Emma Dearie

NASS Festival 2015 – Our Festival Round Up

by

With this years NASS festival now being over a week ago, for many people the infamous ‘festival depression’ is slowly starting to sink in with many already looking forward to the next dose of the drum and bass festival next year.  We here at Summer Festival Guide had the chance to attend the festival for the second year running, documenting the event through images and words. Attempting to compare the two trips to the festival is almost indescribable, with team NASS stepping up their game so much this year there NASS 2015 will definitely be one of the main highlights of our festival season.

 

 

Opening the weekend up on the Friday’s main stage, We Are The Ocean (3.5) started of on a mellow tone trying their best to get the drum and bass lovers to swap their addictions for beats and drops for guitar and drum solos. Managing to draw a few in for the crowd favourite ‘Young Heart’ the band performed a strong set to a very inactive crowd. Moving forward, Modestep (5) got the crowd going from the first tones presented to them. With ‘Sunlight’ and ‘Freedom’ sending the participants into a frenzie, the NASS three day party was well and truly underway. Being one of the controversial headliners, Enter Shikari (4) drew in a medium sizes crowd for their set, however this didn’t stop the band giving it their all to win over the few still sitting at the back of the field. Clearly catering their setlist towards the festivals drum and bass roots, the band moved away from their rock genes with focusing on the more electronic tracks in the bands backlog with ‘Anaesthetist’ generating the most crowd participation.

With ‘The Slammer’ possibly being considered as the outcast stage from the others with the acts originating in the rock genre, many of the bands received a less than deserved minimal crowd. Saturday’s line up including Shvpes, Heck and The One Hundred with each of them putting on a strong set despite the almost empty tent. Many of the bands involved on the stage except the headline act for each day experienced the lacking crowd, and with that we sympathise as had it been any other festival each of them would have had a good sized crowd which the more than deserve with their individual talents.

The Summer Festival Guide favourite Wilkinson (5) returned to NASS Festival for yet another performance at the festival. Playing the crowd favourites ‘Too Close’ and ‘Dirty Love’ to close the set, the crowd reaction alone can easily prove why the festival promoters keep bringing back Wilkinson, with the guaranteed party that he puts on the table for all festival goers. Heading over to Lower Than Atlantis (3.5), the comparison between the two is non existent. Despite having a good sized crowd gathering for their set, the band played a setlist which was far too short for a headlining set, containing only seven songs the band performed an average set which could easily be improved if the sound quality within was controlled. Rebel Sound (4.5) being the side project of Chase and Status left many wondering what the hour would hold with this being their first festival headlining performance. Producing their own remixes on the crowd favourite ‘Stay With Me’ by Sam Smith and a lighting show brighter than any other, Rebel Sound will never be forgotten in the history of NASS.

With the closing day of NASS almost being a complete wash out, many of the festival goes seeked refuge within the covered Southbank and The Slammer stages. Giving everyone a dose of much needed pop punk, ROAM (3.5) brought their usual high energy to the stage hoping to lift everyone's spirits, earning a lot of bobbing heads and even their mini mosh pits. Hactivist (4) also managed to almost fill the tent with their rock infused version of the ever so popular Jay-Z track ‘Paris’. Closing the weekend, the chilled out Public Enemy (3.5) managed to secure a crowd despite many waiting for the highly anticipated set from popular DJ Hannah Wants. With a stage show based performance, the act was one that many would agree should not have closed the festival main stage with the major comparison to the popular Rebel Sound and the crowd pleasing performance that they delivered.

 

Agreeing that this is the best line up NASS have produced, with a few lineup changes in terms of the closing set at this years event, the festival would be one that more than many would not forget, however ending the festival on a mellow note on the main stage could have improved the overall weekend. Bring on NASS Festival 2016!   

Reading Festival 2014 – Sunday

by

It’s officially been one week since we were stood in the middle of a field, listening to some of the best talent that one of the best festivals the UK has to offer. Back this year with some killer headliners and an insane line up; Reading Festival was set to please gig goers far and wide. With thousands heading towards the southeast, wither you are a metal head or EDM lover the line up catered for everyone needs. We were lucky enough to head down to the festival to see what went down in arena. Wither you’re in the middle of the annual post festival flu, post festival depression or just looking to see what went down, keep reading to hear our thoughts on this years performances.

