The New Cross Festival: renamed, revamped and a triumph by all accounts.
May has arrived, the sun has decided to rear its lovely head on more than one occasion for a number of days in a row and people everywhere are venturing outside without their thermal undies and huge trench coats: it is officially the beginning of festival season. And what better way to kick off the celebrations than an 18 hour event staged “by the people, for the people, in London’s most creative playful quarter” identified by the name of the Rocklands Party? After much confusion about the line-up (due to a fantasist booking agent promising such big names as The Gossip and Justice and admitting, just a handful of days beforehand, that this was all in fact a complete and utter figment of their twisted imagination) the organisers decided to soldier on regardless, stating on new promotional material “You can’t kill the spirit!!!”.
And kill it they could not. Upon arrival there were hoards of people congregating throughout the streets drinking cans of beer and floating around in all manner of strange and wonderful attire - for no apparent reason lampshades featured as headwear on a number of individuals, cricket wear was modelled and even people who looked like they’d arrived fresh from a day at Ascot sauntered around looking suitably ‘anti-scene’. The overall atmosphere was that of celebration and creativity. It was a feast for all the senses with people showcasing their individual interpretations of art, fashion and music. There was delicious looking food on offer, artists such as chanson influenced Harry Cheesman played acoustic sets on the roof of The Music Complex recording studio, other bands opted to play on the street outside venues and there was even an afternoon art and fashion market. Everywhere you turned there was sound of some description jumping out at you and until 6pm there were shows welcoming people of all ages taking place in The New Cross Inn and Goldsmiths Tavern. Finishing off the underage fun were Metros, an electro-pop band who had the teeny-boppers lapping up their energetic set.
Once the kiddies had all trotted off home to bed, the serious partying was ready to begin. Up and coming art-pop-rock band The Total Drop took to the stage at The New Cross Inn and treated us to some crowd-pleasers, choosing to up-the-ante with recently self-released single ‘Your Excellency’ by playing it double-speed and creating an experimental drum ‘n’ bass-esque version which had everyone bouncing around like kangaroos on speed. To follow were Plugs. Heaven knows how to describe their outlandish aural offerings. With the front-man rubbing his guitar along the railings and mounting every conceivable piece of sturdy-ish looking furniture in the close vicinity, heavy distortion and general loud noise and raucousness were the order of the day. Pink Grease played later on in the evening to a large crowd, presenting a phenomenal stage presence and flexing an energetic version of cock-rock/glam/electronic/ego-fuelled punk. Plenty of crowd interaction ensued with the singer grabbing at people’s heads and thrusting his groin in all directions.
To end the band line-up Bolt Action Five blasted the stage with their brand of industrial/pop/indie and had half the crowd up on the stage with them partying on down to their feel-good vibe. As if all this wasn’t exciting enough we were then treated to the DJ sets. Ooodles of different genres were played, interspersing the likes of The Gossip alongside D’n’B, experimental dance music and some downright funkay beats. By the end of the evening it felt as if a whole weekend of festivaltivities had been packed into this one 18 hour stretch and our feet felt like they’d danced to a thousand different beats. The promise of big names was a distant memory and our appetites were well and truly satiated by the rich and varied mixture of raw new talent we had gorged on.
Once the kiddies had all trotted off home to bed, the serious partying was ready to begin. Up and coming art-pop-rock band The Total Drop took to the stage at The New Cross Inn and treated us to some crowd-pleasers, choosing to up-the-ante with recently self-released single ‘Your Excellency’ by playing it double-speed and creating an experimental drum ‘n’ bass-esque version which had everyone bouncing around like kangaroos on speed. To follow were Plugs. Heaven knows how to describe their outlandish aural offerings. With the front-man rubbing his guitar along the railings and mounting every conceivable piece of sturdy-ish looking furniture in the close vicinity, heavy distortion and general loud noise and raucousness were the order of the day. Pink Grease played later on in the evening to a large crowd, presenting a phenomenal stage presence and flexing an energetic version of cock-rock/glam/electronic/ego-fuelled punk. Plenty of crowd interaction ensued with the singer grabbing at people’s heads and thrusting his groin in all directions.
To end the band line-up Bolt Action Five blasted the stage with their brand of industrial/pop/indie and had half the crowd up on the stage with them partying on down to their feel-good vibe. As if all this wasn’t exciting enough we were then treated to the DJ sets. Ooodles of different genres were played, interspersing the likes of The Gossip alongside D’n’B, experimental dance music and some downright funkay beats. By the end of the evening it felt as if a whole weekend of festivaltivities had been packed into this one 18 hour stretch and our feet felt like they’d danced to a thousand different beats. The promise of big names was a distant memory and our appetites were well and truly satiated by the rich and varied mixture of raw new talent we had gorged on.
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