Ella Guthrie

The first Boundary Festival crossed some serious borders. Review 2016.

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Pushing the parameters of what is jovially known amongst us music journalists as ‘festival season’ lies Boundary Brighton. Boasting an impressive line-up for its inaugural year, this one-day dance music extravaganza definitely made its mark. Exhibiting an impressive list of DJ’s and acts across four stages, the festival collaborated with clubs and venues across Brighton alongside party innovators Elrow, music publication Mixmag and the infamous LWE to curate something pretty brilliant to witness.

 

 

The main stage combined one of Brighton’s most beloved venues, Concorde, with the go-to publication for all things clubbing and dance music; Mixmag. Artists such as Bondax and Groove Armada (DJ set) took to the stage, as well as the energetic Gentleman's Dub Club, a delightful surprise, whose combination of ska and dubstep, suited appearance and Yorkshire accents over reggae vocals, brought an incredible live show. A DJ set by Wilkinson closed the stage down with an immense stamina and an energetic collection of tunes.  

 

 

Notorious party-starters Elrow teamed up with Brighton’s The Arch – formerly known as Digital – to create a colourful psychedelic stage. If you haven't yet heard of Elrow, that's about to change, as the Barcelonian party enthusiasts have been putting on nights left right and centre; most notably the Ibiza classic Space. The Vibrant tent hosted the likes of Solardo, Seth Troxler, and Richy Ahmed all cocooned in a tent trying to be Woodstock, yet sounding pretty far from it.

 

One of London’s biggest underground events organisers LWE teamed up with Brighton club Patterns; still relatively new on the club scene since the death of Audio not too long ago (may it rest in peace) and I must say, whoever had the idea to build a fake London Warehouse as the set up for an inside stage was a genius. Entering the ‘building’ transported you into a club-like arena, where the likes of Jackmaster, Joy Orbison wowed the crowd, as well as sets from Patterns residents themselves. Last but not least, Boundary also set it’s very own bandstand. The smallest stage but still able to attract a crowd, the masked man Jaguar Skills played a hit-heavy set, albeit sounding a little rusty.

 

The man of the hour award definitely goes to Craig David and his new DJ project TS5. After the build up of one of the biggest revivals in garage history, Craig David’s comeback is definitely going strong. Though rumours of TS5 being a little rusty are still floating around, by the time the headliner hit the stage you could tell he’s cleaned up his act and his setlist was selectively fine tuned to please everyone from the 90’s kids in the crowd to old school garage fanatics. Being a fan as I am, I must say I’m probably a little biased but listening to Fill Me In and Seven Days live was enough to complete my summer of festivalling and if the attitude of my fellow punters in that crowd was anything to go by, I’m guessing they’d agree with me.

 

Craig David/ TS5 headlining the main stage.

 

This being said you can tell Boundary is still finding its feet. Though it’s had some great ideas and, in my opinion, had a pretty successful launch, it could do with a few tweaks. There’s no specific wristband system so punters are let in with no chance of re-entry if they leave, which would be fine if it didn’t make for a very confusing entry, there are no maps or clear labels as to which stage is which and punters have to check paper set times to make sure they catch who they want to see, It’s also pretty small. Though it held a 20,000 capacity, the festival site felt similar to a village fete making the four stages feel pretty squashed together. Nevertheless, in a way, this worked as a positive, as it promised big, energetic yet friendly crowds for each stage.

 

 

The acts themselves put on a great show, but with the renowned names on the bill and the brand of Brighton nightlife surpassing the name of the festival itself, this is hardly surprising. Though despite each stage’s own collaboration, all the music did feel a bit samey, samey. DJ’s and dance music aren’t always all too different and you come to appreciate the skills of each act you see, as well as their ability to captivate a crowd, but maybe next year it would be good to focus on a specific subgenre for each stage instead of mixing it up across the board. Do this, and Boundary could quite possibly become the next dance/club pilgrimage of the summer.

 
All images provided by www.visionseven.co.uk for Boundary Brighton.

V Festival 2016 Review

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This summer has been something of a festival adventure for me. From the Valencian coast to the Garden of England, I’ve experienced a whole mixture of music, workshops, performers, and events, but V Festival is by far the biggest festival yet, and definitely the most commercial. The style of the festival has definitely changed since it’s conception 21 years ago. Although Kaiser Chiefs took the MTV stage, and Jake Bugg played a beautifully executed set of Country Rock and Roll on Sunday, the presence of typical rock, indie bands or simple singer-songwriters seemed almost banished from the premises, different from the days when Kasabian, Paul Weller and the Courteeners would take the stage. The festival this year boasted iconic pop headliners instead, with Justin Bieber taking the Saturday slot in Hylands park and Rihanna closing the Chelmsford site on Sunday, their 90,000 people capacity can definitely be seen packed across the various stages.

