Dot To Dot Festival Bristol 2015.

10 years on Dot To Dot is at the forefront of worldwide music culture, being stuffed in a cosy enough setting of urban nooks and crannies to prove it is one of the smartest festivals of the moment.- Stella Cooper reviews.

For the UK at least, these peculiar few weeks before all hell breaks loose across the country for the summer somewhat puzzles many a music fan. We sit here and wait, read the endless hype hooting music magazines and Radio 1 jingles to present something all so astronomically big, that it's almost overwhelming to bear. 

This is where Dot to Dot gets it just right. It's not only the timing of the festival which is looking good, there is an overwhelmingly optimistic view on how many female bands are propped up on the line up, (wake the effing hell up Reading and Leeds). So what do I mean by a diverse festival?   All those festivals you may have heard about, in those 'hip'

cities that take place in the space of usually 2 days or less in a single urban sprawl of sticky floored venues and poster slashed pubs; The Great Escape in Brighton and Sound City in Liverpool to name but a few. The one thing that does set Dot to Dot away from these, is that it has two sides to it; the Saint Raymond/ Midnight Beast side and the gutsy grisly side which mostly causes the opposed fans flock to the smaller venues and really, makes the festival a whole lot snugglier than to the likes of its peers. Perhaps 'cosy' isn't something you'd associate with the flowing concrete arteries of Bristol. But after venturing around the city and once inside, dodgy backstreets and scary accents are the last things you'll be worrying about.

The Exchange

A translucent and embracingly warm atmosphere had followed us around the city. My main intention was to be at the venue well in time for Black Honey, a searing anthemic alt punk band from Brighton, it was probably my last chance to see them before they are swooped up by music PR and labels and dunked into the 'next big thing' tour circuit, then to be invaded by the teenage so called  'indie clan' of Bristol ( spits and repulses) It was my luck of not being able to make it in time-see you at Reading! 

Kagoule 

But there was no need to sulk,  it seemed the entirety of Bristol was out today and having picked up my wristband with a patriotically stamped '10' I embarked on my debut visit to The Exchange to see a band I'd barely listened to the morning of-Kagoule. A decent size flocked into the venue for a 3.30pm slot and the Nottingham threesome really didn't hang around before blistering out their first tune, 'Oarmen'. Their intensively collaborative presence rubs off on the audience as a scathingly raw dynamic, as the set progressed the band had no trouble loosening up, guitarist Lucy pumping nad jerking her bass in time to the leading strums from Cai. It's certainly worth mentioning how the squall and guitar crunch match up to the vocals heard in 'Adjust The Way'.  Their voices almost appear too perfect for the gnarly sounds below but in a fanatical wave of thrusting rock the two really do meet up to produce a mesmerising sound. Soon followed with an intricate riff immediately thrown off course for a meaty bass driven end. For Kagoule, the main structure of their songs give them a certain benefit of the doubt of a well bonded band, around two thirds of the way through some of their songs race suddenly into a ballsy jam section of cascading, thromping drums shaking the whole room, perhaps the most eye opening drumming witnessed in such a genre for a long time. What was most impressive from their set was not only the strength but the reaction on their new material to appear on their debut album 'Urth' (out this August). Among the most tantalisingly neck moving were 'Centralwing' , 'Glue' and 'Pharmacy'. It was easy to see the three's excitement in playing this to a reasonable crowd. Before long the 30 minuted was almost up, with one song scrapped it was onto their most recent single, 'Gush' , its a twangy wonder-world of mellow deep voices and without-warning rampant choruses and solos. 

On the outer ring they may be-but not for long. 

9/10

With a whole afternoon and evening of tremendous sets to follow, it was soon time to get to Bristol Trinity. A delightful and very hair raising walk through its surrounding boroughs. Ekkk. Never the matter, what lay ahead was about to take us by supreme madness

Trinity

PINS

Let's cut straight to the chase-PINS. I arrive at the venue and heard the second song of their set, 'Get With Me' pounding against the walls, doing up my trousers as quick as possible I barge straight to the 3rd row;; perfect for a keen section of the crowd. If you're not familiar with PINS- A Manchester 4 piece of heavy chic rock, keeping it classy with a slight hint of anarchy with 1 staggering EP and album already stuffed in their back pocket. We are all feeling the sense of 'thank god I bothered for this one' as they wrap up a revved up version of 'Young Girl'. But what strikes immediately is lead singer, Faith Holgate's capturing presence. She struts the stage with absolute manipulation before snarling into the microphone, 'This is where it gets heavy!' not that the crowd were unaware before. At this precise moment, it was where my day turned from pretty damn good to outright adrenaline pumped , sweat pouring madness. It was 'Oh Lord' that surely would do the trick for PINS, their guitars fuelled to absolute full ferocity as Holgate screams,"Take take take take my time/ you better know who I am/ I was a girl looking for more/Oh Lord!" they bumble into a smooth bass riff before the drums are silenced, Faith leers on the crowd and blast once again into the first intoxicating climax of the afternoon.

