Festival Review: Wide Awake
A proper celebration of thriving post-punk, genre-defying giants and a communal spirit of the UK’s grass-roots scene.
Artwork by Poppy Lam
In 2020, the UK post-punk scene was thriving. Wide Awake Festival was about to become the amalgamation of the scene’s efforts. Unfortunately, like many events last year, it was cancelled. With so much cancelled there was a moment in 2020 where the momentum the UK post-punk scene had seen was threatening to grind to a halt. Then 2021 happened. Within the first month an array of talented artists in the scene – Sleaford Mods, Viagra Boys, Shame, LICE, Goat Girl – all started to release great albums. Things only got better in the coming months with releases from Squid, Black Country, New Road and Black Midi breathing new life into a genre that felt it was worn out. The momentum was back and the fans more zealous than ever before. In comes Wide Awake Festival, a festival that brings together the communal spirit of these artists. Many of the people who put the festival together, Brixton Windmill, Moth Club, Bad Vibrations, etc., were pivotal in these artists growing and becoming the genre-defining giants that they are.
It was a privilege to have the opportunity to attend this year. The lineup boasted some of the most talented artists in the post-punk genre, and I was excited to see how it would stack up against All Points East the previous week. Gearing up for its first year in Brixton’s Brockwell Park felt like a dream that was unlikely to become a reality. But to my surprise, it actually went ahead! The festival opened to Tiña who last year released their debut album on renowned label Speedy Wunderground. Following them on the main stage, aptly named after the Brixton Windmill, a venue where most of these artists found their feet, were sets from Squid, PVA, Goat Girl, Black Country, New Road, Black Midi and Shame.
Seeing Goat Girl again after All Points East, I was hopeful that the crowd would have a bit more energy this time around but that was unfortunately not the case. Goat Girl deserve a crowd that’s up for having a dance or at the very least moving around a bit. Their songs are danceable, I promise! Lynks’ performance provided a welcome break from the sprechgesang vocals. It was an interesting and captivating show, the music alone would keep you entertained, but the dancing and acrobatics of this talented artist make it worth seeing live on stage.
Though the music largely skews towards more contemporary trends like sardonic, sprechgesang vocals and wiry guitar riffs during this year's festival, there are some notable exceptions that prove necessary detours across its lineup as well such as Lynks who have performed on smaller stages but still manage to delight audiences thanks in part due their unique style of catchy dance songs which also further demonstrate how diverse both genres can be when fused together.
The high point from the day came from Black Country, New Road, a six-piece ensemble that will take you on an auditory journey to the far ends of musical genres. They play songs with intricate arrangements and varying moods; one minute they're in psychedelic klezmer mode while another finds them playing delicately, steering you through a sea of warm harmonies on ‘Track X’.
Black Midi’s performance was another to be blown away by. There was a good chance they weren’t even going to play the festival because of lead singer Geordie Greep’s throat infection, but they still managed to pull through. The blaring horns section only added to the band’s incendiary performance. The band’s recent sophomore album saw them incorporate more jazz and prog elements into their music. It was nice to see these elements pay off so well in a live performance.
One thing about the day, which I’ve seen discussed in some forums, is bands not playing their “hits”. With Black Country, New Road not playing their two most popular singles (I don’t mind — they played all my favourite songs) and Black Midi not playing BM. It’s ironic that people want these (not exactly pop) artists to play their “hits” but that’s probably another article.
With a break in-between Black Midi and Shame we went over to the Moth Club Tent and got carried away with Daniel Avery. Playing bangers like Blue Monday, it was impossible to leave and ultimately we only caught the last ten minutes of Shame. Which, surprisingly enough, after almost a year and half of seeing practically no bands, seeing more than one in a day was more than perfect. The festival was a huge success in many ways. In a sense, it felt like a homecoming. Overall, Wide Awake Festival nailed their first year. It's not hard to see the optimistic future that lies ahead for the festival and the Post-Punk scene as a whole.
