Dry the River prove themselves suitable headliners on opening day of Redfest

Redfest is a independent festival in Redhill, Surrey and it is well into it's 7th year. After a car journey which should have take an hour 45 minutes but ended up taking over 3 hours to complete, we arrived. Instantly, I was taken back by the size of the festival. I thought that Cornbury was small...wow. Redfest is quite possibly the smallest festival I have been to or will go to again. With 3 stages, the festival site was minuscule. The main arena had the car park on the left hand side and the campsite on the right meaning that it was less than a 2 minute walk to anywhere that you needed to go. Ideal! The 3 stages were the 'Hype' stage, the 'Boileroom' tent and the main stage was the 'Blackstar' stage. With food stands lining the way to the main stage there was a nice variety to sample including Indian, Thai and the usual burgers galore. We found the Press area pretty quickly which was set just off from the main stage and that provided some amazing sights over the weekend... mostly of tattooed, hairy men dancing to Aqua – Barbie Girl.

 

The landscape was beautiful and would be a great venue for the festival to take place. The weather was set to be a scorching with the odd rain fall so everything was crossed and rain dances were danced to ensure the rain stayed away as there was not much shelter.

 

The line-up on Friday, to me, was a bit dull. I didn't particularly know any of the acts but it is always nice to hear new music and hopefully come away having witnessed a jem or two. However, the Saturday was set to be incredible. With the likes of Bastille, Lucy Rose and To Kill A King I could not wait...however I had Friday to contend with firstly.

 

So here we were. Where to start on a day where the acts I knew were limited. We headed to the Boileroom tent which was supported by ACM (The Academy of Contemporary Music). First on my radar was a singer called Rokhsan and thank god it was her. I was worried about being bored and unimpressed on Saturday but the first act I saw was right up my street and I felt a sense of relief that I hadn't wanted to run away instantly. Armed with her  guitar, she embodies so many different aspects of music. She comes across as poppy and quirky while her lyrics emphasis a depth and soulful element to her music. She's easy to listen too and I found myself jotting down lyrics that she sang thinking “My god this is me!”. She was charming, entertaining and an incredible artist who , at the end of Saturday, was one of my main highlights. 'Above the Clouds' was beautiful and I've since found it online and listened non-stop.

 

Dub Pistols are not my thing. I watched some of the set and it just wasn't interesting to me. The audience seemed to enjoy it though which I guess means that they were good?

 

Dance a la Plage were such a  find! Again, the Boileroom tent held its own and produced an absolute cracker. A group of 4 lads played their set to huge enthusiasms from the crowd. I assumed that they were another ACM group as the audience seemed to be crawling in them...students that is. Not in a bad way though! They are a band who in a few years you'd expect to see on the main stage. I really enjoyed 'Electric Concentric' and 'Matilda' (what is it with all these bands writing songs called Matilda?! - Que Alt J/Little Comets).

 

The Other Tribe were the last act that I saw of the day in the Boileroom tent. Bizarre. I'm not entirely sure of what to make of it? A lot of drums and hitting things, and faces painted with war paint and a lead singer who looked like he was in pain...what on earth was going on at Redfest? Next up Engine Earz Experiment - just no. No thank you. At any point during the day. I 'attempt' to be open to all music genres and I do generally like a varied collection of artists but I just couldn't. That was followed by Natalie Ross. Hmmm. I hate the fact that I am comparing everybody to Rokhsan but Natalie Ross just seemed a bit tired out. The pauses in-between songs felt awkward and there didn't appear to be any real connection to the crowd. 

 

Dog is Dead were to be  the final band before headliners, Dry The River. Dog is Dead will always be a band who appeal to me. Guitars and easy to dance around too. “Do The Right Thing” is notable from their set for me. It's one of those songs where you can stand by yourself and just dance. Indie infused, Dog is Dead describe their sound as “an original blend of harmonious, indie-pop in the disco, with a cheeky jazz hint and "uplifting pop for jazz junkies and choir folk". What a description and completely spot on.

 

Dry the River were tonight's headliners at Redfest. I saw them a few years back at Summer Sundae in Leicester. Dry the River have this incredible ability to create songs and then turn them around on themselves. There is something that I really like about Pete Liddle's vocals and the way they use these 'acoustic ditties'. I feel that some of their songs can come across as 'haunting' especially 'New Ceremony' "…I waited by your bedside and couldn't close my eyes, all night…" Dry The River aren't about the synths and the electronics but about the guitars and the drums and that voice which I cannot get out of my head.

 

An unusual headliner in my opinion but I was happily proven wrong. The first day's line-up had proven to be mostly acts that weren't my cup of tea, I was sure the second day would be so much better.