Artists include Dubfire, David Morales, Nic Fanciulli, Floyd Lavine, Culoe De Song, Sébastien Léger, Willian Djoko, Salomé Le Chat, Sef Kombo, Eagles & Butterflies, Eli & Fur and many more
Ibiza’s all-new and much anticipated Club Chinois welcomes South African house star THEMBA for his very own Coloursparty. It kicked off in spectacular fashion on Wednesday June 22nd and now runs every week until September 28th. The the season will feature a handpicked list of cutting-edge DJs from across the electronic music spectrum including David Morales, Dubfire, Nic Fanciulli, Floyd Lavine, Culoe De Song, Guy Mantzur, Sébastien Léger, Willian Djoko, Salomé Le Chat, Sef Kombo, Eagles & Butterflies, Eli & Fur and many more.
THEMBA is the groundbreaking South African artist who burst onto the dance scene in 2018 with a series of high-profile sets and releases such as ‘Who Is THEMBA?’ which became a chart-topping global smash. THEMBA’s sound is forged from his African roots, incorporating local singers, songwriters and percussionists to create his own unique take on electronic music. He has released on top labels including Knee Deep In Sound, and his ambitious 2021 album ‘Modern Africa Volume 1 (Ekhaya)’ set another high standard.
THEMBA is a regular presence on the world circuit and was a much-loved Ibiza guest at various clubs in 2019. Now he heads up his own unique Colours party which sees him curate line-ups of world-class international talent and showcase his signature sound just as he intends it.
On June 22nd, he was joined by long-time progressive house innovator Guy Mantzur, Angelos and China. On June 29th, he will play with acclaimed French melodic house DJ Sébastien Léger plus Cristina Tosio and Ricardo Da Costa. On July 6th, an all-female line-up features Fiona Kraft and Rebellion artist Salomé Le Chat while July 13th brings Badbox and house dream team ANDHIM. A week after on the 20th is South Africa’s house talent Julian Gomes with the dreamy sounds of Eagles & Butterflies and Italo-Albanian talent &LEZ. Lastly, on the 27th is Miami-based duo Andretta, plus the moody and melancholic house of Eli & Fur and Anastacia.
August brings the sophisticated grooves of Laolu, Nico De Andrea and Paris-based duo Birds of Mind on the 3rd, and South African mainstay Chynaman plays with techno connoisseur Dorian Craft and Ibiza favourite Serge Devant on the 10th. Spaniard Chus and Robin Tordjman then play on the 17th, and 24th August is leading Greek selector Da Mike, plus Cincity and the charismatic William Djoko. On the 31st, another South African star in Floyd Lavine is joined by longtime house legend David Morales and FNX Omar.
September brings one half of Force of Nature, aka DJ Kent, and West African talent Amémé with Airrica on the 7th, then Gab Rhome, Bekzin Terris and SCI+TEC boss Dubfire all play on the 14th. The 21st welcomes Afro house pioneer Culoe De Song,Sef Kombo and Kitty Amor, and the same week THEMBA plays an extended set. Finally, Manoo and Saved label head Nic Fanciulli play on the 28th.
The 3,000-square-meter Club Chinois has already become the most anticipated opening on the island and has been meticulously designed by award-winning Parisian design studio Laleh Assefi. Located in the former HEART Ibiza venue and inspired by the decadent but iniquitous jazz clubs of 1930’s Shanghai, Club Chinois will host international talent from acclaimed resident DJs to superstar artists and headliners, providing an immersive experience of the highest quality.
Finally, festivals again. First time since 2019, first time at Southside for us. Quick wiki summary: Southside Festival is a medium size festival in the south of Germany, and the sister festival of Hurricane Festival in the north. Blazing sun and 28 °C welcomed us and the forecast was solid. We travelled by coach this year, rather than driving, and enjoyed free transport by train both to and from the festival with our festival ticket. In terms of encouraging environmentally conscious travelling and reducing the traffic, pretty good going.
Friday
To pass the time between setting up camp and the arena opening, we took a walk around the campsite. Enough campers were armed with super soakers that the walk was actually quite refreshing. The ally along the tarmac in the main camping area had everything you could need for the weekend: food, merch, ATMs and air brush tattoos.
Welsh metal band Skindred opened up the Green Stage, arguably the main stage. Managing to tease an impressive amount of energy and participation out of an already overheating crowd. Heat warnings went out via app, advising to wear sun cream and keep hydrated. The latter required more effort than it reasonable should have done; we were only aware of one drinking water station for the majority of the day meaning every water bottle refill turned into a mini odyssey across the site. Compared to previous festivals, the water supply was limited and poorly signposted, not great for a weekend expect up to 30°C. As the weekend went on, more were put up so people weren’t relying on hand washing sinks as much.
Provinz opened the Blue Stage with a short (only 30 min) and sweet set. The band is local and grew up going to Southside, so understandably they were quite emotional about standing on the stage this year rather than in front of it. They drew a massive crowd for a Friday afternoon slot. The crowd that was singing along from the first song, taking over entire choruses. A fun set of carefree dancing in the sun.
