Live Review: 2000 Trees Festival 2022 – Saturday

Some say all good things come in threes so 2000 trees’ final day should exceed all expectations. It’s the fan’s last chance to party hard before returning to the real world so why not give it your all one final time. Here’s what went down Saturday night at 2000 Trees!

The first band we managed to catch was up-and-coming metallers Defects who delivered their passion-filled songs to a large morning crowd in the Cave stage. Following them, we managed to catch Dream Nails who made the main stage their own and drew the attention of a lot of passers-by. I’m sure they will be back here and probably further up the bill considering the impact of their set.

As the day continued, fans were treated to a vast array of music. From Kid Kapichi and Nova Twins bringing the political heat back to the Cheltenham hoards, to Knocked Loose who grabbed the bar and absolutely destroyed it by delivering a momentous set that proved that Hardcore is very much alive and well. Drawing one of the largest crowds the forest stage saw the entire weekend was Twin Atlantic. Stating that they had “Never played an acoustic set at a festival before”, the band adapted their song’s in a soothing way which allowed the fan’s voices to harmonize with Sam Mctrusy’s vocals in what will go down as a beautiful moment.

Lauren Hibberd took over the NEU stage Saturday evening, using her innocent yet aggressive-sounding songs to get the stage dancing to a more upbeat groove. Despite the more cheery nature of the music, they still requested a circle pit to which the crowd happily obliged and it may go down as one of the happiest circle pits the festival will ever see.

Not to be stood up, You Me At Six compiled a set of some of their biggest tracks to date for the 2000 trees. An action-packed set with songs like ‘Reckless’, ‘Beautiful Way’, and ‘Bite My Tongue’ was met with huge reactions while the best was saved till last as ‘Underdog’ had fans bellowing the words in unison with the band which made for a very sentimental moment.

The final band to take to the Axium stage was Reading-based rock outfit The Amazons. Delivering an unstructured and chaotic set which seemed fitting for the final day of the festival. A slight glimpse of ‘Junk Food Forever’ was cut short due to Chris not having the correct guitar and quickly transitioned into one of the band’s new singles ‘Bloodrush’. Later on in the set, The Amazons treated the crowd to an unreleased track titled ‘One By One’ before returning to finish ‘Junk Food Forever’ and closing off the set with ‘Black Magic’.

Closing out the main stage was Idles who understandably attracted a large crowd. Opening with ‘Colossus’ before swiftly moving on to ‘Car Crash’ and ‘Mr. Motivator’, the band made it clear that they were not there to mess about. Fan favourites such as ‘Never Fight A Man With A Perm’ and ‘I’m Scum’ sent fans into a frenzy right until the end. With the festival’s end drawing closer, the band stated “This is your last chance” before dropping into ‘The End’ followed by ‘Danny Nedelko’ before closing out their set with ‘Rottweiler’.

While Idles might have headlined the night, the music wasn’t over with the forest stage closing out the night and the festival whilst the silent disco went ahead. Notably, the night was closed by Vernon Jane whose jazz-influenced rock managed to keep the crowd interested and engaged – even having the crowd chant for one more despite the early hours of the morning drawing in.

With the festival coming to a close, I think it’s safe to say that those in attendance had an absolutely incredible weekend. The bands on display meant that everyone had something to look forward to and the way the festival unfolded meant everyone could have the best time possible. Until the next year 2000 Trees!