It's been a fair while, no, it must of been months since I have been able to go into some truly sweaty venue and shake my head out to the tunes of some ravenously raw and refreshing music. With the summer fast approaching I knew I would have to get to grips with some new material before this years Glastonbury. So the opportunity I glanced over online some time ago with Dot to Dot Festival's line up I was pleasantly surprised of just how vitalising the list read to someone who's been hibernating under.
Once I had gotten to grips with the formula, it really stood out that Dot to Dot was an immediate dosage of festival innovation. As soon as many hear the word, 'festival' you are set into fairy lighten fields and a throbbing guitar twang of some distant stage. However, Dot to Dot gives a change for a festival to shine through even in the most urban situations. During the course of last weekend it fed though its same three annual cities: (Friday) Manchester (Saturday) Bristol and (Sunday) Nottingham. All of which have thriving music scenes to be found within. The running order is you go and collect your wristband from outside a chosen venue, and then poof! you're free to scavenge around any venue you please, providing you're 18+. This of course, proved a problem for myself and my companion, but we were allowed in multiple venues including The Fleece, Trinity and both O2 Academies ( amongst others-more if you're 16+). It was in majority, a really easy way to get around and see what genres and bands you can freak out to, but ultimately have a day of complete music awe and rock n'roll moments.
Once again I was completely taken by surprise before this gig when 6ft 11 Bristol legend, Jeffery Johns walked into The Fleece whom I had met for the first time at the Trinity Centre whilst seeing Deap Vally way back in November. After a bear hug, he notified me how energising this Baltimore band, MT Royal were. He described them to be as 'Beach House music' which was a new one to witness. It was an enlightening contrast from Casimir. The 5 piece embarked on a tremendous set of spacey synths and vivid, rich vocals. The crowd really picked up for Sheppard along the surreal wavelengths in which they poured pure experimentalism into a psychedelic melting pot whilst sounding like a solidly original structure they had formulated for themselves. A few girls around me picked up on their atmospheric interludes to the likes of Tame Impala, except radiating more melodrama. I checked out their single release of 'Missing Reward' which is an elegant groove over obscure bass lines and operatic vocals. Below is a short snippet of their material I managed to catch.
was the dreariest out of the day. They use a collective of acoustic numbers and some verging towards alternative Adele when listening live. My feet stood pretty still for the time they were on. But there were some standing out tracks such as 'No Gold' in which the eerie, catchy hoots and hooks are stronger on record. They certainly had the vocals and harmonies to raise their capability, just most of the songs didn't lift above the foundations to keep the crowd completely in touch.
By this time I was creeping around for something boundary breaking, soul-awakening and most of all, full on insanity.
Indefinably, this was one of the strongest highlights of my Dot to Dot experience. All morning I'd been thinking in random stages, I really need some punk gigs in my life as a 15 year old groupie. We needed to look no further. To be precise, no further than the Fleece's toilets. I staggered out to wash my hands and this bleach blonde chic who I'd previously seen in the at the front rocking out was now next to me dressed in a old skool pinafore and red tutu complete with an extravagant headpiece to top off. We got talking about various stuff and she handed me her bands badge which I immediately stuck on my denim cut off. She notified that Love Zombies were on next, said we better come, complimented my outift and walked out. My friend and I stared at each other like two pathetically excited diehard fans. Anyway we headed and persuaded or taxi to wait for another 30 minutes.
Primarily here to infect people with their contagiously sticky love. As soon as all five London based members waltzed on stage it was only seconds before the grit of, ' Johnny Turned 18' thrusted through he speakers, The Californian, Hollis J spits out her ravenously raw vocals as a slightly sweeter, candyfied version along the lines of ultimate punk power Brody Dalle/The Distillers . The dirty down- the- gutter riffs broke out into the Fleece as a wave of long needed adrenaline. Then tremoring into a mass of crazy solos in which 4 main individuals ( myself included) let their hair loose and lost total control. Which is completely justified when the sound of 'You Do Me Good' -"He called me me up / I said no way I put my lipstick on just in case anyway" had the pop-punk high school garage sound that you would to expect to find way back in the early 2000'sto send you psychotic in love. One of the highlights was the neck ripper track, 'Electric Romance' were even the most reserved rows at the back were finding it a struggle to limit themselves to a gentle head bob amongst the bands joint vocals. The headbanging could last forever with these guys, as could this post. The main thing I took out of this gig as a fell into Subway with exhaustion was that they are revving what many miss these days, hardcore yet punk daze pop. 'Bummer' and 'Banging On Your Door' were the most intoxicating to singalong in slurred vocals from the crowd . The basic line is that if you and the band leave sweaty and shattered it was a good gig. Love Zombies will be rocking up at Reading Festival if their dosage leaks into your bloodstream strong enough- check them out.