 

 

V Festival is one of the main chapters of the British festival season. It’s increasingly popular, features a lot of various stalls from sponsors, and a tonne of fairground rides. For a festival this size there are only two campsites, which though both incredibly large, are meticulously separated at ticket purchasing. When buying a V festival ticket You can choose to camp in either red or yellow, and if you have friends in another campsite or make some there who happen to have chosen differently, too bad, the security will probably bite your head off for suggesting you pay them a visit. This being said, the campsites themselves are pretty well organised, lit and have their own food vendors to satisfy their chosen ones, not to mention your fellow neighbours are friendly enough. Contrary to many rumours of tent burning, I saw absolutely no mindless violence or foul behaviour, but maybe that's because they were all in yellow camp, so I guess I’ll never know.

 

V is technically only a two-day festival, but with the vast majority of punters arriving on the Friday, the Arena is open, which at this point fairly clean, and the Radio 1/MTV stage showcased the likes of the incredible DJ EZ and Eric Prydz, who although had an incredible light show, played a set perhaps a bit too house inspired, and the silent disco is open until 1am to subdue the crowds and simultaneously adhere to the residential sound level of the Chelmsford area.

Smirnoff House

Saturday rolled around, and boasted a whole load of dance acts, such as the Smirnoff house stage, where Tinie Tempah’s DJ (if you could call him that) somehow wowed the crowds with his repetitive mix of hits. On the live music front, however, Rick Astley made a comeback with an incredible live performance. A big turnout and lots of fun, he threw in a cover of Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk before ending his set with his beloved classic Never Gonna Give You Up, he certainly didn’t let us down. Also on the MTV stage, John Newman blew away expectations with new track Olé, as well as some classics and his Rudimental beginnings, also throwing in a surprising lone acoustic song written only a week previous, and performed for the first time on that stage. Emotional messages for loved ones graced the lyrics of the song, and although widely unexpected, it was a touching moment in an otherwise jam-packed show. Saturday also saw the likes of pop princesses Jess Glynne and Zara Larsson play, as well as the actual Tinie Tempah, and the elusive Sia’s strangely captivating stage show, which although fifteen minutes late was incredibly entertaining.

Performers at Sia

But really we need to talk about Justin. Rumours about a cancelled set were floating around on the Friday, and when he took the stage Saturday evening it was clear to see why. Looking desperately hungover, and clinging onto signs of life in his various backup dancers, any energy was almost non-existent and he’s half-hearted miming to about half the set was not fully appreciated by the crowd. This, paired with the fact he kept treating the whole show as another stop on the Purpose world tour; and calling the crowd ‘London’ over and over again, made for a pretty disappointing set, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, advise him to take an Alka-Seltzer next time and put it down to illness.

Justin Bieber

One thing that V festival has upped it’s game on is the food vendors around and inside the arena. After some freshly ground coffee, a chicken Caesar Salad with soft poached eggs and (my favourite) a four-cheese Mac N Cheese topped with Jerk Chicken, I can safely conclude you will be able to find something amazing to eat, which you’re going to need to keep you going as you power walking through the absolutely massive festival site.

Sunday came around even quicker than expected and brought with it a lot of more guilty pleasures. All Saints made their reunion on the main stage, and my childhood was made in the few minutes it took them to perform Never Ever and Pure Shores. Following on the Girl Band theme of the day, Little Mix also took the main stage, though opening with Salute and rocking khaki leotards, took a very Destiny’s Child turn, which, alongside a bubbly, high energy stage presence, worked for them massively, as well as bringing Lethal Bizzle on stage with them, driving their fans wild. The main stage also saw the likes of Travis, which though nostalgically fun, didn’t really fit with the other artists, and Example, who seemed to be experiencing some technological issues around his sound, but was fun to watch all the same.

All Saints

Little Mix

 

Over on the MTV stage, Big Sean brought the fire and got the crowd going, ending with his signature ‘I don’t F**k with you’ – a big favourite among the Adidas, flower garland-wearing crowd. Katy B also hit the MTV stage, performing a few of her old tracks, as well as some new ones. Jake Bugg played the MTV stage shortly after, which although backed up by only a band, some simple lights and a colourful backdrop, blew the smaller crowd away with his faultless voice and mesmerising lyrics. David Guetta was the second to last act on the mainstage, just before Bad Gal RiRi herself closed the festival, taking inspiration from the art deco style of the 80’s with her stage show, and seemingly channelling Michael Jackson from beyond the grave, she gave a show-stopping performance. A set which combined the Dirty Diana/ Billie Jean styled tunes of ANTI – Desperado and Love on the Brain amongst my favourites, alongside a lot of fan favourites, including a medley of Run This Town, Live Your Life, and Love The Way You Lie. Although the mass amount of crowd around us were rather uninteresting and seemed content at watching the show through a smartphone, her voice, performance and crowd-pleasing setlist was enough to make us move and put the biggest, guiltiest smile on my face.

