poppedmusic

FestEvol 2021

Words by Gary Lambert

Tickets £25 plus booking fee (Tickets Part 1 and Part 2)

On the back of FestEvol: Wirral Edition, FestEvol: Liverpool Edition takes place on Saturdays 7 and 14 August, and it looks like it is going to be the sort of event that you need to attend.  There is music for everybody regardless of where on the musical taste spectrum you land; from socially-conscious punk to dramatic, elegiac pop music to whatever genius Zee Davine offers in their set.  There are so many acts playing who have been my favourite thing on earth for a period over the last couple of years.  In fact, four of my top five albums of 2020 will be represented in The Big Moon, Pins, Psycho Comedy and Dream Wife (who open the shindig with a set on the Friday night at Jimmy’s in Liverpool).

Invisible Wind Factory is a great space for music too.  The last gig I saw there, This Feeling’s Rats show, was naturally spectacular given the dimensions of the room – and the industrial extractor fan backdrop to the stage gives it an iconic feel.  Your Instagram photos from the gigs are going to be so cool.

When it comes to recommendations as to who to watch it is a real tough one.  I don’t want to write War and Peace as I’m naturally lazy, but I could almost suggest every band playing.  So I’m going to suggest four from each Saturday but I truly beg you to turn up when the doors open as everything is going to be special.

Saturday 7 August

Walt Disco – one of my favourite bands in the whole wide world, and a band who me and GIRLI bonded over of love for the other day.  If you haven’t been to a Walt Disco gig before you’re definitely missing out.  Bombastic, dramatic, devilishly danceable songs played with panache and a slither of violence at its most beautiful.  This is a band that will make you feel young, hard and handsome darling.

Eyesore and The Jinx – a visceral thrill ride powered by the anger of the righteous is what awaits you once you like this three-piece into your life.  Every track they play feels like it is being played faster than you can hear it such is the energy Eyesore and The Jinx throw into their sets.  Last year’s The Exile Parlour EP was a breathtaking four-track slab of genius.

Psycho Comedy – Liverpool’s answer to The Velvet Underground make no bones of their desire to take over the world.  They’re not trying to be U2, they just want to use their music to improve everybody’s life.  There will be intensity, a feeling of civic pride, and unbridled joy when they take to the stage.  Don’t miss out.

The Ninth Wave – with doom-laden synth underpinning their tales of heartbreak there is no doubt that The Ninth Wave will make you feel empathetic as well as desperate to dance.  This is the sound of graffiti on trains, of looking through a window in the rain, of a taxi ride home from an ex-lover’s house.  It is cinematic, glorious, and edgy as fuck.

Saturday 14 August

The Big Moon – I honestly don’t think a week went by last year without me listening to Walking Like We Do.  It is a breathtakingly beautiful piece of art, and incredibly The Big Moon are able to recreate those sonic structures in the live arena.  Their set will feel orchestral and grand, and the sound will fill the big room of Invisible Wind Factory like a glove.  I’m getting excited just imagining how it will be.

Gen and the Degenerates – on the back of recent single, Runaway Blues, Gen and the Degenerates are primed to turn heads all over the country.  Mixing dramatic vocals, lyrics reflecting real life rather than characters, and a myriad of musical influences, there is something for everybody with the gang. And when they play live, they don’t leave anything to chance.

Ali Horn – normally I only recommend acts that I have seen live before, but Ali Horn is an exception.  His recent album, Balcony Boys, is an absolute corker that I’ve quickly fallen in love with.  I cannot wait to see how this translates to a live performance. 

The Orielles – I don’t think there is a band around who make performing look so enjoyable.  Every time I see The Orielles, I am left jealous that I’m not in a band with my friends going on how much fun they have on stage.  That feeling coupled with an incredible to make music that generates a myriad of emotions, The Orielles are going to move you to a higher state of being during their set.

Well that was tough to pick.  Seriously tough.  I could have easily gone into detail on how excited I am to watch Big Joanie, Self Esteem, Black Honey, Stealing Sheep, Rongo Rongo…. It’s ridiculous that so many great bands are on the same bill.  You’re going to need to let your mind recover for at least two days after each event.

And that’s not including the special Friday night FestEvol fringe events as on 6 August Dream Wife (the best band in the world) tear up Jimmy’s basement alongside Crawlers and Piss Kitti (tickets here); and then on 13 August Leaf on Bold Street is home to a screening of La Vita Olistica, with an interview and Q&A with The Orielles by John Robb too (tickets here).

It might not be in a big field, but FestEvol is definitely one of the contenders for Best Festival of 2021.  We will see you there.