Tag Archives: rock

8 of the Best UK Rock Festivals For 2013

05 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by in 'This Festival Feeling' articles, Arts, Music

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Calling all fans of rock, metal, punk and indie, if you’re planning on hitting the festivals this year, here is your guide to the best UK fests for rock. Some of these may not be considered traditional rock festivals but they have been included as their line-ups feature some huge names in the genre. With bands such as The Rolling Stones, Green Day and Slipknot confirmed for 2013, this is the year for rocking out.

Isle of Wight

13-16 June

Back in 1970, Isle of Wight Festival held the largest rock event ever with 600,000 turning out to see Jimi Hendrix play what would be his final gig. Since its revival in 2002 Isle of Wight hasn’t ceased to bring in the big guns with The Who, The Rolling Stones and David Bowie playing at Seaclose Park. This year will not disappoint: ‘Living on a Prayer’, ‘Waterfall’ and ‘Mr Brightside’ will no doubt initiate sing-alongs of epic proportions as headliners Bon Jovi, The Stone Roses and The Killers take to the main stage.

Download

14-16 June

The ultimate festival for hard rock fans, its title was chosen in 2003 because downloading was a rebellious thing to do at the time, reflecting the rock genre. This year’s killer line-up includes Slipknot, Iron Maiden and Rammstein as headliners, along with Bullet for my Valentine, Queens of the Stone Age, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Black Stone Cherry, Enter Shikari and Limp Bizkit. Head toDownload Festival at Donnington Park in June for guaranteed face-melting guitar riffs.

Glastonbury

28-30 June

It’s back with an bang with probably its most legendary headliner ever, The Rolling Stones. Completing Glastonbury’s all-rock headline acts are iconic indie rockers Arctic Monkeys and the Brit Award-winning folk rockers Mumford & Sons. Also playing the Pyramid Stage are The Vaccines, Vampire Weekend and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. The Other Stage will welcome Enter Shikari, Editors and Alt-J, while the John Peel Stage will be graced by Phoenic, Bastille and Everything Everything. Worthy Farm won’t know what’s hit it.

Hard Rock Calling

29-30 June

This two-day festival is known for bringing massive names to the heart of London, covering everything from indie to rock ‘n’ roll. 2013 will be no different with British indie-rockers Kasabian headlining Saturday and Bruce Springsteen finishing what he started last year by headlining Sunday. Joining them are Paul Weller, Alabama Shakes, Klaxons and many more. If you couldn’t get a Glastonbury ticket, this fest if over the same weekend. Make sure you don’t head to Hyde Park, as this year Hard Rock Calling is moving to the iconic Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

T in the Park

12-14 July

Scotland is host to an array of musical talent for July’s mega festival in Kinross. With seven music stages, a fair ground and fancy dress Friday, T in the Park no doubt welcomed a flurry of Glastonbury regulars for last year’s headliners The Stone Roses, Snow Patrol and Kasabian. 2013 will see Mumford and Sons, Phoenix and Imagine Dragons on the Friday; on Saturday there’s Beady Eye, Alt-J and Twin Atlantic; while Sunday boasts The Killers, Foals and Bastille, to name but a few of the acts set to rock the 20th anniversary.

Bloodstock

8-11 August

The home of hard rock, thousands of metalheads flock to the grounds of Catton Hall in Derbyshire for an intense weekend of moshing and even some metal karaoke. Bloodstock Open Air brings the very best of the heavy metal scene including black, goth, death and thrash. BOA will see the likes of Slayer, Anthrax, Lamb of God, Firewind and many more for 2013.

V Festival

17-18 August

Back in ’96, Pulp’s front man Jarvis Cocker decided he wanted to play two outdoor events in two days. More artists were added to the bill and V Festival was born. This year Hylands Park and Weston Park will welcome rock giants Kings of Leon, Stereophonics and Beady Eye, who will play alongside indie favourites The Vaccines, Two Door Cinema Club and Scouting for Girls.