 

Big Sean

The crowd and general atmosphere of the whole festival was pretty boring, a lot of the festival goers seemed a lot more interested in their image than the acts, which was a bit of a first for me. Because the Lineup at V is so commercial, you don’t really get to stumble across many new bands or acts, as I’ve been lucky enough to do at other, smaller festivals. The smaller stages boost either DJs, already established artists or other acts such as comedy – which although enjoyable – doesn’t scream the festival atmosphere I enjoy. Where I appreciate that  V is one of the most expensive of the British festivals and therefore needs to pack in a crowd-pleasing list, it's lineup is actually pretty small, and doesn’t hold nearly as many artists as one of its main rivals, say Reading + Leeds, who still manage to support and showcase new bands.

I knew from the get-go that V wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, and with this in mind, I did still have a great time. It’s sheer size and sponsorship means that they get some big names, and they know how to accommodate them, the stage show for each performance fairly mesmerising and well planned. There’s also a fair amount of things to see and do (provided you’re willing to pay) but if as long as you like the music, walking, camping, and are adamant that you want to be surrounded by like-minded Instagram happy crowds, then V is the one for you, and you will definitely have fun.

Talking Teriyaki, Musical Influences and Googleability at Leefest with Get Inuit.

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Indie-rock, dirty pop, lo-fi garage sounds, these days it’s getting harder and harder to characterise a good band – something the guys of Get Inuit find slightly hard to do themselves. Described as dirty pop, I asked Ollie and James, two of the boys in the band, about how they would choose to label their own sound.

‘I guess we would say it’s poppy, dirty pop. People tend to shy away from that term and lean towards indie or rock, but I think our songs are quite catchy and they do quite fit the genre, we describe it as a dirty guitar pop.’

 

When asked about their influences, the answer was just as mismatched. ‘As a band we have a lot of different influences, which I think is good, it comes through the music and gives us our sound. We’re all fans of the American grunge rock scene, bands like Nirvana and Sonic Youth, but we also differ on a lot of bands as well, bands like the Beach Boys, and also really cheesy bubblegum pop, guilty pleasures like Katy Perry.’ The band adopt a similar carefree attitude when it comes to the meaning behind the band name. 'It's kind of a joke, it came to the point where we just wanted something that was going to come up on google. I don't know how we actually settled on it. ​It's like a play on get into it, but it's actually in an episode of Spaced. It was Jamie's [lead singer] fault really, blame him.'

 

After being together for about two and a half years now (on their watch) it’s just in the past twelve months that they’ve really perfected that ‘fine-tuned fuzz’ sound they now execute so beautifully in their live shows. Riding the wave alongside bands such as Spring Kings, Vant and The Magic Gang, the band have certainly had a lot of up’s this year, which doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. They’ve just finished a tour with Spring Kings before the start of festival season, and are now tearing up the summer; stage after stage. With an electrifying, energetic show at Leefest, making myself a true convert, a Friday slot at Reading Festival, and an upcoming tour starting October with old friends Spring Kings, the boys have a lot to look forward to.

‘That will be a pretty big one [on the Spring Kings tour] much bigger than the one we just left, we’re playing much bigger venues, we’ve got KoKo in London as well as a couple of academies, so that’s going to be fun to play, plus the guys from Spring Kings are so lovely, so it should be a really good tour, we’re looking forward to it.’

 

Leefest itself showed the kind of hype the band is getting. Though a tiny festival tucked away in the Garden of England, it’s clear the southeast is Get Inuit’s home turf, the amount of merch floating around and buzz around their set shows the band is definitely headed in the right direction, even though they stay humble and a little surprised when asked about it.

 

This weekend is a big one for the band, as it sees the pre-release of ‘Teriyaki,’ their electrifying new single. Catchy, but with a rocky, distorted edge, Teriyaki is an intense track. Bursting with energy that’s reminiscent of their live shows, the guitar and drum work compliments each other perfectly, and songwriter/lead singer Jamie delivers on a lyrically mesmerising pop-chorus, that will have you singing ‘I can’t remember who I was before’ way after the song has finished. Listen to it here via Soundcloud before it’s official digital release on September 2nd.

 

Preorder Teriyaki now, set for release on September 2nd and limited edition 7" on September 30th via Unlabel.  
 

 

With a list of dates lasting well into October, I fully recommend catching these boys live. With support from DIY, NME and Gigwise to name a few, I’m sure these lovely, joking lads are going to go from strength to strength, so see them before their shows sell out.

 

AUG

26  Reading – Reading Festival

27  Brighton – 234 Festival

 

SEP

3   Hertfordshire – Wilkestock

4   Portmeirion – Festival No 6

10  Guildford – Always The Sun Festival

23  Canterbury – Penny Theatre

 

OCT

1   Southsea – Southsea Fest

10  Edinburgh – Electric Circus **

11  Glasgow – Stereo **

12  Newcastle – O2 Academy 2 **

14  Manchester – Academy 2 **

15  Sheffield – Plug **

16  Leeds – Wardrobe **

17  Lincoln – Platform (Headline show)

18  Birmingham – Institute 3 **

20  Stoke – Sugarmill *

21  Coventry – Kasbah (Headline Show)

22  Nottingham – Rescue Rooms *

23  Oxford – O2 Academy 2 *

26  Bristol – Thekla ***

27  Brighton – Concorde 2 ***

28  London – Koko ***

 

Follow, Get Inuit:

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GetInuit

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GetInuit

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/get_inuit/

YouTube: http://bit.ly/GetInuitYT

Vevo: http://bit.ly/GetInuitVevo

 

Words: Ella Guthrie.

