Although we’ve attended many 2000trees Festivals over the years, we’ve never quite managed to get to Upcote Farm on a Wednesday – until this year. You’d think it would be a nice and relaxed afternoon and evening to ease people into the weekend but that’s never going to be the case when Bob Vylan are headlining…
Wednesday 5 July
Before we get to the two Bobby’s, there was a stacked lineup to explore and discover. We opened our day with Masca, the new project from Tina from Sœur. Playing a mainly stripped-back acoustic set on the Word Stage, the band have already been on tour with Arxx and their songs cover relatable feelings like stage fright, trying to find your way through life and falling in love with perfection even though it doesn’t exist. From Pixies-esque melancholy to a stomping art rock sound, there’s so much going on but never at the expense of a melody. Following this it was a quick walk into the Forest to catch Trees favourites Press to Meco‘s sign off in style at their final gig, and the incredibly loud and intense Saint Agnes with their blend of Rage-style riffs, Prodigy-esque beats and self-depreciating lyrics: ‘Same old shit, I’m just sick of myself’.
Fresh off a US tour and release of new album ‘The Perfume of Decay’, Tigercub brought their stadium-sized sound into the Forest with ‘Step Beating On My Heart (Like a Bass Drum)’ encouraging the packed crowd to dance and Jamie Hall showcasing his guitar-playing skills throughout. Haggard Cat might be the first band to start a circle pit in the Word Stage, which acted as the perfect appetizer for Bob Vylan‘s set.
Starting – as they always do – with some light stretching and meditation, the band were in fine form with singer Bobby Vylan proudly declaring them as ‘the most important band in England’ (hard to argue when they have songs as vital as ‘I Heard You Want Your Country Back’ and ‘Northern Line’) and gushing over drummer Bobby being voted ‘the cutest drummer in punk rock’ before launching into their incendiary, ear-splitting anthems. A force that’s equal parts charisma and anger, Bob Vylan are speaking the truth about so many aspects of modern Britain. They’re a band to cherish.
Thursday 6 July
The festival proper started on Thursday with Alcopop! Records’ Beach Riot opening the main stage in swaggering style. With indie-pop songs that brings to mind tunesmiths like The Subways or Ash, although with perhaps more scuzz, the band were clearly delighted to be on the big stage and even gave Alcopop! honchos Jack and Rhi’s 9-week-old son his very own Lion King moment. We then headed over to the Neu tent to see Bristol band Exit Child. Anya from Sœur’s new project, it was one of the four-piece’s first few gigs and their angular, grunge-infused songs about taking responsibility have an edge that sits nicely alongside PJ Harvey or Sonic Youth. It was then back to the Main Stage for another Alcopop! band – Gaffa Tape Sandy and their ridiculously catchy and energetic, buzzy punk tunes about ‘losing my mind’.
Ithaca‘s prog-infused metalcore soundtracked lunchtime perfectly before Lambrini Girls – clearly inspired by their recent Twitter altercation over trans rights with Graham Linehan – fought the good fight with one of the sets of the weekend. With quickfire punk songs like ‘Gay Legend’, ‘Terf Wars’ and ‘Boys in the Band’ sounding as invigorating as they are important and Phoebe Lunny spending most of the set in the crowd, on shoulders or climbing up the stanchions, they had the crowd’s attention (and worship) throughout. It’s a tough act to follow but Martha were perfect with their bouncy and jangly songs about wrestling and so much more.
Bob Vylan are made for the Main Stage and you can imagine the next time they play Trees, they’ll be headlining the festival while Sugar Horse‘s experimental blend of post rock with an industrial edge was also captivating. The Cave is normally home to the heaviest bands of the weekend so Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun‘s Frank Turner-style anthems were a nice change of pace, while The Joy Formidable played a short but sweet set with ‘Whirring’ still sounding as fresh as it did back in 2011.
Another Trees favourite, And So I Watch You From Afar made an appearance in the Cave, getting the wildly enthusiastic crowd – including a crowdsurfing tiger – to turn and face away from the band and sing ‘the sun is in my eyes’ in unison towards the sunset as dusk began to fall during ‘Big Thinks Do Remarkable’. ‘Set Guitars to Kill’ and ‘The Voiceless’ – the latter back in the set after a long hiatus – were also rapturously received. Over in the Neu tent, Bad Nerves served up a dish of good time rock & roll with a punk edge that fell somewhere between Liam Gallagher and Television before we watched legendary punk rockers The Bronx close the day with a headline set that shook The Cave to its foundations. As most of the site headed towards the Silent Disco, we went back to a real bed ready for two more days of incredible bands…
