2000 Trees Festival - Upcote Farm, Withington - 12th/13th/14th July 2012 (Live Review)
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Tuesday, 17 July 2012 |
Written by Ben Bland
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I’ll be honest with you here. When it comes to the second weekend of July there is NOWHERE in the world I’d rather be than at 2000trees Festival. I’ve been going for a few years now and each year the line-up just gets better and better. Perhaps more importantly, however, the atmosphere is always top notch. This festival is, and I speak here of the vast majority, attended by friendly people who genuinely care about the music on offer, just like the hard working people who organise the thing. Even with the horrific weather conditions that the festival unfortunately befell this year, there was no danger of people not making the best of things and having a darn good time.
 With that cleared up, let us move on to a packed review of the best music the festival had to offer this year. Thursday night may be early entry night but that does not mean that the line-up playing on The Cave stage is anything less than spectacular. The first band we manage to catch are Worcestershire proggers The Cape of Good Hope. With the exception of the bits when they are nearly suffocated by the hyperactive smoke machine they impress with their half hour of awkward time signatures but they are rather forgotten by the time Tall Ships turn up. The Falmouth trio are mathy types at heart but amongst all their loop pedals are genuinely fantastic pop songs. The reaction to their set is universally positive and the sing-along that accompanies 'Vessels' speaks volumes to their increasing reputation. Tellison should be massive, and this set proves why. There are few British rock bands writing such deliciously catchy songs with as much heart as this lot and it seems their live performances are getting better and better. If there is any justice they will be back with a high main stage slot within the next couple of years. Imperial Leisure have already played the main stage at 2000trees a couple of times. If ‘skanking’ is what you are all about then this band are for you. If you are anyone else do yourself a favour and steer well clear. The transition from their set to that of headliners Three Trapped Tigers is utterly bizarre. It is hard to think of two bands more different but, as the utterly indescribable sounds of 'Reset' echo around the tent, it is unlikely that anyone cares about that. Instead they are wrapped up in the unbelievable sounds the trio create. There simply are not enough superlatives.
One day Gunning for Tamar may be worthy of such high praise. Their poppy math rock has Foals written all over it but there are enough hints of something genuinely unique to make their set, opening the Main Stage on Friday, an enjoyable one. run, WALK! have always had a unique tinge to their vicious, mathy noise rock. Sadly this set on The Cave is their last ever and the crowd is not as large as it should be. Nevertheless the songs, taken from their recently released debut album, are fantastic. Back on the Main Stage and Freeze the Atlantic flatter to deceive with big riffs but few hooks to accompany the level of expectation that their supergroup status (featuring members of Hundred Reasons and Reuben) has attached to them. Following them, the consistently brilliant Maybeshewill win over doubting hearts and minds. The Leicestershire quintet (bumped up to a septet with strings for this show) supply beauty and ferocity in a rarely well balanced manner; luckily, an unexpected dropout enables them to do it all over again the following day. Lanterns on the Lake are all about aiming for beauty with their widescreen folk but a little work is needed to make their live show truly take off. As for Sonic Boom Six...well, it would probably be kinder not to say anything at all. Max Raptor deliver such a punchy set of heavy alt-rock that they are bumped from The Cave to the Main Stage the following day following a cancellation and such a promotion is well deserved judging by this performance.
Who would have thought that an a capella set by The Futureheads could be so entertaining? Whether expected or not, the crowd lap up the Sunderland quartet’s performance of songs from new album 'Rant'. The lack of instruments makes the harmonies of opener 'Beeswing' all the more sublime and the intimate setting of The Leaf Lounge tent gives the set something far more enticing than their Main Stage, electric, set later in the evening. The crowd thins a little for Then Thickens, the new project for Kong’s Jon-Lee Martin, but the band put on an excellent show that is more post-punk than the noise punk Martin is best known for. Dry the River know how to make indie folk sound absolutely massive, proving so on the Main Stage whilst Rolo Tomassi do their usual thing of being completely mental in The Cave. Gallows are the sort of band that send crowds wild but the mud gets the better of any such ambitions a little here, despite new frontman Wade McNeil covering himself in the stuff a couple of songs in. 65daysofstatic take to the Main Stage as headliners just in time for a major downpour. Still, getting soaked is a small price to pay for watching one of this country’s true musical innovators. The beats of 'Tiger Girl' are enough to warm anyone up anyway.
Saturday begins with the brilliance of Antlered Man, who pull a fair crowd considering the previous night’s near storm level weather. Anyone who does not agree that 'Platoono of Uno' is one of the best tunes written by any band of the last ten years should not get a say on the matter. Led by ex-Blakfish man Sam Manville, Hymns have some brilliant songs but underwhelm a little, as do Welsh hardcore starlets Bastions, who are on and off stage in under half an hour. Thankfully Brontide exist to raise the bar with such sensational epics as 'Sans Souci'. Tony Wright may have left And So I Watch You From Afar, but he still knows how to get a crowd going judging by his solo performance as VerseChorusVerse over on the tiny Greenhouse stage. Unfortunately he also precipitates another downpour and The Cave is safe refuge despite a rather uninvolving set by Arcane Roots. Following them, The James Cleaver Quintet are not as incendiary as they can be, but are still devilishly entertaining and closer 'Lower Than a Bastard' is brain meltingly fantastic. The Leaf Lounge is packed for local lads Jim Lockey & The Solemn Sun. New album 'Death' has raised their profile and they get the crowd moving before leaving after only twenty-five minutes, with the crowd begging for more. They should have been on the Main Stage.
Hundred Reasons play classic album 'Ideas Above Our Station' in full in the early evening sunshine, and frankly what more could you want from them? The nostalgia levels rise alongside the rock levels. We’re going to miss them when they are gone, as proved by the muddy attempts at moshing during 'If I Could' and 'Silver', and the sing-alongs to 'Falter' and 'Avalanche'. Lower Than Atlantis are probably big fans, but their own attempts to create similar rousing post-hardcore come across as uninspired. Future of the Left are anything but uninspired. They have cemented their eternal brilliance since the release of new album 'The Plot Against Common Sense' and this headline set in The Cave is an hour of sheer noise rock bliss. The best band in Britain? Surely the truth. As for this festival? Certainly the best that there is. See you there next year.
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