 

Corey Fox-Fardell Interview at Leefest 2016

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Backstage at Leefest, Ella caught up with Corey Fox-Fardell, who fresh after playing a set on the mainstage was ready to discuss his new musical direction, Brit school and what would have happened if he hadn’t have pursued music.

 

Ella: So you just played a set on the mainstage, how do you think it went?

 

Corey: yeah great, quite a few people there, yeah loads of people, people moving, it was like a mad rush before I went on, my drummer said he didn’t have a click in his headphones and I didn’t have a lead, so I had to run backstage to get one, then the stage manager was like you have 30 seconds to get on, and I hadn’t even touched my guitar yet, but I think we got through it.

 

Well, I was there and I really enjoyed it! So you’ve been playing music for quite a long time, what made you want to be a musician?

 

I’ve always been playing the guitar, since a young age, I was in school bands and that kind of stuff, then I went and studied music for a couple of years at Brit school.

 

How did you find Brit school?

 

It was amazing! It was two years, full-on music, every day, which was great. It was just such an amazing experience and I met so many amazing people, musicians that I still, that come and play with me today. It was a crazy couple of years actually.

 

Was there a time where you wanted to be anything else?

 

Yeah actually, I was homeschooled for a couple of years when I was about 13, and in those years I did a lot of guitar playing, but also I really got into magic! I used to love, and still do, Derren Brown, David Blaine, all those magicians, so I started to really want to be a magician, then I really got into filmmaking, and wanted to make films, but then I got into Brit school, and that was a big thing, so if I didn’t get into Brit maybe I would have done film, but that was it- you get into Brit, it’s gotta be music.

 

You said this is one of the biggest stages you’ve played on,  have you been doing any other festival touring this summer and do you plan to?

 

Yeah, I did a tour with Hannah Trigwell, early summer; we did a mini UK tour where I was supporting her, I also did a festival a few weeks back in Kent which also had a Neverland theme, so that was a bit confusing!

 

Maybe there’s something about Kent and Peter Pan!

 

Yeah maybe! I’ve actually been doing mainly London shows, playing a lot of venues.

 

Are you local to London?

 

No, actually I live on the south coast. – But I spend so much time in London, so I kind of spend half my time in London and half down there.

 

I guess if you want to be a musician then you’ve got to spend a lot of time in London!

 

Yeah, well there’s just so many places to gig there, there’s a lot of stuff happening, it’s exciting. But Brighton’s a real ‘hubby’ place as well, for music.

 

Do you have a favourite place to play?

 

Corey: Yeah, at least I used to! I think my sounds changed a lot since then. I used to be a lot more acoustic and folky, so I used to play in smaller venues, there was one venue called the troubadour, that was such an intimate, beautiful venue.

 

Anywhere in Brighton that you played that you really liked?

 

Well I played the Great Escape this year, at the Fiddlers Elbow, which is a great place, I’ve played the Hope and Ruin as well, I haven’t actually played many venues down in Brighton, just every year at the Great Escape really.

 

How would you describe your sound now?

 

I describe it as half electronic and half natural, it’s got elements of soul and hip hop. You know, I'm influenced by so many styles of music, but within using those different elements, I try to put my stamp on each track so it feels like me.

 

Do you have any strong artist influences?

 

There’s so many, again, if I had to choose maybe one, I used to love Eminem when I was younger, he was my biggest idol. He got me into the lyrics, I used to rap as well.

 

Really! Would you ever incorporate rap into your new music?

 

No, no, I used to, but no.

 

Why not?

 

Ah well, you never know, maybe one day. There’s so many other people I’m inspired by, Prince, D’Angelo, Alabama Shakes. I’m loving Jack Garrett at the minute, Kanye West. Such a mix! At the minute actually I’m actually loving older, more funky stuff, George Benson, the brothers Johnson, Stevie Wonder, Al Jerome, I’m loving all that.

 

I think that comes through, if you listen to a lot of different styles, you’re able to create your own personal take on everything. Have you got any new music coming out?

 

Yeah, actually I do have some new music coming out, I’ve been in the studio recording, producing, we’re putting out a new single next month, it’s been a couple of years since I released anything. It hasn’t actually got a release date yet, but it will be out end of August.

 

So everyone’s going to have to stay tuned otherwise they’ll miss it

 

Yeah exactly, I meant there’s some big changes, new music, new name.

 

Well we’ll definitely be looking forward to that, have fun and enjoy the rest of Leefest,

 

Yeah, I’m really excited, and I will, thanks!

