After two packed days, there was no sign of anything slowing down as the sun shone – and the rain later hit – in style on Upcote Farm for the Friday and Saturday of 2000trees 2023.
Friday 7 July
We opened our Friday morning with some Wonder Years-style emo pop courtesy of Beauty School, whose singer had had an eventful morning that involved a 4am wake-up and then an interview for their own job using the Wi-Fi at a couple of fans’ closeby Air B&B. As someone who’s been in a similar position, I hope they received a positive outcome and came across as likeable and sincere as on stage. We followed this with the more extreme 1-2 of Rxptrs and Black Gold, the former mixing hardcore punk with a galloping guitar sound and the latter being masked, mysterious and maniacal. They’re set to go on tour with Skindred and their screams were sensational. We then cooled things down with New Pagans, an Irish band – clearly delighted to be at the festival – that combine elements of traditional folk with sumptuous chamber pop to make an effortlessly charming and powerful sound.
With the temperature rising, it was a good time to watch a couple of bands in the relative shade of the Forest – and both Suds and Lakes delivered. Based in Norwich, Suds specialise in Peaness-esque indie pop with great hooks while Lakes’ take on twinkly emo with elements of post hardcore (and screams courtesy of Slash Fiction’s Beans in a guest appearance) was as perfect as the surroundings. Militarie Gun have just released new album ‘Life Under the Gun’ to great acclaim but were a man down for their performance in the Axiom – meaning their guitarist was on bass duty having relearned the set only the night before! However, the band carried off the set with aplomb and these songs feel like summer anthems for a long time to come.
Microwave were up next in the Axiom and attracted one of the biggest crowds of the day, inspiring huge singalongs of all their new wave-meets-punk songs. Another long-time Trees favourite, The Xcerts, followed and were clearly hyped from the moment they launched into new song ‘Gimme’. There was so much love in the tent between band and crowd and there were heartfelt singalongs to old favourites like ‘Crisis in the Slow Lane’, ‘Daydream’ and the inevitable acoustic rendition of ‘Aberdeen 1987’ – with Murray Macleod clearly touched by the response to not just these but also the new, more experimental songs (which apparently have not gone down well with ‘internet virgins’). The trio finished their set by playing the fuzzy, frantic and frenzied ‘Ache’ twice in quick succession and you could tell they didn’t want to leave the stage.
There was much anticipation about Empire State Bastard and they didn’t disappoint. The brutal sound – akin to Cardiacs grappling with one of drummer Dave Lombardo’s other bands, Slayer – complete with more squalid twists and turns had people moshing, headbanging and looking slightly bewildered throughout. The set finished with Mike Vennart doing a Fonzie-style double-thumbs up and Simon Neil, dressed all in black with short shorts, saluting the audience after melting their minds…
De Staat brought some party vibes into the Forest with their unique brand of electroshock and a huge singalong of ‘1, 2, Pikachu’ before Rival Schools rounded off the day with a run-through of their seminal debut album ‘United By Fate’. While ‘Used for Glue’ inevitably gained the biggest reaction, the rest of the set was equally enthralling with the band in ecstatic, exuberant and in excellent form throughout.
Saturday 8 July
There’s always a slightly bittersweet feel to the last day of the festival but when the rain pours down in as dramatic fashion as it did on the Saturday at this year’s Trees, there’s also a keen sense to head back into the real world where you can stay dry and clean. However, this adverse weather coming on the last day also gives people the chance to really get down and dirty as they party…
Loose Articles from Manchester opened the Main Stage with foot-stomping hits about climate change, bitcoin, discos and enjoying pints that reminded us of The Rapture. We followed this up the snarling yet melodic punk of Reminders; ‘If You Want It (Don’t Let Me Down’ proving a highlight. Brooklyn trio Thick played their first show on UK soil (something we noticed was a common theme) with their appetising combo of jangly indie and power pop that focuses on just how much shit women have to put up with: ‘Don’t touch me, I’m bleeding’; ‘Have a baby, have a career’.
We then had a quick change of pace with the intense Swans-esque sound of Fleshwater before enjoying the eminently relatable and self-deprecating style of Ways Away: ‘It seems like everyone I know is just some jaded fucking joke’. Enola Gay were heavy and brutal with some elements of The Cooper Temple Clause while Mike Kinsella playing songs from his Owen project in the Forest was one of those sublime 2000trees moments. There were a few tears shed during the poignant ‘O Evelyn’: ‘Where skin once lived, only blisters remain’; ‘Don’t let your shyness define you’.
Casey’s emotionally charged melodic hardcore filled the Axiom tent with plenty of impassioned singalongs during the heaviest rain of the day before Sprints powered through a set of soon-to-be vibrant punk classics that fit somewhere between Liam Lynch and Fight Like Apes. Opening with ‘I’ll Find You’, Hundred Reasons were in bombastic form from the very first note, making everyone forget about the deluge of rain as they sang loud and proud while dancing in the puddles. New songs like ‘Glorious Sunset’ fit seamlessly alongside the hits ‘If I Could’, ‘Silver’ (featuring a guest spot from Enter Shikari’s Rou Reynolds) and the criminally underrated ‘No Way Back’.
For the penultimate act of the weekend, we made our way through the mud to the Forest to see Jamie Lenman rattle through his new album ‘The Atheist’ with typical grace and good humor – we know exactly what he meant when he talked about filling up on the Disneyland Paris buffet – before bringing the festival to a close with the beloved twinkly emo stylings of American Football. With a set stretching across all three albums, a stirring trumpet interlude and the inevitable closer of ‘Never Meant’, it was a beautiful finish to a stacked weekend.
Bring on 2024…
