Category: Festival

Icebreaker Festival, Multi-Venue Southsea, 29th January 2022

I maintain that in the UK, January is a great time for indoor festivals. There’s the post-Christmas lull, an inexplicably long month that goes way beyond its alleged 31 days, and just a general sense of being cold and looking for a fresh start to the year.

Year on year, Icebreaker responds to this beautifully – something to look forward to, a lovely warm atmosphere and always some new artists to discover alongside some familiar and already favourite faces.

My day started with Temples of Youth (above) sounding incredibly polished, with or without the requested reverb that eventually made a guest appearance late in the set. An acoustic set from Joe Johnson (below) also proved to be a welcome way to ease into the day.

One of the joys of this festival is that it’s not just multi-venue but also multi-genre so I often find myself seeing artists I probably wouldn’t catch otherwise, and I was grateful for the introduction to the jazz-infused sounds of Maple Sky (below).

Having made their live debut at Icebreaker two years ago, it was great to see a packed Wedgewood Rooms for Fast Trains (below) as they made the transition to the main stage look easy. Look out for their return to the Wedge in April.

Albert Road edging onto Elm Grove in Southsea is well established for these kind of events now, hosting a number throughout the year with a wide array of pubs, cafes and of course the jewel in the crown that is The Wedgewood Rooms all taking part. There’s no ignoring that there were issues with the door staff at one venue, which was a huge shame and quite unprecedented so unexpected for all. However, I understand that this is being addressed so won’t dwell on it here. It’s fair to note that generally and elsewhere, everyone involved was welcoming and friendly, as has always been my experience at Icebreaker, and they shouldn’t be tarred with the same brush.

More new acts to me included slick electro-rock outfit Dronningen (above) and Van Gosh (below and header) who ran away with the best-dressed award, their costumes only momentarily distracting from the fact that they’re actually really accomplished musicians.

In what was undoubtedly the hottest venue on the street (felt like in the world at the time to be honest but that may be a minor exaggeration), Beige (below) played a great set of hazy rock filled tracks at Back to the Belgrave – previously Acapulco, previously Al Burrito, always very hot in there whatever it’s been called!

For those with a penchant for glam and The Slits, Brighton’s Slant provided just the thing (above and below right), and local alt rock band Broken Links (below left) made a big impression on a big stage.

And a happy way to close my night was with the fabulous Arxx at The Fox (below and centre above), a powerful duo prepping with lucky star jumps, playing a stomping set and getting a deservedly appreciative response from the crowd.

Every festival has its niche, and for Icebreaker the opportunity to showcase unsigned acts is always one that it takes to the max. Here’s hoping that the planned summer event will be able to go ahead this year. Thanks to all involved for another top day out.

You can keep up with Icebreaker events here

Words / photos by Callum / Siobhan

4th February 2022

Rockaway Beach, Butlin’s Bognor Regis, 7th-9th January 2022

Planning a festival for early January with the very real possibility of venues being closed again after Christmas has to be a fairly onerous task. Getting safely into the new year with no restrictions announced would seem a good reason to breathe a sigh of relief, but then to have artists dropping out on a daily basis due to positive testing takes things to a whole new level.

There were points in the run up where it looked like Rockaway Beach wasn’t going to make the finishing line this year but, despite the odds, it proved to be a gamble that paid off. Some inspired last minute substitutions were made and the crowd embraced the changes in good spirit. Here are some of our best bits…

Big slots at Centre Stage on Friday were filled by Buzzcocks (replacing The Futureheads) and Do Nothing (subbing for Working Men’s Club), sandwiching a tricky set from Tricky. A more than solid start to the weekend with much audience appreciation.

No tents to pitch or portaloos to queue for at Butlin’s, and after a night in your chalet or hotel room of choice, there were plenty of highlights on both stages throughout Saturday.

Italia 90 have clearly kept up momentum during lockdown, drawing old fans and winning new ones with an early slot at Reds.

Maria Uzor (one half of Sink Ya Teeth) was an unexpected yet memorable surprise, showcasing glitchy electro-soul with hooks and melodies aplenty.

And darling of the London scene Nuha Ruby Ra proved that her performance works equally well on a bigger stage as it does in a smaller setting, making the most of the light show and never using one mic when two will do.

