Photo Credit: Alia Thomas
As we arrive at Cheltenham Spa station, we look around and there’s a strange sense of being home. Smiley faces with plenty of luggage all here for one reason… the best festival in the UK, also known as 2000trees. This independent music festival is set on Upcote Farm in the Cotswolds giving festival goers to escape for a little bit and enjoy brilliant music and company at the same time.
The four-day event has a smaller Wednesday warm-up evening with just two stages open and the chance to get settled for the main event. After heading to the site and setting up our tent it’s time to kick off our afternoon of live music with Salisbury’s Carsick. Taking over The Word stage, the small tent was overflowing with fans keen to hear their punchy indie-rock tracks. It was loud, it was big and it was a sign that 2000trees had really begun.
If you’ve ever seen Lambrini Girls live, you’ll know crowd participation is key and Phoebe Lunny made it clear from the start nobody was getting away with non-participation here. Taking to the pit and onto the crowd during Terf Wars, Lunny has an incredible stage presence when you can keep your eyes on her. Yes, the crowd might not have been as receptive to the band but given this was the first day nobody wanted to give all their energy yet! Throughout their set they spoke out about terfs, calling your friends out and the importance for standing up for what you believe in using their voices to spread the important messages whilst keeping us on our toes in the process.
Dead Pony have had a great year and their set in the Forest at 2024 was a showcase of their journey over the past twelve months. Offering up tracks including the punchy MK Nothing where vocalist Anna Shields pulls out a perfect fight sequence and self-love spreading Rainbows which became a sing along moment, it was electro, energetic and the crowd were loving every moment. The Forest is a beautiful setting for any live music and Dead Pony were the soundtrack it needed.
2000trees regulars The Xcerts were playing their first set of the weekend in the Forest where they were celebrating ten years of their album There Is Only You. This move was one which may have meant a chunk of the crowd weren’t clued up on the tracks but gave a chance for the long term followers of the band to have a really special set. Anthemic Pop Song and live debut of Teenage Lust were stand out of the sets with Kids On Drugs seeing the tight trio come together for a rowdy instrumental. Opening up on the challenges and negative memories which came with playing their album in full, Murray Macleod even proclaimed ‘this shit’s fucking nasty’ before noticing a younger fan in the audience… Closing with the album’s title track, it sent a shiver down the spine as the crowd took over and closed out the track, this was simply something magical. Roll on their main stage set!
Tonight also saw England playing their big semi-final match, which Macleod predicted would end as one nil to Netherlands – wrong! Walking past The Axiom there was a lovely community feel as the crowds spilled outside the edges of the tent, desperate to get a peak at how the team were doing.
Back over in The Forest after England were successfully through, it was time for Boston Manor to headline the Wednesday night to a packed out crowd. The band has promised their first set at the festival would be scattered with throwback tracks, so a must see for any Boston Manor fan. Kicking off with a duo of recent singles Sliding Doors and Container, the band definitely weren’t here to mess around as vocalist Henry Cox stomped across the stage as the pits opened up before their eyes. Guitarists Ash Wilson and Mike Cunniff along with bassist Dan Cunniff have definitely been working on their synchronised moves. The combination of Lead Feet and Laika from debut Be Nothing was particularly special, unleashing singalongs, pits and plenty of finger pointing. However, we can’t help but wish GLUE tracks also got a look in, but hey that’s just a slightly minor thing. Even if the set up did make Cox feel like this was a scene from the Mandy film, Boston Manor had kicked off their 2000trees weekend in style ahead of their set at The Axiom the following day.
After dancing our night away at the silent disco, it was soon Thursday and time for the first full day of 2000trees to kick off as we headed to The Cave to check out openers Knives. The Bristol based collective managed to draw in a great crowd for their tricky slot as thrashy Happiness began. With the stage just about big enough for them, our eyes didn’t know where to look but we kept spotting Maddy Hill who switched from saxophone to vocals in a blink of an eye. Prior to Doppelganger, drummer Erin Cook explained how personal the track is and ‘how sick is it to be a lesbian!’ opening up to the crowd as they ran us through tracks from their latest release What We See In Their Eyes.
