Back on the Downs for day 2 of Forwards Festival and the sun was beating down on us! After getting our tickets we walked in to grab a drink and you could already tell that Sunday was much busier than Saturday had been.
Fabio & Grooverider and The Outlook Orchestra
After grabbing a nice can of Jubel Peach we wandered down the West stage and had a sit down near the back to be pleasantly greeted by Fabio & Grooverider and The Outlook Orchestra. I came into this set with no expectations purely because I did not know an awful lot about Fabio & Grooverider and The Outlook Orchestra but I was blown away!
We managed to catch the last 20 minutes of their set and it became clear that they had used their set to take the crowd on a chronological journey through drum and bass and jungle. Different years flashed across the back of the stage and then different songs according to those years started to play, with different MCs being brought out too.
The Outlook Orchestra were also phenomenal, hearing drum and bass played live through the likes of percussion, strings and even having a conductor felt so different to anything I had seen before and they really set the fun and energetic tone for the day.
The Silhouettes Project
On the East Stage we managed to catch The Silhouettes Project who are an interesting, ever-growing collective with two core figures; Jaden Osei-Bonsu and Asher Korner. They aim to provide a space for up and coming jazz, hip hop and soul artists and they did just that at Forwards Festival.
Each song they played saw either a new artist come out on stage to perform or a new combination of artists performing together. This felt like such a fun set, really rooted in community and bringing people together.
One particular artist came out and mistakenly said that Bristol was the best city in London instead of the best city in the UK which got quite the humorous reaction from the crowd and the other artists on stage. She then proceeded to sing a rather soul fueled song with her beautiful and powerful voice.
After The Silhouettes Project we decided to explore the O2 Priority section of the festival, which you were granted access to if you were an O2 customer (which luckily I am). This section had make-up stations, a hairdresser, massusses, free ice cream, free water and the most important part free fans which really did come in handy in the hot weather. A pretty nice touch!
Information Stage
Then we decided to have a bit more of an explore over by the Information Stage where there was also a tent there with different stands all from different charities. There was a Palestine Campaign stand, Love Music Hate Racism stand, another stand for homelessness in Bristol and another for refugees in the UK. There was a plethora of information on offer with different brochures and people that you could speak to about these charities.
There were also many different things to buy or you could just donate to the charities which really did feel like an important touch. Forwards Festival strives to be a sustainable festival with a huge emphasis on making a change in the world and this information tent really did a great job and stayed true to this pledge.
At the Information stage there was a panel called ‘The Movement Forwards: Pissed off with Politics’ hosted by Coco Khan which included Carol Vorderman, Gary Stevenson and Zara Sultana. The Information Stage even had to be blocked off when they all came on as it was so busy there.
During this panel each speaker took turns to express their disdain with the current political climate of the UK, mentioning the issues with racism, homophobia, transphobia, rising housing costs and university debt. Zara Sultana had the perfect stage to talk about her new political party ‘Your Party’ that she is co-running with Jeremy Corbyn as a result of their anger and disappointment with the Labour party. This panel felt like a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the festival and had a chance to listen to a rather interesting conversation.
Olivia Dean
Next up on the West Stage was Olivia Dean, who has absolutely shot to fame this year with her jazz and soul infused songs. Olivia kicked off her set with ‘Nice To Each Other’ which is a fun and upbeat song and really got the crowd bouncing and singing along. ‘Talk’ was then introduced which received a huge cheer from the crowd – you could really tell that this crowd were big Olivia Dean fans, shouting out all the lyrics to her songs.
There was a couple standing in front of us who were singing and dancing together, twirling each other round and just truly having a lovely time (it really was that cute). Olivia Dean then went on to talk about how important it is to love yourself because you can’t love someone else if you don’t love yourself. This was followed by a rather slow song- really drilling home the message about loving yourself.
The next tune was a song from Olivia’s first album and it felt much faster and more upbeat. The tune then stripped back whilst the brass instruments took the forefront, performing solos and really being able to show off their musical abilities. After this song Olivia asked if anyone had seen the Bridgette Jones movie and started to play ‘Dive’ which featured in the movie. This resulted in the whole crowd singing and dancing along. There really was such a warm feeling throughout the crowd during Olivia’s set, everyone was smiling and dancing with their friends and partners.
After Olivia Dean we decided it was time to have some food and spent way too much money on what essentially was an Ikea hotdog and some chips- but I suppose it was necessary.
Squid
After finishing our food we had a wander over to the East Stage to catch some of Squid’s set. Squid are a band that I will always go and see if they are on at a festival because they always put on such a good show. Not only is it ridiculously impressive that their lead singer is also their drummer (Ollie Judge), their post-punky sound made for an excellent change from the soothing sounds of Olivia Dean .
With their rocky sounds and energetic guitar riffs Squid are such a perfect band to have playing at a festival. Being able to dance along to their energetic tunes in the sunshine is really what festivals are about.
Squid initially started out with a rather small crowd (presumably because everyone was still catching the end of Olivia Dean’s set) but this just grew and grew as the set went on. The use of different instruments like a trumpet gave the band a different edge to them, this was not just a rock band, they had depth to their music and the set really felt like a journey.
