This was my first trip back to Rockaway Beach since before lockdown. I was meant to be going in 2022 but caught COVID. It was good to finally be back.

As a side note. All credit to Butlins. They refunded my break with no quibbles. One example of the many things Bultins gets right. How many festivals would have done the same?

With the on-going train strikes, I had to drive to the festival for the first time. I much prefer sitting on a train planning the festival ahead. But the strikes need to happen. Thankfully the sun was shinning and opting for A-roads, the drive took in some nice scenery and was all rather pleasant. I took this as a sign that this was going to be a good festival.

Arriving at Butlins for 1pm. The weather took an immediate turn for the worse. Literally the moment I stepped out of the car it started raining and that was it for pretty much that for the rest of the weekend. This is the first time I never left the site for the whole weekend to go for a coastal walk. Luckily, there was a packed weekend ahead and the site is so compact, you are never more than five minutes away from your accommodation. Butlins at Bognor is a great site for a January festival.

When the lineup was announced, it seemed like there was some bad planning. The first band was playing before Butlins were going to allow us into our accommodation. Thankfully, the rooms were ready at 1pm and this gave me time to unwind before heading to Reds for the first act, Panic Shack.

Panic Attack played the Horn last year and I was a bit frustrated by them. I felt they needed to decide if they want to be an edgy punk band or a fun pop punk band who get their message across less directly, but have a wider appeal. This time I was prepared for their split personality and found their set much more enjoyable. With songs like Jiu Jits You, and Mannequin Man (complete with dance moves), they have the DNA of an incredibly fun pop punk. They clearly don’t take themselves too seriously. They also have a cracker of a song in ‘I don’t Really Like It’ that reminds me of PINS. At the Horn, I found the switch to angsty songs a bit jarring. This time, I went with them. But I think their strength is when they are the fun version of themselves. I spoke to so many who thought Panic Shack were their highlight of the festival. So they are clearly doing something right.

I saw Deep Tan last year. However, they were on the same bill as Deadletter and Priestgate and frankly were forgettable when up against two stellar performances. In 2022 they released their ‘Diamond Horsetail’ EP. Every song comes in at under 3 1/2 minutes. They have a bit of New York art school post-punk about them. They are happy to throw in changes of direction into their songs and musically cover quite a bit of ground in 3 minutes. I do like them on record. But I think their live versions probably could do with loosening up a bit. Some of songs end too abruptly and they caught out the audience on two occasions who didn’t know it was time to clap. I think stretched them out a bit might leave the audience less confused.

I have been wanting to catch Hull’s Low Hummer since they released their very danceable ‘Modern Tricks for Living’ album. I wasn’t disappointing. Switching between male and female vocalists gives them a different dynamic to most bands out there. Think early 80s keyboard driven post-punk, crossed with Seattle 90s grunge guitars and throw in a touch of Alvvays. It all combines for a very listenable sound.

One of my complaints from earlier Rockaway festivals was how I perceived there to be a lack of music. Usually, there are no clashes with 30 minute gaps between bands. I like bouncing between venues on a constant binge of new music. I like an ‘eat as much as you can’ musical buffet of a festival. Rockaway is more of an expertly crafted tasting plater. Whereas at SXSW I see 30 bands a day. At Rockaway, we are talking about seeing 10 bands in a day. Initially, this left me wanting more. But over the years, I have come to see a place for both. Rockaway is a perfect way to ease me into the new year. It is January after all, best leave all that rushing around between venue nonsense for the later in the year when it is warmer.

However, this year, Rockaway had clashes. The Reds stage stayed open and it gave the organisers the opportunity for two alternative headliners in the form of Yard Act and Anna Meredith. I tend not to be too fused by the legacy acts they have as headliners, I think this was a good change as it gives the festival a chance to take a punt on a band who might not actually be ready to headline Centre stage. The only issue from a ‘Down at the Front’ perspective, as I had no photo pass, it meant I would have to accept crap photos once there were clashes as I wouldn’t be at the front (and I’m not going to push my way to the front when people have held their place on a barrier).

Given LIFE were playing the main stage. My initial choice was easy. I love LIFE so there was no chance I was going to miss them. It was the second time they had played Rockaway. The first time, they were the highlight for many and it wasn’t a surprise to see them moved to the big stage.

