’  due to be released inside a new album sometime this year and available to listen to via the official Youtube channel for NetSky. 

Dusk is here and its time for the ever powerful electronic sounds of Chase & Status. Production and stage precedence this year made for an incredible set from the two British Producers Saul Milton (Chase) and Mr Will Kennard (Status) playing all the big tracks such as ‘Time’ Feat Delilah as well as ‘Take me away’ To fit in with all the base and hands in the air what finale would be complete without lasers and fireworks. Exploding to the sounds of ‘Fool yourself’ lighting the crowd for the final time that day and completing what was a truly perfect hot summers day. 

Clearing the main stage theres still plenty going on and depending on your music palette you can head to a range of different artists and stages. Heading up the Hanger stage in the after hours the chart topping David Guetta performs at the top of the towering wall of light situated in this oversized super tent. This stage would rival many main stages and despite its size was full to the edges. If Guetta isn't for you though don't worry you've got visual delight of Subfocus sitting proud amongst the giant rings of light over at the 1Xtra Stage. Happening all around the top DJs like Aly & Fila , Hot Since 82 , James Zabiela, Alesso and so many more converge for 1.5 days worth of pure magic. 

Waking up to yet more sun beating down on the masses the day was off to a great start. Global is an action packed weekend with little down time. Acts are on from 12 mid-day and go all the way into the wee hours of Sunday morning. The main stage started to fill out early afternoon with the masked DJ Jaguar Skills. Next to entice the masses was the RAM Records Heavy weight Andy C & MC 2SHY, seeing Andy perform in sunlight was a strange experience as normally confined to the early hours of a set list. Never the less a set filled with all the right tracks including the Andy C Remix ‘Get Free’ with all the heat and pumping base the security were constantly handing out a good supply of water to the crowd and making sure anyone who needed fluids got a drink of water. 

Leading on to the penultimate act of the day Knife party were set to get the crowds ready for the headline act. Sitting behind a pretty impressive LED Bank located centre stage Knife party originally formed of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen which you might remember from The Drum & Bass superstars Pendulum, Knife party was a side project that went main stream. 

To Headline this year Global Gathering pulled out the stops for one of the biggest most widely known electronica big beat acts around. Prodigy are a phenomenal act to witness and had great little surprises through the set. Red flares lit at certain points within songs like Fire Starter and ‘ Smack your bitch up’ illuminating the crowds hands and a sea of iPhones and mobile phones taking video could be seen. Keith Flint lead for Prodigy got the crowds running in circles at 3 points within the main area creating a tornado of people all under his control. The stage consisted of a semi circle of tribal symbols and lights, flickering stage lights to imitate fire and plenty of disorienting strobes to give it that truly cereal experience! All the original hits previous mentioned as well as ‘ Their Law’ including the new creations from Invaders Must Die, singing along to OMEN the atmosphere and energy was relentless. Global Gathering as a festival is truly a one off masterpiece and to its credit has survived and battled its way through the financial crisis and out the other side its 14 incredible years are a testament to its amazing DJs, stages and organisation. 


Created with flickr slideshow .

www.James-Bridle.co.uk

Create Festival 2014 Review

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This was my second year shooting Ashford’s Create Festival, although my first year shooting for the Summer Festival Guide. This is also my first written review!

So, what can I say?

For a start, it’s free to gain entry – anyone and everyone can attend. It is promoted as a family day out and it is exactly that! With a great range of entertainment for the kinds, ranging from a giant inflatable slide, so water-zorbing and a beer tent for the adults, it’s fun for all!

Create is held in Ashford’s Victoria Park and is easily accessible by car and train networks. It boasts four stages; Main stage, the Right Track Music Stage (which is sponsored by a local music business called… you guessed it, Right Track Music), the Revelation Stage (which houses acoustic acts and this year, poetry) and the Create @ Canterbury College DJ Stage. Supporting local bands, acts and artists, it actively gets the public involved in the music culture that surrounds Kent which they may not have otherwise seen and has BBC Radio Kent turn up to help introduce the acts, provide radio interviews and a little Dj set.

This year, Create celebrated it’s nineteenth birthday and had an expected turn out of 13,000 people, which is impressive by any means. The weather was perfect, for about an hour. Then the clouds rushed to the main stage and let loose their contents for a solid five to six hours. Although this put some people off, an estimated 2,500 people stayed at the main stage during the torrential down pour, which has absolutely no protection. The other three stages housed around 100 people all in all and no one could quite believe that people would hang out in the rain, for free, just to help support local acts. It was breath taking. We are all used to seeing images from Glastonbury of people covered in mud from head to toe without a care in the world, but those festival-goers have payed hundreds of pounds to see international artists. So for a free festival which is mostly populated with local artists is heart warming and touching. It provides hope and support to those acts.