Nia Archives
Before Nia Archives took the stage for her set we had a quick interlude where MP Zara Sultana took the stage. She was there promoting her new grassroots, left-wing political party and really gave quite an inspiring speech that was extremely well received by the crowd at Forwards Festival. A highlight of her speech being that Sultana mentioned how she has been told there will never be change within the political sphere and her response to that was ‘fuck no, we cannot be complicit’.
‘Politics comes from you’ Sultana said and there really was a message about this party being for us as individuals. Zara Sultana did a great job at holding the audience’s attention and she spoke with so much passion and determination- it was genuinely quite exciting to see.
Nia Archives had big boots to fill as she was only drafted in 3 days before the festival due to Doechii (the original headliner) pulling out of all three of her European dates last week, and did she deliver.
I couldn’t think of a more perfect replacement to be playing at a festival in Bristol than the queen of jungle music herself. Nia Archives went above and beyond to ensure that her set did not disappoint.
Nia came out and had the stage all to herself, whilst dancing away behind a huge set of dj decks Nia grabbed the attention of the audience immediately as people were rushing to get through the crowd and see her.
Playing her iconic remix of Pink Pantheress’s ‘Illegal’ the whole crowd were singing and dancing along whilst the sun shone down. This set was just full of fun energy and made you want to dance. Nia did a great job at shelling her iconic tunes with some pretty funky visuals in the background which added an even funner element to the set.
Nia would also often leave her decks to dance around the stage and interact with the crowd giving a rather personal feel to the set as opposed to just being stuck behind the decks at all times.
As ‘Mash Up the Dance’ started to play the whole crowd erupted with a welcoming cheer and the whole Downs was bouncing. Following this with ‘Baiana’ really felt like the perfect end to such an exciting and energetic set. Nia Archives took over Bristol with her Up Your Archives set and she is someone that I’ll always get excited about seeing.
The Last Dinner Party
Closing the East Stage was The Last Dinner Party who took to their stage with the usual ancient greek looking pillars and gorgeous backdrop. They kicked off their set with ‘Burn Alive’ , a song that starts off with some very intense drums and guitar motifs. It truly is the best way to start their set as Abigail Morris starts to sing along slowly to the eerie song until the tune explodes in the chorus.
The Last Dinner Party pulled in a pretty big crowd and everyone was dancing along to the ethereal sounds these ladies did so well at creating. ‘My Lady of Mercy’ was a personal highlight. Abigail introduced this song as being about going to Catholic school but the contrast from fun and upbeat verses to rather a rocky and intense chorus just scratches an itch in my brain.
During their set The Last Dinner Party stopped playing music and put QR codes up on the screens to the sides of them and showed a Palestine flag on the stage behind them. Abigail then mentioned that they have done this at every show during summer to raise money for Palestinian Aid. Abigail also spoke about the controversy at Victorious Festival when The Mary Wallopers were stopped during their set due to their support of Palestine and thus The Last Dinner Party along with other acts pulled out of the festival as they did not want to be associated with that festival.
For their penultimate song TLDP played Happy Birthday which was dedicated to one of the band members (Aroura) and her sister Nora. Then for their final tune the familiar chords of ‘Nothing Matters’ started playing and the crowd started belting out the tune.
The Last Dinner Party did a great job at closing the East Stage at Forwards Festival, they even mentioned how this is the first festival that they had headlined this year and felt very grateful to do so.
Jorjia Smith
Closing the West Stage was Jorjia Smith who came out looking as beautiful as ever. Jorjia started with ‘Try Me’ which grabbed the attention of the huge crowd that she had drawn in. With a full band on stage, backing singers and then Jorjia centre stage this was the set up for a rather impressive set. ‘Blue Lights’ followed which is arguably Jorjia’s biggest song from her debut album ‘Lost and Found’ and everyone was singing along and swaying to this beautiful song.
The first half of Jorjia’s set felt rather slow paced and quite chill with songs such as ‘The One’ and ‘Teenage Fantasy’ playing. This really gave the audience the chance to take in Jorjia and her band’s talent. Jorjia Smith really does have one of the best voices I have ever heard and this set truly felt quite special.
Jorjia also took the time to introduce her band during her set which was a lovely touch. before then taking her mic stand off to the side and a much more upbeat tune started to play. ‘Be Honest’ played and Jorjia strutted round the stage looking so effortlessly cool and alluring.
As ‘On My Mind’ started playing the whole crowd started jumping up and down, a stark difference from earlier in the set but one that was warmly welcomed. Jorjia had taken the audience on a journey throughout her set and really took control of the Downs. She stepped up to the task of headliner and put on such an impressive set for the crowd of Forwards Festival. She truly has that star quality that made her the perfect fit for headliner.
I genuinely had such a great weekend down in Bristol at Forwards Festival. Everything had been thought and planned out so well, from their sustainability pledges to their amazing acts there really was something to be entertained with at all times. I would gladly return to Forwards Festival, it was such a lovely environment and filled with friendly and warm people all there to enjoy themselves. Bristol has themselves a gem with Forwards Festival and I just hope they keep getting bigger and better.
WORDS BY CATH EVERITT
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