Getting to the Blue Stage for Tones and I’s German festival debut, the obvious thing that stood out was the purple-green crooked house that took up the entire stage. The band were neatly contained in the front garden, behind purple picket fences. Equally cute and unsettling, definitely a unique stage design, and more than you would ever expect from a Friday afternoon slot. Tones and I switched between walking up around the stage and playing keyboard on the balcony of her house. The set included covers of Forever Young by Alphaville and Diamonds by Rhianna, keeping her hit Dance Monkey for second to last.
Switching from sunshine dancing to good ol’ fashioned rock, Royal Blood’s fierce riffs rang out from the Blue Stage. The guitarist of the duo, Mike Kerr, introduced his “gbass”, a bass with guitar strings, responsible for the distinct Royal Blood sound. The drummer, Ben Thatcher, was set up on a raised platform with a massive gong behind him, which he satisfyingly hit after an impressive drum solo with crowd countdown.
Alice Merton’s set, played in front a pink sky backdrop with boulders across the front of the stage took us back from head banging to dancing in the sun. The set had several new songs including Vertigo, a song she wrote as part of getting over the anxiety she developed around performing during the pandemic. Her hit Roots got everybody moving.
My personal Friday Highlight, Kummer, played his first festival show accompanied by a massive cube made from halogen ceiling lights. Normally the lead singer of popular band Kraftklub, Kummer released a solo album in 2019 with the intention to tour in 2020 and then return to the band. The pandemic threw a big old spanner into those works, so now the project is being finished along side his work with the band. Chaotic for him, great for us, as we were treated to the live debut of the new Krafklub song Ein song reicht. A fantastic set, with guest performances from Blond and the singer from Provinz.
Trying to get across the arena to Kings of Leon turned out to be harder than expected. Crowds coming away from rapper Kontra K’s show completely congested the middle of the site, meaning I missed the start of the set. Normally the one-way system commonly used at German festivals works quite well, but the fact the arena is quite narrow meant there was no way to walk around the back of the dense crowd. Your best hope was to join one of the many conga lines snaking through the crowd as they passed.
Although sounding great, the long day and heat eventually got to us, and we had to bail from Kings of Leon about halfway through. We enjoyed Use somebody from our tent, including the crowd singing along, but were asleep before Sex on Fire. Maybe we’re out of practise after three festival-free years, maybe we’re getting old, who’s to say.
Saturday
Saturday morning was a race to get out of the sauna-like tent and into the shade. While we fully woke up, Bilbao was opening the Green Stage including a cover of The Killers’ Mr Brightside. After grabbing a smoothie-coffee-bakery breakfast at the camp site stall, we headed into the arena for day two.
Matching the desert level temperature, The Dead South gave us southern cowboy vibes on the Green Stage. With songs about bar fights and their love of whiskey along with catchy banjo tunes, the set had people linking arms and dancing in circles. Also, the bassist/celloist wore his cello like a bass guitar, so Jack Black was right.
OK Kid played on the Blue Stage, stepping in for Gayle at short notice. Being regulars at Southside, they had been hoping for a holiday, but were more than happy to jump in the van and come over.
Giant Rooks played their first Southside festival this year. Lead singer, Frederik Rabe, thanked the crowd for choosing this stage to be at. Which was cute considering there was a queue of people wanting to get into the area in front of the stage. The set included new songs, which the crowd loved, and a cover of Tom’s Diner by Susanne Vega previously recorded by Giant Rooks and AnnenMayKantereit. After the standard “everybody good?”, the lead singer asked if everyone’s neighbour was good, and instead of just shouting “yeah”, everybody actually turned to their neighbour to check which was very sweet. The most impressive thing about this wonderful set was the fact the lead singer kept throwing his guitar halfway across the stage to the roadie and there were no broken guitars by the end.
Surprise highlight for me was LP, who’s crowd was quite thin, likely because everyone was over at Giant Rooks. She was exceptionally cool, and the band were clearly having a great time on stage. A girl in the crowd was holding a sign asking for a kiss, LP invited her on stage to get one, saying “you gotta to ask for sh*t”.
Expecting there to be queue for The Killers, we headed over during the act before, Dermot Kennedy. The gates were only opened between acts which was a bit of a shame considering people leaving meant that the crowd could get pretty sparse in front of the stage at times. The Killers opened with Mr Brightsidewhich I would have expected to be near the end of the set. The set was a run through the classics with one song from the new album (Dying Breed) and a cover of Shadowplay by Joy Division. It was a little odd to see a band like The Killers not in a headlining slot, with only 1hr 15min to play and missing all their usual confetti and fireworks. I guess even with the large crowd, they don’t quite hold the sway in Germany that they do in the UK.