As usual, they were brilliant, energising the crowd for the evening ahead. It didn’t take Mez long to ride around the crowd on somebody’s shoulders and from that point the band had the crowd in the palm of their hands. I am surprised that the festival organisers haven’t taken a punt on them headlining the Sunday night. They would be a brilliant way to close the festival. Maybe next year?

I decided to stick with the main stage for Billy Nomates. I am not completely convinced by her as a live act. She has an absolutely brilliant voice and despite having an amazing stage presence, it is still her and a laptop. While she managed to move around the stage and fill it with her performance, I still think she would benefit from a band. I really think she would thrive off the dynamics other musicians could bring. I feel like we are being denied her full talent. Saying that. She was still entertaining. But I would love to see her up-close on a smaller stage.

The next hour of so, there really wasn’t much to keep me entertained. The Primitives in Reds didn’t do much for me. Upstairs, Self Esteem were impressing the Rockaway crowd, but are not me. I feel like I’m not in on the joke. Ex-indie musician creates a pop band. Not sure where the punchline is. She is not for me. Downstairs, although not usually my thing, W.H.Lung impressed with their electro pop and the singer had high register vocals that reminded me a bit of Andy Bell.

Closing the evening was Peter Hook on Centre Stage and Anna Meredith in Reds. Fair play to the festival organisers for giving us a choice. Peter has headlined Rockaway before and upstairs was very busy. Yes, he has an amazing back catalogue with Joy Division and New Order. But he is still Peter Hook covering Joy Division. He is not Joy Division. Anna though is an amazing talent. Sitting somewhere between classical and dance. She composes pieces that work with her small group of talented musicians, but also scales to a full orchestra sound. For me it was an easy choice and I opted for the brilliant Anna. Her music was a joyful way to finish off their evening.

Day 2 was a strong on paper. Reds was full of great new acts, closing with Yard Act. Headlining the Centre Stage was OMD. So there as a lot to look forward to.

Winter Gardens impressed the midday crowd. Two female vocalists and a manic guitarist. They describe the sound as ‘dream punk’ and it does have the textured layering of shoegaze. But then their manic guitarist adds a layer of expressive guitar that changes the pace and keeps the whole thing interesting.

The next band were the festival highlight for many of us. Personal Trainer from the Netherlands are a seven piece who are all having a blast playing their music live. They come across as a bunch of mates who like mucking about with each other. They just happen to have also released a great album in 2022. I got the feeling they would play just as manically if there was no one there. Their lead singer Willern Smit had an infectious joyous charm. Definitely one to watch.

I had been hearing good things about VLURE. For some reason, I expected them to be an IDLES clone. But they play dark electro-punk with a sweary, ‘twelve pints of Glaswegian angst’ attitude. Highly enjoyable. I can imagine 11pm in a dark club would be the best time to catch them.

The sound engineers at the festival did a good job of getting a reasonable sound out of Butlins venues that were never designed for indie music. They had done a fantastic job earlier in the afternoon of handling the complexities of Personal Trainer. So it was surprising the sound for POZI was poor. Sadly the violin was drowned out in the mix. Given much of POZI’s charm is how they use the violin to replace angular guitars to create an alternative take on the post-punk sound. It was pretty important the mix was right. I think POZI realised things weren’t sounding great but they did their best anyway. Disappointing, but this was the only time were the sound was poor.

Sound improved for The Goa Express, who play jangly indie. As I have seen before, I watched half their set and then took the opportunity to take a break.

Melt Yourself Down were a big surprise. A perfect festival band. Mixing elements of jazz with North African influences, they have a very danceable sound. Lead singer Kushal Gaya does a great job of working the crowd. I think everyone was impressed by them.

At 8, the Centre Stage opened putting Big Joanie up against The Futureheads. I have seen Big Joanie many times so opted to for the Futureheads. Sadly, the performance was marred by lead singer, Barry Hyde suffering from vocal issues and other members of the band had to take up vocal duties. As their vocal harmonies are an important part of their sound, tonight didn’t quite work. After half their set I decided to head up to watch Big Joanie.

