Taking place in the lush green Surrey countryside and into their seventh year of the event, Redfest is rapidly evolving from it’s origins as a well kept local secret into one of the UK’s most appealing and diverse smaller festivals.
Redfest 2013, which takes place in just two weeks time on the 26th and 27th of July, sees some new things added to the festival for the first time. 2013 sees the introduction of a dedicated rock stage, called The Hype Stage, as well as a third stage entitled The Boiler Room, which will also serve as the events location for comedy, cabaret, burlesque shows and other fun after the bands have finished for the day.
The main stage line-up for this year has quite an indie flavouring, which as Rocksins readers know is not really either a) our cup of tea or b) the kind of music we cover on this website, but amongst the acts playing the main stage we’d advise you to check out the up and coming Max Raptor (famed for doing a gig in a fan’s living room in recent times) and Arcane Roots as well as Saturday’s main stage headliners Bastille, who have shot to prominence rapidly during 2013. The full main stage lineup can be seen on the poster below.
In analysing Redfest 2013, Rocksins’ primary focus is on the aforementioned rock & metal Hype Stage, where some of the UK’s best breakthrough and up-and-coming acts will be appearing. None more so than the stages two headliners; First up, Scotland’s Bleed From Within, fresh from their tour with the legendary Megadeth, and soon to be appearing on Metal Hammer’s Defenders Of The Faith IV, will pummel the senses and cause carnage on the Saturday evening. Friday night sees the stage being headlined by Southampton’s Download Festival breakthrough band Bury Tomorrow, who put in a legendary performance at Donington just weeks ago (read the review of that right here).
Alongside the two Hype stage headliners is a wealth of British talent. UKHC upstarts Feed The Rhino take time out from their busy schedule to give the Surrey Countryside a taste of their hardcore offerings, whilst grime metal crossover stars Hacktivist will also be bringing their unique sound to Redfest 2013. Those who like their metal a bit more progressive would do well to check out Empress, and the Bury Tomorrow fans should also check out their fellow metalcore act Heart In Hand.
If that’s not enough, one act virtually guaranteed to put on a great live show are dance metal crossover act Subsource. Turbowolf will also be there with their unique sounds which make them very hard to pin down to any one sub-genre, they’re a band who should just be heard, so make sure you check them out. There is also Palm Reader, a UKHC band that none other than Metal Hammer and Rocksins’ own Stephen Hill proclaimed currently top of the pile as far as UK Hardcore is concerned (read his review of their Bad Weather album here to see for yourselves). Palm Reader’s fellow hardcore purveyors The James Cleaver Quintet are also on-board, while Londoners Zico Chain bring a more established rock sound for their slot of the weekend.
There are many more acts who’ll be hitting the Hype Stage on both days (again please see the poster for full details), but our last word goes to The Hype Theory, who’ll be appearing on The Boiler Room stage. A bit lighter than any of our other highlighted bands but absolutely worth seeing, anyone who wants a break from the Hype Stage should find time in their scheduled to check out The Hype Theory.
Tickets for Redfest are currently available priced at £36 for a day ticket and £65 for the full Redfest 2013 experience, which includes camping on the Friday and Saturday nights (campsite is open from 9am Friday morning until 6pm Sunday evening). For Further info and to purchase tickets, please head to the official Redfest website www.redfest.co.uk. If there are any last minute updates or bits of news concerning Redfest 2013 Rocksins will be the place to catch that information so stay tuned!
