Swn Festival @ Various Venues, Cardiff

FRIDAY:

I started my Swn Festival experience on Day 2, and Friday proved pretty delightful. Clwb Ifor Bach provided the first act of the night – Brandyman. Shifting across to the dark side of the optics, lead singer DC Gates (Gindrinker) was on typically charismatic rant-tastic form. Joined by alumni of Cardiff groups Truckers of Husk and Joy of Sex they make scuzzy rock slashed with 80s metal guitar riffs. We like.

Next up I hurtle downstairs to catch the new-to-me We//Are//Animal. They turned out to be a brilliant North Walian group of magical mystery riffs and calypso cowbells. More, please! They were followed by Truckers of Husk – new line up, usual top form.

Next I headed down to Chapter for The Victorian English Gentlemen’s Club (TVEGC). Now a three piece they are still a top experimental noise fest of quirk-pop fun. They were followed by the brilliant sea shanty harmonies of Peggy Sue, who can do absolutely no wrong in my eyes. Then it was time to head back to Dempsey’s for a dance. TVEGC had decided to do the same. In new, less sweaty outfits, we danced until we fell over.

SATURDAY:

Cardiff Arts Institute kicked off the afternoon, with the highlight being Y Niwl and their psychedelic surf vibes. Ones to watch. Later, over in Buffalo I caught the wonderful retro stylings of Still Corners, dreamy female vocals and shadowy light shows they proved simply gorgeous. Following on, Brighton girl group La La Vasquez sweetly sang garage rock songs with menacing lyrics; involving knives and killing people. They were tops.

Next up I queued up at Dempseys to see The Vaccines. Then I queued some more. Then they let us up and the extended sound check continued: evidently there were some issues. Luckily they were worth most of the wait. Punk meets surf. A lo-fi yet noisy Beach Boys. The in-the-know crowd looked pleased with themselves. They’d chosen well.

More sound check delays meant I had to skip Egyptian Hip Hop and go off to join another queue over at The Model Inn for the most hyped gig of the night. A queue that lasted One Whole Hour. Boo Hoo. Headliners Islet tried to get in, and were told they had to queue too, and La La Vasquez attempted the “we played here earlier card” (they didn’t)  and were also turned away. For your average punter this may offer some solace. For many of those punters it was a major gripe.

Islet should have been put in a bigger venue. Wristband holders should have been able to drift between venues with more ease. Still, a few year’s Swn experience meant that I was prepared. I went early and caught the oh-so-cool summer-dreampop-shoegaze-fuzz of Beach Fossils first. Then one of the UK’s best live acts Islet launched their pulsing percussive attack on our senses; a frenzy of instrument-switching, yelping vocals and winning fans. See them.