Reaching the middle of the festival, Friday had us set for another day of sunshine and phenomenal music. With so many incredible acts on the line up, as well as a host of other activities, trees really delivered the ultimate battle of clashes with tough choices to make.
When you’re a bit spoilt for choice or torn between what bands to check out The Forest sessions are always a great place to head with so many hidden gems on early in the day. With the first few bands in the forest missed, Beetlebug was an incredible artist to walk into and just about catch the last few tracks. With an incredibly dreamy and calming presence, they had the small and intimate crowd having a beautiful start to the day and totally stood out from the rest of the heavier line up. Although predominantly a rock festival, 2000Trees does still deliver some diversity in sound on their line up. With an acoustic set up Beetlebug had the perfect surrounding in the forest. With such a mystical and nature driven vibe about them, you cant go wrong with gorgeous vocals, an acoustic guitar, and an attentive audience.
With a handful of back to back bands and artists in the forest that showed off some incredible talent, it was pretty hard to get drawn away to go check out the other stages. When you’re in such a calm environment with quality music, 2000Trees forest sessions can feel pretty therapeutic to the point you’re escaping the real world.
Following on from a soothing and dreamy experience, E-PO took to the stage for another great performance. Another shining example of giving a platform to smaller artists, the band walked on the forest stage like so many others had over the weekend; projecting main stage energy. Even with a totally different sound to the previous artist, so many in the audience had stayed put to check these guys out. With a punchy and slick performance, E-PO are absolutely a band to be invited back to player a larger stage at the festival.
Rounding off a couple of hours checking out new talent in the forest SUDS were another band you could see so many people making note of the name to remember to later add them on Spotify. Once again offering a break from the heavier artists of the festival, SUDS gave an indie energy with a pop punk twist. With smiles across all the members faces from start to finish, this was a band that was here to have fun and love every second they get to perform.
After a short break from music to just explore the beautiful grounds of 2000Trees, it was once again time to get pulled back to the forest. This time for one of the bigger acts, Kelsy Karter & The Heroines. With biggest and most infectious rockstar energy, this was easily one of the most unmissable performances of the weekend.
Oozing an incredible confidence from start to finish, The Forest was completely packed out. Going into this band totally blind was a lot of fun and with the performance delivered, you were once again left wanting to discover more if this was your first time checking them out. With a mix of originals and covering Blondies iconic Call Me track perfectly, this was another moment where 2000Trees unique Forest stage made you fall even more in love with the festival. Between tracks and getting real with the audience, you could tell Kelsy has built up a huge fan base thats a safe environment for everyone to be themselves.
Giving us a glorious mid afternoon set, American stars Joyce Manor pulled in a huge crowd for a packed out set of 18 incredible tracks. Kicking things off with Heart Tattoo, we instantly knew we’d be in for a set of fan favourites. What works so well with 2000Trees and having huge music fans as organisers is that they know their audience well and pick the perfect bands to fit with the vibe of the festival. Joyce Manor were another perfect example of this.
With so many short and punchy songs it was great to get to hear so much from such a great band. Delivering huge audience engagement for this set with fans had the chance to help pick a few tracks to add to the setlist. With so many to choose from the crowd ultimately settled on Leather Jacket, with Last You Heard of Me also being picked out later in the set. With such an adoring fan base, it’s clear there is a huge demand for Joyce Manor to return to the UK more.
With only part of the set complete and checking in with how long they had left, frontman Barry Johnson joked that within their 15 minutes remaining they could play the entirety of their catalogue. Poking fun at the shortness of some of their tracks the band continues to bash out hits such as Eighteen much to the crowds delight. For a band with a discography of sad bangers, throughout the crowd you were pressed to see anyone not having a good time. Wrapping things up with Constant Headache and Catalina Fight Song, Joyce Manors infectious riffs and relatable lyrics filled the entire main stage arena with everyone singing along.
Whats so great about 2000Trees, is its a festival where there is always something new to check out. Whether that is totally new bands on the line up, or 2000Trees regulars you’ve not managed to catch before. You can easily attend this festival only there to see a handful of bands and leave having picked up a few new favourites. While The Xcerts pulled in their loyal fan base to their set, there was a fair few outliers at the back of the crowd who had just rocked up to check out what was going on.
With an incredible rock sound about them, its incredibly easy to vibe along to even if you’re unfamiliar with their tracks. Boasting that sound similar to many iconic British rock bands, theres something for everyone, if you’re into the likes of Young Guns, You Me At Six, and Twin Atlantic, you’ll love these guys. Easily recognisable tracks Feels Like Falling In Love and Aberdeen 1987 made appearances much to the crowds delight, alongside a second performance of closing track Ache, after having a few minutes left to fill.
Even with an overflowing crowd and outdoor setting, The Xcerts project an energy of an intimate indoor concert. With every area filled with their gorgeous sound their set screamed summer festival energy. Although its great to see band in smaller settings sometimes, their performance and huge crowd shouted that they should come back to a larger stage next year.
Taking things up a notch on The Axiom, metal side project, Empire State Bastard (formed of Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil and touring guitarist/former Oceansize musician Mike Vennart) had the perfect setting to show off their music to 2000Trees attendees. With their debut album release just around the corner, this was another perfect chance to have an injection of new music for the weekend. For those checking out the band for a love of Biffy Clyro only, many would’ve been met with a shock of the much heavier energy. Even with only two tracks release on Spotify, the band pulled in an enormous crowd ready to rock out and show their support for whats likely going to be one of the biggest bands of 2023.
Bringing Friday to a close, throwback band and welsh rockers Bullet For My Valentine saw us out on the main stage. Drawing in a big crowd in the main stage arena and filling out the VIP platform, it showed although this is more a nostalgic feeling band, there is still a huge demand for shows. As a more casual listener it was a good chance to sit toward the back and listen to tracks that had been lost on the memories.
Throughout the set and chatting with the crowd, the band teased more music coming with them going away for a while to work on it, as well as what can only be taken as a joke stating they were the ‘heaviest band’ to play the festival. Receiving a lot of laughs to this comment the band quickly continued on with their set, getting everyone excited for the silent disco to follow.