Besides, let’s be honest. It’s not really a festival if it doesn’t rain, right?

For eight hours, Victoria park [in which it is situated] is the epicentre for local talent – right down to the stalls selling clothes, or raising money by cycling on static bikes. There is something for everyone – acoustic to rock, a little death core metal to BBC Radio Dj’s, Create has it all.

Headlining the Right Track Music Stage were the trio known as Old Town Souls, who's blend of excellent guitar shredding and wide vocal range, provided an energetic and powerful hour-long set end to day before handing over to the Main Stage to close the day. Covering artists from AC/DC and Black Sabbath, to proving the can write music as well as they play it, but showing us some original material. The crowd where won over by the front man’s very young son, all of four years old, who kept wanting to get on stage and join in with his Dad on the microphone! Some superb talent from these guys, definitely worth keeping an eye out for!

Of course though, everyone was there to see the Main Stage’s headliner act, known other than Nizlopi! Wearing what I can only describe as very colourful, very baggy trousers and no shoes, the lead singer, Luke, brought a torrent of passion to the closing forty-five minutes of the day. Joined with his back up singer/guitarist/treble bassist, the due wowed the crowed right from the off. I lost count how many times the lead singer jumped off stage to meet the crowd, even jumping the barrier to hand out hi5’s and hugs! They of course played the song they’re probably best know for – the JCB song but actually ended their set with a song about bringing peace to all man-kind, saying that we are all fundamentally the same and how we should all stand up to the Government to defend our rights. It was also eluded that a little known artist – by the name Ed Sheeran – used to be Nizlopi’s rodeo before his career took off!

Luke of Nizlopi

Latitude Festival 2014 Review

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The 9th Latitude Festival in Suffolk, England drummed up great interest after winning Best Line-up at the 2013 Festival awards.  Trying to live up to expectations this year, they enlisted big acts like Damon Albarn, the Black Keys, Robyn & Röyksopp, as well as up and coming bands like Jungle, Childhood, and Bondax. Aside from the comprehensive bill of musicians and bands, Latitude also had a wide variety of cultural offerings ranging from theatre, comedy, cabaret, to literature, poetry, and dance. 

Photo courtesy of Latitude Festival – Marc Sethi

Day 1

The festival opened with a huge surprise last Thursday but not exactly of the good kind.  Friday headliner and crowd favorites Two Door Cinema Club cancelled the very last minute leaving plenty of fans heavily disappointed. Vocalist Alex Trimble was reported to have collapsed at Seattle Airport en route to England due to stomach problems.  With many traveling from as far as Japan just to see the trio, the cancellation led to an uproar and a huge pile of heatbreaks.  TDCC was the first band to be announced to headline the festival– as early as December 2013. It was supposed to be their first festival headline after touring for 5 years and climbing up the ranks.   

Filling up that glorious headline slot, Lily Allen agreed to step up to do the job; but not without getting loads of backlash from disappointed festival goers.     One twitter user compared the change as paying to sleep with Keira Knightley and ending up with Susan Boyle.  Tired of the negative reaction the change elicited from fans, Allen wrote on twitter:  “If you’re going to be rude about my replacing @TDCinemaClub on here, can you just un @ me please ? I’m so exhausted by the nastiness”

Despite that, Lily Allen’s courage to still show up was commendable.  She paid tribute to the trio by wearing a Two Door Cinema Club shirt and doing a cover of ‘Something Good Can Work.’  This seems to be an olive branch offering to TDCC fans and it was gracefully received.  The main stage didn’t end up a disappointment and the night ended with the crowd chanting her name. 

At the BBC Radio 6 Stage,  festival goers were treated to some excellent show of guitar skills starting with Anna Calvi and Slowdive.  Calvi treated fans with some new songs from her album ‘One Breath’ and with classics such as ‘I’ll be Your Man’ and ‘Desire’.  There was a silence of deep awe during the last few songs, and the following band, Slowdive proved worthy of the momentum.  The band from Berkshire had their own strong following with their announcement of a comeback this year after more than a decade of absence.

Headlining on the same stage was Scotland’s well- respected guitar band Mogwai.   The set was expected to be an attack to the senses and they certainly lived up to expectations.  More than an attack to the senses though, it was also an attack to the ear drums, with Stuart Braithwaite cheekily saying “I hope any children in the audience are wearing earplugs” before playing 'Master Card.' 

Other acts to note on the first day was the surprise show by Rudimental on the main stage and the highly energized performance by the Editors.  