Starting things off on the final day of the festival, The Story So Far opened up the main stage with an energetic performance, which was set to get the crowd moving – setting a high mark for the rest of the acts to follow. Despite some of the crowd not knowing of the band before, there wasn’t many heads in the crowd not bobbing along to the bass line, showing that there is certainly something contagious about the pop punk band. The Australian female fronted Tonight Alive followed on the main stage, with strong vocals from Jenna playing many crowd favorites including ‘Listening’ and their newest single from the Spider Man Soundtrack, ‘The Edge’. The bands confidence oozed out of their performance, and the true smiles from every member at the slightest vocal response from the crowd showed just how much they appreciate and treasure every moment on stage. It was clear to see that Young Guns had their heart set on making an impression on the festival goers by the constant encouragement to get involved, however despite the impressive performance from the band there was a minimal response. Despite this, the band continues on and produces a performance to be proud of.

 Being a band I have been wanting to see for a while, Papa Roach were a band that I had high expectations of and I was very happy to see every expectation I had was met. Vocalist Jacobi wasn’t scared of crowd interaction; in fact I am sure around half of the performance was spent on the ground giving the fans memories that they will never forget. Ending on everyone’s favorite ‘Last Resort’ the crowd erupted, proving to still be everyone’s favorite.

With the crowd packed, A Day To Remember stormed onto the main stage armed with flying toilet rolls and t-shirt launchers, set to impress. ‘All I Want’, ‘All Signs Point To Launderdale’ and ‘Homesick’ were definitely crowd pleasers, with multiple mosh pits and a constantly moving crowd, A Day To Remember were truly welcomed back to Reading Festival.

You Me At Six were easily one of the most anticipated acts of the weekend and with the addition of All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth during Fresh Start Fever the crowd were not disappointed. With somewhat mediocre vocals from front man Josh Franceschi, the band played through a mixture of new and old tracks catering to every fan present. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are one of the most influential acts to brace the Reading and Leeds main stage this year after their astounding actions when releasing their debut album ‘The Heist’. Playing ‘Can’t Hold Us’ twice added emphasis to their act, however I could not complain as this was my personal favorite track from the record. Certainly one of the best acts to help draw the weekend to a close. 

Keep your eye on the Summer Festival Guide website for the final instalement of our Reading Festival one week on which includes our thoughts on this years headliners!

Reading Festival 2014 – Saturday

by

It’s officially been one week since we were stood in the middle of a field, listening to some of the best talent that one of the best festivals the UK has to offer. Back this year with some killer headliners and an insane line up; Reading Festival was set to please gig goers far and wide. With thousands heading towards the southeast, wither you are a metal head or EDM lover the line up catered for everyone needs. We were lucky enough to head down to the festival to see what went down in arena. Wither you’re in the middle of the annual post festival flu, post festival depression or just looking to see what went down, keep reading to hear our thoughts on this years performances.

Opening up the main stage on Saturday, Gnarwolves gave a performance that was set to impress. Full of pop punk loveliness, the trio were a great edition to the amazing fresh talent opening the main stage this year, bringing out decent numbers to the main stage very early in the morning for their set. By the crowd reactions, it was well worth it. Playing their first set of two, Marmozets are the one of the most talked about talent around at the moment in music. Performing crowd favorites ‘Why Do You Hate Me?’ and ‘Move, Shake, Hide’ saw the NME tent turn into ciaos. Judging by their performance, Marmozets will be a name you won’t want to forget because soon you will be seeing it everywhere. Following on the NME stage with rumors spreading that the band will soon be no more, Lower Than Atlantis pulled out a memorable performance. With their contagious energy and the regular airplay of their track ‘Here We Go’, the band performed to a packed tent full of fans eager to see Mike Duce and fellow band mates rock out.

Wovenwar were one of the smaller bands to be heading down to the The Pit stage this year at Reading, and despite the small crowd gathered the band were successful in creating an overall pleasant rather than awkward atmosphere that is sometimes given to those less recognised artists. Walking on stage five minutes late resulted in We Came As Romans set to be cut, however they didn’t let this ruin their moment at Reading Festival. Sing-alongs to fan favorite ‘Fade Away’ could be heard from afar letting the rest of the festival know that We Came As Romans have arrived. Walking around the festival site, it would be difficult to be unaware of While She Sleeps performance as hundreds of spectators could be seen wearing the bands statement merchandise. The band were next up on The Pit stage, creating a performance to be remembered. Despite Loz’s throat surgery and time taken out for recovery the northerners created a flawless performance for the fans, and mention of the bands new album sent the crowd into a frenzie. With the tent packed, there wasn’t one body stood still. Despite only being a band with the current line up for one year, Issues pulled a monumental crowd with many stood around the outside of the tent creating a ‘had to be there’ atmosphere. Singalongs and mosh pit galore, truly making stage security earn their wages. 

