Live review: 2000trees Festival 2022

In 2019, Kerrang! wrote about how 2000trees was setting the standard for mid-sized festivals across the UK and around the world. Many months later, however, it felt like disaster was looming for Cheltenham’s beloved July gathering. For an independent set-up like this, built by a group of friends, and grown very much organically with little compromise amongst the beautiful Cotswolds, the financial and organisational challenges of the COVID crisis could have spelled the end. Instead, it galvanised support, with the ‘Keep The Dream Alive’ crowdfunder raising over £100,000 in less than a month to ensure that the sun would again shine on arguably the most consistently brilliant weekend of the summer.

And shine it does. With temperatures spiking as the weekend goes on, while a raft of homegrown and international talent showcase their very best, it’s a joyous long weekend, a poignant reminder of what we nearly lost, and proof of the power of the alternative community to protect the events we love – and to build them up even stronger, especially in the face of overwhelming adversity...

Before the blazing sunshine that scorches site for most of this weekend, there are heavy grey skies hanging over 2000trees. Taking the Main Stage dressed all in black at 11 on Thursday morning, though, Phoxjaw perfectly fit in. “What a beautiful English summer’s day,” grins frontman Danny Garland, wryly. “But don’t worry; anything we lack in Vitamin D, we more than make up for in riffs!” Indeed, although the Bristolian oddballs’ recorded output runs a gamut from indie rattle to extreme metal wreckage, it feels like they’ve streamlined that into a calibrated post-punk attack today, with the likes of Half House and Infinite Badness ruthlessly thumping through. New single sungazer is the obvious highlight, of course, delivering more than enough esoteric sparkle to split the clouds. (SL)

One of the 2000trees traditional trademarks is its gorgeous The Forest stage nestled amongst the woodlands to the west of the site. It’s been massively upgraded this year, allowing far more fans a view without losing any of its magic, and native southwestern singer-songwriter Lande Hekt delivers a collection of songs more than befitting the beautiful setting. There’s an affecting simplicity about Lande’s output that rings through on an acoustic rework of her old band Muncie Girls’ Jeremy (so named after Clarkson) and last year’s superb single Whiskey. Somehow even better are the songs off upcoming third album House Without A View: Gay Space Cadets packing in some beguiling ’90s indie energy, while Lola – a heartfelt ode to Lande’s cat – really cuts to the heart for those of us who’ve had to leave our pets at home this weekend. (SL)

The crashing of drums and a flurry of piano announces Nervus’ arrival, and it's the sound of a band more than ready for this occasion. The likes of Sick, Sad World and the fist-raising They Don't sound beautifully spirited and the mix is polished to high heaven, while Em Foster's stage banter is, as ever, on point. "Make some noise if you didn't enjoy that!" she quips, and the one lone detractor who whoops gets a cheery "Thanks mate!" This half-hour set is all the proof you could ever need that this band are going from strength to strength. (EW)

Whoever’s idea it was to get Holding Absence to fill in for No Devotion deserves a medal. The tent where they're playing is rammed, sweltering with the heat of many, many bodies, and there's a reason for it. Holding Absence are adored, and they adore this festival right back, with frontman Lucas Woodland frequently praising the event that's championed them so strongly over the years. Their performance is just as passionate, from the stirring opener Celebration Song to epic closer Wilt, remaining buoyant even with months of gruelling touring behind them. "We're fucking coming for the Main Stage!" yells Lucas. We can’t imagine them anywhere else next time. (EW)

Dinosaur Pile-Up have been one of the UK’s best rock bands for the best part of a decade-and-a-half now, but for too long they struggled to tap into the sense of anarchic fun their absurd band name (named after a bonkers scene in Peter Jackson’s King Kong) suggests. Having hit the sweet spot with 2019’s fourth album Celebrity Mansions, however, they’re now perfectly equipped to deliver the sort of masterclass we witness on Thursday evening. Sure, older tracks like 11:11 still hit the spot, but between sparking field-flattening circle-pits and bemoaning how much tequila they smashed before coming onstage, it’s the sense of unbridled fun about Thrash Metal Cassette and Back Foot that proves they deserve to be playing 10,000-odd smiling faces on a day like this. (SL)