Sadly, I had a realisation seeing Big Joanie on the big stage, I don’t think I like them playing big stages. When they came on the scene. They supported everyone and their sound grew on my, but it was their performances that drew me in. Playing small tightly packed stages, with Chardine’s drums front and centre, their performances were very dynamic. Tonight on a big stage. It was clear their performance hasn’t developed for these larger venues. The three seemed isolated from each other and the deficiencies in their sound more obvious as the performance was static. Odd, because they have been a support act on big tours. I would have thought they would have gained more stage craft and realised they have to fill the stage with their performance, not by spreading themselves out. I am not sure I will bother watching them again on a big stage again. I will catch up with them when they play smaller stages.

Managing the clashes, I stayed upstairs to watch half of the Anchoresses set before catching Scalping with the hope of getting a space at the front for Yard Act.

This was the Anchoress’ first gig since before COVID. Before Christmas she put up a crowdfunded to help her purchase some air purifiers. She is clinically vulnerable and the air purifiers have been designed to clean the air around her when she performs to give her the confidence to play again. I still wear masks at the front as I don’t want to be responsible for passing on something to an artist causing them to cancel a tour (and for me to avoid missing more gigs). It was really good to see her back playing again giving us the opportunity to enjoy her beautifully crafted music.

Downstairs Scalping brought industrial rave to Rockaway Beach. Dark grungy guitars played over rave music accompanied by 3D visuals. All combined, it reminded me of the Amiga demo scene. It was all a bit intense for me. I was never a raver but found myself dancing. But after about 30 minutes, it all started to blend into one and also I was a bit knackered!

Taking the opportunity to creep a little bit more centrally after Scalping finished. I was all set for what turned out to be the biggest disappointment of the whole festival.

Bands like IDLES have created a blueprint for being successful. It involves a lot of hard work and nonstop touring. Something that breaks most bands, as they can’t cope with all the negatives touring brings with it. Since seeing Yard Act last January, the band seem to have followed the IDLES playbook and they have said yes to every booking. Looking at Songkick. It says they played well over 100 gigs last year, including North America and European tours. They are about to head off to Australia. That is a lot of gigs, a lot of travelling with the poor lifestyle that comes with it.

Even before their Rockaway set, they travelled down from Leeds via Kingston where they played a gig, before heading to Butlins for a Q&A and headline set. After all that effort, playing a gig at 2315 might not have been the best idea.

I have to admit, I was a bit shocked by their appearance when they walked on stage. James and Ryan looked frazzled. The spark James had last year wasn’t there. Instead his witticism seemed like barbed comments. Was he joking about the late stage time and the fact that they had said yes to playing a January gig? I’m not sure he was. I felt like I was watching somebody who could be heading for a breakdown. I really hope people around him are looking after him.

I found the whole set very uncomfortable. It didn’t help that some pissed girls had pushed their way to the front and talked loudly during the songs. I am not sure if James was aware of them. But he gave one of them the microphone and said they should sing the next song. The girl was then annoyed and told him she was the paying audience. After that, he seemed to lose interest. Instead of playing their 75 minute slot, he decided 45 minutes was enough and that was them them done.

If people around the band are reading this. Give the guys a break. They look like they need it.

With Yard Act finishing early I headed upstairs to catch OMD play their ear worm ‘Enola Gay’. It sounded really good. Maybe I picked the wrong stage?

Steve Lamacq closed the evening with his usual DJ set. But I headed back to my room to edit photos.

The final day started with a break in the rain and clouds. I probably should have taken the opportunity to go for a walk, but I was still editing photos. Sadly it didn’t hold and the rain came back.

First up was one of my favourite artists. John J Presley with his grungy blues. He was a nice late addition to the festival. I suspect he was added as he was playing guitar for the Anchoress.

Pagans SOH played Rockaway in 2019 and impressed back then. It was a no brainer for the organisers to invite them back. Sadly, they still had an early slot. I would like to see them given a later slot so they play to a fuller room. They mix funk, hip hop, rock, well anything really. Kind of like a chilled out Rage Against the Machine. That is not to say they don’t take their music or topics seriously. Marcus, their singer is so personable that is hard not to like him and the band.

Dream Nails appear to have changed their lineup. The time I saw them as a support act, they didn’t stand out. In fairness to them, I had rushed from another gig and only caught the last few songs of their set. But I don’t remember a particularly animated performance. With their new singer, that has changed, jumping into the audience trying to start a mosh pit amongst us oldies. A definite improvement over my memory.