To hear our thoughts on this years headliners and the rest of the weekends artists, make sure you check back here each day until Sunday night as we look back one week on from Reading Festival.

Reading Festival 2014 – Friday

by

It’s officially been one week since we were stood in the middle of a field, listening to some of the best talent that one of the best festivals the UK has to offer. Back this year with some killer headliners and an insane line up; Reading Festival was set to please gig goers far and wide. With thousands heading towards the southeast, wither you are a metal head or EDM lover the line up catered for everyone need. We were lucky enough to head down to the festival to see what went down in arena. Wither you’re in the middle of the annual post festival flu, post festival depression or just looking to see what went down, keep reading to hear our thoughts on this years performances.

One of the first bands we checked out on the day were main stage openers Hacktivist, having headlined day festivals such as Camden Rocks before this summer, the boys had in store a treat for the festivals early birds with the bands remix of Jay Z’s ‘In Paris’ was certainly a crowd pleaser. Crossfaith were a personal highlight of ours, having seen them previously and known what a show they put on, seeing the crowd react in such a positive way for the Japanese metal band proved that they are truly infectious. Despite not being to everyone’s musical tastes, their stage presence along was enough to attracting ongoing passers by.

Mallory Knox took a well deserved (and earned) step up on the Reading Festival ladder going from main stage openers to NME stage midday artists, attracting a very large crowd showed just how much these boys have stole everyone’s hearts. Playing their newest track ‘Ghost In The Mirror’ proved a crowd favorite, especially after the significant backing from BBC’s Radio One. Enter Shikari gathered a decent size crowd on Friday evening, playing crowd pleasing ‘Arguing With Thermometers’ and ‘Sorry You’re Not a Winner’ creating mosh pits that many up and coming bands would love to see at their show. Showing no matter how long they maybe away from live music for, the fans still wait.

Duke Dumont played a very energetic set over in the dance tent, proving ever so popular there was no room to move within the tent with many more bodies trying to squeeze their way into the full capacity tent.  Following on the same stage is a Summer Festival Guide favorite, Wilkinson created an atmosphere that grabbed and held everyone’s attention from the word go. With not one body stood still, MC Adapt was a great addition to the set constantly keeping the crowd going. Playing the new track ‘Dirty Love’, Wilkinson proved to be one of the best artists Friday’s line up.

To hear our thoughts on this years headliners and the rest of the weekends artists, make sure you check back here each day until Sunday night as we look back one week on from Reading Festival.

NASS Festival Review – Sunday 2014

by

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

NASS Festival Review – Saturday 2014

by

Saturday

As the sweltering heat filled the whole of the site, everyone was eager to get into the showers which were scattered throughout the site,  which one festival goer seemed especially happy when walking out of one of the blocks and seeing the hairdryer and straighteners stall situated next to it as she excitedly told all of her peers.

With most acts not starting until late, the first band to play that caught peoples eye was Slaves on ‘The Slammer’ stage. With the two piece Royal Blood alike band, glided onto the stage with pride and with one in an interesting outfit, which resembled pyjamas. With the festival predominantly being an EDM/Dubstep festival, the Rock bands weren’t receiving a great reception, as there was a crowd of possibly 40 people in the tent, if that. However, this didn’t stump their performance as the quirky duo still entertained the crowd with their questioning of what NASS means, which lead onto ‘Nescafart’ and ‘Farty coffees’ which pleased the crowd as a few chuckles spread here and there. Should the crowd of been larger, then the atmosphere would have been incredible, as they carried out a performance to the greatest of their potential, despite receiving little from the minute crowd there.

Sonic Boom Six played The Slammer next, and with the gum-chewing female vocalist bouncing onto the stage in a bra-let and patterned leggings. As the crowd was filling up about a third of the tent, it was a shock to still see people joining the band in there as it wasn’t expected. The energetic front woman was punching the air between her outstanding vocals which formed excellent harmonies with the male vocalist of the band. An excellent set from an extremely underestimated band.