Cassyette has been on hard circulation around the UK festival scene this summer, but it’s to the Essex singer-songwriter’s immense credit that she seems to showcase something different every time. Amidst the lengthening shadows of the NEU stage late on Thursday evening, we get a performance that feels moodier and more emotionally complex than what we witnessed at, say, Slam Dunk or Download. Behind Closed Doors is far more brooding. The bouncy Mayhem seems to be wrenched from a deeper, darker place. Even runaway anthem Sad Girl Summer rings on with an extra aftertaste of chaos. Even in the shade, Cassy’s star just won’t stop shining. (SL)

Southampton’s most beloved goths are on sparkling form today, even after five weeks on the road. They roll out bop after bop, from older cuts such as Suzanne and Down Below to the more recent Annabelle and Midnight, and they give the lighters-in-air ballad staple a macabre twist with Hannah Greenwood performing Crickets in a bloodied wedding dress. There's another task at hand today, though: they're laying the groundwork for what's coming next. A creepy old man in a dinner suit appears behind the band during Misery, still as a statue, and later warns the crowd of ‘evil afoot’ at their upcoming headliner at the Roundhouse in November. Colour us intrigued! (EW)

After all these years, there can be a temptation to take the brilliance of Jimmy Eat World for granted, sometimes. Surely, everyone here old enough to get in has boogied to The Middle on a rock club dancefloor at one point in their lives. We’ve all sung ourselves hoarse to Sweetness. Hell, the band themselves don’t even bother to bring a backdrop for Thursday’s Main Stage headline. But as soon as the ageless Arizonans begin to churn out generation-defining anthem after anthem – 21 of them here tonight – we’re reminded exactly why we fell in love in the first place.

A pulsating opening salvo of Futures, Pain, Bleed American and Criminal Energy inspires a surge of chaos that would put many of this weekend’s heaviest acts to shame. All The Way (Stay), For Me This Is Heaven and 23 bring the salve. Big Casino, A Praise Chorus and Let It Happen deliver heart-surging bittersweet that many here have come specifically to tap into. And for those of us who’ve seen them a hundred times before, 2001 deep-cut No Sensitivity, an acoustic rework of 2019’s 555 and brand full-throttle new single Something Loud brilliantly mix it up.

The heaving field have long-since been won over by the time we get to a banger-heavy final act, but with the utterly eternal Lucky Denver Mint sandwiched between belated 20th birthday performances of Hear You Me and Get It Faster, as well as aforementioned uber-hits Sweetness and The Middle we’re adrift on waves of emo(tion) that run far deeper than simple nostalgia. A worthy showcase for one of 21st century rock’s greatest bands. (SL)

There’s quite a lot of people wanting riffs for breakfast this morning, and there’s no better start to the day then with Heriot’s scorcher of a set. Tracks like Coelescence and Near Vision sound cavernous in this tent, with the band playing like they're possessed (in the best way possible). Near the end of the performance, drummer Julian Gage stands up from behind his kit and spreads his arms like the tent before him is his kingdom. He's got every right to feel this powerful when his band are as good as they are live so early on in their career. (EW)

Petrol Girls’ lunchtime slot in The Cave is a vital half-hour of live music. Their fiery feminist punk is electric with rage and energy, and Ren Aldridge’s speeches on reproductive rights and transphobia are just as compelling. She's equally captivating as a performer as she is a speaker, bounding about the stage and lunging into the crowd, but the most daring moment comes in closing song Touch Me Again, where she scales the rafters as she sings, climbs down, and then clambers into the pit to get among the girls at the front. Theirs is an unmissable show. (EW)

Fresh from his Main Stage triumph with Creeper the day before, Will Gould’s back for a second round. Dressed in white rather than his usual black (highly convenient when it’s boiling outside), he leads his Salem motley crew through a breezy run of goth-tinged punk bops, and though it was never going to be the same spectacle as a Creeper show, his theatrical, princely charm comes, as ever, in bucketloads. They’re loved just as much too, judging by the impressive sing-alongs for EP deep-cuts such as Eyesore and William, It Was Really Something. Salem’s brand of spooky fun never goes amiss. (EW)

