2000 Trees was off to a phenomenal start on Thursday with perhaps its busiest day for awesome bands. Below are the choice selections of highlights in amongst a festival of sky high quality.
Playing new songs to an unsuspecting audience can be tricky. But not if you’re Milk Teeth. The new song – presumably titled Destroyer – slots in amongst classic material from Vile Child and the various EPs wonderfully, with all the brash charm the band have. They clearly relish their time on stage as musicians, with energy levels being sky high throughout. There is never a dull moment as they smash through hit after hit, sounding like Green Day in their prime and with infectious vocal melodies to boot. Em Foster of Nervus – now a full time member of Milk Teeth – in particular steals the show with her shouted backing vocals filling the overstuffed tent. It’s ramshackle and rambunctious. Surely one of the sets of the weekend.
Necks made of iron and screams that could reduce bone marrow to dust? Sounds like Conjurer. With material from debut full length, Mire, to play with, you’d expect a little piece of brilliance from Conjurer, and you’d be right quite frankly. They play an unbelievably brutal, taut set filled with ragers from the aforementioned album. Despite the running time of most songs being around seven minutes, it feels as if the set is over in a flash; a flurry of violence and hellish shrieking. Brilliant.
Perhaps the most criminally underrated band appearing at 2000 Trees are the majestic Palm Reader. There is something so magnificent about the dynamism with which the band 9lay that makes them such a captivating act. Whether it’s the musicianship, the stage bravado or the panache for penning amazing songs, the band excel in every field they turn their hands to. What is most striking is the reception to latest album, Braille. It is met with the kind of fervour one would expect for a far, far bigger outfit and from an album more entrenched in people’s psyches. All this goes to show is that Palm Reader are connecting with a far wider and broader audience than first thought, and we can only hope that justice prevails and they continue to grow. Also, opening with Internal Winter? Behave. Give someone else a chance.
Internationalism is something we must cherish, because easy access to almost any part of the world means that out humble island gets to witness the grandeur of Turnstile. With nothing but stellar albums under their collective belt, the set is jam packed with songs that leave the audience rabidly lapping up whatever is offered to them whilst simultaneously picking up their jaws from the floor. The set is so energetic and done with a lackadaisical coolness, you don’t just want to listen to them; you want to be them. The likes of Real Thing and Generator go down an absolute storm amongst the faithful thousands who piled into the main arena to witness the band decimate the festival site, and with their brash and hypnotic punk music, they very much did that.
Stay tuned for more day-by-day highlights and a full in-depth review of 2000 Trees 2019 right here at Rock Sins!