Here's a short clip of their full on punk power.
2. Bristol O2 Academy.
Size: Large-2,500
Location: Brilliant ( just behind the Hippodrome)
Crowd: Teens and 20 somethings who seriously want to let loose past 7pm.
After about an hours break, I arrived the developing crowd at the O2 ready for something yet again a range in the line ups spectrum. Ampitup has already obsessed over the wonder of Indiana's significant release, 'Solo Dancing' back in March. And apart from looking up a few mixes on her soundcloud account there was till a lot to be unknown about, considering
her first live gig to date was at Radio 1's Mada Vale session only in April. So to be heading out early on festival season is promising for the Nottingham singer and her band. We
managed to creep in near enough to the front, ( not that we needed to) Indiana's conjured synths and effortless echo onto 'Animal' haunt up your spine to entangle you through the bass lines incorporated also on 'Heart on Fire'. But you find with Indiana, that she's not another Ellie Goulding or any 'other' alternative elctronica pop artist when you watch her glide effortlessly in between verses. The clarity being so defined, I couldn't ignore a single change in the tempo, or the fact that her sound relates inevitably back to a late 80's bounce. This illuminating into the spiral of 'Solo dancing' I figured out under the low, dust illuminating lights the gradual hip/waistline dance as the spotlight swept over us. Her backing band were full of the mutual emotion , 'Smoking Gun' carrying the riff over the record,'I wanna hurt you just for fun/it's nothing you said it's nothing you done." over the demons she repeats. Indiana has a full spectrum of talent inside and with her, reckoning that if she latched onto playing any of her wondrous remixes ( if it's even needed) it would send the lo fi dance into the stratosphere.
The Bottom Line: Indiana's only on the tip of the iceberg.
As many will agree, you really don't know what you're in for when you see The Midnight Beast live, my conclusion being it was like watching One Direction on crack. The only reason for three quarters of the crowd turning up was due to the following sets being Drenge then Peace, and by looking at some of the pouting, selfie taking fan girls I stood there in my ripped tights feeling rather out of place. I met some other guys who were following the similar suit to us, they'd seen Young Kato and Towns among others but were anticipating the sticky gathering for Drenge. So when two dancers dressed from Alvin and the Chipmunks appeared followed by the lead band in tracksuits what else could we do with the screaming fan girls except go full throttle headbang/mosh to the pop-rap band (
We were edging front row after all) I thrashed around awkwardly with the rest of the audience humorously, being terribly out of time to the cheap wannabe record of 'Pizza in Ibiza' , of course their music is laugh out loud, but when they sing about Pizza Hut how the hell can you take them seriously? , Whilst they jerked their groins and " pussy surfin/we punch them in the face if they're not Sarah Palin" it was verging on degrading lyrics and the reality that many of us agreed on, they've probably not slept around much. But laughing is inevitable, one guy in his leather jacket jumped up on stage, like a patriot to some us audience down below they took their time trying to force him off. 'Lez Be Friends' was a mass singalong of some old pervs homophobic vision, which was soon to lead onto a Ke$ha Tik Tok Parody cover. The muscled, gelled up front man lept into the audience and as fate had it right next to me and some other hooligans who were all headbanging around him to his bewilderment, I got shoved into his armpit whilst a mosh of fan girls eagerly tried to dive past me, whilst some guy stuffed their playlist down his pants. That had funnily enough, warmed me up for Drenge.
By now it had reached 9.00 and the air was dense, sweltering sticky. The mass of 14 year old fan girls with baseball jackets had vacated all to leave the front row clear. Myself, Pippa the befriended Adam, Callum and some other girls I had all met previously at The Fleece had a chance to squeeze in. As Rory Loveless's drums were tested and Rory's Fender Jag, some kind of storm was brewing within the blistering venue temperature. In fact, I was so deep in conversation and excitement I bizarrely jumped at their presence when the two brothers walked out. Immediately they pumped into 'People In Love Make Me Feel Yuck' where any pity, reminiscing or gentleness was throttled out from the previous performances, " I found a bird on the floor/it was covered in blood" was the lyrical yell from the crowd, by this point I should've guessed what my stomach was in for against the front barrier. Already just into the first verse a wall of death was formatting behind me in which everyone felt the effects during the bitter scum screech of 'Dogmeat' . Wherever you were in the crowd, the stimulant Drenge created easily enough leaked to the front doors, Rory's thrashing projected to shake the lining of your gut whilst Eoin's moody, conserved yet snarling presence on the stage fed through as heavy as the fenders amp feedback.