Due to overseas transport issues meaning they were able to get back in time for their mainstage set, Thursday was missing a much needed dose of SNAYX. With timings bumped back to accommodate for this, we caught some of The Oozes mainstage set. Playing without a guitarist as ‘I didn’t want a guitarist so got rid of them for the set’, catchy Cryin’ (Like A Baby) got us bopping along in the sunshine.
Over on the Neu stage, Irelands finest Meryl Streek was performing his spoken word punk tracks to an overflowing tent. With the lyrics the focal point of the performance, the set touched upon topics faced by society from homelessness to injustice and everything in between. Latest single Paddy, dedicated to Streek’s uncle Paddy felt as if this was being performed directly to him. As we learnt about Paddy who didn’t work but learnt everything on his own terms and in turn spread the knowledge. As we headed to our next set of the day, we were left thinking about the atmospheric and emotive set we’d just witnessed.
Vower are one the bands on this year’s line-up who’re formed of previous trees visitors including members of Toska, Black Peaks and Palm Reader. Showcasing their recently released debut EP Apricity, they were one of the most anticipated sets of the weekend and everyone got the memo as the tent was packed. Introducing us and the crowd to their punch, packed metal singles including Stroud, we reckon plenty of these attendees will head to their London headline show in December.
Back over on the mainstage, Olli Appleyard is busy destroying people’s picnics and replacing them with moshpits as Static Dress wake up the Trees crowd. It’s chaos, but the best kind as bodies were flying both within and above the crowd during safeword heading the warning of ‘If you stand still, you’re a fucking dickhead!’. Slowing things down with crying, the sound might have led to some guitar distortion but the appreciation for the crowd and reminder that ‘this is the heaviest shit you’ll hear this weekend’ meant Static Dress’ mainstage debut was a success.
The beauty of 2000trees is there really is something for everyone, whether it’s yoga, face painting for the kids, live podcast sessions or a little dose of electro-pop with AViVA. Stepping in as Sleeping Souls’ replacement, we caught a couple of tracks of her set including the ferociously catchy sing-along track FAKE FRIENDS. It was a fun addition to our day as Aviva Payne’s vocals hooked within our heads as we headed back to mainstage.
Cassyette’s vocals have undergone a drastic change in the past few months since we saw her with Bring Me The Horizon and unfortunately not in a good way. From the start, a backing track overpowered as she appeared to struggle to keep up with tracks tempo in particular during When She Told Me. Shouting out the festival as her favourite in the UK and those mates who’ve been there for you through it all before Friends In Low Places, it allowed fans to get involved even if they weren’t so aware of the tracks. Closing with fan favourite Dear Goth, it felt like the singer-songwriter whose debut album This World Fucking Sucks is released next month, had just about found her stride as the crowd were opening pits and giving the energy back when it lacked on stage. Maybe this was just an off day for Cassyette given our previous experience of her live shows.
Back at The Axiom, Californian favourites Spanish Love Songs were hitting the stage for their second set of the day switching from a packed out forest to an over spilling tent. With no way to get a look at the stage we had to settle for standing on the outer with the kids on their parents shoulders for this set. A full crowd anthemic chant along to Self-Destruction (As A Sensible Career Choice) was an absolute highlight of the set, led by Dylan Slocum who needn’t have said a word. The powerful emo-punk set provided plenty of memorable moments including Losers 2 with an exciting build up, sea of clapping and a real sense of triumph from the band with the best choruses. Yes, this might not have been the best stage for them but that’s what makes Trees so special. Big main stage worthy bands on small stages!
After chatting to Shay from Kids in Glass Houses prior to their set, we were really excited to see them take over the main stage and weren’t left disappointed. The South Wales quintet made their grand return last year and immediately put smiles on faces as the uplifting introduction of Sunshine kicked in as we all sung along in the sunshine. Frontman Aled Phillips still knows how to work a crowd, splitting them for the Give Me What I Want singalong and admire them as they gave their all. ‘It’s a good thing getting drunk in a field then a band comes on and plays this song’ joked Phillips before Undercover Lover, the marmite song in the fanbase but one which remains incredibly fun all these years. New single Theme From Pink Flamingo was a superbly slick moment even for those not quite up to date on the bands recent offering. KIGH really are back and the double whammy closer of Saturday and Matters At All left everyone feeling like they’d been part of a real special 2000trees set.