Reading and Leeds

23-25 August

These festival favourites have gone through many musical phases with rock, punk and metal dominating. This year Richfield Avenue and Bramham Park will be headlined by punk rockers Green Day, Scottish band Biffy Clyro and…Eminem. Also rocking the main stage are Fall Out Boy, System of a Down, Bring Me The Horizon, Twin Atlantic and The Blackout. This year’s Reading and Leeds Festival promises ‘More stages, more music and more epic times’.

– Published at This Festival Feeling

Review: Fossil Collective at The Prince Albert

19 Sunday May 2013

Posted by in 'Critical Wave' reviews, Arts, Music

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They’re perfect listening for a lazy Sunday morning, a relaxed evening by the fire and could probably cure a hangover. It was no surprise then that a chilled ambience filled The Prince Albert in Brighton for Fossil Collective. People were even sitting down. You could tell it was going to be a very folky night.

There was great support from Joe Banfi, a dead ringer for Ben Howard (also under Communion Records), and just as vocally beautiful. Banfi’s voice had an edgy, croaky quality, which perfectly complimented his intriguing folk-meets-grunge style. Particularly memorable was his latest song ‘Nomads’ where the delicate piano and guitar plucking builds into an eerie tribal drumming noise complete with ringing electric guitars and Banfi’s husky howls.

Joining us for week two of their 60-date tour of the UK and US were Fossil Collective, an indie folk two-piece composed of David Fendick (vocals, guitar) and Jonny Hooker (vocals, drums). While the Leeds band take inspiration from Simon & Garfunkel and Fleetwood Mac, their overall sound is reminiscent of more contemporary artists. Take the harmony-rich sound of Fleet Foxes and the beautiful melancholy of Bon Iver and you’ll have something that resembles Fossil Collective’s meticulously crafted folk.

It was a nice touch that they played their recently released album ‘Tell Where I Lie’ in full from beginning to end. Sort of. They switched the first two songs around so that they started off with ‘Under My Arrest’. This yearning ballad combines fluttering guitars and romantic violins with a haunting chorus where ‘Under My Arrest’ is repeatedly sung in an arpeggio style against complementing chords. Just mesmerising.

They probably went for this ordering so they didn’t peak straightaway with their next song, which was, hands down, their best. ‘Let it Go’ is a perfect example of David and Jonny’s stunning harmonies, and their Fleet Foxes-esque ‘hoo-ing’ between verses. Full of imagery and metaphors, the lyrics portray a fading romance with lines such as, ‘We were an island, you were than one that broke away’ and ‘We started something, tried to make a fire without a flame’.

The theme of love and nature is dominant through the album and continued into their next track. ‘Boy with the Blackbird Kite’ is punctuated with that familiar harmonic ‘hoo-ing’, while there seems to be a more hopeful feeling towards relationships: ‘Let’s fly above the landscape/ There’s a horizon that’s always in sight/ We’ll go straight up and skywards/ We’ll always be just like two birds in the sky.’

Next was the first single to be taken from the album, ‘The Wolves’, which evokes a sense of urgency as they sing ‘The wolves are coming out/ Light a fire when you see them all arrive’. I particularly liked how it all came together in a folk-style electric guitar solo. ‘Brother’ is a melange of sound with echoing guitars, pretty piano and lush trumpets which seemed very Bon Iver, as did the delicate acoustic intro and high-pitched vocals of ‘Monument’ which followed.

Then came the first song they ever wrote, ‘On and On’, with its convinced tone that ‘you are the one’, before ‘When Frank Became an Orb’ which they wrote on the same night. This track brought more angelic ‘hoo-ing’ as it depicted tales of sorrow. A whispery, stripped back ‘How Was I to Know’ followed, and they brought the show to a close with ‘The Magpie’. Another favourite, it starts as a laid-back, acoustic track until the chorus pushes the tempo for some atmospheric pitch-bending ‘ohh-ing’ and a crescendoing outro.

By performing their album it brought to life the true work of art that is ‘Tell Where I Lie’. It demonstrated how the album draws you in with the catchy ‘Let it Go’ and keeps you listening attentively to the less immediate tracks that grow on you over time. Fossil Collective are definitely ones to watch. If you can’t catch them on their tour, they’re playing Green Man and End of the Road festival later this year.

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