As well as 'Bloodspots' being another crazy headswirl in and out of insanity, they brought through some new material which saw the crowd through the next leg just as well as the infinite twang of set highlight 'Backwaters'. Eoin's vocals blunt echo against the shaking walls until the guitar drive completely drowns out during the main riff outro, being so close it was blatantly obvious to see each song seething out of both pairs of eyes, an almost salvation to pump their fuel into the crowds snatching grasp. By far it was the heaviest I've seen in a long while, many received their set with limited presence but if you're a true fan and have listened to their self titled debut, it's exactly what is needed; a nonchalant but brutal splutter of grunge. 'Fuckabout' the slower, more sarcastic sticky nag of a song which bugs you to the point of unconsciously singing along went down a triumph but most of all their restored thrust of torture came during, 'Nothing' where both brothers pulsate the mosh into a throttle over, "Take me to the valley in the south/ Put a sopping flannel in my mouth/And hold it, choking/please don't stop till I'm reduced to nothing." which by the finale the crowd were gasping for fresh air, the most unforgiving gig Bristol has seen for eternity.
After a long, sweat oozingly adrenaline soaked time in Bristol, Dot to Dot's festival headliners were upon us. Amongst myself and my friend we agreed to not be bothered about throwing ourselves in deep at the front row again. However, the permanent CND logo had been hanging in place all day as if to anticipate the crowd of the night, (little did I know). The foursome came to ring out their opening track (on début album 'In Love' ) 'Higher Than The Sun' shining all around in a spectrum of colours whilst things really started to pick up in the centre of the standing reservation. It was easy to recognise from the audience that Peace were thrashing out their excitement throughout the whole evening, and it didn't run short, Kossier also announcing " we've got an idea, a plan.... we'll tell you about it later", we were excited as ever. But as a young music journalist I will be honest, in that I haven't listened to 'In Love' whole, this made the sound in my view all the more superior at Dot to Dot. At some stages the the gleam and glitter of tracks like, 'Float Forever' seemed to shimmer for infinite moments of Harrison Koisser's drifting vocals, for minutes the sensation of 'float forever' came across strong, whilst arms and hands swirled in the spotlight beaming down. Numerous intervals from singing pushed into the set, where each member seemed to build their own pattern across the structure of each song which collaborated exceptionally in 'I'm So Good For You' and whether you were intoxicated or not, the feed from each instrument gave you the sensation of belonging in what ever world Peace possessed you to be in, one in which they were very much in control. The hook hallucinogen of 'Wraith' and 'Follow Baby' involved the entire venue to again create a mass mosh in celebration, myself having falling down by 10.30 was a fear but coming up marginally bruised was an achievement in itself with help from the love enthused crowd.
'Waste of paint' chanted through "Face to face we're all the same" the band were right in feeling the warm belonging they brought which came across rawer live than on record significantly. New addition to their playlist, 'Money' filled the room with twangy reverb bouncing of the snarl, "Does it taste good?" as well as a few other tracks unheard such as 'Lost On Me' all seemed to awaken the soul of ambiance with promising sound for any sign of a next release to be just as frantic. Of course they return to their poppier side with 'Lovesick' , an epic up thrall of blunt drum beats to the crowds vocals, Many of us got gracefully bruised at this stage pointing to the person next us throughout " I wanna get love
sick with you". Then stumbling into the fanatical screech sing-along and yell of 'Toxic' . The long secret Peace had been holding in right to the end eventually spilt out; a request from the audience sent pretty much the same demand of 'Bloodshake', undeniably the highlight of the gig, a mass hum-along to the intro hook that lead throughout. I shut my eyes for a moment and naturally this was placed into a Glastonbury sunset evening, but with no announcement for the festival we all knew to live it out through our tears with climax building through each verse. They shout, "You vibe so hard/And you live in this forever" it would really seem like we could. And with the last amp vibrating out the end outro riff we left in graceful splendour to a night that had truly been stolen.