“BOUNCE! BOUNCE! BOUNCE!” screams ROAM frontman Alex Costello for what will be the Eastbourne pop-punks’ last-ever festival performance. Even in the face of Saturday’s oppressive, energy-sapping mid-afternoon weather, the assembled faithful duly oblige to make this an open-air farewell to remember. Songs like Better In Than Out and Alive offer route-one pop-punk, but when they’re delivered with such energetic self-awareness, it’s impossible not to be swept along. Hopeless Case gets the whole field bouncing. A circle-pit rolls through on Left For Dead. By the time we get to a brilliant Playing Fiction, all that’s left is for waves of crowdsurfers to spill over the barrier, bidding farewell to one of the last decade’s most underrated bands. (SL)

Puppy’s second album Pure Evil is up there with the very best of the year. Unfortunately, its combination of crunching metal and sweet melody seems to wilt a little in Saturday’s deadening heat. With the Axiom tent panting in all the wrong ways, it initially feels like many in attendance are more interested in sheltering from the sun than actually listening to the music, but the quality of cuts like a fuzztastic Shining Star, hypnotic highlight ...And Watched It Glow and irresistible earworm Glacial simply will not be extinguished. Pile on the time-tested likes of Black Hole, World Stands Still and The Great Beyond and it’s a performance that gets absolutely everyone within earshot wagging their tails. (SL)

Rolo Tomassi’s eternal forward motion leaves a few punters in Friday afternoon’s Axiom tent feeling a little perplexed. “What, no Party Wounds or Oh, Hello Ghost?!” laments one voice near the front towards the end of their smashing set, apparently unaware of how long ago they’d been left behind. Still, the Sheffield collective’s decision to focus on material from this year’s superb Where Myth Becomes Memory, with a few from 2018’s Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It, evokes a far more coherent high drama. As singer Eva Korman swoops and pirouettes across the stage in a schizoid storm of harsh and sweet vocals, while her bandmates summon the mighty soundscapes of Drip, Mutual Ruin and the scourging Prescience (the latter being unleashed live for the first time ever in the UK) there can be no doubt that it’s Rolo’s ruthless progression that maintains their evergreen rep as one of the UK’s best. (SL)

KennyHoopla’s 2000trees appearance begins as a slightly understated affair, with the pop-punk revivalist cutting an almost modest figure onstage. Everything sound-wise is slick, and his live vocal prowess is impressive (particularly in the moments where he sings a capella), but it initially feels like there needs to be a little more going on. However, when Kenny gets going, he really gets going. By the time he gets to smoke break three songs in, he comes to life, spinning around and striding about the stage with greater confidence. The audience reciprocates his surge in energy, with hollywood sucks in particular receiving a huge sing-along. By the end, everyone is rightfully chanting his name. (EW)

Everyone who's trudged out to the Main Stage is melting by now, but Boston Manor won't let the heat drain them, or the crowd, of their energy. In fact, frontman Henry Cox sets his audience a slightly brutal task, getting the punters to run around the sound desk during Funeral Party – “It's like bloody PE!” he quips, but he's already whipped them into such a frenzy that they're more than happy to oblige. Later on, You, Me & The Class War gets the moshers jostling, and the mayhem even continues during the slower, weightier Bad Machine. If baking heat can’t stop the Blackpool quintet from stirring up a bit of chaos, nothing can. (EW)

“I may not be the loudest artist here today, but I might be the most grateful!” grins Laura Jane Grace, rascally, as she steps into The Cave with acoustic guitar in hand just as the lowering sun bathes the tent in warm light on Saturday evening. “So let’s have some fun!” From the moment she opens with three Against Me! bangers in a row – FuckMyLife666, Unconditional Love, Pints Of Guinness Make You Strong – we’re all onboard for a crowd-pleasing masterclass from the Floridian punk veteran. With that trademark charisma in full flow, she’s like a storyteller with her audience rapt, whether bemoaning her least-favourite cities with Miami and I Hate Chicago, modelling the actual Adidas top that inspired Dysphoria Hoodie, or treating us to a cover of The Replacements classic Androgynous. And, though they might be shorn of full-band volume, True Trans Soul Rebel, Black Me Out and I Was A Teenage Anarchist are still some of the finest songs to roll out over Upcote Farm all weekend. (SL)

