Noizze
Teased by the band in the run-up as a covers set, unpeople’s first appearance of the weekend kicks off with Beastie Boys‘ ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)’ followed immediately by ‘Hash Pipe’ by Weezer. It isn’t quite a covers set, as they play a few of their own, including two unreleased tracks. The quartet beam throughout as the packed out Forest Sessions stage bears witness to one of British rock’s best new bands firmly in their element, whether they’re peeling off their own material or covers given the unpeople treatment. This is wonderfully intimate, and makes the promise of their main stage appearance even more enticing. – WM
Norwegian party starters Blood Command are no strangers to firing up a crowd, and after that unpeople set, their job is already easier. They don’t coast, though, diving straight into a stack of bangers and frequently the raucous crowd. Clad almost entirely in Adidas, with vocalist Nikki Brumen donning a sequinned red dress under a jacket she loses early on, the band cut a striking image. The new songs – presumably from an unannounced album – slot in easily alongside older material with their irrepressible energy and bounce. Nikki’s in the crowd by their third song, surfing through the trees while security look on bewildered at the unfolding chaos. In other words, it’s classic Blood Command and a bloody good time. – WM
Punk isn’t dead, not while Meryl Streek exists. They erupt onstage like a Molotov lobbed at the 10 o’clock news, spitting venom over looped headlines and bleak political commentary. Dressed in a baker boy cap and an overcoat of rage, eerie white contacts slice through the crowd like knives. Streek stalks the stage like an apex predator, all raw fury and no compromise. By the end, the eyes make sense, hypnotic and feral. Streek isn’t punk’s future. They are punk’s ferocious now. – CL