Once over the Dot to Dot finishing line, I came to grips with the reality that when something such as a festival, whether indoor or outdoor, sweaty and intense or grand scale gathering, it really proves to bring out the best in which a city such as Bristol has to offer. Not only did Dot To Dot introduce me to some supremely organic, original bands but stood out at the thriving music scene that lies within the cities and towns across the UK. Only visiting London this week gave me the understanding that with its unstoppable expansion maybe the cities next in line to the capital are the ones that are best kept in brewing the underground scenes in a manageable capacity were it won't be at risk of being so diluted. Bands from left right and centre of the country, London and beyond were complimenting the surprise of Bristols atmosphere. The smallest of bands have the real chance to shine through in this area as well as others, but I'll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled over the Bristol scene for a long time to come.
With that said, here's my running order and feedback on both the venues and bands I uncovered in Bristol.
1.The Fleece Bristol
Size: Medium- 450
Location: Very Central ( just off Victoria Street)
Crowd: Early birds who were warming up. A few gig good-timers.
Get Involved: Help save this intimate venue from closure by signing the petition:
Casimir
Considering when I first entered, it was like a scene from Bladerunner; thick darkness and smoke through which the dim on/off flashing light of the bar and stage which was at squinting level inside of the flagstone Victorian wool hall, Casimir managed to stroll up completely undazed by the early afternoon sleaze. They were as new to me as perhaps they are to you, but being a local Bristol band they brought
an enviable opening energy to kick start the line up. Tracks such as ' Like Whistles' shine through as a rusty thrash of mesmerising climaxes against Mark's vocals mixing amongst the other backing harmonies from the band. You could immediately tell the oozing sweaty nature originated from a school formation. In tracks such as 'Lucid' his crooning vocals empty over the softer progression of guitar, only to return the their usual stage crescendo. The drums blatantly leak out over these records which gave it an incredible power through their set. The density of 'Squeeze Right There' added to the spiralling loss of feeling, rammed with passion and trashy alt grunge they're certainly ones to watch.
7/10
MT. Royal
Once again I was completely taken by surprise before this gig when 6ft 11 Bristol legend, Jeffery Johns walked into The Fleece whom I had met for the first time at the Trinity Centre whilst seeing Deap Vally way back in November. After a bear hug, he notified me how energising this Baltimore band, MT Royal were. He described them to be as 'Beach House music' which was a new one to witness. It was an enlightening contrast from Casimir. The 5 piece embarked on a tremendous set of spacey synths and vivid, rich vocals. The crowd really picked up for Sheppard along the surreal wavelengths in which they poured pure experimentalism into a psychedelic melting pot whilst sounding like a solidly original structure they had formulated for themselves. A few girls around me picked up on their atmospheric interludes to the likes of Tame Impala, except radiating more melodrama. I checked out their single release of 'Missing Reward' which is an elegant groove over obscure bass lines and operatic vocals. Below is a short snippet of their material I managed to catch.
8/10
Norma Jean Matine
These guys were a bunch from London with New York vocalist... yep you guessed it Norma Jean. As they were setting up, the threesome looked pretty hyped but in honesty their set6/10
By this time I was creeping around for something boundary breaking, soul-awakening and most of all, full on insanity.
Love Zombies
Indefinably, this was one of the strongest highlights of my Dot to Dot experience. All morning I'd been thinking in random stages, I really need some punk gigs in my life as a 15 year old groupie. We needed to look no further. To be precise, no further than the Fleece's toilets. I staggered out to wash my hands and this bleach blonde chic who I'd previously seen in the at the front rocking out was now next to me dressed in a old skool pinafore and red tutu complete with an extravagant headpiece to top off. We got talking about various stuff and she handed me her bands badge which I immediately stuck on my denim cut off. She notified that Love Zombies were on next, said we better come, complimented my outift and walked out. My friend and I stared at each other like two pathetically excited diehard fans. Anyway we headed and persuaded or taxi to wait for another 30 minutes. 9/10
Here's a short clip of their full on punk power.
2. Bristol O2 Academy.
Size: Large-2,500
Location: Brilliant ( just behind the Hippodrome)
Crowd: Teens and 20 somethings who seriously want to let loose past 7pm.
Indiana
After about an hours break, I arrived the developing crowd at the O2 ready for something yet again a range in the line ups spectrum. Ampitup has already obsessed over the wonder of Indiana's significant release, 'Solo Dancing' back in March. And apart from looking up a few mixes on her soundcloud account there was till a lot to be unknown about, considering
The Bottom Line: Indiana's only on the tip of the iceberg.
