Awaiting the opening of the 1234 Fest on Saturday afternoon an hour after doors were suppose to be well and truly open the rain began to drizzle from above. Urgh! Finally inside, beer in hand we were waiting around for Hold Kiss Kill who told us about a band that had just played whilst the doors were shut! Bet they loved that. As HXK brought their amps to life it seemed to have generated the sun to start shining down as they belted through their set of songs we’ve come to adore the last few months. Current single ‘Neon Girls’ made us feel alive and ‘Our Last Waltz’ was pretty spectacular. Having recently dropped a member with singer K taking on bass duties they look every inch settled as a three peice. Ideally their sound could have been louder as the sound guys played with the vocal mics, but it did not stop them some throwing their guitar driven assault over us, which was most evident in new track ‘Gloamer’. Good work.
Next up were Blood Music, a band who caught our attention in a few short tracks. Guitar feedback, growling bass and noise filled the tent from the spaced out experimental rock reminding us a little of the Velvet Underground. Another surprise was Novella, three girls playing catchy indie which we will definitely be checking out again soon. Their dreamy harmonies and ambient lo-fi indie is right up our street, worth checking out.
NOVELLA 1234 Shoreditch Festival, 2011. by deathtoyoutube
The Chapman Family came out fighting, playing tracks from their debut ‘Burn Your Town’ which we’ve been getting to grips to of late. Bass player Pop Chapman puts on a show looking like he eats rodents for fun. Kingsley Chapman is quite the front man talking to the crowd between tracks. ‘Anxiety’ was our favourite.
Running over to catch ‘Two Wounded Birds’ we were delighted to see Johnny Danger in full flow, who’d laid his guitar on the floor in order to belt out the 50’s surf pop. Each time we see these guys they get just that little bit better, for a front man who said he was ill it didn’t come across that way. The tent was packed and volume was turned up.
We’re not going to lie, things from this point on and probably a band or two before this are a little hazzy. The History of Apple played and we were there, in body at least to hear their soft and cuddley indie pop thats been hyped up over the last few month, well deserved too.
The Ravonettes won the band of the day as each song these guys played made us dance, jump and sing along. ‘Charge & Revolt’ was brilliant to see live for the first time. Sune and Sharon seemed to love evety minute of it.
The day full of bands minus some sound problems was pretty cool but as a festival we think the people at 1234 need to sort out some problems for next time. The late opening resulting in a band playing in front of no one is a joke. And why does everything have to be so expensive? There were tickets still left on the door, this should have been sold out considering the line up, perhaps next year they’ll make tickets cheaper. And drinks were more expensive than Glastonbury, no wonder people try to bring their own. £4.80 for a bottle of Kopparberg cider is a joke!!Sort it out 1234!
It’s not all over yet, Brown Brouges played then after show at the Old Blue last for which we staggered along too. ‘Don’t Touch My Hair’ was incredible. All in all a canny day but room for improvement….