FESTIVAL REVIEW: 2000trees Festival 2019
Having been a bucket-list item for the past few years, it was finally time to check out 2000trees for the first time. What should we have expected; a UK festival which surely meant mud, torrential rain and overpriced food. 2000trees proved to have none of these things.
Despite the forecast only mentioning the slightest dusting of rain, the Wednesday of 2000trees remained thankfully dry. Upcote Farm is, well… a Farm; a quaint small entrance between two bushes takes you straight through to the car parks from where it’s an incredibly short walk to the wristband exchange. After pitching the tent and having the first venture off into the “village”, it was apparent that the festival site is actually pretty cosy. We’d heard stories from people about how the festival is laid out, but to walk from bed to main stage inside of five minutes is still pretty special. With it being the first day of 2000trees, only The Forest Stage was open for music – though it’s perhaps one of the real cornerstones of the festival.
Set amongst the woodland itself, The Forest Stage is small yet full of character – we headed over as a camp to check out Luke Rainsford (8) for the first of his multiple sets over the weekend. His tracks Looking For Your Ghost and Home Safe were received best by fans both old and new with those on the front rows singing along in earnest. It’s a picture-postcard setting, acoustic stage in the woods with drinks flowing and good vibes; lovely. However; the gentle ambience was soon forgotten by the time the headphone disco began. For a £10 deposit (taken from your cashless wristband no less), the rest of the festival is saved from thundering bass into the early hours of the morning whilst those tuned into their DJ of choice can sing to their heart’s content. Being the first night, it’s just the one channel down on The Forest Stage which transformed it from chilled-out acoustic getaway to mosh pits, flying beers and the DJ being astounded at the turnout. How ELSE are you going to spend a Wednesday night in a forest in Cheltenham?(!)
Thursday morning brought everyone’s fear a little closer with a brief yet intense shower of rain. It left as soon as it arrived and before long, the ground was once again dry. Now with the sun having burnt through as well, campers were forced out of their tents not much past 9AM; a cruel start after the night before. Hangover cures were abundant in the village however; breakfast bacon sarnies, fresh smoothies and fruit juices, even slices of watermelon. Those that hadn’t brought sun-cream were soon reminded of the fact as the day grew even hotter – the tent stages provided what little respite there was to be found from the sunburn.
We began our first full day of music over on the NEU Stage with PHOXJAW (9), the audio lovechild of BIFFY CLYRO and Rare-era HUNDREDTH but with added hints of DEFTONES. What a mix. The tent is packed, which is a great sign of things to come; the summer weather hasn’t deterred people from getting stuck in. Moving to the Cave Stage, festival returnees HAGGARD CAT (8) also brought a sizeable crowd which came especially handy for sing-along American Graffiti. There’s an altogether family spirit around 2000trees it feels, most bands here have either played the festival or shows with each other before; NERVUS (7) and MILK TEETH (8) are close friends and smash their respective sets whilst LOATHE (9) and HOLDING ABSENCE (9) are reunited after that split EP from last year. LOATHE’s cacophony of riffs and spin-kicks in Servant and Master was rounded off with a heartwarming Happy Birthday, whilst HOLDING ABSENCE seemed to be cut off in the final minute of arguably the most powerful track in their set Penance. This didn’t stop vocalist Lucas and guitarist Scott from jumping into the crowd to finish the last section of the song, screaming back into the faces of the audience below.
As the summer sun began to set, YONAKA (8) provided their signature alt-pop vibes to a happily enthusiastic crowd over on the Main Stage. Returning back to camp we catch BLOOD YOUTH (9) tear apart the NEU Stage with mostly new material of recent LP Starve followed by ex-CROOKS frontman Sullii (8) with his new hip-hop/emo project over on The Forest Stage. Sullii’s set was a real change of pace from the heavier scene on the other stages, replacing it with a different kind of emotional heavy. His LP You and Everything Blue is a must-listen.
With the sun finally gone, WHILE SHE SLEEPS (10) took to the stage for what was to be a true embodiment of what the heavy music scene should be. With the absence of vocalist Lawrence Taylor, SLEEPS called on their friends from other bands to fill in and boy, did they deliver. CANCER BATES’ frontman Liam Cormier, SHVPES vocalist Griffin Dickinson, COMEBACK KID’s Andrew Neufeld, HOLDING ABSENCE’s Lucas Woodland and BLOOD YOUTH’s Kaya Tarsus all stepped up to the plate to support the WHILE SHE SLEEPS boys in a set which was a definite highlight of the entire weekend (and it was only the first day!). The community spirit that ran through the entire show was almost palpable, everybody there knew that this was a really special occasion. Closing the set off with Hurricane, the audience are left singing “The North still stands for nothing” into the night.