8/10
The Midnight Beast
As many will agree, you really don't know what you're in for when you see The Midnight Beast live, my conclusion being it was like watching One Direction on crack. The only reason for three quarters of the crowd turning up was due to the following sets being Drenge then Peace, and by looking at some of the pouting, selfie taking fan girls I stood there in my ripped tights feeling rather out of place. I met some other guys who were following the similar suit to us, they'd seen Young Kato and Towns among others but were anticipating the sticky gathering for Drenge. So when two dancers dressed from Alvin and the Chipmunks appeared followed by the lead band in tracksuits what else could we do with the screaming fan girls except go full throttle headbang/mosh to the pop-rap band (
6/10
Drenge
By now it had reached 9.00 and the air was dense, sweltering sticky. The mass of 14 year old fan girls with baseball jackets had vacated all to leave the front row clear. Myself, Pippa the befriended Adam, Callum and some other girls I had all met previously at The Fleece had a chance to squeeze in. As Rory Loveless's drums were tested and Rory's Fender Jag, some kind of storm was brewing within the blistering venue temperature. In fact, I was so deep in conversation and excitement I bizarrely jumped at their presence when the two brothers walked out. Immediately they pumped into 'People In Love Make Me Feel Yuck' where any pity, reminiscing or gentleness was throttled out from the previous performances, " I found a bird on the floor/it was covered in blood" was the lyrical yell from the crowd, by this point I should've guessed what my stomach was in for against the front barrier. Already just into the first verse a wall of death was formatting behind me in which everyone felt the effects during the bitter scum screech of 'Dogmeat' . Wherever you were in the crowd, the stimulant Drenge created easily enough leaked to the front doors, Rory's thrashing projected to shake the lining of your gut whilst Eoin's moody, conserved yet snarling presence on the stage fed through as heavy as the fenders amp feedback.
9/10
Peace
After a long, sweat oozingly adrenaline soaked time in Bristol, Dot to Dot's festival headliners were upon us. Amongst myself and my friend we agreed to not be bothered about throwing ourselves in deep at the front row again. However, the permanent CND logo had been hanging in place all day as if to anticipate the crowd of the night, (little did I know). The foursome came to ring out their opening track (on début album 'In Love' ) 'Higher Than The Sun' shining all around in a spectrum of colours whilst things really started to pick up in the centre of the standing reservation. It was easy to recognise from the audience that Peace were thrashing out their excitement throughout the whole evening, and it didn't run short, Kossier also announcing " we've got an idea, a plan.... we'll tell you about it later", we were excited as ever. But as a young music journalist I will be honest, in that I haven't listened to 'In Love' whole, this made the sound in my view all the more superior at Dot to Dot. At some stages the the gleam and glitter of tracks like, 'Float Forever' seemed to shimmer for infinite moments of Harrison Koisser's drifting vocals, for minutes the sensation of 'float forever' came across strong, whilst arms and hands swirled in the spotlight beaming down. Numerous intervals from singing pushed into the set, where each member seemed to build their own pattern across the structure of each song which collaborated exceptionally in 'I'm So Good For You' and whether you were intoxicated or not, the feed from each instrument gave you the sensation of belonging in what ever world Peace possessed you to be in, one in which they were very much in control. The hook hallucinogen of 'Wraith' and 'Follow Baby' involved the entire venue to again create a mass mosh in celebration, myself having falling down by 10.30 was a fear but coming up marginally bruised was an achievement in itself with help from the love enthused crowd.'Waste of paint' chanted through "Face to face we're all the same" the band were right in feeling the warm belonging they brought which came across rawer live than on record significantly. New addition to their playlist, 'Money' filled the room with twangy reverb bouncing of the snarl, "Does it taste good?" as well as a few other tracks unheard such as 'Lost On Me' all seemed to awaken the soul of ambiance with promising sound for any sign of a next release to be just as frantic. Of course they return to their poppier side with 'Lovesick' , an epic up thrall of blunt drum beats to the crowds vocals, Many of us got gracefully bruised at this stage pointing to the person next us throughout " I wanna get love
10/10
Once over the Dot to Dot finishing line, I came to grips with the reality that when something such as a festival, whether indoor or outdoor, sweaty and intense or grand scale gathering, it really proves to bring out the best in which a city such as Bristol has to offer. Not only did Dot To Dot introduce me to some supremely organic, original bands but stood out at the thriving music scene that lies within the cities and towns across the UK. Only visiting London this week gave me the understanding that with its unstoppable expansion maybe the cities next in line to the capital are the ones that are best kept in brewing the underground scenes in a manageable capacity were it won't be at risk of being so diluted. Bands from left right and centre of the country, London and beyond were complimenting the surprise of Bristols atmosphere. The smallest of bands have the real chance to shine through in this area as well as others, but I'll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled over the Bristol scene for a long time to come.
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