 

Day 2

The second day provided some dilemmas to festival goers as to which stage to go to.  It started early with Simon Amstell packing the Comedy stage with almost triple its capacity.  The Essex local gave fans a peek of the show he will be touring this coming autumn. It was slightly peppered with some past materials but it sure didn’t leave fans short of laughter. 

After that, all roads led to the BBC Radio 6 stage where the legendary duo Hall & Oates were welcomed with much gusto after almost 10 years of absence in the UK.  They started with ‘Maneater’ which got the audience and even the BBC cameramen up to their feet.  They followed it up with huge hits like ‘I Can’t Go For That’ which included a breathtaking 5-minute solo (forgive the pun)  by saxophone player Charles "Mr. Casual” DeChant.  They came back for an encore playing  ‘You Make my Dreams Come True’ which prompted mass sing alongs from the old and young alike. 

Photo courtesy of Latitude Festival

It was also a big day for Swedish musicians, with First Aid Kit bringing sunshine to the Oberlisk Arena with some delightful harmonies from their new album and a beautiful rendition of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘America’.  Swedish singer Robyn & Norwegian electronic duo Röyksopp also fired up a party at the BBC Radio 6 stage.  The 2-hour set probably saw the most excitable crowd that day and they proved worthy of the adulation.  The audience danced along to  the long string of hits and went wild to ‘Dancing On My Own.’  The light show and production were far from bad too.

The night ended with some thunderstorms and with Damon Alborn capping the night by bringing Blur band mate Graham Coxon onto the stage, much to the delight of fans.  They played a captivating performance of the Blur song ‘Tender’ amidst all the lightning and heavy downpour.  Simply memorable. 

Photo courtesy of Latitude Festival

Day 3

The thunderstorms from the previous night didn’t seem to dampen the spirit of festival goers.  The last day of the festival saw the new chart-topper George Ezra croon fans at the BBC Radio 6 Tent.  The 21-year old seemed to be overwhelmed by the amount of people who came to see him, but managed to meet and beat all expectations with beautiful melodies from ‘Budapest’, ‘Cassy O’, and ‘Leaving It Up To You.’

Hardcore fans of American bands Phantogram and Tycho didn’t mind the muddy trek up to the iArena stage to watch the bands from New York and San Francisco do their take on synthpop music.  Sarah Brathel of Phantogram unleashed her inner beast and performed singles like ‘Falling In Love’ and crowd pleaser ‘Black Out Days.’  They were immediately followed by Tycho, aka Scott Hansen, which along with his band, brought his design works and projected them on the wall to accompany their music.  To say it was a hauntingly beautiful set was to say the least.

The big responsibility of closing up the festival was left up to The Black Keys.  The backdrop to this much-anticipated show was an elaborate set-up including multiple screens and painted theatre curtains.  The crowd which was eager for a great send-off sang along to hits like ‘Lonely Boy’, 'Howlin' For You' and ‘Fever’.  Although the set was mostly well-received, it was also noticeably lacking in energy compared to the previous nights’ headliners.  One festival goer quipped, “They don’t seem to have much chemistry between the two of them tonight.”

Overall, it was a successful festival. It had minor glitches and the wellies were certainly put to use, but what would be an English music festival without those? 

Truck Festival 2014 Review

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“Truck Festival? What’s that?” This has largely been the response when telling the tales of my whereabouts on the 18th-20th of July. With our music calendar at saturation point with all the festivals happening during this popular time, you can easily be forgiven for knowing nothing about this harmonious little gathering on a farm in Oxford.

But Truck is not your usual festival. It started 17 years ago as a small alternative to the big names such as Glastonbury, Reading or Leeds; all of which have become corporate, money-spinning beasts. Truck has a refreshingly low ticket count, which means that even though it was a sell-out, there was still plenty of breathing space and an obvious lack of hippies and try-hard rockers.

The weekend vibe was completely laid back and inclusive. It was in no way about wearing the right clothes or being seen, but rather about kicking back and enjoying the atmosphere while soaking up the vitamin-D. There was no fancy VIP area: backstage was purely functional. Instead, everyone mingles. The artists roam the site, picking up beers at the bar just like us “normal folk”. A distinct bohemian quality; Truck is clearly about the people and the music.

Typically claiming the third weekend in July, this year the two-dayer kicked off its Friday with the ‘Tropical Groove’ and Indie vibes of the four-piece HABITATS, making their Truck debut on the festival’s Main/Truck Stage. One of the fabulous things about Truck is that it’s a showcase for the area’s local scene at the same time as bringing in acts both small and big from further afield.

