The Isle Of Wight Festival – a weekend of summer musical madness, with a festival lineup like no other.
Lush green fields by the sea are the perfect venue for a festival, especially for the family oriented ones like the Isle of Wight. Guests are completely spoiled for choice with the incredible atmosphere, activities and artists on show across the weekend. Personally, seeing bands play live completely beats listening to them on record, and getting to witness the passion they all have for their art is something truly special. Despite there being so many great performances across numerous stages, One Stop Record Shop has managed to narrow it down to a handsome top five…
The Carnabys
Shortly after they played the rather large Big Top Stage, I managed to catch London lads The Carnabys perform on the smaller and rather strange Circus De La Quirk stage. A number of eager young fans waited at the front, and a cheerful crowd welcomed the band on. My expectations were exceeded as I realised that The Carnabys are one of those bands that are truly in their element whilst performing live – they know exactly how to up the anti and exude the passion and enthusiasm they have for their music. The set was thoroughly enjoyed, not wasting a moment to dance along with weird and wonderful circus performers to catchy and relatable tunes.
YAK
As I walked by the Jack Rocks stage on Friday night, I noticed there was quite a turnout. The tent was spilling out, with people hanging around left, right and centre, loud guitar riffs and intense screams. YAK, a fairly small band was dominating the stage. YAK had a gang of loyal fans wailing, whilst vocalist Oli dived over their heads – quite the performance. The rock/garage/punk trio have created politically charged tracks that live up to the hype the band have created, proving they’re a force to be reckoned with.
Blossoms
Blossoms are a five-piece indie band from Stockport who have recently begun taking over the radio (and net) with their psychedelic-retro edge. With huge sing-along (soon to be) indie anthems like Charlemagne and Blow, they stunned the Big Top stage. Melodious synth sounds filled the tent and by the end it can’t be denied that Blossoms rightfully gained a number of new fans.
Twin Atlantic
Sharing a stage with Queen is enough pressure for anyone, but Scottish rock band Twin Atlantic excelled and proved they deserved their main stage spot. Vocalist Sam McTrusty managed to wake the midday crowd by jumping off stage and joining fans to dance. It’s not every day you see a frontman perform with the amount of energy that McTrusty has, he completely owned that stage. Seriously though, these guys are going to be big. Their set created a lot of buzz for their upcoming album GLA, already having the crowd belting out the lyrics to their brand new tracks, including ‘No Sleep’ along with ‘Gold Elephant: Cherry Alligator’.
Twin Wild
Twin Wild began getting some recognition after supporting Nothing But Thieves on tour back in 2015 and since, having a quiet period to work on new material, they’re back and better than ever. Their sound mainly consists of powerful chorus’ and loud guitar riffs, however with a pop element. It’s astonishing just how similar Richard, the vocalist, sounded to that of You Me At Six – and I have to admit, there wasn’t a note out of tune! After playing a few tracks from their new EP, I’m confident that it’s a bag full of songs that’s going to get these boys to where they deserve to be.
So there you have it – I cannot recommend having a listen to these bands enough. I urge everyone to get out this summer and see live music, weather it’s in a tiny bar or a big field- surprise yourself and discover some of the UK’s best new talent.
