2000 Trees. A festival close to home, not too big and not too small. Perfectly placed and perfectly sized. This makes for a good start.
From the 7th-9th July, 2000 Trees celebrated its tenth birthday in a fine fashion. Personally, I have never been to this festival throughout its years before this year, but many friends have always recommended, so what better year to get myself down there than the ’10th birthday extravaganza’? So its settled, I got myself a ticket and got myself down there. There’s five stages, plenty of food and a lovely atmosphere which is ideal. Everyone is happy and the place is alive.
Being late for the first day, the Thursday, I missed a handful of bands, but got down to see ‘And So I Watch Your From Afar’. They weren’t really my kind of music and there weren’t many lyrics, but they really got the crowd going and it was very enjoyable, so anyone who is a fan of metal, check this lot out. Frank Turner was the surprise act of the festival and that was brilliant because I was listening to his music on the way to the festival, he put on a great show and I know he is already a fan of 2000 Trees. Those two are the only bands I saw on the first day and to be honest with you, I couldn’t tell you why I didn’t watch more.
Friday morning came around after a great night with friends. Friday was undoubtedly the best day of this festival. ‘Vant’ performed on the main stage at midday and they blew me away. Instantly a fan. Next I went to see ‘Beasts’ set, which was awesome. I’ve seen this band before and liked them then, the set was great and they didn’t have enough people watching them as they deserved. ‘Moose Blood’ performed an acoustic set before their main stage performance and I was genuinely let down. It wasn’t that good at all, which was a shame because they’re a good band. ‘Dinosaur Pile Up’ were surprisingly a good band, the show was strong and an inflatable dinosaur crowd surfed for half of the set, I was impressed. ‘Neck Deep’ were great and that’s all I really need to say about them, great. The next band I saw after this were ‘Twin Atlantic’. I was already a fan of this band and was looking forward to the set. Was I entertained? Yes! The set list went down well with everyone there and a 75 minute set was a good amount of time. Crowd surfing to ‘Heart & Soul’ at the end of the set was a highlight for me, I love that song. Onward’s to the silent disco, I forgot to buy headphones but still went along and it was still awesome just simply listening to everyone singing the songs.
The last day. Saturday. There weren’t really many bands that I was overly interested in to be honest with you all, but I got down to some acts anyway and had some mixed opinions. ‘Creeper’ were the first band I saw that day and again, I already liked this band. The performance? Let down. It started off well, but they seemed to have very high opinions of themselves. Just concentrate on the music instead of trying to big yourself up, lads. I let early to see ‘The RPMS’. I had already bought this lots t shirt earlier that day because I really like this band, they personally remind me of The Who and The Enemy. This was hands down the performance of the festival and I was very happy about that. They played over their allowed time and interacted with the crowd well, taking pictures on peoples phones for them and dedicating a version of the pink panther to a group of people dressed as pink panthers, what a moment. Shook hands with the guitarist at the end and headed off back to camp for some beers. I watched ‘Ash’ next and again was impressed, then the last band I caught was the tail end of the Swedish rockers ‘Refused’ set. Not my scene at all but I could appreciate it for what it was. The silent disco is next up and this time I picked up some headphones. A playlist perfectly fitting for your stereotypical teenager and that was great for me, even though I am one. Awkward. I enjoyed it though, maybe because I ran into the lads from ‘The RPMS’ and had a good time with them for a while, which is all I’ll tell you about that. You get what I mean? I’m sure you do. It was brilliant, and it really made my weekend.
Waking up Sunday morning to pack my tent up, hungover, I am truly happy and impressed with the weekend. Next year might even be better! Hope to see you there, Id recommend it to anyone reading this. They say to make the 2000 Trees weekend the best of your 52 in a year and it really is. Ten out of ten. Visit their website here.
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