I didn’t think anyone was making records like Love in the 4th Dimension anymore. But The Big Moon have and I’m glad they did. A trashy, scrappy, rollicking indie guitar pop miscellany of catchy tunes and mosh-pit fun this is a record that sounds like Sleeper, Kenickie or Elastica embracing sixties gang harmonies with a slight sprinkling of grunge and The Pixies. Sure, it’s hardly progressive (I’ve banged on enough in the past how I believe rock music has now reached middle age and hence there’s very little room for true innovation) but I dare you to put songs like Silent Move Susie and Cupid on the stereo loud and not throw your head back with a big old grin and find yourself hollering along. The Big Moon - Cupid
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
Hello everyone. Tezza here. As you can see I’m really getting into the holiday spirit with my new Cabinet Minister for Festivities. – the bastard doesn’t look very happy about it does he though? Maybe he’s been having words with Boris about his new boss? What a toss pot.
I hope you’re all looking forward to a hard Christmas. I’ve got a plan for mine, but I’m not going to tell anyone what it is. You’ll just all have to wait and see – maybe it won’t even be on Dec 25th. Maybe it’ll take 10 years before we have another one. But I’ll tell you one thing - my husband Phillip is in for a treat. I’ve got some very special leather trousers to go with my naughty elf costume I like to wear for him on Christmas day whilst he puts on his hanky-panky Santa tinsel thong and we dance around Downing Street to our favourite Christmas tunes. Here’s one that I might get one of the slaves Downing Street staff to put on the stereo. They’re called The Big Moon and apparently they’re what’s known as an 'indie rock band'. Well, I have to confess I don’t know much about that, but they’ve got some jingle bells which is the right and proper thing to do and they’ve covered It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, which it certainly is if you’re me, because I’M F*CKING IN CHARGE NOW rather than the pig f*cker. Happy Christmas everyone, this is Tezz signing off, I'm off for a nice Paella and a Belgian beer now with David Davis before we get down to a game of naked Twister as we like to do on the run up to Christmas in the House of Commons meeting rooms every year. The Big Moon - It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
From my perspective the final day of the official Great Escape programme has less must sees than the previous two days. However, Saturday’s Alt Escape makes up for this with an abundance of choice, so there’s never going to be a dull moment on the streets of Brighton. These posts focus on the core event though, so in a similar manner to the two previous posts (here and here) I’ll waste no time and get straight on with recommending five acts that may be worth your while checking out. The Big Moon 12:30 Komedia (Also playing at The Corn Exchange 19:15) The Big Moon will be playing a huge venue (The Corn Exchange) later in the evening when they play support to The Mystery Jets, but early risers are advised to catch these Blog Sound of 2016 long list nominees earlier in the day at Komedia. Expect brash bold noisy guitar pop such as The Road, Sucker and new tune Cupid (below) to blow the cobwebs away.
Cadet 13:15 Paganini Ballroom Grime isn’t a genre that you’d really expect to see on Breaking More Waves, but for me one of the beauties of Great Escape is to be able to sample something a little off your normal musical road map. As I listened to the festival’s Spotify playlist last month, Cadet’s track Stereotype stood out. With its honest lyrical delivery, he deals with the idea that stereotypes sadly often come from behaviours of reality - we're all likely to be our own stereotype.
Ary 15:30 Patterns Upstairs (Also playing at Stick Mike's Frog Bar 01:30 Saturday) I first wrote about Norwegian pop singer Ary back in January and compared her to the likes of Aurora and Emilie Nicolas. After impressing audiences at other European new music festivals now she heads to the UK, hopefully to do the same there with her take on pulsing electronic Scandipop.
Holly Macve 18:45 Sallis Benny Theatre From the Bella Union label comes Holly Macve, another artist I introduced on the blog relatively recently. Clearly inspired by American songwriters, Holly possesses a show stopping country tinged vocal that sounds as if it’s been beamed from 50 years past into the present. A must see.
Stevie Parker 19.45 Komedia Studio Bar Gorgeous, laid back, keyboard based chill-pop from an artist from the Bristol area that is cropping up on the undercard of a lot of UK based festivals this year. Full confession; I’ve only heard one song (Never Be – streaming below), but it’s an enticing enough beauty to make me want to hear more. Stevie Parker is the last of my tips from the Great Escape 2016 official core programme.
Alt Escape Bonus Pick: Emily Burns 14.45 The Black Lion
