2016 saw 2000 Trees festival celebrate it's 10th year and while it is still a pretty small festival the lineup is certainly anything but with 120 bands taking to the stages over the weekend. Rather than trying to be all things to all people 2000 Trees focuses on new and established acts from the underground music scene.
Early bird ticket holders got the party started on Thursday with intimate sets from And So I Watch You From Afar, Black Peaks and special guest Frank Turner making an appearance amongst others. We unfortunately missed the Thursday but made up for it on Friday when we finally arrived on site to the sun shining and festival goers enjoying a game or five of beer pong by the 'Trees' signage, what better way to get in the mood for a weekend of partying?
The site was pretty small but excellently laid out meaning it took around 10 minutes to walk from stage to stage. The first band of the festival for us was Kagoule over on the Axiom Stage, the Nottingham based grunge/band treated the crowd to a set full of crunching riffs and dirty bass as they rocked out crowd favourites like 'Glue' and 'Adjust the Way' from their debut album 'Urth', a few new songs were also thrown in to everybody's delight before the band cut their excellent set short and telling everyone to get to know each other in the remaining time.
Dinosaur Pile-Up attracted a healthy following at The Cave as their ploughed their way through a catchy hook filled set much to the delight of our camp buddies in Merricks Tusk who could be seen going bananas down the front.
Shout outs to the Dorset Smokery for their delicious wraps giving us that bit more energy to party into the early hours at the silent disco which is always a highlight at the festival which was evident from the sheer size of the queue to get the headphones,we opted for The Cave tent which was packed out with people singing along and plenty of crowdsurfers before finally calling it a day as the sun was coming up.
The St Pierre Snake Invasion kicked the Saturday off with a raucous start as frontman Damien Sayell handed out a bottle of whisky for the crowd to drink (which they do), it's not long before Damien's in the middle of the crowd getting everyone all hot and bothered, even Big Jeff is in there throwing shapes. TSPSI really owned the main stage and you should really keep an eye on them.
With just enough time for a quick breakfast at the Grilled Cheese truck to help get rid of the previous nights hangover before returning to the mainstage for HECK, a band that are notorious for the destruction they bring to every setting they play, there are rumours afoot that the band have been told to behave or risk being cut off, this either fuels them on that bit more as they seem frustrated but frustration causes havoc and it's only a matter of time before Matt and Jonny are in amoungst the crowd screaming in peoples faces, yes there may not have been as much climbing as usual but they definitely punished themselves with singer Matt breaking his foot in three places after jumping off the stage it seemed they were determined to destroy something even if that was themselves!
Jamie Lenman brought quite the contrast to what we'd just witnessed as he played a set of covers in the beautiful surroundings of the Forest Stage, ever the entertainer Lenman played a load of his favourite songs including tracks by Nirvana, Weezer and The Beatles and you could tell he was delighted to be there.
Arcane Roots are a band that never disappoint and filled the main stage with their riff laden set, vocalist and guitarist Andrew Groves has an immaculate vocal range and they are definitely a band to watch out for as they certainly have the potential to be one of the biggest bands in the UK with enough of a crossover in their sounds with their delicate harmonies and devastatingly heavy breakdowns.
Animals as Leaders wow, just wow, the technical wizardry from these American boys was a real treat for those of us with a hunger for heavier side of things, they effortlessly pummelled through a set of technical progressive metal laced with plenty of groove and they made it look so easy! Sickeningly good!
The weekends nostalgia band were Ash, the Irish boys blasted through a set full of crowd pleasers like Girl From Mars, Jack names the planets and Burn baby burn. It may seem a little out of place on a day like today and with a lineup so strong but the boys are clearly having a great time and so are the older festival goers, in fairness it was a nice little breather before we headed back to the cave to see one of my own personal highlights of the weekend Sikth, where to begin, having made a welcome return to the music scene after a hiatus of several years these boys were LOUD, I genuinely think they were the loudest band I saw all weekend, from the off we were treated to older songs like 'Pussyfoot' which had the crowd bouncing the whole set was relentless bringing grins to everyone's faces especially as soon as they launched into 'Bland Street Bloom', the band and the crowd go mental! Sikth, it's nice to have you back!!!!
REFUSED are a band that really need no introduction, they are legends and the fact that they were headlining the last night of the festival just made this 10th anniversary even more special,vocalist Dennis Lyxzén appears on stage in a brilliant red suit as the band launched into 'Elektra' from their newest album before letting rip with 'The shape of punk to come' and 'Rather be dead', everyone in the crowd is loving it and it feels like we are privileged to be watching this amazing band in action. They play for just over an hour before drawing to a close with a speech about how there needs to be more female representation on stage at the following years festival and they bring the live music to a close with arguably their most well known song 'New Noise' and it's not long before the whole crowd loses their shit and the field becomes one big moshpit. Thank You 2000 Trees, this may have been my first visit but it sure as hell won't be my last.
See you next year!!!!!
Reviewer Profile: Marty Toner is the founder of bUTTONpUSHER who put on DIY math/post/alt rock shows in Nottingham as well as tour booking and PR for bands they are passionate about.
Arcane Roots are a band that never disappoint and filled the main stage with their riff laden set, vocalist and guitarist Andrew Groves has an immaculate vocal range and they are definitely a band to watch out for as they certainly have the potential to be one of the biggest bands in the UK with enough of a crossover in their sounds with their delicate harmonies and devastatingly heavy breakdowns.
Animals as Leaders wow, just wow, the technical wizardry from these American boys was a real treat for those of us with a hunger for heavier side of things, they effortlessly pummelled through a set of technical progressive metal laced with plenty of groove and they made it look so easy! Sickeningly good!
The weekends nostalgia band were Ash, the Irish boys blasted through a set full of crowd pleasers like Girl From Mars, Jack names the planets and Burn baby burn. It may seem a little out of place on a day like today and with a lineup so strong but the boys are clearly having a great time and so are the older festival goers, in fairness it was a nice little breather before we headed back to the cave to see one of my own personal highlights of the weekend Sikth, where to begin, having made a welcome return to the music scene after a hiatus of several years these boys were LOUD, I genuinely think they were the loudest band I saw all weekend, from the off we were treated to older songs like 'Pussyfoot' which had the crowd bouncing the whole set was relentless bringing grins to everyone's faces especially as soon as they launched into 'Bland Street Bloom', the band and the crowd go mental! Sikth, it's nice to have you back!!!!
REFUSED are a band that really need no introduction, they are legends and the fact that they were headlining the last night of the festival just made this 10th anniversary even more special,vocalist Dennis Lyxzén appears on stage in a brilliant red suit as the band launched into 'Elektra' from their newest album before letting rip with 'The shape of punk to come' and 'Rather be dead', everyone in the crowd is loving it and it feels like we are privileged to be watching this amazing band in action. They play for just over an hour before drawing to a close with a speech about how there needs to be more female representation on stage at the following years festival and they bring the live music to a close with arguably their most well known song 'New Noise' and it's not long before the whole crowd loses their shit and the field becomes one big moshpit. Thank You 2000 Trees, this may have been my first visit but it sure as hell won't be my last.
See you next year!!!!!
Reviewer Profile: Marty Toner is the founder of bUTTONpUSHER who put on DIY math/post/alt rock shows in Nottingham as well as tour booking and PR for bands they are passionate about.