When: 10th - 12th July 2014
Where: Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Reviewed By: Millie Manders
Photography By: Jon Self
Arriving at a festival after being in a car for hours and needing a pee can mean that the smallest things will piss you off when all you want is to set up your tent and go in search of a good cup of tea before getting on the beer and enjoying the various entertainment on offer.
The staff at 2000 Trees were awesome. The direction of the car to guest parking, and from there to box office was a slick operation. In fact, everyone I came across on site was happy to help, caring, alert and just all round pleasant. That also goes for all the stallholders and staff too.The reputation of having the best toilet facilities has been maintained: there were loads. Everywhere. Cleaned and emptied regularly too. For any festival-goer, the idea of port-a-loo's after two days of camping can make your skin crawl, so I felt it was worth a mention and a grateful thumbs up here.
2000 Trees is a festival whose mantra is to stay British and stay underground, so while they had some big name headliners (Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, Band of Skulls and Frightened Rabbit) you could hardly say they were ‘pop’ and every stage was rammed with a line up of fantastic, up-and-coming, independent acts boasting a veritable cacophony of variation within the rock, punk and alternative genres.
Four stages were advertised on the website and programme, but little hidden gems could be found around the site, such as an area in the woods with around 20 hammocks and a busking stage that had DJ's every night ‘til around 3am: The Cadbury Sisters treated revellers to an impromptu set on the Saturday night much to the delight of everybody who witnessed it!
Being blessed with guest passes, Jon and I arrived on the Thursday and got ourselves set up ready for the first round of entertainment. I confess, even though I didn't drive I was knackered and fell asleep for the first few acts (I know. I am SO rock n roll), but Jon got some amazing photos, including the ones featured here. Just click the link at the bottom to see them as he adds them to the album.
The first act I managed to see was Gnarwolves. It was the second opportunity I've had to see them live, the first being Camden Rocks. It was really interesting to see the same band at two different festivals in two different environments back to back: the former in a venue, the latter open-air.
Even though they were brilliant in Camden, Gnarwolves came into their own on The Cave stage, the second biggest at the festival. Full of energy and clearly loving a bigger audience going mental in front of them, Gnarwolves sang, played and rocked their way through their set, smiles planted firmly on their faces as they delivered Earth-shattering skate-punk to our eager ears.
Headlining the evening was an act I was dying to see: Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip. I've only ever seen Scroobius Pip solo but I love the collaborations these guys put out. Scroobius is a sight to behold. He is an unbelievably captivating presence who draws and holds the crowd's attention from the minute he begins to speak. His messages are often powerful and prolific, striking the core issues of humanity and experience.
As a duo DLS and SP are energetic, humorous and comfortable, both with each other and with a pulsing, packed in audience. There is hardly space to breathe but there is a mutual love and respect felt amongst us as we dance to Electro beats punctuated with raw, nerve-exposing lyrics. 
At one point Pip tells us they decided to set the bar for the rest of the festival, their aim to be so amazing we wouldn't be able to top the experience for the rest of the weekend. While I can't take away from the incredible acts I did see over the next couple of days, I can't help but admit they managed to achieve that goal…
Naturally the evening didn't end there. We headed into the forest to swing on hammocks, dance to 90's hip-hop and make general nuisances of ourselves.
It was like being at a massive house party but outside instead. I chatted to endless amounts of truly lovely people as they walked past my swinging legs, inviting them to join our all-swinging, all-bopping ridiculum. It ended with us on our backs once but who doesn't want a few bruises and token twigs in your garments after the first night at a festival, right?
Another lovely thing to mention about 2000 Trees is that because it is still relatively small, you keep bumping into your mates or people you have met on your travels. A wonderful extended community brought together by the love of music.
Friday morning came and went and the first band I got to see was another absolute favourite: Bleach Blood.
Jamie Jazz of King Blues fame is the front man and brain child behind Bleach Blood and had a slightly different line up of musicians with him at ‘Trees.
Fear not. The performance delivered was as stellar as ever. Melancholy, decadent emo-pop-rock with inflections of electro and dance flew around our still beer-addled brains, shaking us awake and making our hearts pump.
There is something beautifully vulnerable about Jamie when he is talking to his audience. He tells stories behind his songs and thanks us repeatedly for making the effort (Ha! Effort? I was there 20 mins early like the band nerd I am! No effort needed) to see his band so early in the day.
The Bleach Blood set kicked off at 1:40pm and whilst the first song was played to only a smattering of people, a short while in to the set The Axiom was pretty rammed with people trying to get a look at easily one of the best acts in that tent all weekend.
So much catchy, bouncy goodness. Thank YOU Bleach Blood. One of my ‘Trees highlights!
Next on the to do list of awesomeness was Baby Godzilla over at The Cave. Rammed and sweaty with a tornado sized circle pit Baby Godzilla were wrecking their set – in a good way! Extreme hardcore/ mathcore/screamcore/corecore…
These guys were out for blood… I'm guessing it's possible they achieved it. The crowd were absolutely dying for it. Baby Godzilla were undeniably good.
From The Cave we made our way over to the main stage for the only hip-hop act of the day; iTCH.
Previously the front man of King Blues, iTCH has taken his spoken word and transferred it from dub punk to a far more urban feel. As a solo act with no band and a huge stage, iTCH filled the space with ease: he has huge stage presence and confidence. His life experience and political views are a perfect front to the dance, hip-hop and electro cross-genre tracks that still incorporate his punk roots and send out his messages to his ever loyal fans and the buzz didn't stop there. People were still talking about iTCH’s set the next day, referring to Screw Face's "Scary baby face” and “that bit when he got in the crowd for Deep End”. It's no mean feat to keep people's mind on a set from a previous day at a festival filled with memorable acts.