SDP played the Blue Stage, bringing their usual party chaos with pyrotechnics and giant inflatables. Their last album tour was cancelled due to COVID, and they’d just released another album, so the set contained two albums worth of new music alongside the classics and a cover of Die Ärtzte’s Schrei Nach Liebe. It was a great, fun, juvenile time.
Green Stage headliners SEEED packed the arena right to the very back with their reggae hip-hop set. Playing a combination of their own songs, front man Peter Fox’s solo songs and covers including Paper Planes by MIA and SexyBack by Justin Timerlake, the set also included long instrumental sections, perfect for dancing.
This time we made it to the last act of the night, Martin Garrix, headlining the Blue Stage. As you would expect from a DJ set, the whole stage was made of screens, with a big plus hanging behind him. The set went pretty heavy from the start with pyro and smoke alongside glitchy graphics and soul vibrating bass.
Sunday
Sunday morning was much like Saturday morning: wake up, recover from the sweltering temperature of the tent outside in the (scarce) shade, get breakfast and head into the arena. Walking over to Nothing but Thieves, all available shade was completely filled with people, every bin, fence, and shade throwing object fully utilised. Despite the heat, Nothing but Thieves, drew a pretty big crowd, more than capable of singing the choruses to Trip Switch, Sorry and Amsterdam.
Over on the Blue stage, German rapper Juju was absolutely dominating, the front duo hyping up the crowd to no end. A fan joined them on stage for Intro and she undeniably nailed the entire song, the crowd celebrating her accordingly. The set included a couple SXTN songs, JuJu’s former band. A ridiculous amount of energy all round for a Sunday early afternoon.
Bristolian punk rock band Idles treated the us to a rowdy performance on the Blue stage. Half the crowd ending up embroiled in a part mosh pit, part dust bath for a solid chunk of the set. Moving from punk to punk-rap, Antilopen Gang played over on the Red stage, the smallest of the main stages.
K.I.Z. can safely be described as not politically correct in the slightest. Coming on stage in matching psychiatric clinic outfits and a provocative song to match, it was a set of very dark humour, pyro and smoke. The trio were surprisingly silly in between songs, clearly having a great time, waving at the people in the Ferris wheel at the back of the field. Very high energy, a lot of fun, not for the easily offended.
As a light-hearted pallet cleanser compared to K.I.Z., Von Wegen Lisbeth took to the Green stage as second to last band. The set had a long panel of black and white squares that switched between colours in various patterns. Their well-known marimba sound and glockenspiel solos were the perfect sound for the setting sun and the singer was grinning the whole time. The set included everything from the oldest to the newest songs as well as a cover of Believe by Cher.
Blue stage headliners, Twenty One Pilots, came on stage wearing ski masks and kicked their set of with Heathens. Shortly after, the masks came off as the drummer, Josh Dun, back flipped off the piano. The band started towards the back of the stage behind low screens but came forward during various songs and solos. The set included a cover of Benny and the Jets by Elton John in the middle of Mulberry Street. At one point there was suddenly a little bonfire on stage which the band sat around with acoustic instruments to play a medley of covers including I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash, My Girl by The Temptations, Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Careless Whispers by George Michael. The campfire session finished with House of Gold and We Don’t Believe What’s on TV. There was a brief intermission in which the trumpeter played 99 Luftballons by Nena, which of course the crowd got on board with straight away, and the Halo theme, for which the band came back on stage and transitioned into Jumpsuit. I got a little emotional at Level of Concern considering it was one of my lockdown associated songs, it felt good to sing it in a crowd. Singer Tyler Joseph was no stranger to the crowd, standing on them at one point and crowd surfing back from the central tower in the most nonchalant way I have ever seen, just flopping on to the crowd and jokingly complaining his legs are too tired and that he’s like to go back to stage please. A fantastic and very varied set.
Final headliner, Deichkind, gave a show that more closely resembled a performance art piece than a live gig. It included everything from giant moving set pieces through countless costume changes to mini trampolines and office chair races. Several songs were performed in their famous triangle head masks and one in a giant barrel being rolled through the crowd. The final song bought complete chaos both to the stage and the crowd: the curtains drew back to reveal something akin to a Harlem Shake video with inflatables, balloons, even more random costumes and a cut out of Inauguration Bernie Sanders. One band member was surfing over the crowd in a huge inflatable ring, covering the crowd in feathers. It was a perfect finale to the weekend.
With the free trains and shuttles to and from the festival, it’s a great one to stop off at if you’re travelling in the area on the summer. The arena is relatively small, smaller than Hurricane, which has the same line-up. The timings mean you can move between acts as the alternate between the two biggest stages, so you can easily fill your timetable to see a huge number of bands as long as you’re happy to occasionally miss the first and last songs. As the day goes on the overlaps get a little bigger but unless you’re a diehard fan you can enjoy the vibes of each performance and then move on. By moving while acts are still playing you also avoid the large traffic of everyone leaving a stage in one direction at once.