Corey Fox-Fardell will be releasing new music at the end of August, stay updated with him and his music via his website http://www.coreyfoxfardell.co.uk/

Leefest Presented The Neverland, and it was awesome. Review 2016

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The Neverland, Leefest

 

The last weekend of July, deep in the woodlands of Kent, after taking the second star to the right and straight on till morning, Neverland itself appeared for a brief window, boasting a three-day escapade of music, madness, and absolute magic. Surrounded by Pirates, Mermaids and mischievous lost boys, you would be forgiven for truly believing you were in the middle of a fantasy world, but in fact, this was Leefest, 2016.

 

Small, sweet and charmingly rebellious, the story of Leefest almost writes itself – spawned from a classic act of teenage rebellion, the festival started in Lee’s back garden. Under strict instructions not to have a house party, Lee and a few of his friends built a stage, gathered some bands, got in some food, some booze, and started the adventure of a lifetime.

 

Map of the Neverland

 

It may be 10 years old, and have substantially grown in size from its original gathering, but it still boasts that friendly, backyard vibe that many flock from all around to be a part of. It’s still small, it only has a 5000 person capacity – but it has enough life to surpass anyone’s expectations. Lee, masquerading as Peter Pan himself, can often be found floating around the ‘Neverland’ – smiling, cheerful and just generally warm, his refusal to grow up has resulted in an incredibly organic experience that can only be described as Secret Garden Party meets your local village fete.

 

The site itself is quite small, there’s one large campsite for punters, and the arena is stretched out over three different ‘realms’ yet would probably take about 5 minutes to cross completely, yet it’s littleness gives off a more collective, cosy feel than a cramped one. The three realms are focused around the peoples of Neverland. The Lost Boys rule the roost, the main stage is placed bang in the middle, with tree houses, ropes and various bushcraft surrounding the stage, often with the lost boys and woodland creatures perched in their nooks and crannies. The Pirates rule Skull Ridge, substituting Hook for Captain Morgan, most of the heavier bands played the little garage-like venue Hooks Rock and dirty DJ’s heading the Gold Mine, an alleged old bomb crater that was kitted out to look like a true pirate quarry, complete with a wooden structure complete with a platform and dancing pirates. Heading over the other side, you’ll find Mermaid’s Lagoon, where colourful sea creatures will greet you to the colourful, eclectic 50’s retro style area, with an airstream cocktail bar, the Wondersands beach where Neptune will keep you moving, hot tubs and the Rainbow Rooms. Alongside the realms are those who control it; the mermaids are glamorous and fabulous, and mainly mind their own business, which is a good idea when the Lost Boys pull their own pranks and the Pirates are the chaotic havoc wreckers who are meant to terrorise everyone, but in reality are happy to give you a sip of their rum, or a gold coin if you pledge allegiance.

 

 

The Pirates of Skull Ridge

 

Though there are performers and punters alike going a little crazy, the festival is incredibly family friendly. Throughout the day, the place is awash with kids, there are tonnes of activities from face-painting, to swing dance lessons, and water fights between pirates and lost boys to keep the little ones occupied. As the night gets on, you see fewer kids, but the good-natured attitude doesn’t change.

 

The Mermaids at Mermaid Lodge

 

Leefest is pretty famous for discovering bands before they blow up, and a lot of the past performers are now incredibly popular. The bands themselves can quite often be seen wandering around the festival and stopping in on all the various artists, the crowds are just incredibly accepting. The beautiful thing about Leefest that I found was the complete lack of celebrity culture. Everyone just seems to accept each other for who they are, people for people, and just genuinely excited to be there. Maybe that’s even due to Lee himself, who never without a smile, is often wondering around the grounds, happy to stay and chat to people, or jump on wherever necessary, in fact on the Saturday he jumped behind a busy bar to serve me a couple of beers.  

 

Though the crowds aren’t big, they’re lively and loving, and this passes into the acts themselves, many putting so much energy into performances. A lot of bands that play Leefest blow up in the months and years to follow and this is certainly to be the case for a large amount of the artists there. Saturday Headliner Lianne La Havas serenaded an entire festival with her melodic, soulful voice and faultless charming personality. Genuinely humble about the headline slot, and overwhelmed by the love and support of the crowd, her multi-instrumental set was a glorious end to the three-day gathering.

 

Lianne La Havas at Leefest

 

In terms of the rest of the music, there is not one artist I could even begin to fault. Leefest is a little different in the way it's a Thursday, Friday, Saturday lineup, which mixes up the whole ‘sunday feeling’ kind of vibe, but it works the way it does. Thursday was a fairly quiet day, everyone was just getting into the swing of it, and performances by Everything Everything and Ghostpoet paved the way for what was to come. Everything Everything were on the bill as special guests, but their impeccable energy and infamous stage presence gave the crowd a perfect start. A contrast, but equally spellbinding performance by Ghostpoet left the festival goers content and blissful as they headed back to the campsite ready for an earlier start on the Friday.

 

Everything Everything at Leefest

 

Friday saw an incredible mixture of artists, me myself discovering new bands and artists to fall in love with. Peluche kicked off the main stage, followed by the melodic compilations of Corey Fox-Fardell. Roots Manuva played a brilliant but short sub-headline set, followed by the Liverpudlian indie rockers Circa Waves. In terms of the main stage however, I was most impressed with Lil Simz, the North London, grime-esque artist that completely took over the energy of the crowd, and I fully expect to see her take over the scene in the coming year.

