Reviews by Emily Rawson
Photos by Georgia RawsonLast September 11th, the mag went to the 2010 UK’s awesome event: Butserfest. With many music, art and much more that make this fest an crazy experience.
Check out also the pics from this awesome fest at http://ventsmagazine.wackwall.com/photo and the videos interviews at http://ventsmagazine.wackwall.com/video
Theory of Six Degrees- Butserfest 2010-
With age comes experience apparently, and with their childish and highly immature sense of humour and the squeakiest vocals in rock n roll (he sounds like Joan Jett on her next helium fix) Theory Of Six Degrees are just a tadge of living proof. Describing themselves as the usual generic ‘indie-pop punk’, on tracks such as ‘Never got to say goodbye’ Theory of Six Degrees never really seem to step outside of the guidelines and soon come the filtered down Justin Bieber inspired lyrics of ‘heartache’ and ‘teenage love’ . But they aren’t here to whine, they’re here to rock and drawing a crowd of screaming girls and the odd male, front kid ‘Scott’ can’t stop grinning as they prance around a stage that seems fitted to their size. But in one moment they turn off their teen tantrums and mature themselves in the slightest way for latest single ‘Come Alive’ with it’s slow verses and uncanny All Time Low hooks . Simplicity is best described as two unnamed members of the crowd attempt to bounce from one foot to the other in time with the crooked rhythm. However, instrumental wise they have the maturity of the likes of early You Me At Six and Tonight Is Goodbye and seem to max out every track with guitar solos and dramatic drum fills. The repetitive build up becomes too familiar but just as Bieber fever hits an all time high , Theory of Six Degrees soon sustain the slightest characteristic of rock with a bluesy guitar solo. Hardcore fans of next up Fei Comodo really are having their patience tested and a majority of the crowd clears off to the likes of Priscilla Broke to avoid catching some form of pop punk amnesia.
WE ARE THE OCEAN BUTSERFEST
We Are the Ocean may be one of the most prestige bands on the line up and the front row seem to be reacting to a certain extent. Newer tracks such as ‘All of This Has to End’ has the perfect harmony before dropping down a notch or two into their usual heavy raw guitar distortion choruses hinting that the newer material may become prioritized at future shows. Although WATO play with pure perfection , frontmen Liam and Dan’s determination to not let the crowd rest for their set flops and crashes down hard onto the muddy fields, Dan trying not let his desperation come across in his plea ‘even you up there’ (on top of the hill where a majority of the crowd remain dauntless’. Tracks such as ‘These days I have Nothing’ normally sends the pit flying but both band’s and crowd’s exhaustion alike kicks in and the smallest attempt of a pit is aroused which Dan will happily conduct whilst Liam performs a perfect melody of both vocal and guitar harmonics. However this isn’t to say that WATO have worn their boots just yet. Most recent single ‘Lucky Ones’ seems to be a highlight of some kind, lighting that spark of enthusiasm that has been delayed to go off for the last 10 minutes or so. Choruses intended for larger crowds with its dramatic gang vocals. The melodies are clean and yet have a leeway to distortion that makes the sound unique and just as there is a delicate breakdown the heavy build up kicks in and taking his opportunity, frontman Dan goes in for the kill, forcing his lungs to scream in every face of the front row. WATO attempt to close on the perfect note. ‘Nothing good has happened yet’ is murmured back as dispersed We Are The Ocean fans quietly fill in for the line ‘Let me in from the rain, don’t you let me go again, let the water run down my face’ .. Although We Are the Ocean aim to climb higher up with their anthemic choruses, melodic vocals and gripping melodies, their grip fails them as their lack of crowd control weighs them down heavily.
KING BLUES HEADLINE MAINSTAGE- BUTSERFEST
Things may have died down after the silencing cliff hanger We Are the Ocean left behind, but The King Blues draw these punters down from the hills and over packs the main arena. Setting the bar rather high and even joking about their ‘professionalism’, The King Blues really do play with a precision, determination and energy that no other band on the bill is even able to edge close to,. Both fans and devotees alike sing along to the catchy, gripping and loud choruses of ‘when she kissed me it felt like a headbutt’ before kicking into the onstage banter of 80s dress sense and a ‘magical’ stegosaurus that repeatedly flies on stage for the rest of their set. But more politically steered, yet remains to have those infectious melodic elements, tracks such as ‘Save The World, Get The Girl’ has everybody on their feet and crowd interaction reaches an all time high. Rapidly playing stages all summer has made The King Blues festival pioneered enough to easily headline any stage, and as long as they keep laying, the crowd keeps dancing with an energy that has been waiting to go off all day. Recent single ‘Holiday’s simplicity is proudly shown by frontman Itch’s request for the crowd to repeat the lyrics in chorus, ‘We’re going away, on holiday’. It’s summer, guitar driven and high spirit melodies make for a highlight of their set and show The King Blues perfectly harness the best of their new sound. Punk however is another term rooted deeply into The King Blue’s core and riot starter ‘The Streets Are Ours’ rips open the crowd with its heavy distortion, whistling solos. Miraculous drum solo and pounding bass lines. A crowd pleasing chant of ‘The streets are ours!’ injects a lethal dose of pre-riot anarchism into every single vein and the blood rush sends fists pounding into the air everywhere. Closing perfectly with ‘Taking Over’, The King Blues go out with a definite bang and Itch proves his showmanship as he divides the crowd into left and right as they echo the chorus again and again in sync with Itch’s command. The King Blues have proved tonight that this stage seems too small for their anthems and could be and should be headlining bigger stages and festivals alike. Maybe it’s not just the stegosaurus that is magical.