It’s a proper all-round arena: the same stage sees the popular rock back, The Dreaming Spires, with their clashing drums and almost-shouting-but-you-think-I’m-singing vocal sound (resulting in constant sound), immediately preceded by the relaxed and more feminine vibes of Fickle Friends singing to their soft keyboards and jingling tambourines.

Wider afield, the festival plays host to five stages, all very different in the music they were churning out over the fun-filled weekend.  The Barn Stage was focused on psychedelic noise rockers, such as Canterbury and Blood Red Shoes. Set against a corrugated steel roof, and with the scent of manure easing its way up the nostrils, it soon became obvious that we were watching psych-punk wraiths perform on a stage erected in a working barn. It was a surreal experience to say the least.

A mix of haunting sounds, hypnotic, pounding drumbeats and winking strobes were the enticing aspects which drew you into the stage amusingly labelled as The Veterans and Virgins Stage. Hosting bands such as Ralfe Band and the Brickwork Lizards, both of which offering unique experiences, often involving banjos and tambourines, the stage was both unique and alluring, tantalising the musical tastebuds. Similarly, the close-by Saloon Bar lured  people in with its refreshing western atmosphere. Set up as something out of a cheesy western movie from the 50’s, this stage offered a different experience from the other stages with a more acoustic and folk feel to all the acts, which included sets from BMW and The Buffalo Skinners.

Finally, often described as the ‘Second-in-Command’ to the Truck Stage, the Market Stage was a stage which offered a whole range of musical genres from Dance a la Plage with their Indie-Rock ambiance to the folk-electro solo artist, Dan Croll.

With every act, bar the day’s headliners, allotted a half-hour performance slot, it’s nothing if not fair. You can power through bands and stick with sets you might otherwise leave, meaning you get a great idea of each carefully edited set list designed by each band to show themselves at their best.

Friday’s headline act, the much loved The Cribbs, take to the Truck Stage at 10pm, delighting the crowd with a medley of their top hits – they’ve more than you remember after realising five studio albums – before their spectacular closing song, which left the crowds begging for more and sadly dispersing back to the camping site, or for those more eager to other stages, such as the Market Stage which offered an all-night “Silent Disco”. There is no doubt about the fact that this band knows how to rock a festival and plays a pitch-perfect set to a crowd that appreciates their longevity and experience.

When Saturday comes, eager festival goers await Truck Stage sets from M+A and As The Elephants Are. As the day goes on, things get really lively.

When the final act at the Truck Stage for the weekend, White Lies, take to stage they muster an infectious energy. People from outside the tent file in and there are heads nodding right the way to the back of the assembled throng. As they launch into the fast-and-furious first song, all pulsating drums, rumbling bass, blissful synths and deep vocals wrapped up in lyrical genius, the London trio ignite a flame within the audience which refuses to die out until the early hours of Sunday morning.

Truck is unique. Mellow, friendly and under-crowded. It’s like the best village fete you’ve ever been to. Complete with a diverse selection of bands, this is how festivals should be. You can’t help but hope Truck never gets big and becomes the commercialised spawn of the modern music industry.

Lovebox 2014 – Friday Review

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Mosh pits, glitter and bum cheeks!

Sizzling on the hottest day of the year, Victoria Park played host to the biggest eclectic music festival in the capital! 

Glitter ridden festival-goers came into their element with outlandish headgear, countless Levi cut offs and a whole lot of bum cheek.

Set up with an air carousel, jelly coconuts and VIP doughnuts, LoveBox brought festival magic and a distinct Coachella vibe to East London.

Kicking off the excitement was an energetic performance from reggae legend David Rodigan MBE. Festival-goers were treated to the classics as well as some new material and modern mix-ups. With coconut water, 30-degree heat and some of the best reggae in the world, Lovebox oozed Jamaican vibe.

Katy B followed with a pop performance to both her loyal fans and new comers alike. Complete with an army of powerful dancers, she owned the stage boosting the festivals artistic reputation with her quirky talent. 

London truly showed itself off as the creative capital of the universe with an irrefutably enchanting performance from Chase and Status. The duo came back to their city roots to take on the insatiable British crowds and did not disappoint with a two hour set featuring their most famous hits including Blind Faith and Time with Delilah making an unexpected appearance. 

Famous for their spectacular visual performance, they left no heart unmoved by the sheer power of their music, completely dominating the line up. 

The night ended in a shower of confetti and fireworks as the grounds were cleared for another day of unforgettable moments!