Turnstile's most recent album GLOW ON arrived at the tail-end of last summer with perfect timing. For one, they're about as sunny as hardcore can get, and with pandemic restrictions winding down, they offered the joyful tonic that the world was craving. This makes them ideal candidates to top the 2000trees bill, and the scenery for it is perfect, with the sky turning a soft orange behind them. Given how voracious the adoration for this band has been in the last year, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect batshit craziness, and while the mosh-pits are as healthily sized as might be expected, it’s not really the order of the day. The mood in the arena is more one of jubilation: there’s fists raised, fans on shoulders and flailing limbs aplenty, with unrelenting fervour even in the set's more mellow moments, such as ALIEN LOVE CALL. Brendan Yates seems perfectly content with it all, grooving along and striking poses to the gritty samba vibes of DON’T PLAY, before reverting into traditional hardcore frontman mode when he clambers into the crowd, holding his mic stand aloft, while the moshers circle him. It's the sort of set that has everyone walking back to their tents smiling. (EW)

After a long, hot, ridiculously high-energy day, fans seem somewhat split over Friday’s The Cave closers Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. Which side of the fence they fall on can probably be defined by what kind of wasted they are. For those on a twitchy sugar high – or, eh, something similar – looking to keep rolling after Turnstile, the Newcastle-Upon-Tyne collective’s combination of oddball banter (“We are actually Twisted Sister... stick around for Status Quo!”) with the fuzzy, pendulous sounds of Rubbernecker and Sweet Relief try the patience. Anyone sparking up a little of their own sweet leaf, however, would surely agree that nothing else this weekend hits the spot more satisfyingly than the trippy madness of Cake Of Light or sprawling, full-throttle closer A66. (SL)

“What’s up, freaks?!” PUP’s Stefan Babcock asks the audience following a determined Totally Fine. The tent is heaving with freaks, as he calls them, who just a minute ago had greeted them with deafening cheers. What follows is a barnstorming set where their sound is twice as massive as it is on record, with the likes of Reservoir and Edmonton packing some filthy punk energy, and even more refined cuts like Waiting are rougher and heavier but wear it very, very well. These self-deprecating Canadians are on another level entirely tonight. (EW)

Bob Vylan’s Friday night set on the NEU Stage feels comically, chaotically outsized. Having recently crashed the UK Top 20 with second album ...The Price Of Life, and playfully referring to their high-profile appearance at Glastonbury a couple of weeks ago as a warm-up for their performance tonight, Bobby (The Singer) and Bobbie (The Drummer) could easily have commanded one of the biggest crowds of the weekend on 2000trees’ Main Stage, but seeing them crammed into the tent, with a crowd spilling out on all sides, feels somehow more thrilling. From the penetrative, weaponised social relevancy of cuts like I Heard You Want Your Country Back and GDP to the now-customary climactic stage-invasion and smoke bombs for Wicked & Bad, it’s exactly the kind of adrenalised, anything-can-happen-in-the-next-half-hour slice of euphoria for which festivals should exist. (SL)

Friday’s two co-headliners couldn't be more radically different: one current, one classic, one a wild party, the other a slow burning spectacle. Thrice’s airing of what's arguably their signature record, Vheissu, is the sort of show that makes you want to simply close your eyes and soak it all in. Sound-wise it’s flawless, with the guitars sounding simultaneously colossal and delicate, and frontman Dustin Kensrue's warm, husky vocals coming out almost exactly like they did on the original 2005 record. It makes Image Of The Invisible punch harder and Music Box twinkle with eeriness, and closer (sort of) Red Sky sounds utterly transcendent, made all the more perfect under a starry black sky with red lights glowing behind them. Their encore showcases the best of their past and present, opening with Black Honey and Scavengers (the former of which is particularly well received) before lurching back into the 2000s once again with The Artist In The Ambulance and then back to the recent past with Hurricane. They even chuck in Deadbolt at the end to satisfy the chants for, “One more song!” It’s only a shame more people didn't witness it – Thrice’s turnout is not quite as big as this show deserves, but everyone who decided to catch up on some sleep or grab their headphones for the silent disco was foolish to miss out on something this extraordinary. (EW)

