Credit: Dominic Meason

This past weekend, thousands of rock and alternative fans flocked to a farm on the outskirts of Cheltenham for the 10th consecutive year of 2000 Trees Festival. Though it is certainly one of the UK’s smaller festivals, it maintains fans who proudly declare it a firm favourite for showcasing British rock as well as for it’s convivial atmosphere. Although Trees (as many of its punters fondly refer to it) hosts some of the biggest names in the UK rock scene, such as Slaves and Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes it also proved a great spot to discover some lesser known and upcoming artists.

 

They do have a whole stage dedicated to newer artists, ‘The Neu Stage’, which was devoted to comedy acts on Thursday. On Friday it introduced the noteworthy angst-fuelled duo of teen brothers, Cassels. Then on Saturday the stage presented acts like the female-fronted Doe, whose catchy indie-rock was a hit with the crowd. It was great to see some strong female leads amongst the performing bands at 2000 Trees as the British Rock scene is often very male-dominated. The political indie trio Muncie Girls were a hit in ‘The Cave’ stage on Thursday. While the enthusiastic Janine Shilstone, frontwoman of Scottish four-piece Vukovi, really got the crowd going over at ‘The Axiom’ stage on Friday.

 

One of the standout highlights of the festival is its ‘Forest Sessions’ Stage. A short walk from the festival’s large stages is a magical alcove where fans sit on the ground surrounded by soaring trees decorated with fairy lights and bunting. Here they gather to watch up-close intimate acoustic sessions with a great variety of the billed artists.  Thursday’s headliners Mallory Knox played a set there in the afternoon that immediately showed what a special place that stage could be for fans to relax with the band and enjoy some of their top songs. Their closing show that evening, though a wholly different vibe, was equally enjoyable. The lively boys of Mallory Knox really never disappoint.

​

Another highlight of the ‘Forest Sessions’ was Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties, project of The Wonder Year’s Dan ‘Soupy’ Campbell. As Campbell mainly tours with The Wonder Years, Aaron West has barely done any UK shows and thus, his set was widely anticipated by many fans.  The crowd were singing along to every song he played and were begging for more by the end. Though we weren’t granted an encore, this longing was satisfied when The Wonder Years hit ‘The Cave’ stage later that night.

 

Saturday was an amazing closing day to the festival and the Main Stage was particularly thriving. Crowds really started to gather for pop-punk favourites Gnarwolves, in the afternoon. Following them were the indie boys of The Front Bottoms who had the crowd screaming along by the time they closed with their hit song, ‘Twin Size Mattress”. Lower Than Atlantis and Slaves then both went on to be fantastic finale acts for the weekend. 2000 Trees truly rocked and it’s no wonder they have amassed such a devoted fan base over the past 10 years. The festival is a summer must for any UK alternative or rock fan.

​

​