 

Photos by Paul Taylor

T in the Park 2014 – Sunday Review

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As the weekend starts to shape up as my favourite year at T in the Park the sun makes a re-appearance with 23 degree heat and the line up continues to impress. Starting off my day with Sam Smith, singing the song that he credits for him being signed “Lay Me Down” left me with chills and an uncompromising appreciation for Sam Smith. Not only does that man have a beautiful voice he has such a genuine honesty to him and his song lyrics that make him undeniably likeable.

Jess Glynne who you might know from the Clean Bandit song “Rather Be” performed on the T Break stage, having only ever heard her before I was surprised to see she has an edgier, darker look than I expected. Already having huge success with Clean Bandit and Route 94 she’s starting to propel with her own work which has strong similarities to Katy B’s music, so if you’re a fan of Katy you should definitely look further in to Jess.

Bastille, introduced by the charismatic Greg James from Radio1 were some what of a personal disappointment. Technically they were solid and unblemished but there was a sense of forced enthusiasm from the band which set the foundation for an unatmospheric and dreary set.

Feeling my day was lacking a bit of crazy I went to see King Charles and he didn’t disappoint. Rocking dreadlocks, a thin (verging on creepy) moustache and an all white jumpsuit (Yes girls, the same kind of jumpsuit you where on a night out, get drunk and end up wrestling with when you need to pee) he graced the stage and lifted up the atmosphere in the tent dramatically. King Charles is an upbeat, pop-folk singer/song writer/guitarist/cellist and general mad man who won the International song writing Competition in 2009, who has since released and album and toured with Mumford and Sons. Obviously still enjoying what he’s doing, King Charles is an absolute joy to watch.

After yesterday’s praise of Dundee band Copper Lungs I decided to go see another Scottish band starting to make a name for themselves, Vigo Thieves a band from Wishaw just outside Glasgow are a 5 piece who, last year became the first unsigned band to sell out King Tut’s two nights in a row. Carrying on from this success and supporting The Fratellis earlier this year, Vigo Thieves have a kind of 90’s feel to them with band member Chrus Gorman providing compelling synth/piano hooks and vocalist Stevie Dukes holding on to note after note. With up and coming dates over the UK you don’t have an excuse not to go see them for yourself.

Now a T in the Park favourite, Tinie Tempah, blew up the Radio1 Stage, able to hear the crowd from his set all the way from the main stage I went to take a look closer. I’m sure I lost 3 pounds and gained 4 bruises in that crowd. There is honestly nothing I can say to do his set any justice so here’s a mere 3 minute clip to give you an idea. 

I’ve said it time and time again but the atmosphere at T in the Park is nothing but contagious and it has to be one of the best festival crowd experiences in the world.

With Tinie Tempah leaving such an amazing vibe buzzing around the Radio1 stage I decided to stay for Disclosure and if you’ve ever thought they’re “just” DJ’s you should go see them play at one of their 39 festival slots this year. Between them, brothers Guy and Howard can sing, play the drums, guitar, bass and piano, if it’s something these boys are lacking, it definitely isn’t talent. With a stage set up unlike most DJ’s where you can only see their head bopping about, Disclosure had a more casual and intimate set up. Opposite one another and set up with their own decks and chosen instruments, the crowd were able to see everything the boys were doing. Bringing on guest vocalists Eliza Doolittle for “You &Me”, Aluna from AlunaGeorge for “White Noise” and closing the show with Sam Smith and “Latch” Disclosure brought their A-game to T in the Park and gave Balado the best possible send of it could have asked for.

In my opinion T in the Park just keeps getting better and this year especially, had one of the best line ups it’s ever had. With organisers not only securing some of the biggest names in music they also took in to consideration the best of UK’s up and coming acts and it’s this consistency that gives people the confidence to buy early bird tickets for the following year without knowing the line-up. With next year being the first ever year at the new picturesque site of Strathallan Castle everyone’s curiosity is sure to get the better of them and I imagine tickets will go even faster than usual. Loyal to T in the Park or even just curious to see what all the fuss is about, make sure you secure your ticket for next year here. http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/T-in-the-Park-tickets/artist/28658

Noisily Review 2014

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Three (Main) Stages. Three Days. Plus a few extra if you camp, for the line up and the price you can’t miss this up-and-coming festival!

With an obvious focus on electronic music and art, it brings something unique to the festival scene. From big names on intimate stages, to newer underground DJ’s as well as residents, with a variety of
genres; House, Psy-trance, Dub, Glitch-Hop, Techno, and more, there is something for
everyone here.

I get on my way with a flurry of activity, as dramatic clothes, camping equipment and festival essentials are crammed into a bag and
slung heavily on my back. The ‘far to real’ train journey starts my descent into all things “Noisily”.

