FESTIVAL PREVIEW: 2000 Trees Festival 2018

June 25, 2018 Eddie Sims

2000 Trees Festival is a bit of an unspoken gem in the British festival season bouquet. The tiny festival that partners up with the wonderful ArcTanGent to host a double bill of events across two months always boasts a line up that heralds the best of the new generation of bands. The intimate feeling that comes with having such a small event makes 2000 Trees Festival a unique environment that is starting to strike gold balancing the big event feel with intimacy most would never consider possible at a festival.

Thursday

Things kick off immediately on the Thursday afternoon, so after setting up your tent its time to grab a beer and go catch PALM READER as they kick start the weekend with the energy of a chainsaw. PRESS TO MECO will be bringing songs off their stellar new effort Here’s To The Fatigue so be sure to catch the three piece stealing the show like they did at the festival two years ago. TURBOWOLF and BOSTON MANOR will both provide ample entertainment to tide one over, with the party-fuel riffs of the former playing a nice contrast to the emotional punk rock of the latter. It’s all just killing time until TURNSTILE deliver what is likely to be the set of the weekend. Bring your crash helmets, cause the amount of crowd surfers will probably be ludicrous. The main draw for most on the Thursday will be ARCANE ROOTS delivering two sets, one of which being an acoustic set on the Forest Stage, and the other being a meaty main stage slot where the technically impressive trio will deliver a huge set for those present before BLACK PEAKS and AT THE DRIVE IN bring their stunning headline shows to the eager masses. BLACK PEAKS headlining The Cave is a recipe for guaranteed greatness!

Friday

Waking up and powering through the hangover on the Friday will be a task for sure, but PHOXJAW will be offering a helping hand in the form of a frantic audio assault, whilst CHAPTER AND VERSE will also be providing hangover cures in the form of impassioned post-hardcore carnage before the soothing and expansive sounds of COURAGE, MY LOVE bring a calmer vibe to the day. For anyone looking for a fresh new faucet of hardcore noise, HELLIONS and HOLDING ABSENCE will provide ample material to get lost in, and AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR will be gracing the main stage ahead of their headline slot at the partnered ArcTanGent Festival. If there are two bands you absolutely have to make sure you see, it’ll be HO99O9 and TOUCHE AMORE. HO99O9 are just incomparable at the moment and their punk-gone-wrong sound makes for a harrowing and intense live experience, and in direct contrast, TOUCHE AMORE will be the most emotional set of the weekend so bring the tissues! Easily the most difficult decision one will have to make over the weekend will be either the merciless, crushing power of CONJURER or the groundbreaking punk rock anthems of CREEPER. Whoever you decide to go for, everyone’s night will end the same when TWIN ATLANTIC close the night out for a second time in the band’s career.

Saturday

As the weekend enters its final day, things do anything but slow down. HAGGARD CAT will be harnessing the power of the riff on the main stage to make sure everyone is very much awake before the pop punk musings of MUSKETS and WOES show that the next steps for the genre are in the best possible hands. FUNERAL SHAKES are the newest band to follow in the sounds of bands like LOWER THAN ATLANTIS so swing through and enjoy the pop-centred-punk-powered songs before the punk as fuck BLOOD COMMAND tear the festival a new one. BEANS ON TOAST reflect the attitude and heart of 2000 Trees Festival arguably better than anyone, and the folk punk and his acoustic guitar will be bringing only the best vibes to the Main Stage on the Saturday afternoon. If that doesn’t tickle your pickle then there’s always the classic racket of RAGING SPEEDHORN to satisfy the aggressor within. BASEMENT are Britain’s favourite emo act and their crowd sizes have only been growing with every show they play, so their set at this year’s event is likely to be a show stealer, with the same being said for HELL IS FOR HEROES who are playing a headline slot off the back of their Download Festival slot as main support on the Zippo Encore Stage. For those who were having a mild panic about clashes, SIKTH will be blasting their way through a technical masterclass when they headline the second stage in time for the golden boys of the British alternative scene ENTER SHIKARI to bring everything home with a set that will leave everyone’s jaw on the floor and their eardrums in tatters.

2000 Trees Festival boasts one of the most eclectic and downright brilliant line ups of the year this year, and we’re incredibly excited to be attending and keeping up with all the amazing music on offer throughout the weekend!