It’s probably unavoidable that some people will come to see Imperial Wax to check out what some of the ex members of The Fall are up to. The reality is that you very quickly lose the need to make comparisons as they really are a strong enough band in their own right, their musicianship highlighted by overcoming technical difficulties with ease and making the set look effortless.

Another very late addition, Crows pulled in a big crowd who will doubtless be pleased to hear that they followed up their Butlin’s trip by releasing new music and tour dates.

Thankfully one act that didn’t cancel was the incomparable JARV IS. Always one to walk his own path, Jarvis Cocker has become cemented in modern day culture as a storyteller extraordinaire; who else would you find headlining in a beige velvet jacket throwing mini Bountys into the crowd while chatting about Shirley Bassey? An expert in giving the crowd exactly what they want but very much on his own terms, this was undoubtedly the biggest draw of the festival, and rightly so.

Rockaway Beach certainly have a knack of scuppering any chance of a lie in, kicking off Sunday with TV Priest waking everyone up with an animated set turned up to the max, their energy only surpassed by their gratitude for the equally lively response from the early risers.

Another crowd favourite, Hull’s bdrmm continued the clever pick me up to battle Sunday fatigue with their well honed mix of hazy shoegaze lifting the late afternoon timeline.

For a band that’s spanned decades, A Certain Ratio still sound surprisingly fresh, with tracks like Lucinda sounding as good as ever and new vocalist Ellen Beth Abdi fitting in perfectly. With much dancing in the room, it’s fair to say there was plenty of movement with no room for improvement.

In a fine way to end the weekend, Porridge Radio took to the stage. The transition from small, quirky DIY band to festival headliner isn’t an easy one to pull off but they managed to retain the feeling and nostalgia of performances of old, while impressing their newer fans with tracks from Mercury nominated Every Bad.

And that was that, festival complete. Talking about being at home at Christmas, Jarvis told us that he said, “We’re supposed to be playing this concert but it’ll never happen”. Happily he was proved wrong as it turned out that the ever changing line up added some spontaneity to the already eclectic proceedings. With amusement arcades, silent discos and DJ sets into the early hours, Rockaway Beach really is a festival experience not quite like any other. See you next year.

Rockaway Beach

Words / photos by Callum / Siobhan

17th January 2022

 

 

 

Mutations Festival, Brighton, 4th – 7th November 2021

The past eighteen months have been tough on the music industry and, along with the hit to musicians in not being able to play live, many independent venues have struggled to stay afloat. Bringing an abundance of current and breakthrough talent to Brighton, Mutations Festival offered up the chance to take in four days of live music and support a whole heap of local grassroots venues at the same time.

With some tough clashes to choose between, we started Thursday in style with Holiday Ghosts, opening proceedings in the shadow of the pier amusements at Patterns. Singing songs about the city you’re in was as good a way to kick things off as any, and the standard was set for what was to come.

Moving across to the largest venue on the agenda, Chalk played host to the ethereal songs  and bitter-sweet musings of Bill Ryder-Jones. A world away from the TV advert-friendly indie pop of his days with The Coral (though still repping them on his guitar strap), Ryder-Jones has proved to be an accomplished writer, singer and producer. His set could have been twice as long and still not long enough. Closing the first day, This is the Kit filled the room with the sounds of enough instruments to start their own music shop and an ambience that would send everyone home happy and ready to return for more.

Left: This is the Kit, Top Right: Holiday Ghosts, Bottom Right: Bill Ryder-Jones

Friday night and the lights were low, and in a nice touch that ensured Hove wasn’t left out of the picture, the evening’s activities moved across to The Brunswick and The Old Market. Highlights at The Brunswick included Hull’s Low Hummer, wearing their indie hearts firmly on their sleeves, they have a new album release if you’re inclined to hear more. Glasgow two-piece Memes engaged the crowd with their charm, energy and Hazmat suits, ending with a singalong to a German techno track, as you do. Folly Group had to take a short intermission for a guitar string break but picked things up and made a strong impression.

Along the road at The Old Market, the ‘main house’ drew in a big crowd as soon as doors opened. Hotel Lux took starting position, their brand of nonchalant Dr Feelgood-esque contemplations well received by likely a different audience to usual. Next up, Billy Nomates seemingly actually has lots of mates who knew her songs word for word and bounced off her vigourous performance. The biggest pull of the night came in the form of Mr Maserati, king of the migraines himself, the inexplicably charming Baxter Dury. For no discernible reason abandoning his trademark suit for a full camo and goggles ensemble, Dury entertained as only he can, a set showcasing most recent album The Night Chancers while incorporating a string of old favourites and new songs alike. The suit returned with his encore, the crowd had a party, Friday night ended well.

