Last year was my first trip to a farm in Cheltenham for a couple of days and I experienced one of the best festivals that I have been to. The whole weekend, you’ve never come across so many like minded and friendly people all in one place. Oh yeah and also the soundtrack to it all was pretty banging as well! Needless to say attending it again, expectations were high knowing how well run everything was so I was thinking would it reach the heights of before? Would the weather hold out? Would the Bunnychow food stall still be there? (Spoiler alert…it’s yes to all!)
Thursday
The Main Stage is my hangout for the first part of the day with The Oozes bringing that camp punk energy to proceedings early on. Dead Pony are already starting to feel like staples at the festival, having performed to a large crowd last year, an intimate Forest set the day before and now smashing it on the main stage. From their opening with a cover of “Voodoo People” to closing things off with “MANA” everything feels punchy and to the point. Another thing to comment on is the great representation of artists at this festival. Somebody who has only been getting bigger over the last few years is Cassyette having already sold out tours themselves and supported the likes of Bring Me The Horizon in the last couple of years. It’s great to hear “Die Hate Cry” so early on, which is essentially a minute long breakdown before flowing into the wonderfully epic “September Rain”. “Petrichor” still sounds huge coming out of the big speakers before a bouncing finale of “Dear Goth”.
After 10 years of saying “goodnight” for the final time in Cardiff, Kids In Glass Houses have returned following a number of reunion shows and it honestly feels as though nothing has changed at all. Their songs are as infectious and catchy as ever whether it’s the feel good factor of “Sunshine” or “Undercover Lover” or the sing alongs to the likes of “Saturday” and “Give Me What I Want”. Even after such a long break Aled’s vocals still ring out note perfect across the main stage. The taste of their new album “Pink Flamingo” doesn’t show any signs of these things going away any time soon.
Boston Manor pack out The Axiom to one of the biggest crowds of the weekend, despite even performing the night before. Even with technical issues and long gaps between songs it still goes down as one of the highlights of the weekend. The Deftones style influence is written all over their new material particularly “Sliding Doors” which brings forth the biggest pit of the set and those who aren’t involved all headbanging along. However one of the moments of the whole festival comes during “Passenger” which has several thousand people in and outside of the tent singing along to one of the biggest reactions of them all.
Manchester Orchestra feel made for the big stage. In recent years their albums have only grown in scope and that mixture of passion and emotion that comes from Andy Hull resonates with the loving Trees crowd. “Pride” opens things up with its slow build and crunching riffs which really sets the tone of things to come. The real highlights come from the double header of “The Maze” leading into “The Gold” accompanied by The Gaslight Anthem’s, Brian Fallon on vocal duties. There’s such melody and something so uplifting hearing it all play out and in the moment you can’t help but feel as though you want to be anywhere else.
The Forest stage seems like the perfect setting for emo-indiers Los Campesinos. They’re a band that really bring everyone together and even in the crowd I ended up making friends with a couple who bonded over their love of LC. It’s the first chance that a UK crowd have gotten to hear material from their new record “All Hell” along with being the first UK festival the band have done in over a decade. They’ve never been ones for keeping their lyrics light hearted but joy on everyone’s faces during the likes of “Avocado, Baby”, “Straight In At 101” and “Romance Is Boring” shows what a special band they are. Gareth’s skill for a witty rhyming couplet never gets old and the shouting back of their infamous “Tory” line feels almost cathartic in its delivery from the crowd. Such is the confidence in their set, we don’t even get to hear their most famous hit but to be honest, no one is leaving the Forest disappointed tonight.
The Thursday night headliner clash was incredibly cruel. You could either see one of the most well loved bands The Gaslight Anthem return after an extended hiatus or witness one of the first performances in the UK of supergroup Better Lovers made up of several of my favourite former metal bands. I decide to go with the latter and one song in, I think it’s apparent why. During opener “Become So Small” frontman Greg Puciato climbs up the scaffolding and launches himself several rows into the crowd. For the next 50 minutes we get one of the tightest sets of the weekend which beautifully encapsulates what a mixture of Every Time I Die and Dillinger Escape Plan would sound like. The energy doesn’t stop as they rattle through their blistering debut EP and songs off of their upcoming debut album, but at the same time as all of the thrashing guitars and rifts; there’s musicianship and subtlety in Puciato’s vocals that you might not expect. Finishing off with “30 Under 13”, everything is left out there from one of the most electrifying sets of the weekend, closing out the Thursday in style.