When I arrive, the sun is beating down on the festival, which is beautifully situated in Noseley Hall Grounds. People start to intermingle, connect and share snippits of information
as a ‘BoomBox BassBin’ (Thanks to Wonkay Records/Duskky) fills the air with music, the mind-expanding vibes are already flying as strangers become friends.

The festival site (and camping area) is compact with showers and plenty of ‘porta-loos’, easy to get from stage to stage and
a really nice layout within the site itself, each stage had a definite individual style, however Noisily has its own distinctive ‘theme’.

With easy access to get to the front if you wanted, and usually a seating area around the stage, this gives people of all ages and abilities a chance to enjoy the music. Some festivals you spend most of your time having to fight your way to get to the front and see the DJ you’ve paid for! Noisily gives you the best access to the most current live acts around being able enjoy and discover new artist’s on intimate stages for the price and the line-up.

Noisily’s music goes on until so late that the festival stays open till six am  (Food closes at 10am) ! Although a small capacity of 5000,  you feel as if you have met everybody and know everybody, there was a real community spirit where people felt as if they had known each other for years. The people are like minded and have travelled from all over the country and some from different part of the world but all brought here by one common love, Electronic  music. Mostly veteran festival goers, with a real old school ‘free-party’ feel. A Noisily community is born, strangers become friends, after setting up camp, everyone around me was sharing food, tea, stories and laughs. 

Music starts at twelve every day (a great wakeup call) after finishing at six on Friday and Saturday but then finishing early on Sunday at Eleven.

Although a small site, there is plenty of different food with vegetarian options as well;
Piri Piri Chicken, Wood-fire Pizza, Curry, Cake, Smoothies, Game and more. Plenty of Bars on every corner, which means small queues! The cost of booze is average festival prices, as is the food, varying from £1.50-£10, however you can bring your own food and drink (don’t forget to decant into plastic bottles though!) but always nice to get some hot food in you at some point!

Hallucinatory eye’s erupt around me as the décor appears from the woods, this festival definitely has a psychedelic feel, with UV lights, jellyfish, UFO's, sculptures and ‘holographic’ art. As you walk around the site and start to look at the finer detail, you realize that a lot of creative ideas and work have gone into the décor itself. The crew  have worked hard to construct seating areas within the site, from cute wooden benches, to sofa seating, the decorations are unique and create a great vibe, however the site really comes alive at night, with lasers and smoke machines creating the essence of the ‘rave’. Paths are well lit but some more light in the camping areas wouldn't go amiss!

Stalls are dotted around, selling some of the most beautifully unique handmade crafts ever! From textiles, to jewelry, juggling equipment and face paint! A real shame they were not on the main path, but plenty of people exploring their wares! By talking to a few stall owners, if you’re new to the festival scene there is definitely money to be made.   Noisily stall prices are reasonable and with the right crafts you could make some decent money.

The systems are all Function One, except one Opus Audio sound system, however they all have achieved the highest quality sound possible. A lot of thought has gone into creating the perfect sound, on all the stages. Function One monitors for all the DJ’s shows the high quality professionalism taken towards the quality of the sound.. A variation of technological hardware used by DJ’s creating unique sets, and live performances, enhanced by their own unique mixing style and equipment, you not only see some of your favorite DJ’s but some of the newest and unique equipment available on the market.

There is a focus on Art as you see things develop around you over the weekend, you can defiantly feel the creative souls and ideas put into the decoration of the festival.

I really enjoyed seeing the graffiti work progress during the festival and I think they should get some more people to do more graffiti work,  however the art work I saw around the festival was beautiful. All you artists out there should get in contact next year if you think you could participate, this will definitely give you some great exposure.

The Stages

Noisily Stage

The Noisily stage’s music floods the campsite and keeps the party fuelled all day long, it has a large dance floor and easy access to get to the front with a big bar at the back, as well as an awesome lighting rig. This stage is definitely one to watch, also, as it is the first stage you see,  it makes an impact as well with the light show which cascades through the trees at night.

Liquid Stage

Liquid stage is fuelled by psychedelic flowers and patterns reaching high into the sky, this is also the Opus Audio sound system, however it again had a great light show that took over the stage, easy dancing access to get to the front or back and a great little sloping seating area on the right hand side of the stage, a real ‘free’ vibe up here, as well as lots of juggling dancers.

Tree House Stage

Tree-house stage was up in the woods – a great stage – with a disco-ball in the center as well as Urban shamans laser box. Also nice seating areas to relax in! It’s a hidden Gem at the top of a wood chip path, however it was obvious from the line-up most people came for the psy-trance artists, however all weekend the Tree-house stage had some awesome beats pumping out.