Top: Billy Nomates, Left: Hotel Lux, Right x 2: Baxter Dury

A full day on Saturday began by confirming Keg’s status as ones to watch, except ironically not every could get in to watch them as their reputation meant there were queues up the stairs to The Folklore Rooms to see them. It’s testament to the quality of a band when they sound as good from outside as they do inside the room; their charisma, humour and stacks of energy warrant the hype. And for those who missed out, there would have been photos but it was so packed and hot it fogged up all three available camera lenses.

A trio of recommended acts followed at The Albert, a tight squeeze for the frenetic pace of TV Priest, a very welcome return for the slick post-punk of Social Haul, and a thankfully rescheduled set from Famous who are clearly not as famous as they should be. In the midst of this veritable hat trick of musical delight, back at the Folklore Rooms, Legss were possibly one of the only bands that were ready to start early and had to wait, winning over the room once things got going with their raucous South London vitality. After a quick break, it was back to Patterns to catch some wit and riffs from Mush, followed by current 6 Music darlings Yard Act at Chalk.

TV Priest

Left: Mush, Top Right: Famous, Bottom Right: Yard Act

Social Haul

And so we made it to day four. An early start paid off as we were treated to a spiky yet enchanting performance from deep tan at The Albert, a welcome calm before the beautiful chaos to follow as Lynks took centre-stage at Chalk. Never one to forget their mask, Lynks put on a show that was far from your regular Sunday afternoon entertainment, complete with adroit choreography and guest vocals from Barbara the table. Imagine if you’d come to Mutations and missed Lynks, that would have been a great shame indeed.

deep tan

Left & Top Right: Lynks, Bottom Right: deep tan

The rest of the day kept the stakes raised high, continuing with an immersive set from Nuha Ruby Ra at Komedia Studio. A late start but definitely worth the wait for PVA – having seen them before in multiple venues, Chalk seemed like the perfect fit and they once again balanced keeping existing fans happy whilst doubtless picking up new ones along the way.

There were all kinds of good things happening at The Umlauts’ slot at Patterns, an art school project with the potential to become a masterpiece, check them out if you get the chance. And later on the same stage, way more established but still sounding fresh, Big Joanie supplied a lovely atmosphere, some great tunes and a message of inclusivity to lift the spirits of anyone who may have been flagging.

Left: Nuha Ruby Ra, Top Right: The Umlauts, Bottom Right: Big Joanie

Finishing up at Chalk, Scalping managed to speak volumes whilst only playing instrumentals, silhouetted on stage and painting pictures not just with projections but also the intricacies of their music. This was followed by BEAK> playing their blend of reverb heavy, synth driven tracks to a full house, and we ended the weekend with lots to reflect on.

BEAK>

It’s heart-warming to feel like live music is a normal part of life again, there are stacks of good bands and artists to see, and we can only be grateful that all the venues involved survived the non-year that was 2020. All in all, Mutations was a treat for many reasons, and we’re already looking forward to seeing what they do next year.

Mutations Festival

Words / photos by Callum / Siobhan

10th November 2021

Icebreaker Festival, Southsea, 25th January 2020

Drawing a long, cold January towards its conclusion, Icebreaker Festival was back with a bang at the weekend, offering up another huge variety of live music from the freshest faces on the local and national scenes. Filling up The Wedgewood Rooms and a fine selection of pubs along Southsea’s Albert Road and Elm Grove, this year’s event certainly seemed to be the busiest so far with crowded rooms from early till late – brilliant to see so much support for new artists and independent venues as always.

Icebreaker is a great place to discover bands and singers who you haven’t seen before; this year starting with some sunny sax-filled pop tunes from Yasmin Natasha at the Edge of the Wedge while next door, Bella Estelle opened up the Wedgewood Rooms’ stage with a confident set full of big pop-rock songs, setting the tone for some huge performances over the day.

Along the road at the Wine Vaults, it was a pleasure to catch the chilled, soulful sounds of The Isle of CC – definitely one to watch.

Doing Littlehampton proud (and it’s usually only the cafe on the beach that can say that), Gloo took the volume up a level or five with their crashing punk antidote to traditional seaside living, making a big impact on the main stage audience.