 

Lil Simz on the main stage

 

Over the other stages, the growth garage/grunge rock movement and Lo-Fi sound was increasingly obvious, much to my delight, with bands Beaty Heart, Get Inuit and Spring Kings gaining hype and support and playing amazing sets. Otherkin are another of those bands I expect to see blow up in the next year; in the middle of a European tour and set to play the Festival Republic stage at Reading and Leeds this year, the band are a mix of punky pop meets grunge rock and have a live show that’s one of the most ferocious I've ever seen, the band themselves heading into the crowd, complete with mics and instruments, and oozing a carefree attitude, which was easily caught up by the crowd. Inviting the crowd on-stage for the last song, the boys really brought it all, and I'm converted a few more fans than just me.

 

The crowds at Leefest

 

As Leefest closes on Saturday, that sloppy Sunday feeling got a bit mixed up, as the latest, busiest night was also the last. Acoustic, Ellie Goulding inspired pop artist Hannah Trigwell took the main stage following her Sofar Sounds set earlier in the day, wooing the crowds with her catchy melodies, a perfect precursor for Lianne La Havas, the soulstress herself and beautiful human to play as the main headliner. Pop punk indie band We Are Scientists also took the main stage, themselves fascinated with the various tribes of Leefest, as did Shura, whose mass popularity after the release of her first album really showed as fans were wowed by her performance. Saturday was also definitely one for strong female artists, with The Big Moon, Skinny Girl Diet, King Kwong, She Drew The Gun and GIRLI playing amazing sets. Vant also hit up the circus tent, with their politically fueled music proving a hit on the Leefest crowds.

 

Frank Carter and the Rattlesnacks

 

Though all good things must come to an end, the festival does not stop when the music does, with the pub-like structure on site hosting Electric Swing and DJs Madame Barducci and the fierce Rumpsteppers, plus still serving drinks until the beginning of the sunrise at 5am.

 

Skull Ridge, Leefest

 

Honestly, there aren’t even enough words to truly describe how beautiful this little festival is. I don’t know what I was expecting but whatever it was, was truly blown out of the water.

Fire Dancing Pirates, Leefest

Wondersands at the Mermaid's Lodge

All photos supplied by official Leefest Photographers

The Adventure that was Benicassim, 2016.

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You’ve all heard of Benidorm, I presume. That Spanish resort town, filled with sunburnt brits and head fuckers for breakfast, even with its own TV show about the life and times of its seasonal inhabitants.

For one week of the year, however, the brits are pre-occupied with a different kind of Beni, Festival Internacional de Benicassim. As a veteran fib goer myself (this year was the fourth) bringing along a backpack with an Argos tent, a Chromebook, a few different cameras plus their owner, the only clean clothes I had left, and flashbacks of Benicassim campsites and extreme heat, I felt well equipped and mentally prepared to tackle the biggest party of the summer, all in the name of journalism.

Benicassim itself is one of the friendliest experiences you will ever have. International is mentioned in the name because that is truly what it is. Though I felt there were considerably less Spanish goers (and noticeably a lot less Spanish acts) the multicultural vibe is definitely known, and with the gloom of Brexit still hovering over our heads there felt a definite subconscious need for camaraderie, which when you consider the amount of EU flags we saw dotted around and more often than not, wrapped around sleeping people, is a comforting thought.

The general atmosphere of Beni and it’s set up is really what makes it. Your ticket entitles you to 8 days of camping in their main area ‘campfest’ (you can also opt for glamping at a fairly reasonable price) and whilst alongside the various parties and events, the actual festival itself doesn’t start until 7pm, leaving you plenty of time to head to the beach, go into town, get your shopping done, and pregaming started, whilst not missing anything, and saving insane amounts of cash by raiding the Mercadona or the Lidl for the supplies you need to survive the night.

Financially, unlike British festivals, it won’t cost you a kidney and your first born child to enjoy Benicassim. Early Bird tickets start at 85 Euros, building to not more than 120, factor in the low, low cost of living out in the Spanish desert and even with a flight you’re still way ahead of the game, as long as you don’t mind inhaling 6 metric tonnes of dusk every time you wake up in the morning, and a hell of a lot of sun.  

 

Musical Highlights

 

Although Benicassim has become almost a rite of passage, the reason we all keep flocking to this ant infested wonderland every summer is not only for its general atmosphere but for the music. Although fib tends to have a smaller lineup (spread over 5 stages) than the majority of British Festivals, its headliners alone have enough pulling power. I’ve found over the years that a lot of the Glastonbury lineup will make a few sneaky appearances, but you’ll have to take my anecdotal word for it.

