Festival Review: Loud Women Fest 2019
As we start to hold onto what little of summer remains before those winter blues start setting in, in order to retain some kind of happiness; it’s absolutely vital for us to keep our souls nourished with positive energy and creativity. Loud Women had us covered, over the weekend, with their fourth annual festival that was a celebration of inclusivity, empowerment and eradicating the patriarchy.
Loud Women Fest – held at Tufnell Park’s sister venues The Dome and Boston Music Room – played host to 20 female-fronted bands and was an afternoon of good spirits, good food and even better music. What made for consistent moments of solidarity and recognition were the anecdotes each performer told about the influences behind certain songs – most of these relating to negative experiences with men. Gaptooth’s hybrid of synth-pop/disco came laced with biting lyrics. A few highlights from the song ‘Red Flag’ include: “you’re toxic and not in the Britney sense” and “we like to stay sexy and not get murdered.”
Highlighting the extent to with abuse can get to, T-Bitch performed on The Dome stage with white boiler suits on. The drummer/front-person explained that they put a call out on Twitter for people to come forward with some of the derogatory names they had been called, as trans/queer people. They wrote some of these names on their jumpsuit and invited the audience to add more, if they wished. After the raucous punk attack of T-Bitch, we were transported to the melodic and moody Hurtling.
By hosting the festival at sister venues, it meant that you never got to miss a band. Fleeting back and forth between a courtyard every half an hour; it was a very fast-paced day, but it never felt as though we were rushing around. As the afternoon stretched on, Gemma Freeman and the Cosmic Something gave what was a sure-fire highlight of the day – emotive glam-pop with gritty soulful blues elements which perfectly led to the acoustic performance by Lilith Ai. Whilst her set was littered with comedic banter with the crowd, it certainly didn’t distract from the bold messages within her songs.
When the sun began to drop in the sky, more people began arriving and there was more of a buzz running through the venues. The Baby Seals kickstarted the party vibes with their tongue-in-cheek feminist rock. Guitarist/lead vocalist charmed the crowd with stories about shenanigans from their previous time playing Boston Music Room. One being a story that involves fishnet tights; going commando; and backbends on the stage floor – we’ll let your imagination run wild, there!
Powerhouse vocals were next on the agenda as we caught Brighton’s garage rock duo ARXX who raged and oozed with charm on The Dome stage, Norwich’s riot grrrl four-piece Peach Club, who despite facing a few technical difficulties packed a punch in the form of supporting anybody who has ever dealt with sexual harassment; and Bristolian punks The Menstrual Cramps, who were protesting capitalism and environmental degradation. All of these amazing musicians riled up the audience for the rousing and dynamic Petrol Girls.
Frontwoman Ren Aldridge is entrancing to watch. She commands the stage with a complex presence and keeps the crowd in the palm of her hands, with ease. Between songs she speaks out about things she feels strongly for – most importantly the fact that she is being sued by someone in the music industry for sexual assault allegations – and never once does it feel preachy. She knows just how to speak to people to make her point known. The weight behind the band make it so that every important aspect is felt a thousand times more prominently. It has to be said that if it was just these four bands on the line-up, we’d have been thrilled and completely satisfied. To have a whole extra 16 bands performing, was a simply bonus.
Winding down the evening after the deafening performance from Petrol Girls were Pleasure Venom, and The Txlips, who had come all the way from the US. Soulful harmonies and deeply moving guitar solos were just some of their many talents demonstrated in their set. Given the turnout and perfect execution of Loud Women Fest, I think it’s safe to say that there should be a lot more events happening all across the year!
Words and Photography by Tyler Damara Kelly