Friday
For those who are wanting to keep the party going early on Friday morning, Birmingham based Fangs Out provide a nice big kick off to proceedings with their hardcore tunes. With a number of loyal fans already at the front, they gain a shed load more by the end of the set; getting the pits going even before most of them have finished their morning coffee. And for those looking for a little calming down from the night before, Welsh singer Tom Jenkins feels like the perfect hangover cure for those present. Hearing his dulcet Welsh tones brings an even more intimate feeling to the already intimate Forest. Clearly already loved by a lot of the crowd these two totally different acts encapsulate so much of what is great about Trees as a festival. Sweet Pill do their best to win over the crowd and whilst their music goes down really well with those present; when American’s have a dig at a British institution like “Greggs”, you’re definitely treading on thin ice!
If there’s ever a future headliner on this bill, it’s got to be Nova Twins. Their peers have tipped them for huge things in the upcoming years having already broken into the mainstream with Brit Award and Mercury nominations. Based on their performance to a packed Friday afternoon crowd, it feels as they are already ready for it. Without any prior motivation needed from the audience, as soon as it kicks off, the pits are opening up all over the place and wave upon wave of crowd surfers find their way over the barrier. A shout out to the security team over the whole weekend who have helped with the at times pretty crazy crowds and kept everything safe the whole time!
The crossover appeal with the likes of “Cleopatra”, “Taxi” and “K.M.B” branches the perfect blend of rock and grime and shows why they have gotten as far as they have so far. I don’t think that you will hear a dirtier bass guitar than that of Georgia South’s all weekend. Bouncing like a Duracell bunny throughout and complimented by Love’s biting vocals is constantly exciting. Especially during the final three hits of “Undertaker”, “Antagonist” and “Choose Your Fighter” which see the pair initially surfing their way into the middle of the crowd before a pit surrounds them towards the end. It’s definitely one of the highlights of the weekend and they are certainly ones we can expect even bigger things from going forward.
In one of the busiest crowds at The Cave stage all weekend, Palm Reader perform their last ever gig to an adoring Trees audience. It’s a blistering way to bow out from the metalcore outfit with “Internal Winter” setting the pace of things to come later followed by the pounding “Stay/Down” and “Swarm”. Even when things slow down slightly for “False Thirst” it still feels extremely heavy but all still very tight. “Seeing And Believing Are Two Different Things” goes right back to the early days and sees an influx of members over their time taking to the stage to participate. During an emotional hug between everyone for set closer “A Bird And Its Feathers”, they bathe in the applause and chants of their name minutes after things finish. It’s a triumphant finale to a band who have been going strong for the past decade.
Friday mainstage headliners The Chats, probably seem somewhat smaller in comparison to the arena filling acts performing on the other days at the festival. What they lack in putting on a big extravagant show, they more than make up for with tongue in cheek old fashioned punk rock. Always played to the crowd with a wry smile their Australian twang rings out during songs about cars, getting drunk and smoking cigarettes. It might not be pushing any boundaries within the genre, but you can’t deny it’s a heck of a lot of fun and their hour long set absolutely flies by.
One of the unique additions to the site this year is the expansion of the silent disco to now include live sets so as to avoid any noise curfews. It’s an experience which feels weird in the crowd, it must feel even odder for the bands playing; including Snayx who made a special effort to make it over having had to cancel their main set on the Thursday. Everyone in the Forest is set to the red channel as through the headphones you can hear their energetic set playing through without any other hinderances whatsoever. You take them off and it’s extremely eerie; you can see the band giving it everything on stage but you can’t hear a single note or a single drum snare. Whatever Houdini-like magic the technicians have used to make this work should be commended. The fact that the band aren’t getting that same feedback and noise from the crowd doesn’t seem to bother them in the slightest!