From previous experience of other festivals run by the same company, the amount of water stations has been higher in the past, so you didn’t have to walk far out of your way at any given point to fill up. Maybe this year the organisers were a little out of practise or didn’t expect the heat, but I’d say that was the weakest point this year.
Leaving on Monday morning, we had to be at the shuttle bus to the train station at 6 am to get our connections back to the UK, and there was already a queue of people waiting. I feel like that’s very German, at a UK festival people may have slowly started leaving in the late morning. The shuttles ran until very late/early in the night Sunday to Monday, so most traveling plans would have been accommodated.
Overall, it was wonderful to be back at festivals given the past few years and Southside was a perfect one to start with. Big enough to offer a range of both German and international bands, small enough not to get overwhelmed with what’s on offer. Perfect, if not a little too hot, weather. Great vibes, good food. A good, fun time.
Some of BLOODSTOCK HQ’s favourite festival moments are wandering amongst their metal brethren at Catton Park and seeing someone become a fan of a new band. Elevating the best upcoming heavy metal talent is one of the chief aims of Metal 2 The Masses, and as finals continue, we’ve details of a few more winners you’ll be able to see at BLOODSTOCK this August, alongside the first of the Jagermeister stage bands to be announced!
First though, BLOODSTOCK also wants to take a moment to celebrate and elevate the work of an amazing woman. 2022 saw the very tragic loss of Sylvia Lancaster OBE, the pioneering fundraiser & educator who established The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, as well as of course being Sophie’s mum and a dear friend of everyone at BLOODSTOCK HQ.
At Sylvia’s funeral earlier this year, she had requested that everyone attending wear something pink, as this was her favourite colour. So in honour of Sylvia, at this year’s festival on the Sunday, we’re mirroring the sentiment and asking BLOODSTOCKers to please wear an item of pink in acknowledgement of her truly phenomenal work, which has been life changing for many in alternative subcultures. Perhaps you’d like to don a pink shirt or hat, or maybe plump for a full pink outfit! Let’s see a sea of pink for Sylvia on Sunday, and don’t forget to drop by The Sophie Lancaster Foundation stand in the arena and make a donation if you can.
With Metal 2 The Masses finals well underway across the country, BLOODSTOCK is excited to share a few more of the winning bands, who’ll be performing on the New Blood stage. Essex champions EXISTENTIALIST are set to impress with their blackened death metal on Friday, alongside immersive goth rockers FYRESKY, who won the Kent heat. Milton Keynes victors VERMINTHRONE add some sludgecore flavour (imagine if EyeHateGod, Lamb of God, and Mastodon had a child) to Saturday’s bill, ably assisted by alt metal crew NOVACROW, who took first place for Merseyside.
Joining them on Saturday are Stoke’s brutal metal vanquishers HEADPRESS, Norwich heavyweights COLLAPSE THE SKYwho crushed the competition in East Anglia, plus the kings of the London final, blistering thrashersIMPERIUM, who were so stoked to win, they also sent this message: “It goes without saying… the highlight of our music career so far. Winning has blown us away and we can’t wait to walk on that New Blood stage and do our thing! Getting to this point has been a winding road, but M2TM has humbled us, improved us and now given us this incredible opportunity to play Bloodstock Open Air. We can’t thank our fans enough for the support over the last year pushing us on and making our shows what they are. Thank you so much to everyone out there, you are a huge part of Imperium.”
Sunday welcomes Leicester’s conquerors SULVAIN, four devotees of NOLA grunge from Northampton, with more bands yet to be revealed as the MT2M finals continue! BLOODSTOCK can also reveal some of the hotly tipped talent who’ll be ripping up the Jagermeister stage this year, so why not grab a cold one and go check out what could become your new favourite band.
Friday brings Rotherham’s SWAMP COFFIN, offering up a slab of nihilistic, metallic sludge for your eyes and ears, and good-humoured, Scottish rap/thrash n rollers, CERTAIN DEATH, whose music you may recognise from numerous extreme sports videos including the ‘Thrasher’ skateboarding series (or even just their ‘Jailbait’ single from colossal video game Grand Theft Auto VI).
Saturday now includes doom/thrash/groove fans BOZ, riff-worshipping Dundee trio SOLAR SONS, and rock doomsters MASTER CHARGER, hailing from the blackest heart of the Midlands. If you’re still head-bangin’ by Sunday, head over to catch balls to the wall, ground-shakers DEADLOCK SAINTS (think Motorhead meets Led Zeppelin) as well as some filthy sludge – by way of some grindcore, prog, psychedelia, and stoner doom too – from Limerick City’s TOOMS.
Don’t miss BLOODSTOCK’s latest Facebook Live (and also on Instagram) TONIGHT at 7pm for the latest news, gossip, giveaways, and more. Get excited with your fellow BLOODSTOCKers and ask any burning questions direct to festival management.
KAS:ST at the Cercle Festival 2022 KAS:ST premiered their new track “Leaving Earth” released on June 23rd on Cercle Recordsduring the Cercle Festival 2022.
