Live Review : 2000trees on July 8th 2022
Friday morning it’s sunny, warm, and humid. Refreshed from yesterday, I plan my day, my first band of the day is a London-based band Chapter and Verse. A good size crowd has formed and off we go. A few line-up changes since I saw them last, but the lead singer’s voice is still as good and unique as I remember. It’s difficult to place them, they are rock but an odd mix of a lot of different sounds and it works.
Next up its Will from Creeper’s other band Salem and this is a new one on me, so I am going in blind. It’s a very enjoyable set, Will again puts on a great show as the lead singer and the songs are more energetic hard rock, but very bouncy with catchy hooks.
No time to rest, it’s straight to recently reformed just in time for the festival, Heck, a 2000trees favourite who take the stage…. the mosh pit, the roof supports, these guys are playing all over the place even the drummer ends up in the pit with his drum kit; it is just madness. Somehow even though they are all over they still put on a good show, even more impressive because they have not played together in years, just pure mad heavy rock.
Next up it is Laura Jane Grace. She has a very good voice, and the music is just the right level of relaxed punk rock to have in the early evening, most of the tracks are from Against Me! And I recognise a few.
We go right into Bob Vylan on the NUE stage, which I feel was a very bad call for the organisers to put this two-piece powerhouse on such a small stage. The tent is rammed and spills out in every direction, it’s warm, tight and the energy is overflowing. They come out and the crowd is ready to go, the crowd bursts into life and they own it, then it comes to the song “Northern Line” and it’s very apt that the tent is hot and tightly packed. The Bob Vylan stage invasion begins, somehow, I make it on stage, but the small stage was struggling under the weight of so many people, you could feel the floor moving and almost giving way; luckily the stage and the crowd live to fight another day.
I run for some pop punk in the form of As December Falls, who just seem to be going from strength to strength. Bethany does a good job engaging the crowd, catching everyone’s attention while Andy gets everyone ready for the crowd participation, this goes down very well and everyone in the tent is on board and singing back in full voice, very much a bouncy happy time had by all.
More running and back for the Scottish legends known as Vukovi, again the tent is packed, and they not even 10 seconds in and the crowd surfers are coming over thick and fast. They are hard to describe, they are a bit of a rock/ dance band and just have a level of energy that is insanely high, Janine does well avoiding going into the pit or getting distracted by objects in the pit, all usual staples of a Vukovi set. That is until the 2019 Trees legend Mr Fridge turns up. Well that’s it Mr Fridge is in the middle of the pit as requested by Janine and the next minute there is a fridge going over the crowd; par for the course for this band I feel, it’s an energetic show and very enjoyable.
Headliners Thrice are due on the main stage and after hearing the buzz on the 2000trees groups I thought it was worth a look. They start up and I have no idea what to expect, this band has a strong following, but they have escaped me. After the fact I found out they were playing the 2005 album “Vheissu” in full; songs going from chill rock to quite heavy, not a bad set and very well done. I can see why they have a good reputation among their fans and would watch them again. I said that Thrice was the headliner, but I lied, the last band on the main stage tonight is 2000trees legends Thrill Collins, with their stripped back mash up covers of popular classics from all over the musical spectrum but the catch, yes, the catch, this is this is a silent headphone set. A very enjoyable set, nothing like some stripped back covers to end your day.
I will listen and dance to just about anything if the mood takes me… if I can understand and feel the lyrics or just feel the emotion in the music, I am home, if I can just dance to it then it’s still great.