Multi-venue wristband access festivals are ten a penny these days, but West London’s Bushstock remains one of the best due to its consistently good curation and interesting venues which this year included a church, a library space that doubles as a bar, a second-hand clothes store, an outdoor space under a railway bridge, an early 1900’s chandelier lit and mirrored dance hall, as well as a small handful of regular pubs. The day was also blessed with a beautifully sunny sky, which whilst not as important at this type of event as outdoor festivals in grassy fields that turn to mud, still improved it further by putting everyone in a post-election upbeat mood. Here are some thoughts about this year’s festival. 1. Women are equal to men. This is obvious, right? We’re all just humans. But as has been highlighted on the internet over the last couple of years, when it comes to festivals it seems that organisers have totally forgotten this, with many line-ups featuring predominantly male artists and very few having female musicians headlining. Bushstock bucked this trend with the main headliners being the three-piece sister group The Staves and one of the other main stages being headlined by indie rock four piece The Big Moon, who are all female. Of course, it shouldn’t be necessary to point out that there were ‘all female bands’ playing, bands should just be bands, but here’s the point - Bushstock was a complete sell-out. The message to other festival promoters here is clear. Don’t book bands on some misguided notion that people only want to see male musicians. People want to see good music; and either sex is capable of creating that. Interestingly as a side observation the mix of punters at Bushstock, measured in an unscientific overview, was approximately 50/50 male / female – maybe a reflection of the line-up and maybe one of the reasons why Bushstock always sells out – it’s not limiting its audience. 2. If you like sitting down, Bushstock is the festival for you. First there’s Stephen’s Church. Which means that the majority of the audience are seated in the pews. Those that aren’t sit on the aisles, although the hardcore stand at the back. But it’s not just at the Church. This year a new venue (The Library at Bush Theatre) was introduced and for the 1 set that I attended there (Joy Crookes, more of whom below) everyone sat down on the floor. Then there’s Bush Hall. A dance hall and more traditional standing venue. But in between every act on there, people sat down. Experienced attendees will tell you that at any music festival, it’s all about pacing yourself, but the amount of sitting down at Bushstock took things to a new level of relaxation.
3. There’s a complete absence of bad manners at Bushstock. And I don't mean the British 2 Tone and Ska band fronted by Buster Bloodvessel. Maybe there’s a correlation with the sitting down. Maybe it’s because of the 50/50 split of sexes in the audience. Maybe it’s because of the nice venues. Most likely it’s because of the choices of the artists, which never veers too far into the mainstream, or where the acts have potential mainstream appeal, they haven’t reached that far yet. But whatever the reason, it’s noticeable that Bushstock is very well mannered. Acoustic acts are given the quiet reverence they deserve. There’s a noticeable lack of ‘lads out on the town’ treating the event as a pub crawl rather than a music festival. Even in crowded venues late arrivals don’t attempt to push their way to the front at the expense of those who got there in good time. It is very refreshing to see people behaving nicely.
4. Bushstock might be an urban festival, but it still has its own food options and it was very good. Shepherd’s Bush might be full of fast food chicken joints, but Bushstock also provided its own festival catering. Down at the Courtyard stage I sampled a delicious falafel and haloumi wrap with high quality ingredients from Nazari and upstairs at Bush Hall there was a tasty looking roof top barbeque taking place. 5. There was some music as well. Most of it was excellent.