A scoop for Icebreaker as Fast Trains played their debut at the festival – lots of local support on display for the already award winning project from Tom Wells, ex of Kassassin Street, bringing along some familiar faces to play with him on the day. An accomplished first performance boding well for the future.

Every time LibraLibra play they seem to up their game and another stand out set left the crowd in awe once again. Fabulous to see them on a bigger stage, their heartfelt punk-glam hybrid is just captivating. A very smart booking for any festival – can’t really recommend them highly enough.

Another two bands who are both firm favourites on the local festival scene, Drusila gave their usual energy filled performance and The Howlers never disappoint live – check them both out if you have the chance.

Locals The Stone Birds’ reputation is steadily building and they  definitely squeezed one of the biggest crowds of the day into the Wine Vaults. Their blend of 60s’ tinged blues and rock sets them apart from a lot of other new bands and, with new music and live dates pending, it will be interesting to see how things develop for them. Certainly on this occasion the big crowd was well deserved.

Closing the Edge of the Wedge stage, Currls brought some solid indie grunge tracks and a fitting party atmosphere to end the night on a high note.

Hot on the heels of this weekend’s success, Icebreaker have announced that there will be a new summer event – stick a star on 18th July in your diary and keep an eye on the website for updates…

More from Icebreaker here

Words and photos by Siobhan

28th January 2020

Dials Festival, Southsea, 5th October 2019

Returning to its now regular early October slot, Dials Festival brought another hugely impressive line up to Southsea’s Albert Road at the weekend, hosted across five venues all within a few minutes walk of each other. In a sometimes overcrowded market, it’s difficult to find a USP for a festival these days… well, how about this? Dials is run by volunteers, works hard to apply inclusivity towards artists and attendees and raises money and awareness for local mental health charity Solent Mind… now that’s a difference worth taking notice of.

And if that’s not enough, the musical talent on display is a joy to discover. Channeling their inner New Order, Two Tribes gave a great performance at The Wine Vaults, as did Sarpa Salpa with their synth infused dance tunes opening the venue’s stage. I love that people come out early for Dials and support the acts playing from opening slots to headliners.

Across the road at Lord John Russell, Heebie Jeebies kicked off a relaxed atmosphere with guitars and sax aplenty while The Loft saw some some sharp drumming and grunge appeal from Dad Hair and Eno-esque experimental synth loops from Friday Night Weird Dreams.

A firm favourite on the local live circuit, Madonnatron packed the room at The Edge and did not disappoint with their unashamedly brash post punk psychedelia and razor sharp multi-vocals.

As always with Dials, I found some great new bands who I hadn’t seen before, in fact the vast majority were new to me live. Quite how I’ve managed to miss Arxx so far is a bit of a mystery but with a set including fierce grunge tracks, a dabble with country and a Eurythmics cover to boot, they’re firmly on my must see again list. Representing the increasingly impressive Bristol music scene, the discordant drawl of spikey post punk from Haze and some ethereal slacker rock from Wych Elm also both come highly recommended.

Last year, LibraLibra opened one of the smaller stages and more than made their mark at Dials. This year they made an unquestionably triumphant return with a performance so powerful it may be worth checking if the Edge of the Wedge is still standing. Vocally it’s as though Gossip have been shaken up by X-Ray Spex; this is not a band to be missed. I assume by next year they’ll be well on the way to world domination.

Hot on their heels on the main stage next door, another absolute stand out set from Glasgow’s Walt Disco. Their uniquely dark brand of art rock disco is streets ahead of many of their contemporaries, largely because their material stands up on its own and doesn’t rely solely on the performance. That said, the performance is pretty spectacular. Billy Mackenzie would be proud.

One thing that Dials does consistently well is to bring a mix of genres to the table with cross appeal for those attending, allowing different moods and styles of music to reach new ears. From boiler-suited dancealongs with BASH! to Acid Tongue’s folk influenced garage and the dulcet vocals of Megan Lara Mae (including a cover of Minnie Riperton’s Loving You that managed to avoid screeching that note) there really was something for everyone.

Bigger festivals could learn a thing or two about applying gender mix to their scheduling from Dials; the line up this year once again proved that it’s really not that hard to find quality artists across the board with Saltwater Sun and Another Sky both drawing big crowds to The Wedgewood Rooms.

