Boardmasters has been and gone and the blues is truly setting in, so let’s pick out our top 5 performances from the weekend
Boardmasters has just passed and we’re already feeling the post-festival blues. It was an incredible weekend of amazing music, good vibes, and sunshine, it truly was the perfect summer festival. Now, Boardmasters is now a massive festival, in size and scope, so I want to preface that as a one man army I was not able to cover or watch EVERY performance. However, it’s safe to say I caught as much as humanly possible and from all the performances, these are my top 5 from the weekend.
The Bug Club
The Bug Club dusted off the cobwebs to what was a slow Sunday for us at CLUNK. The heat had been kicking our arses all weekend, we were tired, we ached yet the spirit of rock n roll kept us going. The holy hands of The Bug Club graced our hearts and gave us the energy to keep going. They brought their brand of retrospective rock n roll that is tinged in 70’s nostalgia. It was an amazing performance that saw bassist and guitarist strutting around dishing out guitar solos and Angus Young inspired stomps.
The Rills
The indie/post-punk outfit from Lincoln kicked off the Land Of Saints stage on the Sunday, bringing a much needed burst of energy to the dusty eyed attendees. It wasn’t long after the first chord that the entire tent came alive matching the bands ferocious energy. Bassist Callum Warner-Webb was like a dog let loose from the leash, running and throwing himself around the stage, it was a true spectacle. As a whole unit the band are a unrelenting force of high octane energy, it’s easy to see why they’ve become of the UK’s most prominent live bands.
Joy Crookes
The weekend was very much in full swing when the soulful voice of Joy Crookes breezed through the growing crowd at the mainstage of Boardmasters. The sunshine was beating down at this point adnt eh summer vibes were at a peak, the crowd was ready to be cooled down by the sultry music of Joy. It’s safe to say that Joy delivered giving the audience a performance to remember. Not to mention some brilliant banter! At one point the crowd weren’t moving to Joy’s satisfaction, to which she said: “Let’s get moving Boardmasters and dance, none of that English nonsense”. It was met by a wave of screams and the audience truly came alive. Joy was the perfect soundtrack to what was an epic summers day.
IDLES
Now, we’ve seen IDLES countless times now and each time we see them we walk away claiming we witnessed history. Well, guess what? It has only gone and happened again. IDLES headlined the Land Of Saints stage on the Friday and created an atmosphere, harnessed an energy that I haven’t seen in there since SLAVES headlined it back in 2017. The band opened with their slow building ‘Colossus’, a track that builds and builds till breaking point, to which the audience went WILD. A wall was created, the crowd clashed and gnarly snarls of Joe Talbot filled the tent. As always with an IDLES show the energy was palpable yet there was never a moment of violence or anger, it was all love. The band played tracks from across their extensive back catalogue, such as ‘The Wheel’, ‘Danny Nedelko’, ‘Gotho 1049’, and so much more. It truly was a dream set that boasted the bands position as one of the best live bands to have ever existed. It’s safe to say that IDLES are now rock stars, and their performance at Boardmasters did nothing but prove that.
Declan McKenna
Declan McKenna has fast become one of the UK’s most sought after artists, and his performance at Boardmasters showed us why. He blasted on stage donned in a 70’s tinged jumpsuit and Elton John inspired glasses, the crowd erupted into elation. The outfit matched the sound, a retrospective golden era one that has been developed and tuned for a modern ear. Opening with the guitar driven ‘Beautiful Faces’, a jangly number that got the audience truly moving. This was followed by a number of the young artists amazing releases, such as ‘Rapture’, ‘The Kids Don’t Wanna Come Home’, and the iconic ‘British Bombs’. The whole set was a dizzying and tingly experience, as the man himself danced around the stage, brimming with confidence.
Honourable mentions: Pattern Pusher, Swim School, Bombay Bicycle Club, Crawlers, Pale Waves, The Wombats, Kings of Leon, The Lathums, Folly Group, Land Of Giants.
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