Another new band for me was Rats on Rafts. Hailing from the Netherlands with probably the coolest name of the festival. A clever name that seems to sum up the political situation since the banking crisis. They make an incredibly good sound. Driving post-punk baselines are used to anchor often psychy fuzzy guitars meaning they sound fresh amongst the wash of post-punk bands around at the moment. I will definitely be catching these again.

Sadly, I missed much of Modern Woman’s set. The bits I heard, intrigued me because I couldn’t work out what I was meant to be hearing. The singer has a great voice but one that seemed at odds at times with the music. There were elements of folk scales with the singer’s vocals regularly shifting registers and a violin adding folk accents. Other times the music followed a more traditional post-punk structure. The bit of the set I heard left me intrigued and that is not a bad thing.

Another artist who could easily play the main stage was Hamish Hawk. Effortlessly charming with a dry sense of humour. ‘I think Bognor is the best of the Regis. Sorry Lyme’ is an example of the little nuggets of humour he sprinkles through his set with. It helps that the band play great indie pop music too. I think everyone in Reds had a smile on their face. That is the effect he has on the audience. I think it is impossible to dislike Hamish. Seek him out if you see him on a festival bill.

After Hamish, I wasn’t too fused about the rest of the evening. Figuring it would get busy for the Undertones I dropped off most my camera gear in my room and decided I would dip in and out of the rest of the evening. Most of the evening was legacy bands that I knew I wouldn’t be too bothered about

On returning, Reds was absolutely rammed for the Beats. Upstairs, Fake Turins were pleasant. I decided to leave the Undertones after a few songs. The Undertones music is such youthful music, in my mind, the band are always young, locked in a time capsule. However, I felt the capsule cracking as I watched these old men playing songs that they no longer represented. Closing the evening was Panda Bear and Sonic Boom who played a soundscape of a warm summer on the cold winter evening. It was all pleasant but I decided to take it easy and grab a few beers in the bar.

Overall, the festival did everything I needed it to. It recharged my batteries and killed the early January blues. Musically, I think the festival team did a great job of balancing the legacy acts with new blood. Usually on Sunday, the numbers drop away as people head home for work on Monday. The choice of putting The Undertones and The Beat on Sunday meant this was the busiest Sunday I can remember. Introducing the second stage gives bands the opportunity to headline without the risk to the festival by them on the big stage before they are ready. And yet again, the organisers seem to have found lots of interesting bands to fill up the afternoon slots to connect us to new artists.

One plea to artists who play next year. Be aware the audience is full of older people. A few bands asked the audience to get down on the floor. I think they heard the creaking of all our knees as far away as Brighton. Please save my knees next year.

If the idea of going to Butlins for a festival puts you off. Don’t be. Bultins staff are the friendliest around. The rooms are reasonable and clean. Butlins isn’t too expensive and there’s a range of other things to do. Butlins really do care about making your festival experience a good one. And the Rockaway festival isn’t a standard Butlins music weekender, full of groups of people in fancy dress. This is a music festival for 6Music listeners. What better way to ease yourself into the New Year than listening to new and old music. Despite my initial reservations in 2015, I think I have found my antidote to January Blues. Next year is already booked.

Delayed from last summer. The festival has found a home in Brockwell Park which was ready for it’s big day. For a new festival, it was remarkably well organised. COVID checks dealt with quickly and efficiently. In the main, the site was organised well. A good range of food and drink in the centre with stages spinning off. Sadly, there was a bit of leakage between the Bad Vibes and Moth Club stages, but I’ve experienced far worse and something that can be tweaked in later years. A nice touch was a free drink to those of us who had kept faith last year and not asked for a refund.

First up was Tiña on the Windmill stage. Dressed in bright pink with a cowboy hat playing breezy cowboy indie, it was just the right sound to wake us up with positive vibes.

On the Moth Club stage was Lazarus Kane, a band who previously had left me unimpressed. At that performance, Ben the singer, appeared as a kind of lounge lizard caricature, with the band playing second fiddle. But here on a big stage with the band spaced out and the singer having dropped the disguise, I thought they had a much bigger and a more dancy sound than I remembered. I was left wondering if they’d increased the size of the band as there was an added depth to their sound, I didn’t experience on the small stage. Or maybe Ben’s theatrics had just put me off. Either way, I was impressed today. I will definitely be keeping an eye on them.