We have to wonder how many of the English fans in attendance for Cherym on Saturday morning would be able to understand their heavily-accented between-song banter had Channel 4’s Derry Girls not seen far-Northern Irish dialect enter the pop-cultural lexicon. Fortunately, their uncyncical, endlessly-infectious songs are perfect for hurdling any language barriers. This is apparently the biggest stage they’ve ever played, but irresistible nuggets like We’re Just Friends and Listening To My Head have more than enough sweetness and LGBTQ+ power to propel them much further. And, though a grumpy sound man seems moderately peeved when they look to negotiate a few minutes extra at the end of their set, he’s literally the only one here checking his watch. (SL)

At the beginning of Mannequin Pussy’s half-hour set, most of the crowd is nodding politely along. By the end, many of them are full-on head-banging. Even if they take a couple of songs to settle into their groove a little, the punk trio have some undeniably delicious riffs and oodles of passion to showcase. Once vocalist Missy Dabice is less anchored to her mic stand with a guitar in her arms, she takes the full opportunity to let loose, while bassist Colin ‘Bear’ Regisford headbangs so hard there's a risk of his head falling off. He comes into his own in particular when he takes the mic for the incandescent yet poignant Pigs Is Pigs, with a barbed scream and a vital anti-racist message. They've recruited many new fans today, and rightfully so. (EW)

Kid Kapichi’s star power might have skyrocketed since they were originally booked for this slot three years ago, but the Hastings boys aren’t taking the sizeable crowd spilling out of The Cave early on Saturday afternoon for granted. Combining the indie cool of Arctic Monkeys, the righteous outrage of IDLES, and the aggro swagger of Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, they’ve got all the tools to detonate festival sets like this, and they don’t disappoint, loosing Sardines, Working Man’s Town and Glitterati on front rows who seem unsure whether to swing hips or throw fists. Party At Number 10 has an extra edge following the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson a couple of days earlier. But their most revolutionary statement is saved for the last, reminding us that war for the soul of this country is far from over with Violence’s rousing battle-cry: ‘Violence is never the answer – unless it is!’ (SL)

After years of grafting, Nova Twins have been duly rewarded with a slot on the biggest stage 2000trees have got. Bassist Georgia South seems to enjoy the extra space, doing a half-bounce, half-skip from one side to the other while never missing a note. It’s lovely to see how stoked the London duo look to be here, giving new cuts from recent album Supernova like the stomping Choose Your Fighter and the fiercely candid Fire & Ice an electrifying live treatment. Vocalist and guitarist Amy Love later clambers into the pit for Undertaker, standing tall at the centre like the queen that she professes herself as in her lyrics. If their stagecraft remains this daring, they’ll get even more exciting. (EW)

Everyone seems to be talking politics this weekend, but few with quite as much fire as Gen & The Degenerates. In bandleader Genevieve (“not Jennifer!”) Glynn-Reeves they have a rare punk presence who marries provocation and power, but also relatability. Whether issuing a rallying-cry for fans to remember that the departure of one bad politician will never be as important as the enactment of the will of the people, or yelping “I eat men – yum yum!” while introducing thumping mid-set highlight Girl God Gun, you simply can’t take your eyes away. Crucially, the rest of the band keep the musical fuel flowing, with the high emotion of Crying War and scorching closer Burn Your Pedestals ringing in our ears long after their set has ended. (SL)

Norway’s Blood Command are sounding thunderous until technology fails them and the sound cuts out. “We were too fucking good!” new vocalist Nikki Brumen remarks. It’s a smooth recovery, and when everything is fixed, they play with extra fire in their veins, even if Nikki is drowned out a little by the volume of guitars. When she speaks to the crowd, and when she can be heard, she’s wonderfully unhinged. "Goddamn! You're making me wet!" she tells her enthusiastic crowd, who she also encourages to mosh by saying, “When I say I wanna see you move, I get what I fucking want.” Blood Command are going to be in safe hands with her at the helm. (EW)

Cold Years have always clung to the type of blue-collar rock that weaves tales of small miracles, and their set on Sunday afternoon delivers one of its own. Up against the all-conquering Nova Twins over on the Main Stage, with a soundcheck that’s badly overrun, the Aberdeen boys find The Cave virtually empty as they’re about to begin. As soon as the opening chords of Night Like This breeze through, though, a raft of fans sweep in, pumping fists and singing back every word. Whether lifting us up with endlessly affirmative compositions like 62 (My Generation’s Falling Apart) or knocking us over in dusty, good-natured walls of death, they’re the perfect relief for this sunbaked field. And, with bodies still piling in as they sign off with gorgeous closer 32, it seems that the lads have even picked up some new fans along the way. (SL)