And after a line up so strong, who do you pull in to headline? Kicking a final blast of  vigour into the proceedings, The Blinders took no prisoners with their closing set, a visceral assault on the senses, a last chance for the crowd to decide that they still had enough energy to take on a mosh pit, a fitting close to a brilliant day with a guest appearance on stage from the Dials Fox.

Across the last few years, Dials hasn’t started just another festival; it’s started and built up something to be etched into your diary way in advance safe in the knowledge that each event keeps getting better than the last – till next year…

For more about Dials Festival please check their website

You can find out about the work Solent Mind do here

Words and photos by Siobhan

7th October 2019

Victorious Festival, Southsea Common, 23rd – 25th August 2019

Once again, Victorious Festival managed to entice a huge range of artists to play by the seaside at its late summer bank holiday weekend gathering. The line up is so varied that there really is something for everyone and it manages the family friendly tag with ease. As well as offering showcase spots to local emerging artists, Victorious pulls in some big players, both current and long established acts. Seemingly growing every year and now running across three days, this year’s headliners encompassed the eclectic bunch of Two Door Cinema Club, Rudimental and New Order. Across the myriad of stages and activities, no genre was left unturned and with a weekend filled with blazing sunshine, this looks to have been one of the busiest years ever. Here are our highlights from Saturday.

A long road trip from home, West Lothian indie four piece The Snuts have been much lauded as ones to watch and had some early singalongs going on, clearly a widespread fan base on their hands already. South coast blues pop trio Hooli graced the Seaside stage with a chilled set and plenty of local support; probably the only UK festival stage with passenger ferries running along the river on the other side of the wall.

Another rising young artist, Casey Lowry, brought his own brand of catchy trop pop tracks to the table. A suitably sunshine feel to the songs as he and his band breezed through their set, his initial suspicions that everyone would leave after ten minutes to see All Saints were soon allayed.

And so to a long established festival favourite and Victorious returner, the infectiously happy Tim Burgess. Having played here with The Charlatans two years ago, Tim returned for a solo set backed by his other bandmates The Anytime Minutes (also making waves in their own right as Average Sex). A mix of songs old and new put a smile on everybody’s face, I’ve never seen this man do a set that isn’t feel-good and full of energy – a sound booking for a show of any size.

Arriving onto the Common stage, Damon Gough aka Badly Drawn Boy looked slight bemused by the size of the crowd, asking if he was at the right festival. His performance is always understated but doesn’t take long to remind you exactly why he should be here. Over the years he’s written some beautiful songs and it was great to hear tracks from one of my favourite films and soundtracks About a Boy in amongst the set.

Considering the numbers there and the fairly intense heat, the atmosphere across the site was a happy one with areas for comedy and kids’ activities, a village sized merch and shopping square and a wide choice of reasonably priced food vendors. There was even space to dance by the castle in your wedding dress if you felt the urge…

Drawing one of the biggest crowds I have ever seen at any stage at Victorious (Castle stage is the second largest but must have outnumbered the main stage here), man of the moment Lewis Capaldi received a rapturous welcome from an all ages audience. His 7pm slot must surely have been booked some time ago; there’s no doubt he could have headlined and still had people watching him from as far as the eye could see. Capaldi’s self-disparaging songs of love and heartbreak combined with his imperturbable sense of humour look set to see him continue his rise to the top.

Difficult to follow… until you realise that next up is The Hives, Sweden’s incorrigibly wonderful rock ‘n’ rollers who hit the stage with such force that you knew the party had just moved to a different level. From Come On and Walk Idiot Walk to the inevitable closer Tick Tick Boom, it wasn’t hard at all to see why The Hives are still so popular, 20 years of mayhem and still going strong.

Headlining the Castle stage, Bloc Party provided the perfect way to end the evening, playing their landmark debut album Silent Alarm in full and no doubt creating waves of nostalgia for many of those present in the process. The tracks more than hold up over time, Bloc Party were never your bog standard indie band and the intricacy of the songs is clear to see, She’s Hearing Voices and Banquet personal favourites that it was an absolute pleasure to hear live again. Stunning.

The end of a long day but still these guys on security were having the best night, checking that everyone was ok while throwing synchronised dance moves to the sounds of Rudimental closing up the Common stage in the background – thanks to all involved for another memorable festival, see you next year.

No doubt Victorious 2020 will be even bigger and better – early bird tickets are already available here.

Words and photos by Siobhan

26th August 2019