Forwards Festival is one festival that I had not been to before. I first heard about it around 3 years ago when I was living and studying down in Bristol and I remember thinking that every year the line up was so impressive especially for a smaller, inner-city festival in Bristol. With the likes of LCD Soundsystem, The Chemical Brothers, Erykah Badu and Aphex Twin headlining the festival in the past, Forwards knows how to curate a line up and this year was no different.
The first day of the festival saw major dance acts like Confidence Man, Ezra Collective and Barry Cant Swim gracing the stage- this day was going to be one to remember.
The first act of the day that we saw were the Happy Mondays playing on the East Stage, they pulled in quite a big crowd for 3:15pm and had people dancing along for the whole set.
Happy Mondays kicked off their set with ‘Kinky Afro’ and everyone was singing and dancing along. Firouzeh was admittedly carrying in terms of vocals as Shaun Ryder’s voice has definitely taken a beating throughout the years. But nonetheless the iconic dancing from Bez paired with legendary tunes from the Factory Records band, who pioneered the new rave scene that emerged in the 80s will forever bring in a crowd.
Shaun then started introducing ‘24 Hour Party People’, a song from 1986, but then as the tune started playing realised it was actually ‘Hallelujah’ next, which got a big laugh from the audience as he exclaimed that he’d got mixed up.
‘Step On’ was their penultimate song of the set and as expected everyone was singing and dancing along as the sun was shining down on The Downs. Happy Monday’s set was a great way to kick off the festival as Bez’s dancing was infectious, and that paired with the legendary sounds of the Hacienda created such a fun and energetic atmosphere.
Next up was English Teacher on the West Stage. After being the most recent recipients of the Mercury Prize for their debut album ‘This Could Be Texas’, English Teacher have garnered a great load of attention this year supporting Fontaines DC at their outdoor Wythenshawe Park gig just last week, and for great reason too. Their set really was impressive.
Kicking things off with their hit ‘World’s Biggest Pathing Slab’ which really set the pace for their set. The mixture of rocky guitar melodies in the verses and ethereal sounding vocals in the chorus perfectly illustrated the breadth of English Teacher’s abilities.
Lily Fontaine’s vocals really are something special, her ability to grasp the audience in with her powerful vocals whilst also keeping a rocky edge really was impressive.
‘Nearly Daffodils’ played next which really started to get the crowd amped up, the fast paced tune with the exciting motifs made it impossible to stand still. English Teacher did pull in quite a big crowd with a bunch of handcore fans at the front dancing away and a sea of people covering the rest of the field, even if they were sitting down.
‘R&B’ was a highlight of the set, building throughout the tune to culminate with an explosion of sounds that echoed throughout The Downs. The West Stage was well and truly alive after English Teacher’s set, with excitement filling the air for the next act.
Following English Teacher, it was Confidence Man’s turn to take the stage and they were truly the highlight of the weekend. After seeing Confidence Man at Manchester Academy in November and being truly blown away I knew I had to be there for their set at Forwards, and they did not disappoint.
Confidence Man brought the energy from the start, beginning with ‘Now You Do’ which is a bouncy, fun tune that hooked the audience in straight away. This was followed by ‘All My People’ which is another energetic tune. The most striking thing about Confidence Man is their choreography, the eccentric moves performed by both Janet Planet and Sugar Bones made it impossible to look away.
‘After I Can’t Lose You’ Janet Planet and Sugar Bones both fell backwards off a podium and then went off stage, whilst Reggie Goodchild and Clarence McGuffie carried on entertaining the audience. After this interlude Janet and Sugar then came back on stage after an outfit change, with Janet wearing a light up cone bra and Sugar wearing light up shoulder pads.
The energy didn’t stop as ‘Feels Like a Different Thing’ played next and the new outfits just made the set feel even more fun. Everywhere you turned you could see people dancing and smiling, really having such a good time. The set was infectious- even if you had never even heard of Confidence Man you would leave with a new favorite.
After another outfit change Confidence Man then played their latest song- ‘gossip’, shouting ‘where my Tinas at?’ at the end of the tune, in reference to the song.
