Festival Review: Sound City - Liverpool, October 2021
Sound City - 173 gigs in total around the city of Liverpool, local bands, award winning musicians and a whole load of rain.
Sound City, the 13-YEAR-OLD festival, which started as a small weekend of music, has grown to be one of the busiest events Liverpool holds every year. It is an event in which fans of music get to enjoy the more ‘well known’ artists as well as upcoming and local bands. It is just a massive celebration of music, no matter the genre.
2020 was of course, a let down, however, this made this years event seem extra special.one hundred and seventy-three amazing acts took to several wonderful venues across Liverpool, from the 116-YEAR-OLD Grand Central Hall, to the newer bars with the likes of Jimmys and Leaf.
You hear and see a lot of great acts clashing at festivals, but Sound City seemed to have got the schedule almost perfect. with early starts and late nights, the three days were jam packed. The first night saw Beabadoobee take over the Grand Central Hall. The ‘coffee’ singer had the whole audience singing the well known, Tik Tok song back to her, bringing goosebumps to many.
Tom Rogan, another success story from Tik Tok, had one night to remember. The Liverpool born and raised, 20-YEAR-OLD lad had a fair share of young girls screaming his name, as well as several lads stating how ‘boss’ his set was. Friday ended with a set from Gracey, the Brit nominated singer songwriter. She had the whole of the Arts Club screaming the lyrics to her well known tune ‘Empty Love’. A perfect ending to the first night of the weekend.
Saturday, despite the horrendous wind and rain across the whole of town, spirits remained high. Albion, London based five piece, tore the shipping forecast basement apart at just two pm. It was a sign of what was to come for the day ahead. Grand Central Hall seemed to be where a lot of the audience based themselves for the day, a great schedule and to stay away from the weather outside. The stage welcomed the Wigan based indie band, The Stanleys, Monks, The Mysterines all before Jamie Webster and the headliners, Red Rum Club.
Monks were greeted by a full audience, with queues just to get in. Their short but sweet set featured the well-known tune, ‘sundried’, and it went down a treat. with trumpet player, Joe Fay, joining the majority of the audience with a good old dance.
Jamie Webster was a very highly anticipated act for the whole weekend. The Liverpool Football Club performer found fame in the past couple years and this would be a massive gig for him and his band. Webster certainly lived up to every expectation. It can be hard sometimes to be the second to last act on stage at the end of a day festival. But he kept the energy levels up and set the standard for Red Rum Club. Ending with chants of 'My city, my people, my heart. Emotions ran high throughout.
I don't believe there would be any doubt in anyone’s minds that Red Rum Club wouldn’t smash it. Every time they take to the stage, especially in their HOMETOWN, they put on an unbelievable show. Highlight of a lot of peoples weekend, ending the night in style with ‘Would You Rather Be Lonely’ and leaving the stage whilst the audience chants “one more song”. The lads smashed it and was definitely one to remember.
Overall the weekend was special. when the only thing you can fault is the weather, you know it has been a great time. Hopefully 2022 will be just as good and it will be in the height of SUMMERTIME.
Words by Lucy Holden
Photography by Amelia Jones