In addition there was also two mini stages, one was the ‘Boombox’
and one was the ‘Taurus’

The Boom Box was a great idea, submerging the DJ in the box itself, and when it lit up at night it looked awesome.  There were also some great DJs playing on it at random times.

Taurus Stage

Taurus stage was a mechanical bull – it reminded me of the Midas bull story where they put a human inside a metal bull and heated it up! The DJ was encased in the metal – it must be an awesome stage to play on! The Taurus spat flames and had an unfinished but amazing feel as the flames pump hard into the night.

The Line up had some time changes etc so you had to keep checking on the information boards, however they were updated regularly and festival was small enough that if you needed to run to a stage, or from the campsite, you could.

Daily Break-Down

Friday

Friday was all about Noisily stage which was also broadcasting on Bassport.Fm (http://bassport.fm/) which I thought was a great idea to not only get more people aware of Noisily but give the DJ’s more promotion. This should defiantly be adopted at every stage next year! Bringing the music community together in a bigger way this means it can reach a big audience etc and promote underground radio stations.

Starting off the day with M.O.M, Bunkle
& Dusky, Terrorbyte, Krymes, William Breakspeare, Your Niece, Head of
State,Tom Bull, and others vibes were flying as the dance floor fills up although other artists were playing today’s line up was all about Noisily

The evening kicks off with Skope, Joe Ford, Gaudi, Far Too Loud, Atomic Drop, Free
Fall Collective. This stage kicked off as the dance floor went mental the first night was a raging successes. With curt de solely girls spitting fire to Joe Ford you couldn’t miss this stage it defiantly started noisily off with a bang.

Joe Ford’s set and Gaudi’s set were my favorite of the night however Far Too Loud knows how to get everybody moving.

This stage captivated me on the first night and I think a lot of people felt the same!

However on Liquid stage on Friday was Alex
Story, Renegade DJ, Neuroplasm and more. So depending on your personal preference their was plenty to see!

Renegade DJ played a wicked set and was nice to see a female DJ giving the boys a run for their money!

However I have to say the Treehouse stage was a secret Gem on Friday every time I went up their some awesome beats were flying, when Groove Assassin, Ben Mccabe and Seascape celebrated (seascapes) birthday in style!

Saturday

Saturday was all about Liquid this stage had a huge following every time I went up their the same smiling faces, dancing to the beat of trance, with Brainiac, Avalon, Lucas, Master
Blasters, Antispin, Scorb, Beardy, EVP, Psymmetrix, Sasha.

Avalon’s set stood out much like the shiny blazer he was wearing! However the mixing was spot on at liquid every time I was there and as the night drew in people continued to stomp into the night.

As the sun beat down the skin started to show as people enjoyed and relaxed in the summer heat! However the heavens opened at midnight but this did not dampen spirits as people made a quick change and continued to party in the rain. A euphoric moment at the psy-trance stage when the heavens opened and the tribal dance continued.

Although the site became very wet the crew had pre planned plenty of straw to make it safer but again more couldn’t of gone a miss!

The Mud added another angle of fun as people danced barefoot and became one with nature.

Saturday evening on Noisily had with Nanoplex, James Monro, Neurodriver.

Neurodrivers set was talked about by most of the people I spoke to and was defiantly another big hit.

Tree-house stage had: Elphino, 2562/AMUS Low Steppa, Kashi, however big shout out to Want More who played on Saturday they played an awesome set when I was up at the stage, although I was only their briefly they deserve a mention.

Sunday

Although it had dried out quiet a lot the mud was hear to stay but to be honest most people didn’t care. The Tree-house stage needed more straw to say one thing however you could still enjoy the music on Sunday. People put it all into Sunday I could feel the anticipation of not wanting to go home, as people continued to party hard to the music all day long.

On liquid stage you were blessed with : Monk3ylogic,Hedflux,Bad
Tango,OOOD,Lurker,Dexter, 2CBEEBIES, to be honest it finished off the night with a bang. Noisily stage  finishing off with SYMPHONIX and PHAXE Treehouse finishing off with PANDA and TEED however I am not sure what time TEED played as I think they did not get on until later than planned!

As I pack up my gear and head off I feel sad to say goodbye to Noisily and the people I have met this is definitely a festival to watch this is only going to snow ball with bigger names, more people, more stalls, I can see this becoming a gem in any electronic music lovers festival crown. I cant wait to see what they plan to do and how they plan to expand next year.

 


Created with flickr slideshow.