Some of my highlights included Joy Crookes (streaming below) who silenced The Library stage with stripped back songs that hinted at elements of Amy Winehouse, Lauren Hill and Billie Holiday with a 2017 lyrical twist and flashes of brilliance just waiting to be discovered by the masses. In Bush Hall The Big Moon brought a playful and cheery cockiness to the proceedings with their mix of raucous indie rock and girl-gang harmonies as well as a punky take on Madonna's Beautiful Stranger. If you haven’t heard their debut album Love In The 4th Dimension yet it’s a cracker - give it a play They were preceded by the composed musical beauty of Liv Dawson (pictured above) whose songs are full of yearning and subtle vocal intricacy. Whilst most of Dawson’s set was full of slow warming tenderness she finished with a surprise – a dance banger that wouldn’t be out of place on one of those Ibiza weekender compilations you used to get in the 90s; it brought out some spontaneous eye-popping rave moves from certain sections of the crowd. Another band that impressed and brought out more dancing was indie-dance-pop outfit Fours. With a sound that sits in the same camp as the likes of Fickle Friends, and an energetic bomb of a front woman (Edith Violet) they were one of the most invigorating acts of the day. Once again Bushstock came up trumps. It can hold its head up as a model of how to put on a one day multi-venue music festival. It's a truly excellent day for any genuine music fan. The acts I saw at Bushstock: Mirror Fury, Avante Black, Joy Crookes, Fours, Arlissa, Fyfe, Palace Winter, Liv Dawson, The Big Moon Joy Crookes - Bad Feeling
Put together one of the artists I named as One to Watch for 2017 (Liv Dawson) and another artist that I’ve featured in the past (salute*) and what do you get? The musical equivalent of feel good movie with bags and bags of popcorn coated in sunshine. It’s just what the doctor ordered. As Liv sings of “getting drunk on the bass” and of being so excited that she’s only just begun, it’s impossible to feel anything but absolute optimism and hope from this shiny computerised banger. A tiny bit of internet research reveals that this track is a bit of a team effort with Zyra (another previous One to Watch, who as yet still hasn’t released her own music, but it is perhaps getting closer) stating on Instagram that this started out as a soul pop instrumental that she made to try and make salute smile “and he took it on and smashed the final song" with Liv Dawson, Pawws (another Breaking More Waves regular a few years back) and Bren Grieve (Sam Smith’s bass player and a writer / producer in his own right). *What is it with all these trendy kids just doing their name in lower case? Did they learn nothing about grammar when they were at school? salute - Light Up (Ft. Liv Dawson)
On May 16th of this year I posted Liv Dawson’s elegant ‘debut’ Tapestry and wrote this: “File under one to watch.” Now it’s November and I’m following my own instructions. Of course, the word debut is used very loosely because Liv actually released a song Here’s That Rainy Day independently about 4 years ago. Since then she’s been slowly developing her music until Tapestry and she followed it up with the Open Your Eyes EP, which featured the songs Open Your Eyes, Reflection and Still. Support slots this year with the likes of Frances and Honne have exposed her unadulterated voice to an audience as have key playlist slots from the likes of Apple and Spotify. There’s no question that Liv, who hails from Shepperton, Surrey has a faultless voice and that the first songs she’s put out are perfectly formed in all the right places. What remains to be seen is if her music connects with people beyond playlisters, bloggers, radio producers and music industry representatives. And like any of the other acts in this Ones to Watch for 2017 series, that’s something that even the music ‘experts’ can’t guarantee. That’s down to you….. Liv Dawson - Still
Here are a few of my golden rules of gig going: 1.If you have long hair and intend on dancing or swaying your head around, tie your hair back - ideally into a bun or low ponytail. The person standing behind you doesn't want a mouthful of your locks in their face, mouth or drink. Unless they have a weird hair fetish of course, but I think there's special clubs for that. 2.Music is about sound. Therefore when the band are playing, shut the fuck up with your conversation so that everyone around you can hear the sound properly. 3.Busy gigs can mean a lot of people crammed into an area. It's likely that your zone of personal space is going to be invaded. You need to accept this. However, whilst we are all invading each other's comfort zones we need to be accommodating and aware of each other. If someone slips or falls, help them up. If someone is unwell, get the attention of a venue staff member and medical assistance. If you are pushed or bump into someone apologise. Don't even think about groping anyone that hasn't given their consent. Act like a decent human being. 