A heart-pounding weekend of music and community, where even the rain couldn't dampen the electric energy of Forwards Festival.

Heartwarming and community driven for the masses, Still Listening took on Forwards Fest in a gin and tonic haze, fighting off the rain and loving every second. Huge crowds of onlookers gathered to watch Yussef Dayes unleash typhoon winds with incendiary lashes of drums and was undoubtedly a standout for the whole weekend; not to say the other acts were beneath him in raw talent or crowd control. For the Saturday, the people of Forwards were treated to back-to-back-to-back acts of Romy, Greentea Peng, and eventually after a day that could’ve been a lifetime of unforgettable acts: Loyle Carner comes through will a thorough presession of his classic work and calming poetry to close the show. With the sun beating down on the denizens of the Clifton-downs, it’s easy to say that everyone spent their time drifting from gig to gig in a dreamlike state, the feeling of what a concert should be like was tangible to a lot of the public that Still Listening spoke to on the day, and that feeling could have lasted all weekend long.

Unfortunately, this festival took place within British Summertime, where the weather changes depending according to how much fun you are perceived to be having. The Sunday of the festival was not aptly named, being as no sun was to be found. A biblical rainfall rushed bystanders to seek shelter wherever they could: this, quite handily, happened to be the bar. Although keeping the listeners sodden, not even rainfall could dampen the mood as Jesus and the Mary Chain took their place on stage.  Although they’re undeniably a band for the ages, and their classics are known by all, the crowd didn’t seem to reflect their sleezy swaying Scottish rock, roll and grungy style. Perhaps it was the exhaustion of a day and a half of festival excess, or perhaps the weather really had started to get to everyone, but the typical devil-may-care attitude you’d expect from such a performance just didn’t seem to rear its explosive head. All that you would want from a gig like Mary Chain, however, was found 10-fold in Underworld. There might’ve just been something in the air when the hypnotic neon 90’s esc volatile and fiery group threw all they had to the people. Even though fully expected, finishing their set with Born Slippy was a masterwork. The gasp and subsequent cheer could’ve well been audible from the other side of Bristol, transforming the ever-growing, shifting crowd into old-school ravers once again. One can’t imagine many people there would’ve remembered what happened during their set, the visual imagery combined with their hallmark sound was magnetic and totally absorbing, leaving most attendees in dreamlike resonance. 

To conclude the weekend, LCD Soundsystem, took hold of the Forwards Fest Olympic torch, but did so with a lower energy than I believe anyone waiting prepared for. Easily explained away by jet lag from their Australian leg of the summer festival tour, and despite their short and sweet introductory speech, everyone there can attest to the fact that yes, they’ve still got it. Playing loud and playing well, these are professionals that have honed and sharpened their abilities over the course of a career, and that is something that jetlag can’t touch. They ended their set with a back-to-back of their track All My Friends and Jump Into The Fire by Harry Nillson. A combination of the bittersweet following the loss of 4H co-founder Justin Chearno, a friend of the group, and what can only be described as a decent into madness with their crazed rendition of Nillson’s classic, from start to finish, it was an exemplary performance.

FORWARDS festival 2024, Photography by @eljaybriss