 

NASS Festival Review – Sunday 2014

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Sunday

After pottering about the arena to see some of the other sites (mainly the dressed up  festival goers, including Mario Kart), Decade played the Slammer to an unfortunately empty crowd of about 30 people. However, this didn’t mean that they didn’t give it their all as they asked the crowd who had seen them before, or even heard of them, to which 3 people responded. Should the crowd of been bigger, then the atmosphere would have been incredible. Unfortunately, this was completely the wrong festival for them to play.

Astroid Boys played on the Main Stage attracting a decently sized crowd with the warehouse being a third full. However, although it wasn’t full, when the crowd were asked to chant the other half to “Olly Olly Olly”, to which the sound of the crowd chanting “oi oi oi” filled the venue. The vocals of the band were extremely on point, with the two vocalists both bouncing off of each other with tremendous results. The crowd seemed ever so pleased to have them play as most people who attended were fans, singing along to all of the words and cheering with roars at the end of each song.

Blitz Kids received a disappointing crowd in The Slammer with only 20 people turning up to their show. Whether it was because they didn’t fit into the line-up well as most people playing on that stage didn’t, or they just wasn’t known too well to many, they deserved a lot more than what they were given. Playing songs from their new album ‘The Good Youth’ they did lure in a few more people as the set went on. However, guitarist Jono Yates didn’t let this phase them as he bantered about there being “thousands” of people out there, but the tent being too “dark and poorly lit” for them to see all of the crowd. Nevertheless, they performed to their full potential and created a brilliant show to people who may not of heard of them before, therefore hopefully creating a name for themselves to the people who hadn’t heard of them before. With dedicating songs to the drink Hooch, they clearly weren’t affected by the lack of turn out as they later went on about how they were getting free beer for performing, although it was Carlsberg, so it may as well of been piss. Finishing with On My Own, they clearly felt the wrath of the small crowd as the song is normally one to attract a lot of audience interaction with the crowd singing along, this didn’t happen. Frontman Joe James didn’t let this phase him as he was still more than content to give it his all and climb and hang off the pole that was directly in front of him, and sing passionately to it.

On the Main Stage Skindred collected a rather large crowd with their set being incredibly interactive with the audience as they ridiculed the crowd for being like the French as frontman Benji Webbe shouted to the crowd “Is this NASS? ‘Cause you’re acting like a bunch of French cunts” before thanking everyone for attending with “I wanna see your fucking horns. Rock and Roll isn’t about Youtube, so thanks for coming to the concert and supporting live music, rather than sitting behind your computer screens sitting on your own.” The Reggae Nu Metal band lifted the roof with their incredible iconic songs to which the audience responded immensely too, with fists pumping, moshes breaking out and a lot of singing occurring. A phenomenal addition to the Line-Up, who really set the standards for the people following that night.

Reel Big Fish followed on the Main Stage where their Ska Punk sound half-filled the warehouse where they sang about everyone else besides the crowd being Assholes, to which the audience roared the lyrics back to them. The Brass instruments in the band really brought forward the performance as it was something that wasn’t going to be seen anywhere else at the festival. With the whole performance being incredibly laid back and banter-filled, it fitted in quite nicely with the whole atmosphere of the festival.

Gallows headlined The Slammer, and there couldn’t have been a better way to close that tent for the weekend. Vocalist Wade MacNeil started the set with jumping over the barrier to join the crowd and bring them closer together. Joining in with the mosh and circle pits and encouraging the ‘skinhead’ to sing into the microphone with him. After 5 songs he joined the rest of the band on stage and shouted down the microphone for everyone to draw in and go closer even though “the big skinhead looks scary, he won’t bite, he’s clearly just a big teddy bear” to which the audience chanted “We love you Gallows, We do” which showed that during the festival there was definitely some metal heads which were looking forward to the set, even if the tent was still only half full. As previously stated, to get a crowd at NASS when part of the Rock/Metal scene was quite an achievement, therefore when MacNeil thanked the crowd for turning up and enjoying the music with them, you could tell that it was sincere.

Wilkinson headlined the Main Stage and it was the greatest end to the weekend. The lightshow, crowd and general atmosphere really showed that the weekend went off with complete success. Wilkinson played his new song “Dirty Love” which received such a great response with the crowd as everyone was dancing and going absolutely mental. Even the security guards (who were the best security I’ve ever seen at a festival) were tapping their feet and really enjoying the set and atmosphere. With the crowd growing, but still not filling the warehouse, it was clear that they were an act that people were excited to see.

Overall the weekend was such a success. Everyone seemed to enjoy the festival and although police and medics were scattered about every couple of hundred feet, it meant that major accidents didn’t occur and everyone was safe, besides the incredible drug intake of most there. 

Review by Kelly Maxwell

Photos by Emma Dearie