BBC Radio 6.
Hi all! First Bristol Bucket list of the year was sick. Sorry it’s taken so long but I thought the first Bucket list of 2016 should start with a bang. So last weekend I went to the BBC Radio 6 Music festival. Each year BBC Radio 6 put on a weekend of music in a different city, and this year the lucky city was Bristol. The weekend promised to be amazing with the likes if Daughter, Suede, Everything Everything, Foals, Bloc Party and Mystery Jets amongst the star studded line up. Music events would also be taking place all across the city with numerous free vents with BBC introducing too. This was too good an opportunity to be missed so after crouching over my laptop like a Gremlin a month or so ago frantically trying to buy tickets me and three mates went down to Motion on a rainy Saturday to enjoy a day full of music.
The first act up for the day was Roisin Murphy, an Irish singer song writer with a dynamic performance style. She released a new album after an 8 year hiatus, and last year BBC radio 6 gave her a chance to showcase some of her new songs. Her set was powerful and moving combining electronic, pop and rock elements for a great energetic start to the night. Her performance was fantastic with amazing costumes being integrated into the set. I think during the whole set she made at least 10 costume changes. One would think that it was distracting but it really added a level of flamboyance to the whole performance. Her costume changes were so quick that we didn’t manage to take photos of all of them but here is a selection:
(Photo Credit: Becky Bacon)
After that we went to the smaller room where we enjoyed the Indie pop of C Duncan who had a more ethereal sound. Think Ben Howard mixed with RHODES. He had a real grace about him and seemed so happy to be there which was great. A much different performance than Roisin Murphy he was still a great performer whose indie pop tones were really fun and soothing. I would definitely recommend a listen, his EP comes out this week.
(Photo Credit: Becky Bacon)
I couldn’t talk about the festival without talking about the food. There was quite a range of food from jerk chicken and pulled pork to gourmet sausage rolls. As we had been there since 4:30 and looked to be staying until at least midnight it was crucial that we sustained ourselves, so that meant many pit stops for food. I had to say the Grillstock pulled pork bun with home-made coleslaw was particularly delightful (they also have a restaurant on the Triangle next to Embargos, would definitely recommend for ace BBQ). But the highlight for me was the triple cooked chunky garlic and rosemary chips with cheese, it was next level of chip goodness, may even have paralleled post night out cheesy chip satisfaction (which is saying something).
(Photo Credit: Anna Sagar)
After the amazing food we had finally got to the act of the evening that I was most excited to see which was Daughter. Daughter is an indie folk band, they are really up and coming right now as they have released their second album Not to Disappear earlier this year. They have a really great sound, very similar to the XX. Their set was eerie, low key and amazing. The band was unassuming and their interactions with the crowd were modest and bashful. Think they are definitely a band to keep an eye on!
(Photo Credit: Becky Bacon)
The final set of the night was also one of the most bigged up. Suede was a band that was popular in the 90s and 00s but they broke up breaking the hearts and dreams of many people of that era. However, they reunited in 2010 creating excitement in the music industry. Their set was amazing and energetic with the front man interacting and rocking out with the best of them. They had such a stage presence and their set was seamless, reminding us all what true rock greatness look like. Even though throughout most their set I was stuck behind Giant McTallperson so I couldn’t see all of their set but the fact that I was still awe struck despite having a giant man standing in front of me speaks of the pure charisma of their performance.
Ending on a high we decided to call it a night. This was a great mixture of genres of music as well as new and old influences, it truly showed the diversity of the music scene in Bristol and beyond and also inspired hope and excitement to go out and find it all.