Воскресенье 18 Сен 2011, 15:28
Okay, so this was my second annual Butserfest and the line-up this year interested me much more than last year, practically for one band; Lower Than Atlantis.
The first band I wanted to see was Heart In Hand, who were on at 3:15, the festival (if you can call it that) opens at 11:00 so I had a lot of time to kill. There was lots of activities to do all day and merch to buy and of course you can't really go to one of these events alone, so friend help the time pass a little easier.
3:15 quickly rolled by and it was time to head to the main stage, Heart In Hand wasted no time in getting the crowd animated, lead vocalist Charlie Holmes really knows how to get a small crowd going and rocking, the set may be short but it is indeed sweet. Threefifteen (taken from their very impressive debut album 'Only Memories') really gets the crowd going mad for them, Charlie leaps into the crowd and crowd surfs for the majority of the song which they love. The self titled track 'Only Memories' is the most well known as it has a music video on the web so many more people know the lyrics for this one. Overall a very impressive set from a very impressive band.
I personally didn't catch all of We Start Partys set (I was over talking to Heart In Hand and LTA) I saw these guys last year and they were fun and different, certainly again they were fun, from a distance you could easily tell they attracted the largest crowd of the day so far at least.
Next up was Bury Tomorrow who (from a distance) sounded pretty decent, the lead vocalist can indeed scream and they can play to a small sized crowd. They didn't have the most energetic crowd of the day but played well enough to keep their small fan base happy at least, if not ecstatic.
As soon as Bury Tomorrow were on their last track, I and my friends headed right for the front of the stage for Lower Than Atlantis, now I’ve seen these guys before at their headline show in Camden and they blew me away then and I was expecting the exact same thing, now don't get me wrong they were brilliant (for such a short set) a personal highlight was the inclusion of a few covers of Foo Fighters which really got more people over who didn't want to see Lower Than Atlantis themselves. Highlights included Deadliest Catch which is just fantastic live but no Another Sad Song made me just a little dejected.
Deaf Havana sounded pretty decent from where I was (I was chatting with LTA after their set) Friends Like These sounded pretty good without the former screaming that was included but James the lead vocalist can scream more than averagely, the song that was dedicated to their friend who committed suicide was very moving if not a little quiet.
Now I don't like Young Guns, I saw them last year and they were nothing short of abysmal, it's been a whole year since then and they moved up the card to main support, well I must admit they impressed me, Weight of the World was amazing live, really, loved every moment of that track. Crystal Clear is one of those tracks that I hate on the CD, I mean I really despise it but live it really is a highlight. So all in all Young Guns shocked me with a great set.
Headliners Funeral for a Friend obviously drew the biggest crowd of the event and rightly so, although vocalist Matthew has a hard time with an obvious sore throat and at times technical difficulties, they storm through their set which includes classics, new tracks and some different and unexpected songs like Into Oblivion. Some banter between tracks gives a more personnel feel to the set then others of the day, overall a very well deserved 10 year anniversary set for pioneers of rock music in the UK.
Overall Butserfest 2011 was a great day out, it rained a hell of a lot but who didn't expect that? Some great bands, great people and a well organised day, can't wait for next year!