Following on from their Forest set the night before, we were excited to see what Boston Manor’s set over on the Axiom would bring but unfortunately things weren’t in the bands favour as technical issues meant they had to cut part of their set due to the significant delay. Playing Floodlights On The Square prior to it quite simply all going wrong, we did get a taste of the only joke Henry Cox knew about a scarecrow winning the Nobel Prize. Despite the delay, the crowd just continued to grow as they performed tracks including Container, heaviest track to date Sliding Doors and Heat Me Up from forthcoming album Sundiver. Asking for more crowd surfers, bigger pits and more energy everybody delivered much to their delight. Passenger and Halo saw the biggest singalongs of the set, making sure although it might have been a bit shorter than planned but it was still a showcase in live music and professionalism when things might not be on your side. Future headliners? We can see it.
After a slight delay Manchester Orchestra were over on the mainstage making their 2000trees debut led by vocalist Andy Hull. Opening with Pride, their riff filled set kicked off in style and took us into the main part of the evening. Shake it Out saw a fun snippet of Biffy Clyro’s hit Mountains merged in captivating those who were watching from a distance, then there was the fun of mainstage headliners/closers/friend The Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon joining them for The Gold albeit with many unable to decipher the vocals due to sound issues. With six studio albums under their belt and this being the anniversary year of Cope, there was a lean towards the older parts of their discography. Looking across the crowd, it was obvious many of todays attendees had made the trip here to see the Atlanta outfit play in the hills of the Cotswolds and nobody was disappointed by what was offered up. Gritty, great and no doubt they’ll be back!
This was the point of our night when we began to struggle about who to watch, do we go Hot Mulligan? Do we go Los Campesinos!? We made the decision to spend our evening with Hot Mulligan and the Septet reminded us why this was a great decision. Coming onto stage to t.A.T.u.’s All The Things She Said, they burst into action with How Do You Know It’s Not Armadillo Shells? led by the crowd. Their pure pop-punk energy saw crowd surfers, finger pointing and overpowering vocals from the crowd who wanted to take over Nathan ‘Tades’ Sanville’s role of vocalist. Shouting out their friends at the festival including Movements and Los Compesinos!, it was another reminder of the scene and community Trees has developed over the years. BCKYRD is always a special part of a Hot Mulligan set, bringing some calm and pure emotion amidst the chaos. Yes, it did feel a bit of a samey set at times but you know what given how slick and sharp the band are live you can’t really knock it!
Headlining The Cave were hardcore outfit Better Lovers, up against The Gaslight Anthem this wasn’t the crowd size they deserved but those who were there wanted to see the project featuring members of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die and Fit For An Autopsy. An introduction of songs with love in the title including All You Need Is Love, The Power Of Love, It Must Have Been Love and Easy Lover welcomed them to the stage turning the calm into chaos instantly as Greg Puciato exclaimed ‘Hey mother fuckers, let’s do this shit!’ as they went into Become So Small. We aren’t given a chance to breathe as the band bound across the stage and the bodies merge in the pit during Two Alive Amongst The Dead. With a new release on the horizon, tracks including 30 Under 13 took it to fever pitch with Puciato climbing up the central beam in the tent to get in on the action. It was gritty, angsty the lights were absolutely electrifying in adding to the carnage, but it felt like for a headliner set it could have been ever so slightly longer. But hey if we didn’t already need an excuse to see them at their own show, we’ve now got one!
However the shorter set meant we made our way to the illuminated forest to see the final part of ALT BLK ERA who were kicking off the party. Nyrobi and Chaya Beckett-Messam made us forget we were in a forest rather than a sweaty club venue dancing along into the pit. Putting our middle fingers up in solidarity with the duo against anyone who says they can’t do what they want, it was a powerful moment from a musical force to be reckoned with. Their debut album Rave Immortal is set for release in January, get involved now and get yourself to a show!
Now 2000trees 2024 has really started and we can’t wait to see what the rest of it holds.
Written By: Nicola Craig
Photo gallery featuring PET NEEDS, Lambrini Girls, Dead Pony, The Xcerts, Dream State, The Oozes, VOWER, KNIFE BRIDE, Static Dress, Cassyette, Spanish Love Songs, Kids in Glass Houses, Boston Manor, Hot Mulligan and The Gaslight Anthem.