Warmed up to say the least they, without blinking at the carnage, the fivesome continue to rattle into recent single, 'Too Little Too Late'. It involves more sentiment from the whole band, but this emotion then turns back to another gutsy blast, with bangs a swaying and the crowd hanging on each word. The following numbers included 'Dazed By You', 'WFTE' and 'Misfits', all of which went to incredible depths of intensity. And although they are too cool to show it, it's manageable to notice really how well the members each bounce off each other at their own will, in time headbanging and scheduled po-going, it definitely set a good example for us!  in some sections they purely seem like an incredibly skilled jam band, then throwing in the same old structures which has what has made them stick out like a sticky sore thumb in the Manchester scene. With one of their most well known singles, 'Girls Like Us' to end their frankly gobsmacking set, I join in with many other wailing spectators to the opening of scratchy overdrive and grisly bass line of Anna Donigan, the vocals of " I think I've gone mad but it was fun" are climatically refrained and clapped over and over with the crowd until once again all out body launching chaos is upon me, almost by instinc nowt. The set is a complete winner at Trinity, one which could barely be met but attempted with merciful effort for the rest of the night. Get them on your radar NOW. 

9/10

With two astonishingly jam packed sets done and dusted, I headed out of the church for a break. But only to bump into Pins themselves, have a good old musicy chat and send of a selfie to their mates Deap Vally! ( I knew those Twitter fan pages would pay off!)

P.S- Everyone was on about the sheer strength of female led bands tonight and it was very refreshing to hear this from various members of the audience. Dot to Dot aren't ones to sweep this sort of talent and recognition of music equality under the carpet.

For the rest of my Dot to Dot saga I will try my very best to contain excitement and to keep the reviews on the shorter side, as a means of either 
a) missing some of their set
b) Being a little tipsy and/or moshing
c) So you aren't here till midnight

HINDS

The evening was so welcomingly warm for the masses of people surrounding this church of music mecca. Whilst hanging around with some mates we went back in for the Spanish up-comers of (punk) trade, Hinds. Many people were hugely anticipating the Burger Records signed Madrid band and rightly so. Upon joining the side of the stage recent single , 'Davey Crocket' rung out around the room, each members vocals harmonising deliciously. Of course it was a ( in the smallest of ways) a partial wind down compared to PINS, with a few lacking moments here and there. But their  excitement of debuting their music to Bristol

was what truly shone through amongst the rambling riffs and jumped up drum clashes, especially in tracks like 'Bamboo' and the most charismatic 'Trippy Gum'.  The biggest highlight however was a winding and intense strum marathon at the end of their set, vocals crying out to the audience and guitars belting out. It truly shows the refreshing burst of gnarly and post adolescent energy they are supplying on a trans-Atlantic scale, one which if we don't keep our eyes on it will be too painful to see them on a grand array of  tours within the next 12 to 18 months. 

7/10

Honeyblood

Having spoken to them for a good hour or two it was really frustrating when we realised we were 15 minutes late for the Glaswegians set in the upstairs section of the church. Never the less upon sprinting in we were in time to hear some of their new material since the duo's self titled debut came out last year. Even though the crowd were a bit fatigued I made a habit of tagging along with Stina's onstage po-going. 3 month old single, 'The Black Cloud' was played in all its might, vocals sounding as unfussy as ever it was a slick comparison to their older work where with Cat on drums its easily noticeable to hear a maturer sound. Although they both contradict that anything is easier, "Been here for too

long/sunken into the walls" and "or even make a sound/that's what my life use to be all about". It then progresses into an ambient riff and a harmony of both voices before their usual drum smashing and guitar slapping comes back in to good use. Honeyblood's messages are easier than ever to hear. Stina's chosen spectacles are now significantly misted up as the line 'Kiss me I'm high' slip past her lips in 'No Big Deal'. It is however the last song of the set that of course receives the biggest bunch of smashing necks. 'Killer Bangs' rings out across the high ceilinged room and still boasts the most punchiest of Honeyblood's archive. Both members spit out their fast paced style in a pristene punk fashion; what I mean by that is even if Stina broke 3 strings on the chorus they still produce those moreish licks and polished chord slides to the level of wanting to jump onstage with them for the final ," I don't wanna have to go, go, go, go on without you/without you!". After half an hour I ventured outside again with them for a few beers. Stina regretted the spectacles but to me the band has never seemed more clearer.