My second surprise of the day was Regressive Left. A band I knew nothing about. Apparently they are now based in Stevenage. I’ll have to keep an eye out for local gigs. Again, like Lazarus Kane, they a very dancy sound. But in an 80s art-pop way. Strong drumming with feedback laden guitars and keyboards adding an 80s feeling. One to watch

Next up was a brief visit to the Bad Vibes stage to listen to Maripool. Possibly the first misstep. Their music was pleasant, in a laid back ‘beer in the sunshine’ kind of way. But the vocals were off. I didn’t experience sound issue later in the day but I was heading off to see the afternoon headliners, Idles and maybe they improved before the end of the set.

Idles were always going to be my highlight of the festival. They’ve made some of my favourite albums from the last few years. They are fantastic live and have helped revitalise guitar based music by putting issues at the forefront of driving pop punk. Their audience mixes us oldies, rekindling our youth, with young people who are hopefully listening to their messages of community and compassion (especially the blokes). There’s something special about the ‘AF gang’ community that’s grown up organically around the band. Something I’ve never experienced before.

It was odd seeing a headliner play an early afternoon set. But this isn’t normal times. With the festivals opening after a delay of a year, it’s not surprising we’re seeing clashes. Idles, were double booked for a festival in their hometown. Understandably, that took precedence. But Bristol’s gain wasn’t our loss. If anything, it gave this festival a massive boost as everyone arrived early to see the band. It meant most stages were busy right from the off with a great atmosphere throughout they day.

Their latest album came out during lockdown and they haven’t had the opportunity to play live. So I was expecting a large number of songs from the album. I have to admit, I’m not a big fan of the last album. But the one live performance I’ve seen of it, the songs were much stronger live. Maybe sensibly, they gave the crowd what they wanted with a greatest hits of their three albums. Despite reservations, the new songs fitted into the set and sounded great.

I’ve never seen Idles have an off day. Today was no exception. Right from the off they got the crowd going with a circle forming in the early afternoon sun. They then did their usual thing of jumping into the crowd. Keeping the crowd at boiling point throughout the set. Pretty much a perfect headline slot. It just happened in daylight.

A Certain Ratio aren’t a band I know much about. They’ve been around since the late 70s. I liked what I heard but I wanted to grab some photos of other stages so I moved on after two songs.

Likewise, I didn’t stick with Porridge Radio for long. I love Porridge Radio and I’ve seen them several times. They sounded on form for the two songs I heard.

Fenne Lily was part of the reason why I was jumping around stages. She produced a great album so I wanted to see how it translated to a festival stage. Although playing a smaller stage more suited to her sound, in all honesty, I thought the sound was lost. Despite being a small stage, it was competing with the rest of the festival and I think much of the delicacy of the album was lost to the air. I’ll have to catch her at a more appropriate venue.

I love Squid. There’s similarity with bands like Black Midi and Black Country New Road but their sound is less noodly prog and feels more anarchic and organic They’re also far less serious than their siblings. Live, they’re the best out of the bunch. Today, they were on good form.

Another band I’ve seen before, so only listened to a few songs, is Los Bitchos. They play dancy latin fuzed psych with no vocals. They appear to have a changed lineup but still sounded great. The first time I saw them I wanted there to be a vocalist. But they don’t need a vocalist. Their music is so infectious and had the crowd dancing away to their latin vibes. Perfect festival band.

I only caught one song of White Flowers. They were pleasant but like Fenne Lilly, their sound seemed to be a little bit lost on the small stage so I moved on.

I’ve heard great things about PVA. Naturally as a ‘Windmill’ band they were playing the main Windmill stage. But they left me cold. They were very disco. I’m sure they sound great in a small venue with a crowd bouncing to their music. But on the big stage with everyone hidden behind keyboards, it just wasn’t my type of festival experience so I took the opportunity to grab some food.

As my recent POZI review mentioned. Pozi were my most listened to band over the last year. Unlike the Social, the drummer wasn’t lost in smoke and darkness at the back of the stage so I could actually see him sing this time. It felt more of a band performance. However, as I had just seen them a few weeks ago I only stayed for 10 minutes before heading off to catch another lockdown favourite, Dry Cleaning.

I’m never sure how to describe Dry Cleaning. They’re a talky band, with no singing. Florence’s delivers her stories as if she’s oblivious to the audience’s presence. Creating mesmerising tales of mundane modern life, enhanced with simple expressions and waves of her hand. The rest of the band acting like a stage director, focusing the audience’s emotions and attentions on the rise and fall of the tempo of each story. I always feel I’m listening to something the Velvet Underground could have written.