BURY TOMORROW REVIEW BUTSERFEST FESTIVAL
Bury Tomorrow seem to be continuing on the heavy presence left behind from fellow hardcore fellas Fei Comodo, but with their metallic riffs, furious downbeats, and thrashing vocals , not to mention harmonics that mark Alexsisonfire further down in the metal ranks, Bury Tomorrow march on in pure triumph. Any onlooker is drawn to the angst drilling through the crowd, as front man Dan Winter-Bates roars with such ferociousness and energy that the audience soon disperses and tears apart one another in one colossal pit. Power may be the only word to describe such audience control, and as heavy as they are harmonic and catchy, Bury Tomorrow don’t seem to be taking a dose of ‘ego’ into their minds, thanking everyone including mere members of the council for the event. Recent album ‘Portraits’ fires away at an alarming pace, but both old and new material seem to firing off all over Butser, in fact on such a high volume, that those hiking over the nearby hills are quickly awaken to the sheer , raw anthems Bury Tomorrow continue to launch one after the other. But it’s the size of the crowd drawn that seems to be the downfall of this performance. For a majority of Butser, this morning nearly half of the punters dare to move nearer to the stage meaning all bands struggle to get the crowd going as much as they would like them to. Tracks such as ‘Her Bones in the Sand’ and ‘You and I’ are played with pure precision and the crowd more than willingly lap up their anthemic tunes with absolute pleasure. It’s going to be hard to try and top this one for whoever else is meant to fill in next on the bill.
YOUNG GUNS REVIEW- MAINSTAGE- BUTSERFESTDriven on the raw, anthemic sound of perfectionists at play, Young Guns really do prove their worth. Young Guns definitely greet a few familiar faces at Butser, both bands and fans alike. Young Guns have no problem competing with the headliners with their boundless energy, brutal anthems and front man Gustav Wood’s natural interaction with the crowd. Most recent single ‘Crystal Clear’ clearly (no pun intended there) shows YG’s ridiculously hefty recognition with today’s crowd leaving the band encouraging their fans to go absolutely insane for the duration of their set. Heavier tracks such as recent ‘Sons Of Apathy’ provide the Taylor Brothers more than enough freedom to show just how heavy, raw and anthemic their new riffs are but with enough latitude to allow Simon Mitchell’s weighty bass verses (although his mood seems a little off putting when directed at the crowd) to easily co-ordinate with Joliffe’s precision when drumming. Woods smooth yet forceful vocals are given a clean cut solo towards the end of the cinematically slow epic ‘Stitches that has been kept close to the hearts of many Young Guns dedicatees’ before being lashed with gang vocals to follow on through to the storming choruses of their originally ambitious ‘Daughter Of The Sea’. Young Guns’ enthusiasm never seems to wear thin as the energy unsteadily rises, it goes off with a rather large bang, flinging Wood deep into the crowd. Security sure has their work cut out for them. Young Guns seem unstoppable. A band set out on making their shows phenomenal in every way possible, from diving into the crowd to dramatic piano break downs, the crowd has never seemed so alive. Every face in the room seems to be beaming including that of Young Guns during the next half hour or so. With precision the crowd sings back every word they can muster from their energetic lively bodies. As promised, Young Guns deliver a mix of both old and newer material and classic anthems such as ‘Weight Of The World’ send the crowd into a frenzy with the band standing so close to the edge of the stage they may as well be in the pits themselves. Furiously fast and accurate the Young Guns deliver a rare, unique and unexpected performance that leaves the crowd buzzing and feeling more alive than every set so far. Nice one fellas.