‘Lets make it sexier’ Janet Planet said as the intro to Boyfriend started playing.
During the penultimate song, ‘So What’, Janet asked everyone to get up on shoulders and the crowd gladly obliged. People were bouncing up and down on shoulders and Planet Janet even got onto Sugar Bone’s shoulders as they came down into the pit. Confidence Man pulled out all their stops for their set at Forwards Festival and put on a show to remember.
After all that dancing we really were in need of some food and luckily Forwards Festival had lots of different vendors on offer. So after a big portion of chips and some spicy mayo we were ready to continue our dancing!
The penultimate act on the West Stage for Saturday was Ezra Collective, a band I have seen multiple times this year, with each time just getting better and better.
Ezra Collective came out, full of energy starting their set with ‘Shaking Body’ and the crowd well and truly were shaking body indeed. The energy and passion that filled the Downs was astronomical, Ezra Collective never fail to create one of the best atmospheres. During their first song the drummer Femi Koleoso asked everyone in the audience to turn to a stranger and say hello to them, after they continued with the tune. This song really felt like a journey as there were different interludes that showcased the different abilities of all the band members.
The next song felt a bit slower in pace yet still had a fun and exciting feel to it. This tune ended with a sampled motif from World a Reggae- ‘out in the streets they call it murder’ played on the brass instruments. ‘Ajala’ started playing next which created such a fun and exciting atmosphere, people throughout the crowd were dancing away and this created a sea of movement that made you feel so warm.
At one point during their set three members of the band even came out into the crowd and were playing their instruments in the midst of all the dancing.
After this song Femi Koleoso came down from his drums and mentioned how ‘EZ (Ezra Collective) will always have time for Bristol because the first gig they ever played when Ezra Collective were all still members of their youth club was at The Canteen in Bristol, which is a bar and music venue in the heart of Bristol. Femi Koleoso then asked if we were ready to enter ‘the temple of joy’ and started to play ‘JOY’. This tune had the whole crowd jumping around with excitement and as Femi Koleoso the crowd was turning the Downs into the biggest dance floor in the UK.
After Ezra Collective finished we had a wander over to the East stage as the headline act had just started.
Orbital were headlining the East Stage on Sunday and what a show they put on. We managed to catch the last half of their set and it was great fun. Orbital played a great mix of fun dance music.
Their legendary status was evident as the music, the visuals, the lights were phenomenal. There was a mixture of trancy/ techno music which paired amazing with the intricate light show they had on.
A highlight was hearing Orbital remix a Spice Girls tune with a trance beat that genuinely had the crowd exploding with a cheer.
To finish their set Orbital brought out Confidence Man to play ‘Holiday’/ ‘Kinetic’ and this really felt special, it was the perfect way to close the stage. The gripping visuals paired with the bouncing electronic sounds of Orbital made for a phenomenal visual and listening experience.
Closing the West Stage on Saturday was the phenomenal Barry Can’t Swim who is a Scottish DJ and producer who dropped his new album ‘Loner’ back in July which included one of his bigger hits ‘Still Riding’.
Barry initially started his set with a rather rocky tune which took me by surprise. However this was the perfect build up to the bouncing set to come.
Barry Can’t Swim really showed off his musical abilities with having a keyboard to his right and some dj decks in front of him, bouncing between playing the pair of them. He also even brought out a guitar at one point.
It wasn’t just Barry showing off his musical abilities, as there was an eclectic mix of instruments on stage that synchronized exquisetly. There was a cello and even a violin on stage which brought a different energy to the set- this wasn’t just dance music, it was a full experience.
‘Kimbara’ started at play and the entire field lit up, people were jumping up and down as the lights cascaded across the field. Everywhere you turned there were people boogying with their friends with smiles beaming across their faces.
Hearing ‘How It Feels’ live felt like an outer worldly experience. This song had shaped many of my nights and it felt really special to be able to dance in my favorite city to one of my favorite songs.
As Barry’s set came to an end I couldn’t help but feel excited for the next day, another day on the Downs at Forwards Festival. If this is how good the Saturday was, how good would a sold out Sunday be?
WORDS AND PHOTO CREDIT – CATH EVERITT
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