A sold-out crowd descended upon Gloucester for the Easter Saturday extravaganza that was Underground Festival – a three-venue pay-what-you-want event that celebrates and showcases the best in new music from the worlds of rock, pop, punk, indie, emo and beyond.
We made a beeline for the Blackfriars venue as soon as the doors opened – a 12th century church complete with ‘crumbling’ aesthetic, cobwebs and even a tomb just in front of the stage (which we didn’t dare step on…).
Singer-songwriters Bex Kite and Felicity Mitchell opened this most impressive of venues, each providing a mix of singalong covers and heartfelt originals about love, life and loneliness with powerful observations on traits including jealousy.
Shortly after, it was time for Cheltenham six-piece Truck to take to the stage, delivering half an hour of breezy indie-pop tunes akin to Local Natives – plus a reworking of ‘Enter Sandman’ to close. Packing out the hall at 5.30pm, Truck were having so much fun on stage and this rubbed off on the audience.
Singing ‘Silly little gay songs about my silly little gay life’, Soft Lad (multi-instrumentalist Sophie Galpin) was genuinely thrilled to be playing her own material after touring as a session player with some great acts.
Armed with a guitar and backing ‘band’ in the shape of a Mac, her songs were filled with honest musings about life – including taking responsibility for awful behavior after a horrific hangover (recent single ‘The Human Condition’) – set against hooks and beats that veer between power-pop and Blood Orange-style alt-disco.
‘Famous Songs About Average People’, a song that does exactly what it says in its title, was a particular highlight as Sophie examines how the subjects of popular songs are not always worthy of so much attention- they’re just people after all, and often quite a bit ‘meh’.
Following a run of shows at SXSW and the announcement of their debut album ‘Participation Trophy’ (out on 12 July via Fierce Panda), China Bears returned to Underground Festival armed with a raft of new material – plus a couple of oldies for good measure.
Long-time fans may recognize The National-esque alt-rock oh ‘Gracie’ and set closer ‘Sunday’, but they seem to have been given a new lease of life – especially in the live environment. Anthemic from first note to last, complete with glorious group harmonies, the songs reach for bigger stages – and are sure to be filling them soon.
Next single ‘Northstar’ is perhaps the perfect example with its passion, purity and pining evoking so many emotions.
Muriel closed the festival on this stage with 45 minutes of quietly powerful songs about grief and loss. We first became aware of this band after they were covered by our friends at For the Rabbits and were keen to see what the live set would entail.
We heard elements of Yndi Halda and caroline plus any number of Kinsella bands in the intricate and atmospheric pieces. From glacial post rock elements to gorgeous dual vocals, every song was intricately put together with observations about life at the forefront. This was a poignant way to finish a special day.
One element we keep thinking back to is Soft Lad’s Sophie saying how great it was to have an all-dayer like this in Gloucester: ‘Somewhere that isn’t London, Birmingham or Manchester’. There’s so much talent all around the county and with a number of challenges affecting grassroots venues and new bands – especially those ‘off the beaten track’ – it’s up to all of us (when life doesn’t get in the way) to continue to support and follow in Underground’s footsteps by continuing to sell out these kind of events in your local area.
