Forget Glastonbury – it’s too bloody far away and you can watch it on the telly – the real heads know that 2000 Trees Festival is where it’s at! Now 15+ years in the game, the grassroots festival based at Upcote Farm (near Cheltenham in Gloucestershire) goes from strength to strength year on year, boasting incredible line-ups and belting weather. Well, they can’t boast belting weather, but every time we’ve been at the festival, it’s been scorching!
Look at that line-up though – a lot on there, eh? Fear not, your favourites at Birthday Cake For Breakfast have handpicked the artists that you just can’t miss this year, so read on below and be sure to get stuck in this July!
Nuclear War (On The Dance Floor)
There’s a reason some people never grow up, favouring the music they listened to in their teens over anything contemporary. It makes sense, given it came out during their formative years, before commitments and real life drama became the order of the day. At the time of writing, Arctic Monkeys are trending on Twitter because they’ve grown up and no longer favour singing about tracky bottoms tucked in socks and being teenagers from High Green…
Amongst the seminal debut albums coming out when I was a wee teen (‘The Futureheads‘! ‘Franz Ferdinand‘! ‘Silent Alarm‘!), Detroit’s Electric Six made quite the splash themselves from overseas with ‘Fire‘, a particularly notable debut that still does the trick, even for someone who is forever on the lookout for new music.
Promising ‘Nuclear War (On The Dance Floor)’, Electric Six celebrate the 20th Anniversary of ‘Fire‘ with a Saturday performance at 2000 Trees, ready to show off a record that proved they were more than just ‘Gay Bar‘ (though let’s be serious – how sick will that be in a sun-soaked field at Trees?!)
British punks
(Photo Credit: Reuben Bastienne-Lewis)
It’s a genre you can attach to just about anything these days, which is helpful for people like me who have too much choice but needed to whittle it down for a list such as this!
‘Kerrang!‘ covers don’t get much more cooler than a recent issue which featured the shouters up front in Witch Fever, High Vis (both playing on Saturday) and Bob Vylan (who are even doing the double, playing both Wednesday and Thursday). There’s a reason there’s so much hype for all three and we would suggest their sets will be unmissable!
Elsewhere across the weekend, hardcore punks The Chisel and Chubby and the Gang rock up on Saturday following a wave of hype for both. Chubby too will be doing double bubble, playing guitar for The Chisel, whilst the beauty of his own band ‘The Gang‘ is that Chubby is the only constant, so who knows what cast of characters will be backing him up for his blend of pub rock and UKHC.
Our top pick though for those who dip a toe in all things punk are the brilliant Public Body (playing on Friday), who deliver razor-sharp post-punk with lyrics all about the mundanity of life. From office culture to mobile phones, it’s IRL chat but in a ridiculously catchy package.
Returning to a field near you
Big news of the festival this year is the return of Soft Play (FKA Slaves), who headline on Thursday evening. Back in 2014, we attended our first 2000 Trees and were front and centre for duo Isaac and Laurie as they whipped up an eager crowd of in-the-know punters, right before they set their sights on taking over the world with their debut album ‘Are You Satisfied?‘. Almost a decade on and the pair return to the festival, once again ready to whip up an eager crowd (though this time I imagine there will be a fair few more punters in attendance!)
Favourites of the festival And So I Watch You From Afar and Dinosaur Pile-Up will also be set to get the crowd worked up when they return this year. Thursday catches Northern Irish instrumentalists ASIWYFA in action, now experts at entertaining a festival crowd. Put us down for some life-affirming, math-y goodness, lads!
Having put on possibly the most fun set of 2000 Trees this time last year, Dinosaur Pile-Up are back on Friday to hopefully recreate another ripper performance in the sunshine. Having already wowed at Download Festival this year, expect more in the way of gnarliness from one of our favourite trios going!
Make for The Forest
One of the main draws about 2000 Trees is its picturesque Forest Stage, an almost tranquil area away from all the hustle and bustle, where you can lounge away and on occasion listen to an acoustic artist or two. They also bring the noise throughout the weekend, with the Saturday headliner being the one and only Jamie Lenman! Off the back of releasing tremendous new album ‘The Atheist‘ late last year (which we spoke to him about at his very own festival in Manchester), Lenman promises a full run through of the new album, plus a few classics sprinkled in for good measure. See you in the pit!
Dick Valentine himself will be turning up in a solo capacity early doors on Saturday, the Electric Six vocalist allowing fans TWO chances to see him across the weekend!
Best dressed of the festival will no doubt go to masked vision LYNKS, also performing on Saturday, who will be bringing a dance party to the Forest, complete with synchronised dance moves and Club Kids costume joyfulness.
By all accounts there’s even a secret set across the weekend, so make sure to visit the Forest Stage, grab a bevv and keep your eyes peeled for who it could be!
Discover something new
2000 Trees have always had a knack for not only putting on some incredibly big names at Upcote Farm (Jimmy Eat World and At the Drive-In being personal highlights over the years), but also championing artists on the rise, some of whom go from small stages one minute to headlining the next (IDLES were top of the bill last year, but were a mere dot on the poster back in 2016). So why not get in amongst it and get involved with something you’ve not experienced before?
Our first knowledge of LA quintet ZULU literally dropped this week with instant clicking following a comparison to TURNSTILE. Whilst they might not be exactly like last year’s band of the festival, ZULU have got us a wee bit excited to catch them on the Friday, switching it up between jazz-y hip-hop one minute to down-the-barrel hardcore the next.
On Thursday meanwhile, we’re eager to get a first glimpse of the chaos cooked up by an outfit called Lambrini Girls. We’ve heard rumblings about these Lambrini Girls from Down South, causing quite the ruckus whenever and wherever they rock up (including a mental looking in-store at Resident in Brighton). Expect a memorable performance from this nails trio, who arrive at 2000 Trees having supported Iggy Pop, Blondie and Buzzcocks earlier in the month!
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