DEAF HAVANA- BUTSERFEST
You can hear Deaf Havana sound checking from the other side of the field with their wild cursing and wild sense of humor, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t take it seriously. Playing a series of festivals over the summer, Deaf Havana has become pioneered for playing for punters and gathers the biggest crowd (although it may not be more than 200) at their stage. Gripping hooks, down beats and one hell of a catchy but melodic voice, the crowd explodes into pure energy and chaos led by the hooded front man James Gilodi and co. Tracks such as ‘Another Day In This House’ causing a rippling, bouncing motion to spread like foot and mouth. Meanwhile more dedicated Deaf Havana fans fill in for the previously departed screamer while the gripping melodies of guitars work in harmony with the snappy bass lines and thunderous pounding of drums and cymbals. It’s not long until the crowd are fully in motion, perfectly wording the opening verse of the emotionally captivating ‘Nicotine and Alcohol Saved My Life’. The crowd is silenced as ‘I’ve never had a single cigarette that I didn’t enjoy’ softly echoes and fades. But although there is a presence of sadness for the slightest second, it is not long until Gilodi’s witty charm and humour, keeps the crowd content. But it only seems to be small bursts of energy appearing softly among the few However, it is not until the well renowned ‘Friends Like These’ that Deaf Havana really manage to rupture the very foundations of the field and each and every member of the crowd sings along, full volume. ‘You’ll never know friend’s like these’ is screamed back by the crowd with such intensity, passion and strength that the breakdown continues for an extra 2 minutes before finally kicking back in to the anthem’s popular chorus making Deaf Havana’s set one of the most memorable among the smaller stages this weekend.
My Passion seems to be one of the bands that everyone has seemed to be waiting for. Restless hours of clinging to the front barrier through thick and thin have finally paid off as My Passion take to the stage with a dramatic build up of cheering, chants and a roaring of vocal chords. The sound is immaculate and My Passion need not bother with backing vocals as every word is sung back by the fans in perfect harmony. This is who they have come to watch. And main front man Laurence Rene and co is determined not to let this crowd rest for the duration of their set. Tracks such as ‘Crazy and Me’ start off the heaviest of crowd control which bassist Simon Rowlands will happily conduct whilst Laurence performs a perfect melody of vocals alongside John Bee’s guitar harmonics. The melodies are clean and yet work purely indestructibly with their heavy synthesizers making their sound unique and leave the crowd hungry for more. However their diversity seems a bit to edgy for the slightly more hardcore fans and bands alike and so the crowd is halved down by those in need of a mosh. For the next few tracks, the crowd throws their bodies around as Laurence launches himself into the crowd and screams into the faces watching in awe and anyone who tries to resist him is suddenly won over by his charm. Newest member, Jamie ‘Jammers’ Nicholls seems to be meeting each and every beat perfectly and gives the perfect heavy down beats to My Passion, a slightly hardcore edge they lacked before especially on newest track ‘Seven Birds’. V The crowd is soon soaking with sweat as they dance for their lives to the irresistibly catchy and electronically harnessed ‘Never-ever land’. The energy and tension builds up before igniting a large bang of pure liveliness, sending everyone overboard. My Passion offer a fine chance for people to dance and although they may stick out like a sore thumb (or like the straight out in your face quiff front man Laurence Rene seems to be sporting) they certainly please a few members of the crowd little more than expected.
The Famous Class seem like an easy piece of meat to be thrown at any underage crowd and trying to make the sun shine under a thick lifeless cloud with their generic pop-punk , The Famous Class fall behind very easily and soon get lost among the rest of the line up. A band that’s performance may be more dead than if someone was to leap off the cliffs creating the scenery surrounding the festival, the audience cringes at one another’s admittance to actually attempting to dance this early this morning.
We Start Parties may only be a few bands from the bottom of the line up but they proof that they deserve to be playing the main stage as they kick start a dance party like no other. Samplers of Hadouken and many others mix rather well into a cocktail of dance anthems and their own tasteful rock, a resemblance to Synth-rockers Innerpartysystem, just with a bit more optimism and not wanting to kill the media every so often. The thunderous resonance of rock, grime and dance combine into a detonation of liveliness that could go off at any moment and finally Butserfest is woken up with one kick ass alarm. But it seems as if these electro lovers only have an interesting affair when it is not their own material being played, but the already well recognized backdrops of others.
Priscilla Broke are more than willing to bite down hard with their fierce yet irresistibly catchy metal riffs and raw vocals, perfectly complimenting Fei Comodo and Bury Tomorrow’s appearances at Butser. A name that keeps passing by again and again leaving a little bit of a zing behind them, Priscilla Broke bring the biggest crowd to their stage so far, even if it is only 4 or 5 rows of packed in metal heads and hardcore lovers. Reaching their peak before slamming down hard with their gnarly guitars and firing off face-melting mini anthems again and again, Priscilla Broke seem to be one of those bands you just need to keep an eye on. With their boisterous fury and ability to manipulate such a small scaled crowd, Priscilla Broke may well deserve to be playing up there with the big boys.