They’re also a surprising band. They shouldn’t work on a big stage. Half of the performance is seeing Florence’s expressions which surely is lost in a big venue. They should be very much an acquired taste. Yet pretty much everyone I know who has seen them live, have enjoyed what they saw. They’re a special band, rightly deserving of the good press they receive. They’re also an example of why Wide Awake could grow into a vital London festival. It’s venues like the Shacklewell and Windmill that are taking a chance on booking bands like Dry Cleaning.

Another ‘Shacklewell’ band, and one long overdue serious attention, CROWS played the Bad Vibes stage to a packed crowd. Their support for Idles clearly paying off, with a lot of Idles t-shirts in the packed Bad Vibes stage. As I would expect, their performance was full of the energy they’re known for.

Annoyingly, I dallied too long between stages and the pit for Goat Girl was closed. So I took the opportunity to kick back with a soft-drink and listen to the delightful sounds of Goat Girl in the glorious early evening sun.

Lynks are an acquired taste. Not my taste. They’re a camp disco performance art group who have no instruments on stage singing over backing tracks. Really not my musical taste. But they are entirely about the stage show. The whole crowd on the So Young Stage bouncing along to their set, probably the best reaction of the day. Everyone there clearly loved them. They are worth catching to see if they are your thing.

Snapped Ankles are just awesome live. They create a primeval driving shamanistic music to dance to and dance the crowd did. I stayed for three songs before heading off to catch the Bad Vibes stage.

Kikagaku Moyo are possibly one of the best psych bands around at the moment. They make playing psych look effortless but controlled. Today was no exception with layers of sound washing over each other, interacting and heading off in a new direction dragging you with them on their musical wanderings. They a perfect band to catch at a festival when you’re feeling tired. Just allow the music to take over and revitalise yourself. Catch them if you can.

I cut short the Kikagaku Moyo set to catch the pit for Black Country New Road. They’re the chess club of music. There’s an element of prog with every instrument give time to weave it’s sound into their stories. Everything sounds like they’ve made a conscious compositional choice. That’s not a bad thing. But it lacks the organic nature of Squid and maybe at times feels too serious. However, their debut album released earlier this year, is one of my favourite albums of 2021. It looked like their lineup had changed since the first time I saw them at Rockaway Beach last year. They also didn’t look like school kids this time. It’s amazing what a year in music does to people. Have to admit, in the evening sun, I enjoyed their set. But the music has that kind of downstairs in a jazz club type feel that requires concentration and might have worked better when things got dark or even a smaller stage.

With the slew of bands that followed Idles into the mainstream. A bunch of Irish acts forced their way through the door. Initially, Fontaines DC were my favourites. They have a poetry and nervous energy that instantly made me like them.

The Murder Capital followed close behind, disposing with the nervous energy, replacing it with a dark intense emotion. Over the last year or so, the album I keep going back to is the Murder Capital’s debut. There are songs on the album with a real emotional punch. Somehow they manage to carry the darkness into their performances.

Tonight, was no different. James holding the crowd in his hands (or them literally holding his to stop him falling into them). His use of space in songs to give everyone time to take in the emotion and then hitting you with his powerful rich mournful voice distinguishes the band from the crowd. While a big stage in a big top, lacked the intimacy of the 100 Club gig last year. This was another storming performance. Slightly let down when the sound engineer cut them off after timing issues with James squaring up him and security dragging him away. He’ll have to learn to keep the emotion on stage.

I did briefly leave the Murder Capital set to catch Crack Cloud. I’ve seen them before and they’re really good. But there’s something special about the Murder Capital that meant I needed to see the rest of the set. I will have to catch Crack Cloud at some other point.

Getting to the Wide Awake Festival had been a bit of a trek. My rail line was closed due to a fatality on the line. So I had to drive across country to pick up a different line into London meaning I had to return to pick up my car. I also am still not comfortable with crowds and spent most of the day wearing a mask in the pit and in crowded areas of the festival. I didn’t really want to be stuck on packed trains out of Brockwell with a late night drive. So despite some excellent bands to come, I decided to cut after one last band – Black Midi

I’ve seen Black Midi a few times and their debut album was my one of my favourite albums of 2019. Their followup, this year’s Cavalcade hasn’t had such a big an impact on me. It’s too consciously experimental. I have to be in the right mood for it to work.