4.Always get to the gig early and watch the support bands. You might regret it if you don't when 5 years later they are headlining arenas at £50 a ticket. Last weekend I went to see Honne. The support act (who I was there to see as much as Honne - following rule 4 above) was Liv Dawson. Ironically, when I first wrote about Liv on the blog in May I started the piece by writing about rule 4 then, so what goes around, comes around. Her set was very short, but one thing was immediately apparent - the purity of her voice. Every song was pitch perfect, delivered with the accuracy of a gold winning Olympic shooter, without ever being bombastic. My ears were instantly charmed. Of course it's early days for Liv and so maybe her stage confidence still needs to grow a little, but given the opportunity that will surely come, but for now her voice is plenty enough to make someone's day better. Here's another example of her gorgeous tones, on new electronic crooner Open Your Eyes, which was produced by Guy Lawrence of Disclosure and finds Liv singing to someone that she'll never be what they want her to be. According to Radio 1 Extra they are 'premiering' the tune tonight at 7.45pm GMT. But considering it's already on Spotify and Soundcloud, I thought I'd give you the 'preview premiere'. Liv Dawson - Open Your Eyes
September and October tends to be that time when 'new music' people like me start thinking of their tips for 2017. (Actually not quite true, I started thinking about mine in May, but then I'm a massive geek when it comes to that sort of stuff - it brings out the trainspotter / nerd / stats-freak element in me). Last year there seemed to be more Ones to Watch lists than ever before, and by the end of December it got to the point of being overwhelming. Ironically, it’s getting harder and harder for new artists to break through (and when I say break through, I mean in terms of getting to a point where they are able to make a sustainable career out of making music) and so many of these tip lists are pretty redundant despite their vast numbers. 18 year old Liv Dawson is an artist who might just make a few of this year's lists. Maybe. She is undeniably talented and I’ve already seen her name crop up on a few conversations between tastemaker types as well as on a number of key Spotify playlists. Even I've got in on the action. In fact I jumped the gun a bit when I posted about her in May and said that she was one to ‘file under one to watch’. Having already supported Frances and being booked for Honne’s forthcoming tour, she’s getting plenty of exposure, and her latest track Reflection, her best song to date, is really worth a listen. Produced by Levi Lennox it's an elegant and stately piece of soul-pop with a very day time radio friendly chorus. Oh, and keep an eye out in November, because as I’ve tended to do over the last few years I’ll be publishing my own Ones to Watch for 2017 list before all the big guns publish their's. In fact, I’ve already decided on 90% of the acts that I will be featuring (clue: most of them will have featured before on the blog) and quite a few of the posts have been part drafted. Will Liv Dawson be one of the choices? My lips are sealed for now. Have patience and just enjoy this song. Liv Dawson - Reflection
Nearly a month ago I posted the so called ‘debut’ track from Liv Dawson (although to be honest I’m not sure if record labels really understand the word debut these days – it seems what they really mean is ‘first track we’ve been involved in – we’re going to ignore anything the artist might have done independently or with someone else before’) and it was, dare I say it, a stunner. It seems like I wasn’t the only one to think so either, with the song quickly going to #1 in the Spotify UK's Viral 50 Chart and #4 in the Global Viral Chart. So just in case you missed it, here’s a second chance, this time by way of the video for the song, which takes a soft focus collage approach to clips of memories that many, if not all of us, will know. Just to repeat / reinforce etc - this one is a stunner. Liv Dawson - Tapestry (Video)
One of my golden rules of going to gigs is always turn up early and watch the support acts. If it wasn’t for that rule I wouldn’t have seen early shows by the likes of Radiohead (supporting the Frank & Walters), The Killers (supporting Stellastarr), Franz Ferdinand (supporting Hot Hot Heat) and Coldplay (supporting Terris) to name just a few. If you’ve recently seen Frances on tour and followed my 'turn up early' rules then you will be one step ahead of me, because you will have already had the chance to see and enjoy Liv Dawson, who I’m introducing on the blog today with her official debut release Tapestry. It’s one of those songs that it’s easy to describe as sounding ‘effortless’, which is a pretty terrible description really, because it implies laziness - and I’m sure that wasn’t the case in the creation process. Maybe ‘well crafted’ and ‘beguiling’ are better words - but certainly Tapestry is sleek, sophisticated soul pop. It’s tempered and tasteful – the sort of satin coated music that at worst will find its way onto all of those ‘chillax’ or ‘late night vibes’ playlists that are designed to smooth your worries away and at its best is a rather lovely introduction to a singer, who on the evidence of this song, just oozes talent. File under one to watch. Liv Dawson - Tapestry