“Leaving Earth” is a hypnotic, aerial track mixing melodic and powerful techno. The track offers a well-worked break, accompanied by Ki’s spellbinding vocals and co-produced by Gordo, the alter-ego of the successful producer Carnage.The emotion expressed through the track is gripping, at the border between melancholy and a certain darkness. Quite used to the cosmos theme, KAS:ST inspired themselves through Ariane Rocket stage, where they premiered track at the Cercle Festival 2022. The superb ‘Leaving Earth’ is a big room cut with rolling drums and bright, trance-like synths that bring a subtle sense of euphoria. The mood is epic and the emotions from the futuristic vocal that is deeply buried in the mix is spine tingling.Each KAS:ST track released is a journey bringing together dark and melancholic emotions without ever losing touch with the clubbing aspect of techno. KAS:ST never cease to push their music beyond techno boundaries, they create an atypical and avant garde blend of electronic music. Presenting on the world electronic circuit as both DJ and Live duo. Producing and directing their own music videos they have cumulating over 15 million plays, 30 million Spotify streams, 80k instagram followers, sold out merchandising. They have remixed legends Moby, Monolink and NTO and also been remixed by renowned artists at the polar opposite of the techno sphere, like 999999999 or TaleOf Us. KAS:ST bring their own synth laden and stylish yet emotive take to the genre each time.
Both acts started sending beats and vocals to each other some months ago. It all came together for this special occasion. Their desire to gather different aspects of the musical prism led them to exchange with the renowned producer Gordo. It all came together for this special occasion. Gordo is one of the few artists to ever dominate both the hip hop and dance music charts. He recently co-produced half of Drake’s last album which already break the most first-day streams for a dance album on Apple Music. Cercle Records is a Label that produces live electronic music in-person events from unique locations around the world
After breathtaking livestreams, Cercle has launched the Cercle Records label signing with talented and worldwide artists. The French label is dedicated to promoting artists and venues with an exceptional production. Cercle Record’s goal is to raise awareness around art, cultural heritage sites and great sceneries through a unique music journey. The year 2022 marks the launch of a new concept for the label: exclusive in-person parties which will not be streamed. To have the chance to live these special episodes, it is necessary to go on the unique spots finely selected following the Cercle and Cercle Records’ DNA.
One of Ibizas iconic nightclubs Pacha was our choice of destination in our visit over to the White Isle this week. Pacha is steeped in history hosting some of the biggest nights on the island week in and week out over the primetime summer months.
This year, every Saturday night, the masked legend that is Claptone, hosts his Masquerade evening at Pacha. Walking through the door, we gladly accepted a gold venetian style mask, much like the one Claptone wears, and headed through the foyer and into the famed dance floor.
Supporting the German DJ on the night are Lovra, Dom Dolla and Jacques Lu Cont. Strolling in early, Lovra is on the wheels of steel, getting the crowd warmed up for the evening. Her energy behind the decks is infectious and the dance floor fills before Dom Dolla takes to the decks. The house music producer from Australia treats the crowd through an uplifting set, full of hands in the air tracks right before the main act for the night arrives.
Arriving in his Masquerade attire, Claptone’s gold mask shines beneath the amazing lighting system Pacha has installed on its ceiling. With the main room, now full to the brim and the surrounding VIP tables packed, Claptone takes us on a journey through some of his biggest hits and remixes. Professional dancers wearing all sorts of funky outfits take position on the various podiums around the room and across the DJ booth and groove as Claptone kicks off his set. The headline set starts as expected with a banging house hit Lauren (I Can’t Stay Forever) by Oden & Fatzo, the crowd erupts into cheers, fists are pumping, heads nodding and bodies grooving. This really sets the scene for the rest of the evening, Claptone’s two hour set has the crowd reacting to every single tune. I, along with pretty much everyone else on the dance floor, remain dancing for the entire set, and that is testament to the quality of music that Claptone provided on the night. Towards the end of his set the music was taken up a notch, Claptone’s tech house sound rounding off what I can only describe as musically one of the most entertaining sets I’ve heard live in a long time!
If I’d recommend a night in Ibiza this summer, I’m most definitely going to recommend Masquerade at Pacha. The crowd, the music, and the atmosphere where just right for a night to dance away too.
Claptone is playing every Saturday evening until the 6th of October. Huge thanks to the Pacha PR team for accommodating us on the evening.
September 2022 Saturday 10th / Sunday 11th PARCO DELLE CASCINE FLORENCE, ITALY
Decibel Open Air announces the full program of its 4th edition, spanning 10th and 11th September 2022 (noon-midnight) at Parco delle Cascine in Florence, Italy.
1979, 2manydjs, KAS:ST, Klaus, Kommando, Malandria Jr, Mattia Trani (live) and Solardo are added to complete an already impressive lineup that offers something for everyone of an underground persuasion.
