3 minute read
BEYOND THE WOODS
...AND INTO THE ENGINESHED
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Images: Jordan Merrett
In the midst of government restrictions easing, 2021’s live music scene took more than a few casualties. Among them, the biggest indie festival in Lincolnshire has cancelled for the third year in a row!
Beyond The Woods festival, formerly know as ‘Joefest’, named after Joe Davies, the festival’s organiser, who’s 16th birthday sparked the start of the whole thing, was cancelled in 2019 due to inclement weather. I don’t think 2020 needs an explanation, and then earlier this year, the month long delay in government restrictions easing meant yet another cancellation of what will surely be a momentous occasion when it does make it’s return! Words: Jordan Merrett
Joe describes Beyond The Woods as a pivotal part of his success in his music industry career, and his dedication to rebranding the festival away from himself and onto something aimed at the greater good speaks volumes.
In lieu of the festival (scheduled to go ahead in 2022) Joe and the BTW team have planned in a series of gigs to keep the spirit of indie alive in Lincolnshire. The first of which saw recently signed Lincolnshire legends Vigilantes headlining The Platform at The Engineshed, Lincoln, with support from Pylons and Duccbod, 2 more fantastic indie artists bringing high quality music to the genre and the local scene.
VIGILANTES
As a first time observer, these boys had a big reputation to live up to, they are regarded across the county and within the industry as ‘next big thing’ material. Heading in with an open mind I gave their hooky indie anthems a chance, and within the first few songs it’s clear to see that their reputation isn’t unfounded, they can certainly write good music!
As I listened to them play it wasn’t just a great blend of twangy, crunchy guitar, and crisp, clear vocals, they also brought a great presence to the stage which was like a special ingredient that brought the crowd to life.
PYLONS
As these guys stepped out onto the stage, only 2 of the 5 members were present, and an announcement over the microphone was made: “The other boys couldn’t make it tonight, so it’s us here how we started out... just the two of us.” for me this was an heartfelt nod to the roots of the band.
The proceeding duet of keyboard and vocals created an emotive response and the room fell into a gentle trance. The energy definitely changed when their were 5 of them on the stage, a playful twist on indie jams feat. colourful trumpet work ensued.
On top of great indie tunes, Pylons were promoting sustainability by offering upcycled band merch instead of the traditional bulkprinted t-shirts. Good work boys!
DUCCBOD
Completely unknown to me prior to this gig, Duccbod pleasantly surprised me with a very tasteful almost singer-songwriter style, yet very satisfying lead guitar intertwining in and out of the smooth vocal melodies. I look forward to seeing more from this guy in the future.