Despite the glorious weather earlier on in the day, once it hit 6pm the rain was flooding down, causing the outdoor skateboarding qualifiers to be postponed until Sunday.

As the rain was still coming down a little bit, The Bronx came on to the Main Stage, with a decently sized crowd welcoming them. Despite not entirely fitting into the line-up, it didn’t mean that they didn’t give it their all, even with bassist troubles at the beginning of their set. With an extremely energetic photographer almost egging on the crowd who could see him, the band was excellently received as there didn’t seem to be one person who didn’t enjoy it!

Cypress Hill received an overwhelming response by the whole of the festival, with the Main Stage filling out causing the queue to get in being over an hour long and ultimately being closed off. With the act definitely being lower down on the line-up as they should have been, they created an insane atmosphere throughout the whole of the crowd. The crowd joined in with the chant of “if I say Cypress you say Hill” to an extraordinary volume which overpowered the backing track.

Funeral For A Friend received a full crowd for their headlining set in The Slammer as everyone headed over to see them due to the queue to see Cypress Hill and the rain. An unfortunate reason to have a crowd, but nonetheless, they still welcomed everyone there and potentially gained some new fans outside of their genre. At the start of the set Frontman matt Davies-Kreyes vocals seemed to be weak, however as the crowd grew and the set went on, his vocals dramatically improved. The thankful frontman threw out a speech thanking the crowd for spending time with “the granddads of the emo movement” rather than Cypress Hill, to which a failed crowd surf followed. The alcohol fuelled mosh and circle pits were continuous throughout the whole set, which unfortunately, included crowd killing as well. However, although everyone was out of their face, it didn’t stop everyone looking after each other if someone fell on the floor, which unfortunately did include myself as a result of a group of guys crowd killing, yet six people helped me to get back up, which restored the faith of everyone in the crowd. With the frontman asking everyone to sing because “I’ve got a fucking stitch”, everyone seemed more than happy to help. Interestingly and absolutely brilliantly, at the end of their last song, a 50+ woman who had been moshing all night, jumped the barrier and joined the band on stage before being escorted off by the security that had jolted to remove her from the stage.

Review by Kelly Maxwell

NASS Festival Review – Friday 2014

by

NASS Festival features the most up and coming DJs, skateboarders and Rock bands over the three day weekend at the Bath & West Showground. With Headliners of the Main Stage including Let’s Be Friends, Mistajam and Wilkinson, the crowds were indefinitely going to be filled with drug fuelled party goers who seemed to be pretty closed minded about the other stages there, for example ‘The Slammer’ which was sponsored by Kerrang!.

Friday

Upon arrival on Friday, the overall festival vibe was clear to all. Everyone just wanted to have as much fun as possible, whilst listening to a few of their favourite DJs.

With the festival still filling up at 10pm on the Friday, more chanting and Hip-Hop was filling the campsites as everyone was eager to pitch their tent so that they could start their weekend.

As you walked into the Main Stage Warehouse for Andy C, there was no questioning what the crowd would be like during the set as they welcomed Andy C on stage.  They were chanting his name religiously. The light show fuelled the energetic crowd who were ‘skanking’ vigorously to the drops in the songs. The multi-coloured lightshow fuelled the crowd as it was partially on them, which was more than the MC did as there was no crowd interaction.

With Let’s Be Friends headlining the main stage with their remixes, it was very difficult not to sing along as they kicked off the set with a Swedish House Mafia remix, enticing the half full crowd to sing along and move closer to one another and the front of the warehouse. Shouting “Let me hear you say Hey!” to the crowd, it instantly was clear why they were headlining as the crowd’s reaction to any interaction between them and the act was phenomenal. Dizzee Rascals ‘Bonkers’ seemed to be a huge crowd pleaser as “Put your fucking hands up” was screamed through the microphone as the crowd started to jump up and down moving forward to let the ever growing crowd to join in. The crowd was incredibly dependant on the light show and the songs that were on. As if the original was popular in the charts, then the more that the crowd would enjoy it and dance along too. Thanking the crowd for being there came towards the end as “This is a raving start to the summer, and it’s all thanks to you guys” was spoken the most calmly out of the whole set to which the crowd cheered at an incredibly high level as they clearly had a lot of love and respect for the act.

Overall, the few hours that music was on during the Friday, the atmosphere was ever growing, as was the manic crowd. There was a lot to be expected of the music and sport filled Saturday…

Review by Kelly Maxwell