 

Thursday /

 

The shortest of all music days, but what turned out to be one of the best, Thursday boasted sets from DJ Hannah Wants and Irish rapper Rejjie Snow, however, the two main acts of the night by far were grime music artist Skepta and electronic music entity Major Lazer. Skepta, who halfway through his set worshipped the crowd as individuals, claiming he ‘hated celebrities’ became the simultaneous shunner and bringer of hype. The energy in the crowd was electric, and the growth of the London grime scene became increasingly obvious from the gigantic, international crowd that flocked to see him. The first headline act of the long weekend extravaganza, however, was Major Lazer, which gave the newbies a taste for FIB life and veterans like me a heightened nostalgia of what it’s all about. Their set was planned to the millisecond and mixed in a haul of different samples from Eurotrash, bashment and dancehall, and of course starting with Pon de Floor, the absolute tune that filled me with nostalgia and brought me back to being a fifteen-year-old getting drunk on a bottle of Lambrini. Moving forward, they started the encore with their feelgood hit of last year, Lean On, which shows just how much their popularity has grown.

 

Friday /

 

Friday saw the likes of more bands take to the stages, including the British rapping, indie, all-round shabby Rat Boy, the lo-fi garage rock Spanish girl band Hinds, now increasingly veteran rockers The Vaccines, and an emotional set from the harder rock of Biffy Clyro. Hinds played the main stage fairly early in the day, and although they started out with a small crowd it had almost quadrupled by the end, obviously attracted to their dynamic and the energy oozing from all four of them. They seem to be drawing quite a following from their various performances around the globe the last couple of years, and I’m pretty sure next year their names will be way higher up the bill. Finishing with Davey Crockett, throwing in a couple of new songs and even a Dead Ghosts cover, Hinds were one of the highlights of my weekend.

Though Friday was technically a lot more band heavy, Jamie XX took over for a disco-heavy and grime influenced set later in the evening, and the heavyweights of electronic music and putting on a fantastic show The Chemical Brothers headlined that evening. Starting with Hey Boy, Hey Girl and finishing their set with a combination of Galvanise and Block Rockin Beats, the show itself boasted spectacular lights, visuals and sound that made pretty much everyone go nuts.

This year Benicassim decided to up the ante with the dance stage, turning their previous second stage into the South Beach area set up complete with a ‘pool party’ – basically borrowing some Ibiza vibes from the another well known Spanish turn-up. Though the pool got pretty dirty after day one, the area itself was a success and saw the likes of Dan Deacon and John Talabot tear it up on the Friday.

Saturday /

 

If you’re a Muse fan, Saturday night was what you were waiting for. They headlined the main stage with a show-stopping two-hour set, incredible lights, showmanship and Matt Bellamy’s vocals in full force. Bringing out all the classics such as Supermassive Black Hole, you really cannot fault this band for doing what they do, and doing it heart-stoppingly well.

But on the contrary, it wasn’t just the superband that got the crowd going on that day. Disclosure followed suit on the main stage, starting with White Noise and playing a mix of tracks from Settle and Caracal, the boys radiated buzz as they always do whenever they take to the stage.

For the earlier parts of Saturday, however, it seems the indie and rock bands were out in full force, with Irish rockers Walking on Cars taking the main stage with the sun still glaring. For relative newcomers, they gathered a lot of support from a ferocious fan base, which, given the amount of Irish melodic voices heard around the festival is quite unsurprising. Bloc Party also mesmerised the visa stage, back with a vengeance and a beautifully revised selection of their catalogue, after a hiatus left them with just Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack as the original members. A brief chat with Kele himself before the show lead me to believe we can expect some new music from the new lineup very soon, and the band is sure to go from strength to strength after the writing process gets well and truly underway.

Echo and the Bunnymen and The Coral also played incredible sets, giving us a little blast from the past. For E&TBM we came for The Killing Moon but ended up infatuated with the set list, and after a five year hiatus, old time rockers The Coral perfectly matched their classics Dreaming of You and In the Morning with the release of their new album, Distance In Between, including track Chasing the Tail of the Sun, which Skelly himself thinks is the best to get the crowd going.

Although Muse did steal the show on the main stage, whilst the heavyweight rockers were letting the crowd fall in love we did sneak away for a few songs at the Visa Stage, where The Kills created an atmosphere that was lively, dramatic and addictive, even though a major amount of their fan base was stolen away. They were definitely one of my surprising highlights of fib, and deserve a medal of musical adoration in my eyes.

 

Sunday /

 

Sunday finally came around, and although I was completely shattered after running around a festival in sweltering heat, sleeping on a dusty floor of a tent and getting accidently sunburnt with the most awful tan lines you ever did see, the nostalgia was creeping in and I didn’t really want to go home. The mix of genres on this day was pretty special, Jess Glyne took the visa stage, where a surprising collection of men found themselves bobbing along to classics Hold My Hand and Rather Be. She also did a solo rendition of My Love, the Route 94 song that helped propel her solo career, as well as a collection of her own material. Following on from Glyne, Mac Demarco and The 1975 also played the Visa Stage, Demarco drawing a sizable crowd, arguably just as crazy as him. Known for his antics and his love of crowd surfers, he let good old ‘Tony’ climb his way onto the stage for a spot of light conversation before prompting his guitarist to crowd surf himself. The topless boys definitely knew how to do a show, and hardcore fans were lapping up every second, in fact every time they play they look like they’re having the best time, which is first and foremost what you want from a performer. The 1975 followed suit, again drawing in a large crowd with a pretty serious fanbase.

