Not Cool photo special

God Damn photo special

Heebie Jeebies photo special

Moondad photo special

The End of Out Of Step in Wolverhampton - Sad Times and Rad Times

Monday saw Wolverhampton wave goodbye to Out Of Step’s monthly shows, but not before an incredible leaving party featuring four amazing bands. From the moment Moondad took the stage you could tell it was going to be a special night, they played their hearts out and brought headline quality to the bottom of the bill.

Their combination of shoegaze and noise was delivered with intelligence and bags of energy. It is rare  for a band inspired by shoegaze and noise to be easily accessible without loosing too much of their experimental side, however Moondad were an exception. Their set was topped off with a great Smiths cover, usually I hate covers within a bands set but great covers were to develop into one of the themes for the night.

Sheffield tropical punks Heebie Jeebies were next to blow the audience away, and despite the brilliance of Moondad they took it up another level. The combination of noticeable influences from almost every type of music imaginable, deep vocals and obscure lyrics creates a sound unlike any other. This individual style is thrashed out at a furious pace live and is impossible not to enjoy.

God Damn were next to tackle the ever raising bar of brilliance and created a style which chopped and changed as their set progressed. The elements of hardcore were loud and aggressive, at times the riffs were raw and huge, and just to keep the audience guessing there was even some incredible harmonica. God Damn again delivered a faultless cover with a truly individual reworking of a Strokes track. As the hardcore scene develops in Wolverhampton God Damn offer hardcore with something more experimental and with a fantastic lofi DIY feel throughout.

Finally after the audience and the promoters were hyped to the max, by three of the best sets in Out Of Step history, Not Cool took the stage. These Dalston based punks are one of the best acts Out Of Step have put on and deserve every success. Their individual sound has elements of early indie such as the Pixies and Smiths combined with punk and hardcore throughout it’s existence to create an instantly recognisable sound. Fuzzy guitars are balanced with energetic baselines, passionate vocals and frantic drumming. The band topped off the night with a great cover of one of my favourite songs by the Minutemen.

Tonight showed that Wolverhampton still had a heart but unfortunately for Out Of Step and Alchemy it was a case of too little too late. Tonight’s varied line up showed examples of four incredible live bands at the top of their game, please go and check them all out.

Out Of Step Presents Hold Your Horse Is with Even Atlas, Carl White and Bad Apes

As Bad Apes took the stage they burst into a thirty-minute set consisting of the most eclectic shoegaze surf noise around. The intensity that this three-piece produce is a sight to behold, making them fascinating to see play live. Since the last time I saw the band they have developed a far more vocal lead approach without loosing out on any of the experimental noise; this development in sound has made the band far more accessible to an audience without loosing any of the alternative sounds they have built a strong live reputation locally from. The speed in which these guys are developing their sound is astonishing and I’m looking forward to seeing them again to find out how their sound develops further.


After Bad Apes had warmed the audience’s ears up it was the turn of London based two-piece Carl White to take the stage. This band made Bad Apes experimental sound look regular in comparison to their intellectual mixture of instrumental math, prog noise. Every track developed in peaks and troughs and again this band were enchanting to watch and hear. The depth of sound and general volume was incredible, especially for two people. My personal highlight of the set was ‘You and Me’ a song that felt like a journey through a relationship, with moments of tender beauty followed by brutal noise.

Even Atlas were third up and managed to again raise the noise levels in the room with their individual post hardcore punk sounds. They played a balanced set with an equal number of instrumental tracks to tracks with vocals, both delivered at a rapid pace. Vocally the band lean towards At The Drive-In or the later incarnation Sparta but musically Even Atlas could draw comparison from a vast array of great bands all combined into a raucous sound. The stage presence of this three-piece was created with a mixture between confidence, bravado and exuberance making them a pleasure to watch. The progression shown throughout the set and particularly in the new song they played was very interesting, and again, like Bad Apes I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next for this band.

As headliners Hold Your Horse Is took the stage they increased the temperature in the room considerably as the audience gathered to see what the hype was about. In recent months there has been a lot written and discussed about Hold Your Horse Is and it is safe to say they will not be playing small shows like this one for long. Their style mixes post punk with hardcore, and many other elements, to create an individual, easily recognisable sound when this is combined with an intense live show it is very easy to see where the hype has been generated.

As the band rattled through their set at an astonishing pace there were moments of anger and brutality paired with complex guitar and drum lines and the occasional moment of tender beauty. The main thing the band put across throughout the set was how much they were enjoying playing live; from the first note they were throwing themselves around the stage before coming to a premature end on the floor of the venue. Tonight’s set was genuinely one of the most exciting sets I have seen all year and I can’t wait until Hold Your Horse Is are back in the midlands again. I can wholeheartedly recommend downloading something by the band, there is a free single on their website at the moment and if you want to go further I would look no further than the ‘Everyone Runs Faster With A Knife’ EP.

A look forward to 2000Trees Festival

So this weekend starts on Thursday and sees the fantastic 2000trees festival take place on the outskirts of Cheltenham. This festival is my personal favorite and highlight of the summer for me every year This year is no exception with the best line up the festival has ever had and some big decisions to make on which stage to watch acts on throughout the weekend.

Thursday is going to be an interesting one with me and a select few able to get to the site early to set up camp and enjoy a quiet evening of entertainment with acoustic acts and comedy. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what goes down as every year there are rumors about headliners taking the stage on Thursday to play acoustically (please be Frank turner). I’m sure beers will be drunk and catching up will be done late into the night.

Hopefully Friday morning won’t see too savage a hangover but I have Mountain Dew ready for this eventuality. Friday sees an awesome line up with a whole day of amazing music by the look of the line up starting with David Goo and ending with Frank Turner, in between there will be visits to see Midnight Mile, Shoes and Socks Off, Men Daimler, Chris TT, Beans On Toast, Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun, The Xcerts, Pulled Apart By Horses and Gold Heart Assembly. That list isn’t even everyone I want to see on Friday but again it’s sure to be another heavy night of drinking and catching up with the people not lucky enough to be there on Thursday night.

So on Saturday the 2 day effect on hangovers will kick in and despite probably spending the whole of Friday night wasted I’ll wake up feeling fresh but looking like I’ve gone two days without a proper wash. Saturday sees another day of incredible music I will definitely be seeing Ruth Bewsey, Joe Summer, Sparrow and The Workshop, Kill It Kid, Three Trapped Tigers, Sonic Boom Six, Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit, 65Daysofstatic and The Subways. Before submitting myself to the always surreal head phone disco which is sure to confuse as I dance around a field to music that only half the people are dancing to (the others will be dancing to the other channel) again I’m sure Saturday will end in a drunken stupor and long chats about music and anything else that seems very important at the time.

By Sunday the whole thing will be over and I’ll wake up after another night of sleep deprivation pack up the tent and head back home dreaming of the same time next year and wondering who will top the bill.

Every year 2000trees has amazing headliners but it’s the bands you were not yet familiar with that stick longest in the memory. Take last year for example I can’t remember anything about Fightstar (apart from we ate pies whilst watching them) but Imperial Leisure and Dannannackroyd are two of my favorite bands. Maybe that’s not the fairest example due to personal tastes as I did very much enjoy the King Blues and almost every other band.