CORE FESTIVAL, WOODSIDE HALL/HUG'N'PINT, GLASGOW, DAY 2, AUGUST 3 2024

Core 24, Day 2. We've all gone off and had a lie down in a darkened room to recover from SHOW ME THE BODY's incendiary set last night, and we're back for more. Today sees the Fest spreading out over its 3 rooms, returning to the teeny-weeny Hug & Pint and introducing Room 2 in the Woodside Hall. Do you remember the second room in the main venue last year, and its issues with too much daylight? Well...

Venues: WOODSIDE HALLS/HUG'N'PINT

Line-up:

Bands in lower case were there but I didn't see them.

HEY, LONELY PLANET: Cheerfully punky indie pop from Glasgow new kids.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/EjwnUH5Q31Q   

Ochre

SLOWLIGHT: More local pop-rock. Regular readers might recognise Beth and Joy of Slowlight from their other band,  last year's Core openers FLINCH.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/zEuNOiRHaHQ   https://www.facebook.com/slowlightmusic

Kute

Lovers Turn to Monsters

PART CHIMP: Notoriously loud London noise-rock quartet, showing us that it's not just a young person's game. Not as loud as the last time I saw them, but still volume aplenty.                                         

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/OhsFrRxP9yk    https://www.facebook.com/partchimpofficial

LAGOMORPH: Solo electronic sound manipulation project. Nice and relaxing after Part Chimp. No pics or videos because it was very dark in the Hug & Pint.

Cutty's Gym

MCLUSKY: Immensely entertaining English indie/post-hardcore trio, back after being away and coming back and going away again. How long they'll be back for this time is anybody's guess.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/yMUGilSyPis

HOLY MOUNTAIN: Another band that's been away for a while, Glasgow's own stoner/doom legends. Still exactly the same as they were. Whether or not that's a good thing depends on how much you like that SLEEP/SABBATH sort of stuff.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/ybwk7B53GbI    https://www.facebook.com/HolyMountainBand

Witch Fever: Tried to see a bit of this all-female doom outfit, but Room 2 was rammed to the doors and I couldn't get in. Bugger.

EMPLOYED TO SERVE: Popular metalcore combo. Not my personal cup o' tea, being honest, but well liked by the crowd. Didn't get a video for this one, because I was up on the balcony and the sound was terrible.

https://www.facebook.com/employedtoserve

Guilt Chamber

MACHUKHA: Berlin based German/Ukrainian post-black metal. Intense and impressive, despite the bright daylight streaming in through the glazed ceiling. But, dang, its hot in there!

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/r10yt9yq-b0          https://www.facebook.com/machukha.stepmother

Slowmove

GILLA BAND: Repetitive, almost industrial, Irish mathy post-punk quartet. Another one from the balcony.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/Y55LafpU8kI   https://www.facebook.com/gillaband

Wreaking Joy

Done for the day. Got a 70 mile drive and I need to go if I want to get home before 1:00am. Plenty more to come tomorrow.

STRANGEFORMS FEST, BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB,LEEDS, DAY 1, APRIL 6 2024

Leeds' premier math/post/etc-rock festival returns for its 9th outing, seeing the return of some old favourites and introducing some new ones.

VENUE: BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, LEEDS

Line-up:

LOVE RARELY: Local mathy alt-rock. Energetic and good fun.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/6fwWTeytdMI   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550628900569

DIN OF CELESTIAL BIRDS: Hefty post-rock lads from Leeds. I've been hassling Stewart at BAD OWL to get these onto the StrangeForms bill for ages, and here they are. How much influence I had on that I can't say, but I choose to believe that they're only here because of me. Because I'm important. Yes.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/AHBFVDggTmE   https://www.facebook.com/DinofCelestialBirds

PLEIADES: Another chance to see these post-everything chaps from Manchester after last week's appearance at the RED CRUST fest in Edinburgh, and another chance to get a decent sounding video. Success, I think, on both counts.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/9h09wtpfWLM  https://www.facebook.com/pleiadesuk

DEMCATS: 'Experimental' duo, difficult to define. Intricate, and a bit jazzy, perhaps. I have the impression that they hadn't played together for some time, but they seemed to manage. Mostly.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/qnMENuH40qo   https://www.facebook.com/demcatsband

OTHER HALF: Spiky and good fun, indie-punks from Norwich. I might have been tempted to dance to this, if I weren't an old fat bloke who dances like a collapsing sack of potatoes.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/MfQZkzlHvnY   https://www.facebook.com/otherhalfuk

FALL OF MESSIAH: French screamo/post-rock veterans, they were at StrangeForms in 2016, 2017 and 2019, and still look exactly the same as they ever did. Guitarist on the left, white t-shirt, was apparently playing with a broken neck, which seems inadvisable at best.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/AHJoI-0Cmp8  https://www.facebook.com/fallofmessiah

FALSE ADVERTISING: From SF regulars to SF newbies - boisterous indie-math popsters from Manchester are enormous fun. 

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/msx1otbnn9E   https://www.facebook.com/falseadv

CLT DRP: Uncompromising Brighton electro-punks. They sound a bit angry.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/mndAZApQiTo   https://www.facebook.com/CLTDRP

EMPLOYED TO SERVE: No nonsense heavy metal from exotic Woking. Not standard StrangeForms fare, to be sure, but very popular with the punters in the room, many of whom are, I think, here just to see them.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/YZMlfqcZFA0   https://www.facebook.com/employedtoserve

Day 1 over, and it's time to bugger off. Been a mixed bag of a day, but there's been nothing I hated, which is always nice. It's started to rain, so it's a 15 minute sprint-walk down the hill to the overheated hotel to try and get some rest for tomorrow.