Next up on the main stage was Kids In Glass Houses. I've never been a massive fan of their music, but what I saw made me want to revisit their albums and become a fan. The energy was insane, the music was loud, fast and executed to perfection and the crowd were going absolutely mental. The saddest thing is that they are splitting up. I actually found myself letting out a quiet “noooooo!” Lamenting the loss of yet another band clearly so good at what they do. Sad, sad times.
Following Kids In Glass Houses must have been pretty nerve-wracking. Blood Red Shoes are a two-piece band consisting entirely of vocals, guitar and drums.
I was blown away. There isn't a lot I can say that can describe just how big their sound is. You need to seek them out and see for yourselves. However I can tell you they have great songs and a brilliant live performance.
Friday's main stage headliner was Band Of Skulls. XFM love them and it's clear to see why. Co-fronted by Emma Richardson and Russell Marsden, the combination of male and female vocals, over crashing indie-pop songs is a refreshing twist on a saturated market.
With Emma on bass and Richard on guitar the performance was unfortunately limited for obvious reasons, but not to a level of major detriment: the songs and musicality easily made up for lack of movement.
Entertainment for the evening was as eclectic as the live music during the day. A silent disco at two stages with two different channels at each were available, or the forest stage had a DJ for those who preferred listening to music with the ability to talk to each other without removing headphones. There were also impromptu performances from the festival-goers and performers.
The next morning, fluffy headed and still beer-sozzled we had a quick cuppa and slowly made our way down to the main stage for 12. The opener for Saturday was one of the main reasons I was so excited to be at ‘Trees: The Dead Formats.
After a year away from gigging due to the drummer sustaining a serious injury to their arm, I could hardly contain myself for excitement. As ever they didn't disappoint. It's hard to open a main stage when hungover revellers are just sneaking out of their tents in 30-degree heat, but Dead Formats were a force to be reckoned with. Blasting out their hook laden, punk-tastic anthems they shook the cobwebs away and had everyone jumping.
The only thing I could complain about is that they only played for 20 glorious minutes. That just wasn't enough to slake my thirst after such a long DF drought! Still…. Welcome back gents. You've been sorely missed!
From the main stage we made our way back to The Axiom to check out Youth Man. Female fronted, energetic punk rock from Birmingham, they put their heart and soul into their set. I confess, I felt there was too much accent in the high notes vocally making Kahlia sound squeaky rather than punky so we headed off to get more beers from the car.
Then I heard the trumpets….
JB Conspiracy hadn't been on our list of musical adventures, but I clearly hadn't researched well enough! They are a 7-piece ska-punk band from London and they make it into my top five acts of the weekend. Even if it had been pouring with rain they would have brought the sunshine.
It's also quite something to see so many people running around going mental playing instruments on a stage that just about fits a band that big. Brilliant.
The next act to see was Dad Rocks! back at the Axiom, so we strolled back in the sunshine, dancing with a Faun on the way and chugging another beer.
Dad Rocks! Are a bunch of young lads that play music that fits the band moniker so well there's no explanation needed. If you like Dad dancing to Dad music, you'll like Dad Rocks!.
The Cadbury Sisters are a ‘Trees favourite, having played there a number of times before and accumulating a huge following there, so it was off to The Croft stage, the other end of the festival site, to find out why. Three very attractive women with very pretty voices and all talented musicians, they deliver the sort of music that if you love soft, melodic, acoustic sounds you'll adore.
I did have a gripe though. During their set, an impromptu decision was made to move to the middle of the crowd in the tent and perform unplugged. This in itself was a wonderful, intimate treat for fans.
Not so, when you are half way up a hill sitting down with 1000 other fans who can hear nothing of it. Consideration to the setting should have been made. If I was an avid fan I would have been bitterly disappointed. Save it for an intimate venue.
Thankfully Tall Ships saved the day and put a smile back on my face back at Main Stage. Beautifully complex time signatures and sounds have been masterfully turned into average Joe digestible music that is still marvellously pretty. Shoe gazing without the need to think too much.
Frontman Rich was a sweetheart. Not only is he talented both vocally and instrumentally, he is very aesthetically pleasing and incredibly humble. He repeatedly thanked his crowd and made obvious eye contact and smiles with as many individuals as possible throughout his set. Adorable.
Another pleasant surprise at 2000 Trees was Wolf Alice. We stumbled across her set on our way back through to the tent on The Axiom Stage. Looking sweet and innocent with face paint on, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was going to be tame. Nope.
It's sexy, hard, fast, punk-come-dance-come-indie with a frontwoman who is small in stature, pretty in face and has more balls than most of the men in front of her. Amazing.
Having rushed around catching bit parts of as many band sets as we could in two days, and poor Jon carrying camera equipment round in ridiculous heat we were a little festival’d out so while we caught a few more bits and pieces we only caught the full set of one more band on our 2000 Trees adventure, but boy was it a good ‘un….
The Blackout are a rock band formed in 2003 in Southern Wales. Almost poppy in their approach to a heavy rock genre, with a very young fan base, but why they were on The Cave Stage is beyond me. They needed WAY more space; every song is anthemic, they dive around on and off the stage whipping an already crazy crowd into a tumultuous whirl pool of madness. They are really good at what they do.
Their set was exciting and fresh and the tent was rammed, spilling out on to the grass way out beyond it. A pretty perfect end to what may go down as one of my favourite festival experiences.
The only thing that could have made 2000 Trees even better was a shower.
Thanks ‘Trees! ‘Til next time!
Thanks ‘Trees! ‘Til next time!
You can see the full photo album from Jon Self Photography here:
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