Decibel Open Air is one the most highly anticipated summer festivals in the European calendar. The highlights? A new location, three stages (one brand new), more than 40 international artists (live and DJ sets), plus the immersive universe of elrow and Terminal V. Decibel Open Air line up will see superstars Paul Kalkbrenner, Caribou, Cosmo, Reinier Zonneveld and Vitalic (live), and Amelie Lens, Fisher, Marco Carola, Michael Bibi, Nina Kraviz, Peggy Gou and Richie Hawtin (DJ sets).
With the announcement of the full lineup and daily splits, fans can begin to get excited about the latest edition of Decibel Open Air.
Decibel Open Air daily full line up
Saturday 10th: Amelie Lens, Fisher, Marco Carola, Richie Hawtin, Giorgia Angiuli, Fideles, Stephan Jolk, Malandra Jr. (DOA stage); Kölsch, Wade, Marc Maya, Toni Varga, Viviana Casanova, Dimmish, Kommando (elrow stage); 2manydjs, Caribou (live), Overmono (live), Jessy Lanza, Elkka, Giulia Tess (Amphitheatre stage)
Sunday 11th: Peggy Gou, Paul Kalkbrenner (live), Nina Kraviz, Michael Bibi, Solardo, KAS:ST, Pôngo (live), 1979 (DOA stage); 999999999 (live), Adiel, I Hate Models, Pan-Pot, Reinier Zonneveld (live), T78, Mattia Trani (live), Sara Mozzillo (Terminal V stage); Cosmo (live), MACE (dj set), Vitalic (live), Tamburi Neri (live), Klaus (Amphitheatre stage)
Bonobo, TSHA, Jamie Jones, HE.SHE.THEY and more will be utilising Volta’s XR technology at the festival
Free, self-service XR creation platform Volta XR is to play a vital role in heightening the experience of many festival goers at this year’s Glastonbury. Already being used by artists such as Imogen Heap, DJ Yoda, Maceo Plex, The Blessed Madonna and more, this year the game-changing technology will be front-and-centre at the Gas Tower, Shangri-La as well as on the Greenpeace stage with the HE.SHE.THEY party. It will offer immersive visuals for a handful of artists including Bonobo, TSHA and Jamie Jones.
Volta has previously been highlighted as One of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2021 and has been enabling creators to broadcast ‘metaverse-reaching’ immersive experiences. The innovative platform means live streaming artists can employ any audio source from desktop audio to MIDI controllers and DAWS like Ableton to automate various visual effects in sync with their music in real time.
The Gas Tower at Shangri-La is considered to be one of Glastonbury’s most iconic after-hours venues. It’s a place where technology and art, activism and education all come together in collaborative fashion to offer a glimpse of the future. Volta XR are amongst a world class list of VJ and AV artists including Chinese icon Ai Weiwei. The technology will also be used at the Greenpeace stage with international house and techno party series HE.SHE.THEY.
Artists confirmed to be using Volta XR throughout Glastonbury include Bonobo, Jamie Jones, Grove, Potter Payper, TSHA and Fumez The Engineer.
Volta will also be powering the visuals for Greenpeace’s iconic “rave tree” as part of He.She.They’s takeover on Friday evening. Artists in question are: Elkka, Syreeta, Chloe Caillet and Maze & Masters!
Whilst Volta is powering a number of high-profile artists at Glastonbury, Volta can be used by any artist no matter if they’re: playing at Glasto or a club night, making a music video or social media content, or streaming from their bedroom to Youtube or Twitch.
It’s one of the hottest days of the year, we’re edging up against the solstice, and we’ve decided to spend the day in a giant greenhouse. Yes, we’ve finally made it back to Eden Project Cornwall, for The Eden Sessions – a series of gigs held in arguably the world’s most beautiful venue. This year so far, Eden has hosted the likes of My Chemical Romance and Noel Gallagher but tonight we’re down for day one of the iconic Nine Inch Nails double-header.
Along with your ticket for one of the Sessions, you are able to visit The Eden Project itself on the day of or the day after your event. Given that standard tickets are around the £30 mark, this is a great way to experience the biomes as an added bonus. We take a tour of the Mediterranean biome first, which is full of citrus, herbs and grapevines – it smells absolutely incredible, but good grief is it hotter than the seventh circle of hell today. There’s so much to see and learn about, but our favourite occupation is lizard spotting.
The bigger Rainforest biome is actually slightly cooler (owing to the canopy and the humidity, we did learn something) and there are water stops all the way around. We took the treetop walk, found some cooling mists and marveled at giant bamboo. Actually, the best bit was all the black-clad gothic types sweating it out, and having a lovely time taking selfies in the daylight for a change. Dipping out of the biomes into the central café, we recharge with burrito wraps and Cornish Cola (yes, it’s a thing) – followed up with ice-cream in the sunshine and a look around the outside garden area. There’s a tipi bar (with special commemorative Sessions cups on offer) and a regular bar, either side of the arena.
