GOD SAVE THE SCENE

Words: Tom Gensler

Photos: James Coyle

DIY shows are a thing of beauty in the modern musical landscape. DIY festivals are another beast entirely; so much effort and love being poured into making them successful. God Save The Scene is one such festival, organised fully by Lily Wade, in aid of The Music Venue Trust, an extremely important cause especially in these times, for the music community, and it feels fitting, considering the event is very community-driven. We went down to check it out, see some fantastic acts and have a chat with the organiser herself.

“So, I studied Psychology for a year, at uni, and then I came to Nottingham, obviously the music scene here is incredible, you are surrounded by grassroots venues and emerging bands. You can really feel it when you’re in the room with an emerging band here; you can feel the presence and just community, and it's something different in Nottingham. So, I studied Psychology for a year, and I thought ‘fuck it, I want to study music instead’, so I started studying music, and this is my first event that I’ve ever promoted, that I’ve ever really worked on, outside of Sunk, obviously. I manage Sunk. I just really wanted to take that sense of community that I felt, with everything that the charity, Music Venue Trust, do in mind, and just create a big day of it, because that’s all anyone wants to do here, support the fucking scene, you know? They just want to support each other, they just want to support anyone that’s gonna follow in their footsteps and secure a bright future for young emerging artists, which is, you know, what keeps this community going, and it's lovely to see and it's been incredible, and everybody’s been laughing and smiling and singing and dancing and clapping and it's been unbelievable, it's nearly brought me to tears, it's so nice to have been planning this for ages and see such amazing support and good reaction, yeah,” Wade says on the festival and how it feels.

The first band I caught was Sheffield’s industrial pioneers Stained Glass, who promote their own genre of third wave: a unique space wherein industrial heaviness, wall-of-sound sonic aesthetics and harsh quiet-loud dynamics co-exist. This is the band’s first show as a duo, with a set consisting of vocalist Josh on drums and bassist Henry churning out some fantastically brutal sounds, to a background-noise-expanding backing track. The vibe and sound is excellent, a powerful evolution of the band, taking their noisy and expansive signature sounds in a new direction. This is the very very promising beginning of their new era.

Next up was The People Assembly, who have a destructive post-punk feel tinged throughout their music. Their sound is weighty and expansive, building and dropping to maximum effect. The five-piece really know how to structure their songs. With no prior knowledge of the band at all, I was pleasantly surprised by just how good their live set was; it's good to see bands with a clear direction and a clear knowledge of what they can do, what they want to do, and what they want to push and change with their music and sounds. These are definitely ones to look out for, if you like post-punk and a precise, yet destructive, sound.

Downstairs again for Petrichor, another band I had no knowledge of before. Their physical style is absolutely fantastic, there’s a grungy y2k aesthetic to their looks that definitely rings through into their music. The guitars are soaring and the vocals are sharp, everything’s driving. There’s a tightness to the movement of the songs that’s really impressive. The smaller downstairs room of the venue has this bouncy sonic sound that rings off the walls, and these guys made the most out of it. There’s a warm and soaring brutality to Petrichor’s music that I really enjoy. They’re fresh and powerful and positively aggressive with their songs.

Rhythm Eaters were next up. Nottingham’s ska-punk outfit were on top form as always. Reminding people of their childhoods, the Rasta Mouse visuals played behind the band as they grooved and shred through their 30 minutes, adding a fun element to the set. The actual songs and musicianship on display were fantastic as always, demonstrating just how tight and in-touch with each other the act are. The ska-punk feel was as present as ever and elevated the vibe, there's a lot of thought that goes into how the band write and perform with this feel and it's evident. They're a perfect fusion of both the ska and the punk worlds.

Next up are City Flowers, the powerhouse rock outfit fronted by Mollie Ralph, who also does soul-adjacent music with pop DNA, as a solo artist. Wielding heavy but nuanced heavy rock with pop and soul-like vocals, they were tight and positively furious and roaring, with very strong originals. The band’s sonic glow filled the room, the distorted guitars bounced off the walls with ferocious growls. They know who they are and they’re not afraid to rock out and go nuts, whilst putting out some seriously good sounds.

Finally, the festival’s headliners, joyfully riotous punk duo Sunk.

Sunk really sum up everything great about Nottingham’s punk community. The stage set up was extremely simple. Just guitar, drums from Matt, and vocals, mainly from Matt too. It's this simple look that lets them go completely nuts with their sound, lyrics, and feel. It's positive carnage. Fred doesn’t spend much time on stage; he's moving on the floor, starting pits, playing at people, moving. Lily even plays bass on a song. It's a mad environment, but absolutely fantastic and the perfect end to the festival.

God Save The Scene was a really fantastic event demonstrating the community spirit and musical talent of the Nottingham punk and alternative scene, it has all the hallmarks of a truly brilliant grassroots DIY event.