I think with BCNR and Squid also playing in the same space. The seriousness of Black Midi and BCNR has worn more heavily. There’s an intensity to their music and the way they play that means you have to really be switched on to enjoy them. By this time, I have to admit I was a bit tired with my mind on home, I didn’t take in their set. I think the Murder Capital had taken all my emotions.

Not quite the high I’d expected to finish the festival on. But I can’t complain. It was a day I needed after a long 18 months. It felt like a bit of normality had returned to my life.

While I had a ticket, I was grateful for Bad Vibes giving me a photo pass. It helped me relax into the day and move around more easily without having to deal with packed crowds. I had also upgraded to a very reasonably priced VIP ticket. I needed to have a space to retire to if things got too much and the VIP space was quiet enough to allow me to deal with my post-COVID return to the real world.

I really hope this festival happens again next year. From the organisation, to the lineup. It was pretty much perfect. An excellent start.

I have some concerns about the return to gigging and the fact too many venues have decided not to ask for tests or vaccine passports. Given the younger demographic many of whom aren’t vaccinated, alongside poor ventilation in many venues, it’s criminal as far as I’m concerned. Lateral flow tests aren’t perfect. But they’re easy to do. I did mine in the morning before heading into London. It’s not onerous to ask the audience to do one if they haven’t been vaccinated yet. So I debated whether to go to the Social last night and to be honest, if the venue had been full, I doubt I would have stayed. The Social seemed like a perfect example of the type of venue I’m concerned about that really should be asking the audience for evidence they’re virus free.

If you’re not aware of the Social. It’s a pokey basement venue just behind Oxford Street. There’s basically no ventilation. They appear to have added two air coolers to the room. (Which weren’t on when I got there). They were not the kind that mix fresh air, only recirculating room air. Hopefully, they have some filters in them. I assume there was also some building air con that does mix some fresh air into the system as it is a basement venue and there must be some way to ensure there is clean air in the room. I think it’s likely there are fire regs that mean they can’t keep their stair doors open to let in some fresh air. But essentially there was little air movement. It was easy to see how little air movement there was because they made heavy use of smoke and it was hanging in the air for long periods with little sign of movement. It looked the perfect room for a super spreader event. I don’t care how stupid I looked. Even if no one else was. I stayed masked up for the majority of the gig (I’ve upgraded to FFP2 masks for gigging).. But I’m not rushing back to the Social in a hurry.

The lineup was a bit eclectic. The evening of music was for Prah Recordings with Pozi, Yemrot, and Island Girl that mixed traditional folk, surreal story telling and post-punk violins.

First up was London-based musician, Island Girl, playing a range of traditional music. I really liked her set. Most of the songs were traditional Americana, jug band music and traditional Irish folk tunes. I don’t think she played any of her own work. But she had a lovely voice and I personally love this type of music.

Yemrot’s was up next. A low key performance of music that opens a door on the surreal working of Yemrot’s mind, with songs shooting off in tangential directions as they weave fantastical stories about mundane things.

Last up was Pozi. I’d seen Pozi support Squid at the 100 Club in 2019. I enjoyed their set at the time. I liked how they mixed in a violin into a post-punk sound. During the first lockdown, they released their 176 EP. Something I was obsessed with. Each song seemed to mix a driving post-punk bass sound, with a violin pushed through effects pedals, either providing stabbing musical accents to the storytelling, or swirling nervous dark energy.

I’d forgotten they are a three piece who all contribute lead vocals, including the drummer. Singing drummers don’t always work well as they can be hidden at the back of the stage. With the Social being very narrow, Tom on drums was hidden at the back behind a wall of smoke and strong back lighting. This at times detracted from their performance as you just heard vocals coming and didn’t see him. But this was completely beyond their control.

The highlight for me was the 176 material I’m so familiar with that has taken their sound and created a more spacious, but no less intensive sound. This material stood out in tonight’s session and seems to be the direction they’re heading in, making their sound accessible to the audience listening to contemporaries like Squid. The only downside was the inclusion of their ‘Christmas song’, ‘Noel’ which is very dark and was not what I wanted on my first night back. I just wanted to dance. Thankfully, there was more than enough opportunity to do so. It made a change from dancing around my living room at 1am with a whisky in hand.