2000 Trees Festival 2023: The Review – Wednesday
Returning for it's big 15th birthday bonanza, 2000 Trees Festival 2023 proved to be one of the best editions of the festival just hours after the gates of Upcote Farm opened.
Boasting their arguably biggest line-up to date for their 15th year as a festival, it was clear that 2000 Trees 2023 was going to be one to remember from the very get go. With the sun smiling down onto Upcote Farm and with the Cotswold breeze carrying the scent of pine and cider through the site, even with only two stages running this opening day, the Wednesday of Trees soon become host to more energy than some festivals can offer across a whole weekend, a fact made evident with the day’s – and festival’s – openers.
Opening any festival must be anxiety-inducing. It must be even more terrifying when one of you’re favourite bands is sat atop the lineup. However, if the Soft Play adoring Snayx suffered from any pre-show jitters, they simply don’t show it as they open 2000 Trees 2023 with confidence and swagger aplomb. Strutting through a set of bold contemporary punk with a bottle of buckie in hand, the South East trio’s set is something akin to a drunken celebration of the values of modern punk, with their ACAB-orientated ragers ‘Boys In Blue’ and ‘HANG’ inciting the first of countless pits this weekend. Granted, with their sound, presence and approach carrying a striking resemblance to the tomorrow night’s headliners – the aforementioned Soft Play – it’s clear why Snayx have become an immediate fan favourite at this festival. But regardless, with energy this palatable, this is a band that need to return to Trees at the earliest convenience. – Dan Hillier
After Snayx bring the party anthems to the Forest Sessions stage, London quartet Delaire The Liar bring oceans of fuzz and heart on sleeve lyricism to the unique, tree-lined setting. Opening with latest single ‘bite trap’ and its walls of guitar and acerbic screams amongst towering choruses, they treat the gathered throng to an intimate, stunning set. The vocal interplay between Ffin Colley and Em Lodge is as powerful as ever, accentuating the melodies or offering backing screams as vicious punctuation. Closing with the razor-sharp ‘DOG’, they kick the energy levels sky high and leave a tall act to follow. – Will Marshall
Photo Credit: Jez Pennington | @jezennington
What does follow, though, is the final show of beloved cult act Press To MECO. They get a hero’s welcome to the stage, though it’s a palpably emotional one. The crowd more than make the most of it, with crowdsurfers from the very outset and pits erupting. Amidst churning alt rock riffs, they weave their trademark triple vocal harmonies, all of which are clearly audible in a mix that seems to protect them at all costs, though instruments are muddy at times. The underground darlings might never have made it huge, but the dedication of their fans here today makes this the best possible send off they could ask for. – Will Marshall
In contrast to their peers in the forest today, Tigercub offer a set that’s every slightly coy and aloof. Whilst the ever-brooding alt-rock collective may have always been an act somewhat reserved in a live setting, the band this evening are certainly an outlier in terms of buoyancy. But even with their presence subdued, the band’s new material sounds wonderful. Tracks from their recent record The Perfume Of Decay blend into their tour-tested hits ‘Stop Beating On My Heart’ and ‘Sleepwalker’ without friction, with such new tracks as ‘Show Me My Maker’ and ‘Swoon’ displaying the band’s more gothic and sly sound in a way that’s cooly sublime. Whilst the band may be mostly static and reserved, their riffs keep the now cider-afflicted crowd physically engaged. – Dan Hillier
Photo Credit: Jez Pennington | @jezpennington
In the run up to the festival, Holding Absence teased they’d be playing two mostly distinct sets over the weekend, with today’s Forest Sessions set given over to “rarities, and maybe a few farewells”. It’s packed in the small forested area well before the band take the stage; when they do, it’s greeted with earsplitting cheers as they open their set with ‘Celebration Song’ into ‘Curse Me With Your Kiss’. It’s clear the band are having just as much fun as the crowd, applauding the festival and their fans for sticking by them for so long. Such devotion is rewarded in spades as 2019 cut ‘Your Love Has Ruined My Life’ makes an early, tear jerking appearance after ‘Monochrome’. Two albums in, with their third out very soon, Holding Absence show just how deep and stacked their catalogue already is, even before their second set, and their first main stage appearance, later this weekend. – Will Marshall
Akin to most felines, Haggard Cat have a penchant of getting into spaces where they probably shouldn’t be. Last year, they performed a fully electric show in the campsite. This year, they’re in the Word Stage, a tented space reserved for acoustic sets, comedy, podcasts – and in the mornings – yoga. What transpires is a set of utter bedlam. Lurching into a cover of Nirvana’s ‘Tourette’s’ prior to revealing in the thrash and thrall of ‘Time’, ‘Quit Your Jobs’ and ‘American Graffiti’, this typically quiet stage is suddenly host to enough energy to power this festival for entity of the forthcoming weekend. Punters climb the poles, punters then climb onto the punters on the poles, and then the band – mid-set – climb onto those punters. It’s utter, total and unfettered carnage, but in the most inclusive and joyous way possible. However, what proves to a the highlight of this set is a rendition of ‘Grave Digger’ that features an interpolation of the Queens Of The Stone Age classic ‘A Song For The Dead’. Even for a band renowned for spontaneity, it’s a moment that see’s the energy spike and almost threatens the structural integrity of the tent itself. It’s a joyous and chaotic close to a brilliant day, and the only question that remains is just where on the site will the band show up next year. – Dan Hillier
Photo Credit: Jez Pennington | @jezpennington