Heading into the arena area, a banked-sided perfect bowl amphitheatre, it’s obvious that everyone is going to get a great view from wherever they stand tonight. With around a 6,500 capacity, it’s a smallish venue which definitely makes for an intimate show. Despite the still sizzling heat of the day, the crowd of black tshirts is amassing ready for support act Nitzer Ebb.
Nitzer Ebb (sans Doug McCarthy), 80’s Brit-EDM with a very industrial sound, are raucously good fun – and vocalist Bon Harris’ gives a convincing portrayal of dingy-club-basement-rave, in the Cornish sunshine. I think they’ve managed to secure more than a few new fans tonight.
Nine Inch Nails are hailed in with a wall of smoke so dense that it takes half of intro track ‘Somewhat Damaged’ to even see the outline of Trent Reznor, but when we do – an almighty roar goes up from the arena. It is wild that a band who sell out huge stadiums all over the world, are here tonight in the sleepy leg of England, but there are some die-hard fans here who have travelled great distances for it.
Reznor and bandmate Atticus Ross take no time at all to bring the fury, the full force of Reznor as a performer – backed by an incredible line up of talent (Finck, Cortini, Rubin), it’s already everything we were waiting for. Dressed in a beaten leather jacket and a muscle-hugging black tshirt – it’s clear Reznor has left behind the angsty teen pvc-gloves and visible ennui behind, and is giving off big John Wick vibes. The huge lighting rigs behind beat to the heart-stopping wave of sound for ‘The Day The World Went Away’, and the crowd goes absolutely beserk.
‘Mr. Self Destruct’ and ‘The Frail’ are stunningly epic, and we are treated to a rare outing of ‘Love Is Not Enough’. ‘Wish’ buries itself deep into your soul, but it’s ‘The Perfect Drug’ that just has the entire arena bouncing with wild abandon. There’s a visceral freedom in NIN’s music that allows for chaotic expression, and it’s clear this crowd has come to let it out – the nihilistic need for post-pandemic self-destruction.
Grabbing up a guitar, followed by a saxophone, followed by a tambourine, you get a glimpse of the passion Reznor has for music in all forms – and I can’t help but giggle that he’s basically screaming the iconic lines (you know the ones…) from ‘Closer’ across the sleepy Cornish countryside. I wonder if he finds the juxtaposition as amusing as I do, this certainly isn’t your standard insulated concert venue.
‘Copy of A’ has the whole arena singing/shouting along, and the show is absolutely relentless, with the band taking hardly any breaks between song after heavy song, Reznor is a machine. However he does have time to quip “We love this place, but does the sun ever goddamn go down?! Feeling exposed up here, there’s too much light” – which in retrospect of the following night’s weather, might have been a touch too close to tempting fate.
Referencing our dear friend the global pandemonium, Reznor confides “It’s been disorienting to come out and play shows, but it’s also been fucking great” hitting on the nerve I think many are feeling tonight, before going full grunge cover in homage to late friend and mentor David Bowie, with ‘I’m Afraid of Americans’ and ‘Fashion’.
The night finally descends over Eden, in time for ‘Head Like A Hole’ to absolute bury us in the ecstasy of pure live music joy. The biomes are lit in time with the music, rippling through blues and purples to pure white matching the stage lights. The encore, ‘Everything’ and ‘March of the Pigs’ are amazing, but there may be nothing that comes as close to a perfect concert moment as closer ‘Hurt’ does tonight. The air is vibrating with anticipation as Reznor lines up those opening lyrics, and then it becomes the most gut punching dirge outro you can imagine. We wish there was more, we will there to be more, but it’s over. This one goes down in my personal history of one of the most iconic shows I’ve ever seen. Both the venue and the music, will be hard to live up to.
With the past few years being affected by covid its great to know that in just a few weeks time Truck Festival is going to be back again for the weekend with a huge lineup for its 25th anniversary!
This year’s lineup is being headlined by Bombay Bicycle Club, The Kooks, Sam Fender and Kasabian. Over the weekend there are a huge amount of great acts performing aswell on various stages.
Summer Festival Guide have been covering the festival for many years and are always on the lookout for the best acts to check out. Below is a few of the acts that we think you should try and see.
Also if you download the official Truck Festival App you can get more information and stage times for the whole weekend. We hope you have a great weekend and will see you there!
Below is some photos from previous years by Kane Howie Photography
With the 2021 festival delayed and taking place late in September, less than nine months have passed since the crowds last cruised onboard the Isle of Wight for the legendary festival. It is understandable why the huge crowds flock back to the island each year and the event is often nominated for the best International Music Festival.
Festivals are no longer three day events, and those lucky enough to arrive on Thursday saw Rick Parfitt Jnr, son of the late Quo guitarist open this year’s festivities with a crowd-pleasing mix of classic covers from Kings of Leon, Prince, to his late dad’s classic singalong Rocking All Over The World.
Later and with considerably less energy, Shaun Ryder and his Happy Mondays headlined the opening night. While Shaun was no longer the energetic Madchester frontman, Bez made up for it, looking in unbelievable health with his freaky dancing and his trademark classic maracas. Happy Thursday indeed.
FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS
Allowing everyone a nice lie-in and a great opportunity to check out the mix of cabaret, circus, dance and theatre at the Cirque de la Quirk, The Vaccines began the main-stage on Friday at a lofty 4pm with their 3-minute indie-rock singalongs.
Later, Sigrid travelled from her native Norway to warmer climates, getting the crowd dancing with some fantastic new pop tunes, with great messages emphasising in her lyrics that “when the world is on your shoulders…it’s just a bad day, not a bad life…”
Shortly afterwards, the Red Arrows flew in, before Nile Rodgers & Chic took over the party. Nile was asked how his music should be described – a heady mix of soul, funk, disco, pop and rock good tunes was the broad answer. Who needs to define musicians by genres and pigeon hole when it is this enjoyable?
Both Nile Rodgers and the next band, Madness, could easily have been headliners, as they have taken the top-slot at many other festivals in recent years.
But this year, Lewis Capaldi took the final billing of the day. He stated his own surprise to be booked in his first ever festival headlining slot after a two year absence of new material and his previously cancelling TRNSMT summer festival to write new material – but it surely won’t be his last with his breathtaking voice. Despite the often melancholy nature of his songs, his charming warm chat in between each song showed his sense of self-defacing humour, despite his top-selling songs of loss, including “Someone You Loved” and “Hold Me While You Wait”…
SATURDAY HIGHLIGHTS
The main stage on Saturday included a mix of classic bands from The Fratellis with their Chelsea Dagger singalong reverberating throughout Newport, to The Proclaimers through to Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, better known as the voices from the Beautiful South.
However, the Big Top hosted an assortment of exciting new discoveries.
Mark Owen, of Take That fame, ensured that getting anywhere near the tent was an impossible task for many in the early afternoon. As well as his new single ‘You Only Want Me’, he played what everyone wanted to hear – those old TT songs including ‘Rule The World’ and ‘Shine’ – in the front row, devoted fans had travelled all the way from Glasgow just for the day to see their pop idol up front and close in his orange suit, and he certainly showed why he’s had such incredible success with singalong tunes, smooth dance moves and one too many thrusting hips.
Later in the Big Top, Griff proved to be a highlight of the weekend. Having collaborated with the previously mentioned Sigrid, it’s clear why she won the Brit Award for Rising Star in 2021. Watch this space, as she is going to be huge – she deserves to be anyway…
Headlining the main stage on Saturday evening were Kasabian, led now by former guitarist Serge, who took over when the band fired Tom Meighan following his domestic abuse conviction two years ago. After a false start due to faulty microphone, the band launched into Club Foot – the skies opened for their set and there were frequent technical issues, but they blew the rain away, finishing with anthem “Fire”. Legendary footballer and friend of the band, Peter Crouch, joined the band onstage to pogo around, sadly no robot celebrations were demonstrated.
Over in the Big Top, Shaggy brought the night to a close. Describing himself as a reggae superstar, it was surprising just how many songs he had. As well as his “Boombastic”, “Angel” and “It Wasn’t Me“, for some reason known only to himself, he’s decided to release an album of Frank Sinatra covers in his own in inimitable style, playing “Come Fly With Me” and “Fly Me To The Moon” – entertaining, tongue in cheeky but very odd!
Local Isle of Wight band Wet Leg played to possibly an even bigger audience than Mark Owen. Clearly incredibly nervous at possibly their biggest gig to date, the band defy the claim that music on the island is 20 years behind the rest of the UK mainland. At the end of Ur Mum they finish with the ear splitting
‘OK, I’ve been practicing my longest and loudest scream, OK, here we go, 1, 2, 3, ‘blood-curdling shriek”
Later, fresh from his goal-scoring and man-of-the-match appearance at Soccer Aid, Tom Grennan hobbled on stage on crutches and kicked it out of the park with his set. Stating himself he looked like a cheesy-puff in his orange shirt, the crowd loved his pop tunes, even though they all sounded as forgettable as the last.
Throughout the day, it was impossible to avoid who everyone had come to see close the festival – the mighty Muse. T-shirts were seen on the young and old throughout the day and they didn’t disappoint.
Coming on dressed in matching masks, Devon’s finest blew away the crowd with anthem after anthem. If you’ve never had chance to see Muse play live, they are without doubt one of the top live acts in the world. Beginning with glam rock swagger and playing crowd favourites “Hysteria”, “Plug-In Baby” and “Time Is Running Out”, the stage show was incredible, complete with the usual stereotypical pyrotechnics and streamers. Going one further, Muse transformed the stage with a huge ‘Will of the People’ mask coming to life from the new album – very 1984! Finishing with Knights of Cydonia, they brought the festival to a dramatic close singing:
Don’t waste your time Or time will waste you…
This festival certainly wasn’t a waste of time, judging by the shattered faces on the ferry home the following day…book your ferries early next year as the island is sure to host an incredible line up again as it does each year.