The main stage saw the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen, who this year decided to make some festival appearances after cancelling a load of them last year. The northern rockers played a great show but I’m yet to be fully convinced of their staying power. Kendrick Lamar took the headline set that night, bringing in a gigantic crowd and a chilled vibe all across Benicassim. The setlist was perfect, with How Much a Dollar cost, B*tch Don’t Kill My Vibe, of course King Kunta and after a profound, heartfelt speech that referenced the attacks in Nice, Turkey, and the need to unite at the state of the world, Lamar ended his set with the notion that we’re all going to be Alright.

DJ’s Snakehips took to the South Beach stage later that night to help bring the festival down to a close, and although I would have perhaps liked to see Lamar play the friday alongside Skepta, especially seeing grime music start to crack america, I was more than content with the set up as it was. All in all, I ended up completely delirious with sleep deprivation, but it was so worth it just to be at fib again.

 

Would I come again? Just try and stop me.

 

End of the Road announce entire workshop and activities line up!

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One of the most charmingly beautiful and eclectic festivals of the summer, End of the Road, is officially in eight weeks time, and with that in mind, the final lineup of workshops and activities has been announced.

For the creatives among you, there’s everything from Clay Creations, Origami, Screen Printing, Enamelling and even Comic Book Creating, whereas those who have an extroverted streak can enjoy a wide array of performing arts workshops, where you can be a part of a choir with Singing Loudly for All to Hear, or being part of a spontaneous theatre piece in conjunction with The One Line Theatre Company.

If that’s not your scene and you’d rather relax, wind down, and give your chakras some good loving in between acts, there's also a load of yoga, mindfulness and meditation workshops that you can enjoy.

But the workshops are only a small segment of what End of the Road is all about, with headliners such as The Shins, Joanna Newsom and Animal Collective, as well as incredible artists such as Bat for Lashes, Savages, Ezra Furman, Devendra Banhart, Omar Souleyman and many more, you can’t miss this enchanting folk gathering at the end of the summer.

An entire list of workshops and full line-up can be found on the official End of the Road website.

 

 

Boundary Brighton, Second wave of Artists announced!

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Working with tireless passion and meticulous detail the team behind brand new music festival Boundary Brighton add a star-studded cast of acts to their debut show. With the bar set high, new acts includeCraig David, Groove Armada, Jackmaster, Richy Ahmed, Jaguar Skills and many more, to dance-out the summer at Stanmer Park on Saturday 17th September 2016.
 
Craig David has taken 2016 by storm and will headline the festival with TS5; expect a forward-thinking trip to nostalgia; with a heavy emphasis on party. Expect an eclectic mix of bangers from old school anthems and future classics. Commenting on the show, Craig David said "I can't wait to bring 'TS5' to Boundary Brighton! Trust me it's going to go off big time!"
 
Groove Armada will bring one of their famous DJ sets to the first event. Constantly moving and evolving you can expect a set that goes through the very best In house music.
 
Jackmaster has a mercurial ear for making people dance, breaking down the barriers between fun, underground and commercial, he'll always leave you with a smile on your face.
 
When Richy Ahmed is on a lineup, you know the party is going to have some heavy heat. Having earnt his stripes curating some of the DC-10 lineups in Ibiza, he's become a trusted ear within house and techno.
 
One of the most naturally gifted DJs on the planet, Jaguar Skills is insane to watch when he's in full flow. Tweaking every single knob on the mixer, his technical wizardry puts others to shame. From rock to rave, hip-hop to rap; he'll be mixing it all up with ninja skills.
 
Iron Dread, the righteous rhyming Lioness will bring her junglist flow to Congo Natty's set. A proper party starter she'll bring a touch of carnival to Stanmer Park.
 
Boundary is all about doing things a little differently, so we've called on the eccentricity of Bob Kerr and his Whoopee Band, a mad cap jazz outfit formed in 1967. They're as brilliant as they are utterly insane. They are joined by Mr Wilson's Second Liners – A New Orleans band are bubbling over with serotonin infused 90's rave classics. An anarchic extravaganza, bursting with colour and sound, rallying impromptu raves at every turn.
 
Toni Varga has built a career on connecting with the audience, which has made him a staple on the Elrow lineups globally. He'll be bringing his experiential electronic rhythms to the Elrow stage.
 
With previously announced acts including Seth Troxler, Wilkinson, Bondax, Jungle, Snake Hips, Toddla T, Tom Trago, Gentleman't Dub Club, Submotion Orchestra and Congo Natty, Boundary Brighton's debut show will offer a vibrant array of music to keep festival-goers on their toes and dancing throughout the day. 
 
With further surprises yet to come, presale and first release have completely sold out with second release tickets running low.