Friday was, in some ways, a less hectic affair. PENGSHUI (7) started the day off with drum, bass and bars. FFO TEK-ONE, HACKTIVIST and ASTROID BOYS; the tent was shaking and heads were rocking. DREAM STATE‘s (9) afternoon appearance brought the crowd en masse to the Main Stage for a set that blew everyone away. Most recent single Primrose, which had only been released a week prior, had circle pits brewing whist White Lies rounded off the set with vocalist CJ atop the crowd. DREAM STATE are going from strength to strength. A quick pitstop back at camp had us back at Main Stage in time for HANDS LIKE HOUSES (8). The Australian quintet made it everything a good Main Stage set should be – mostly singles with a few older tracks thrown in for good measure. Overthinking and Monster showed off their 2018 release Anon and for all the earlier fans, Introduced Species threw it back all the way back to 2013. HANDS LIKE HOUSES sounded huge and kept the party vibes going throughout the day.
MODERN ERROR (8) made their 2000trees debut with their set on the NEU Stage. Playing tracks off their EP Lost In The Noise the four piece delivered their mix of melodic/post-hardcore and massive choruses to growing captive audience. ROLO TOMASSI (8) powered through a riotous set which only really pauses for breath during huge, anthemic single Aftermath. Their mathcore/ prog-inlfluenced sound leaves a few people rocking their heads to irregular off-beats, more fool them; easily some of the most intelligent and interesting music-writing of the weekend. AS IT IS (9) are introduced by frontman Patty Walters along the lines of “Hello, we’re a band called MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE”. Points for a man that can take online ridicule and turn it back on itself. Their most recent LP The Great Depression has elevated them to new heights and grants them that Main Stage slot that was perfectly timed with the setting sun/golden hour. Beautiful.
YOU ME AT SIX (9) were nothing short of brilliant. We’ve not usually been one to sing their praises, however, their live show at 2000trees had every element of showmanship, finesse and a production that was on point. Sound mix, set choice, even the lighting rig was set to near-perfection. Every change in lighting was matched to a snare or vocal hook. Josh Franceschi’s crowd interaction is also great: no-messing, no-pratting-about with the “leaving stage just to come back on two minutes later”, instead he leaves the stage to down a load of tequila before ending on a three-song encore, No One Does It Better, Straight To My Head and Room To Breathe. To cut it short, YOU ME AT SIX sounded amazing and quite honestly made us want to go back and listen to their back catalogue upon returning home. Decent, lads.
The final day of 2000trees was, sadly, grey but still dry. It still felt like summer, albeit not quite as toasty as the days prior. Opening the Cave Stage were duo RIVAL BONES (8) who give the village that morning wake-up call they all needed after the night before. Singles Robot Girl and You Know Who You Are are hard hitting choruses and gritty riffs to rock even the stiffest of necks back and forth.
For Scottish three-piece VUKOVI (9), their 2000trees set was utterly bonkers. Filled with singles from the debut LP and recent releases C.L.A.U.D.I.A and Behave, the set also features inflatables, the largest circle pit we’d seen all weekend and one person dressed as a fridge. Yes, a fridge. Singer Janine invited the fridge to the centre of the pit where the rest of the crowd circled like a maelstrom of bodies. Complete madness. DELAIRE, THE LIAR (8), having played a small acoustic set on one of the campsite stages the night before returned, this time to the NEU Stage for a set of acrobatics both vocal and physical; singer Ffin has a vocal dexterity that’s pretty astounding and doesn’t falter even when he’s atop the crowd or in it.
EVERY TIME I DIE (9) were a highly anticipated spot on the bill that brought droves of fans down to the Main Stage. Perhaps the most intense set of the day so far; EVERY TIME I DIE are relentless and provide all the riffs and jams you could ever want from a main support on Main Stage. Most intense set of the day SO FAR; that was until THE ARMED (10) took to the NEU Stage. To be greeted into the tent by a guy in a ghillie suit sat at a table with croissants and packet cheese was, well, odd to begin with. As the first song starts, the vocalist jumped the barrier and began to mosh with the crowd as if it were nothing; the table and chairs were still sat at the centre of the tent by the way whilst our friend in the ghillie suit walked around the crowd thanking people with a hug for being there. Fresh pints fly across the tent, the vocalist even lies down outside the tent next to a relaxing punter still screaming the lyrics. Having been warned beforehand about how THE ARMED do business, the term “Absolute Bedlam” does indeed ring true. Strobe lights and a little cuddle with the security on the barrier made THE ARMED’s set an experience like no other – how can you follow that up?
DEAF HAVANA (8) are also 2000trees returnees and headlined the Saturday Main Stage with a party/dance vibe that showcased a mish-mash of material from their back catalogue. The mix was a little muddy and we struggled to pick out parts of tracks that are recognisable on record, though by this point, it’s DEAF HAVANA on Main Stage; hard graft and a tonne of work has got the band to this point and it’s great to see them still playing tracks off Fools and Worthless Liars as well as recent single Fever.
All in all, 2000trees 2019 was everything we had heard it would be; welcoming, clean (seriously, it was remarkably clean) and full of great vibes all around. We already cannot wait for next year.