Saturday
If you need something to get the energy back in you on day 3 of a festival, then rock duo 68 are certainly going to do their best to do so. Dressed more like they are going to serve hors d’oeuvres than blow your socks off, the make one pretty large noise for first thing in the morning. Panic Shack follow with their Welsh charm and punk rock, along with songs about picking out the right meal deal and not wanting to hold your baby! In the space of their very short half hour set, I think it can be safe to say that fun is had by all. Indie rockers The Mysterines are making a statement at the moment with their second album “Afraid Of Tomorrows”. From the bouncy opening of “Sink Your Teeth” to set closer “Stray”, they worm their way into the ears of the Cheltenham crowd. However it’s probably stand alone single “Begin Again” which shows even more maturity from a band in the early stages of something even bigger.
I feel as though the early evening slot from Death From Above 1979 in The Axiom is probably the most fun I’ve had all weekend. Performing their debut album “You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine” in full from start to finish for its 20th anniversary is nostalgic for not only me but all of the others packed into the tent. From the opening distorted bass riffs of “Turn It Out” right until the end, I just have the biggest smile on my face. It still feels incredibly fresh to this day and in its live setting just hits even harder. Half of the fun is knowing that there is yet another banger just coming around the corner, but it really hits its peak during “Little Girl” which sees a pit taking up a good majority of the tent. Not only do we get the treat of hearing the album in for, we get a little bit extra which really does feel like the icing on top of the cake. “One+One”, “Freeze Me” and “Trainwreck 1979” give us a very quick stop along the rest of their back catalogue. Many others have tried to emulate their sound in the years since their debut, but none can really hold a candle to what the two piece can bring to the table.
A lot of the build up around the Saturday being on site, feels like most people are here to see one band in particular. Judging from the proportional amount of band t-shirts seen across the day, it feels as though Creeper are going to have one of the biggest sets of the whole weekend. An hour before they are due to arrive the tent already starts to fill up and by the time that 8.30pm comes around there is barely a spare piece of ground visible under the covers. Introduced to the stage by their “vampire familiar” it feels absolutely camp as Christmas and I am all in! Drawing primarily on their most reinvention for their album “Sanguivore” for their set it sounds at times like Meat Loaf turned up to 11 especially on epic opener “Further Than Forever”.
This on top of around six different epic key changes (sometimes in the same song), extended drum solos and make-up that has come out of a hammer horror film make this feel like another headline act all in itself. Quite possibly the most special moment of the whole weekend though comes during “Misery” when everything goes quiet and the crowd sing along to every word in what is the biggest sing along all weekend. You can tell how much it means to the band; sound emotional during their appreciations during the chants of “Creeper” over and over again. Next time around, they are almost certain a top billing!
The headliners for the Saturday night are Don Broco, who surprisingly have never played the festival before which is extremely surprising. However they fit in right away with literally no introduction before going into a one two hit of “Everybody” and “Pretty”. Anybody who has been to a Broco show before will know what to expect; there is going to be an on stage swagger from Rob Damaini and there are going to be multiple high kicks and spins from guitarist Simon Delaney. You’re also going to hope for a lot of tunes to boot and that you certainly do get with aplomb.
There’s fireworks on and off the change be it on “Action” where Kid Bronswick comes out on stage to help shift things into yet another gear or “Bruce Willis” with the chants of “Yippie Ki-Yay” being sung by several thousand in the mosh pit. Even having a snippet of their early “scene-song” “Thug Workout” feels like a real treat for those who have been around in the early days. As the set closes they talk about how they’re in the process of writing a new album but it’s the live shows like this that really make things come to life. You can tell that their set tonight means something special to them, coming from such a special festival.
There’s a reason why bands adore this place so much and that is because for each and every act that is on no matter how big or small, they will always get a crowd and they will always get appreciation from them. It feels as though gig etiquette is just applied everywhere and you never see anybody looking down at all. The amount of random people in crowds that I could just talk to without having ever met them before made me feel as though it was the safest and happiest place to be right there and then. Not only are the line-ups every single year absolutely stacked, but it just feels so well run and organised by those involved you needn’t worry about anything. Let’s hope that we can keep medium sized festivals like 2000 Trees going for years and years to come because things would be that little bit more sad without it!
Photo Credits- Gareth Bull, Jez Pennington, Carla Mundy & Joe Singh