There’s a darkness at the heart of Knocked Loose’s music that isn’t best suited to mid-afternoon sunlight, but there’s a pugilistic defiance, too, that sees them absolutely level the Main Stage. With frontman Bryan Garris and guitarist Isaac Hale leading from the front, it’s absolute mayhem as Billy No Mates, Belleville and Deadringer bludgeon through the open air with real, murderous purpose, inspiring easily the most vicious pits of the weekend. A brief pause in the violence sees one brave bloke with what looks like a broken leg stretchered out – to the horror of a few of 2000trees' more sensitive festival-goers who’ve somehow gotten caught in the fray – but the closing salvo of Mistakes Like Fractures, Counting Worms and Permanent effortlessly reaffirm the uncompromising brilliance and brutality of one of this generation’s greatest heavy acts. (SL)

Do you really, really, really love beer and shouting? Then you probably won’t find a better festival band than The Chats. Sandwiched between the depthless heaviness of Knocked Loose and the machine-tooled arena rock of You Me At Six, the Aussie outlaws could seem a little one-note to the uninitiated, but that really is the point. Cranking the volume and keeping the bangers coming thick and fast, they’ve got songs about “shitholes” in their native Queensland (Nambored) and “the kind of c**ts who live there” (Billy Backwash’s Day), about fast cars (6L GTR) and even songs about afternoons as stickily sweaty as this (Stinker). As with their homeland heroes in AC/DC, it doesn’t really matter that said songs all sound pretty much the same when they’re delivered with such scuffed-up real-world experience. And, boy, after a couple of pints are they easy to throw yourself into – forehead-first. (SL)

The last time You Me At Six were on a stage this big in the UK, they were rolling the clock back to 2011 for their 10 Years Of Sin shows. Today has a different, but a nonetheless simple aim: to roll out as many bangers as they can in the space of an hour. It’s not a set that feels like a landmark moment, or that it has a point to prove – all it wants to be is the sweetest ending (well, part one of it, anyway) that they could give this festival. Loverboy gets the crowd dancing from the off, while the anger of Bite My Tongue is ramped up with frontman Josh Franceschi taking it as the opportunity to stick a finger up to Boris Johnson. It’s not a completely flawless set, but You Me At Six are here because they’re phenomenal festival pleasers: the crowd want the hits, and they're getting them – and the punters disperse in high spirits. (EW)

There’s a moment just before IDLES close the Main Stage on Saturday night where it feels like the crowd might already be spent. Whether disastrously dehydrated, delicately protecting sunburnt skin, or nursing aches and injuries from the tidal swell of mosh carnage across the weekend, absolutely no punter is still running anywhere close to 100 per cent. But then the Bristolians’ aptly-titled opener Colossus drops like a fucking bomb and we realise, thrillingly, that the peak of 2000trees is yet to come.

Car Crash. Mr Motivator. Grounds. Mother. Never Fight A Man With A Perm. It’s a setlist for the ages pulled from the here and now, and the sense of unhinged anger and righteous purpose onstage – with guitarist Lee Kiernan somehow going even harder than his bandmates in a full-length dress – is surpassed only by the bedlam out in the crowd. Divide And Conquer feels like it might bludgeon open a chasm in the scorched earth. Crawl! summons a throat-ripping sing-along. The point in I’m Scum where several crowdsurfers spill into an open circle-pit is lost in a far-wider landscape of chaos.

“This is as close to home as we’re gonna play for a long time,” announces frontman Joe Talbot, with a touch of sentimentality momentarily cooling the fire that overflows from his belly. “It’s an honour and a privilege to be here, playing with bands who are open to new ideas and new people! It’s is the best feeling in the world: that sense of letting go and giving you everything, then getting back that beautiful gift of your energy.” Then they floor it again for a 100mph Danny Nedelko and juggernaut closer Rottweiler, and we’re reminded, really, that the pleasure is all ours. Incredible. (SL)