8/10

Now... am I scared to review this next band? Never in my life as a teenage music journalist have a feared of trying to get you ( the reader) to understand such a magnitude of sound. Well, lets go for it anyway.

Fat White Family

Smack bang wallop. After exactly 60 seconds of naively waltzing into the venue we are all split up from one another and immediately the current of the crowd thrusts me at full blow into the ferocious face of Lias Saoudi . I do not know this song. Do I know this band? This crack driven, parasite puking, stage wanking group of London laddies with one hypnotic 'Champagne Halocaust' album alongside one lunatic who, with his wild black hair throttles down vocals into my face. I am below him. And despite all the other fans clutching like zombies on my shoulders to get a better piece of him I  have never been so lost and captured in my life. This is at one point where I do pretend to know the words. Despite the awfully inaccurate bellowing from myself and quite a few others. One of the many landmark tunes, 'Touch The Leather' has Lias brooding over the crowd, tempting us in slowly and letting go like some ravaging apocalyptic Iggy Pop with full bearing chest out

he drips every liquid of his skin onto us. His  pelvis thrusting into the air, his hands slipping into his pants over and over again as some tormenting wet dream. He then only has to hop into the crowd, his bottom right on my neck before I am crushed under such weight and finally he is carried of into the masses. Within such a pit where one is unable to move, I did pick up some sort of ambiance between the band in 'Auto Neutron' they all lean back with one another in time to the sleazy and at times whispering sounds, the chanting is strangely and beautifully possessive and lasts for as long as any opium enthused trip would dare to reach . This man, whoever he is has such a staggering presence, you can only be embraced under the (30 minute) Fat White Family wing. As I'm writing this it's frustrating because I am honestly trying to remember each and every detail like I did from other sets, but I hope you don't mind trying to make the most with what my (at the time) blown out brains remember. Perhaps this only selects out the most oozingly addictive! They unwittingly strut into 'Heaven On Earth' , as me and another fan by the name of James headbang, the band stick heads in between us to join in amongst the squall. My last memory of Fat White Family is of Lias taking a drink from my bottle, lavishing in the water he pours it down his body and in his groin before calmly placing it back in my hand.
A band who are positively destructive, but in a shamefully moreish fashion.

9/10

Best Coast

As the night was heading for a close, I really had no idea what would be in store for the fuzz-rock foursome. I had to ask Honeyblood where they came from in which the answer was California. 'Oh yeah obz' was my reply.  Anyway, after a quick morning research it had been said that the first  Dot to Dot festival city, Manchester, had taken a very mosh-keen liking to them. Upon opening with 2012's 'The Only Place' a graceful atmosphere had fallen upon Trinity. Not one of eating your heart out and wretching it up on someones feet like in the previous set. But one purely for lo-fi punk groove. After all, by now everyone is in the mood for a more polite celebration; Best Coast have just released their 8th record ( including EP's) in 6 years , 400 of us are all so gloriously zoned and it is the festivals 10th birthday. Initially starting as a duo, both Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno fundamentally fuse with an extra pair very well, each instrumental melts precisely into each bouncy hook and harmony. The set continues to sound more acclimatised to its surroundings and managed to tame the audience of actually dancing and contemplating

rather then anything closer to a pulpit of torture , which for Best Coast was a triumph in itself. Cosentino ponders and drones in 'Do you love me' but it has to be said that the grittier 'Crazy For You' , " I want to hit you but I kiss you/ I want to kill you but I'd miss you" benefits them much more. Hearing a typically Best Coast garage punk chord rumble suggests the less developed stuff sometimes seems to be what wins the crowd over. Best Coast pick the right time to stay deep in their roots. For this years development, 'California Nights' itself and what lies within the album are rocketed out from the band, they barely stop with a 60 minute set to squeeze in just why 6 years marks nothing onto what some have recently called 'a dying 90's sound'. You would think they're Pitchfork.com nonce's by the time set closer 'Boyfriend' comes around. We all scream the words straight back at the 'Cool as a cucumber' Californians. With the last fuzzed up strum, Bruno jacks up the reverb and plays out for what seemed a spectacular eternity of time, one of which we did not want to end.Wherever they're headed next, they're not burning out in any body's eyes here tonight.

8/10 

Myself, Pippa and Faith from Pins!

I hope this saga of writing has brought you to your senses of how much musical mayhem can be witnessed in one afternoon/evening. Forget £25. This day has seemed priceless.From now until next year Dot To Dot. You have once again purely outlived my expectations. See you in 2016!