Festival Review: 2000Trees // July 2025
Festival of the year just got a new contender, with 2000trees delivering another standout scorcher of a weekend.
With campers huddling in the scant shade offered at the Forest stage, first up for the weekend were four-piece GRIEVING. And, speaking of firsts, it wasn’t long before they thanked everyone for showing up to their first gig in six years — not that you’d have known, from the rocky, raw sounds sprouting from their buzzing faces and the cheers rising up to meet each track. With a setlist largely comprised of last year’s ’Everything Goes Right, All At Once’ — along with a cover of ‘LAX’ by Hot Snakes — it was the perfect start of the festival proper.
Next up came the Manchester based alt-rock band Pavé, over on the NEU stage. Bursting on stage with an explosion of melodic alt-rock, Pavé were a cyclone of energy, swallowing the crowd before disgustedly spitting them back out, sweaty and breathless. The circle-pit inducing earworm of latest single ‘Into The Ether’ went toe-to-toe with the oppressive ‘SLOW MOVEMENTS’ for fan engagement, Jade’s powerful falsetto vocals drowned out by Pursehouse on drums, before the band’s hypnotic-seeming live show drew to a close, their energy spilling out of the short set.
It’s a fun coincidence that the band who’ve just finished up on tour supporting HIMALAYAS happened to be playing before HIMALAYAS, but that just made the next set feel like fate. As the buzzing squeal of electric guitars faded into the distinctly cinematic intro of ‘Surrender’, it was time for everyone’s favourite up and coming Cardiff boys. With a set mostly taken from April’s ‘BAD STAR’, it was a good sign seeing just how many people were happily singing along to the group’s dark alt-rock — although it was still closer ‘From Hell to Here’ that brought it home.
If Frank Turner is a ‘trees legend with how often he plays, Unpeople are at least ‘trees heroes. They can’t seem to stay away, and Thursday saw them add yet another locale to their now-four-strong stage legacy, having done the NEU stage in 2023, the Cave in 2024 and the Forest the day before. It’ll be at least a year before they’re able to complete ‘trees Exodia, but as it stands their Main Stage set was a triumphant, anthemic, and crazily busy affair; new tracks, sing-alongs and crowd surfing galore. A firm festival favourite.
Back over on the NEU stage, Liverpool-based Bandit were just getting started. With the tent slowly drawing in a steady stream of bodies, sucked irresistibly in by the jaunty, catchy word stream pouring forth, the surprisingly heaving tent seemed to be having almost as much fun as the band themselves. With mischief glinting in frontman Nat Waters’ eyes, every moment felt like an inside joke; the likes of “Mean Streak”, “Shade Of Green” and “Masquerade” couldn’t have been more fun, the band seeming to frolic in the festivities as the tent let loose, the crowd seeming to implode in on itself with chaos. Beautiful.
It’s been about seven years since Grumble Bee last graced a stage. Not Jack Bennett, given his work with Lonely The Brave over the past few years, but certainly under the project that gave us such beauties as ‘Francium’ or ‘Sky Writer’. So, prior to both the release of his debut album and a show at Camden’s underworld, it felt right seeing him make his triumphant return at 2000trees.
And it was as special as you could have hoped. From the first moment, appearing on stage in an artsy Dalmatian-esque get up under a pair of black angel wings, Jack’s vocals were… well, heavenly. The likes of new release ‘PSYCHO’ saw crescendoing cries fracturing into screams, while the distinctly unrecognisable cover of Sleep Token’s ‘Caramel’ felt particularly powerful; closer ‘H.C.A.D.C’, though, with Zach Phelps’ dancing bass-line, cemented the set as nothing short of incredible.
It’s hard to know what to make of Battlesnake. On the one hand, they’re… very silly. They’re dressed like religious figures, white robes adorned with gold and jewels, lead vocalist Sam Frank with bejewelled horns jutting from his head, as they tear through epic, scream-infused rock songs that feel like fire-and-brimstone sermons. On the other hand… they’re damn catchy songs. But in the end, does it matter? With tracks like ‘Beelzebub 2’ and ‘Murder Machine’, ‘Sanctum Robotus’ — feeling distinctly like a Latin chant in the bridge, despite the nonsensical lyrics — and the eponymous ‘The Battlesnake’, Frank writhing in possession as the air was choked by the circle pit’s dust, you can’t help but be sucked into their incredibly entertaining irreverence. They’re playing London in August — go.
Meanwhile, first headliner of the weekend — Pvris were gearing up to deliver a set searing enough to rival the sun beaming down from overhead. Gunn’s effortlessly commanding vocals swung from furiously scathing to silky-smooth serenity throughout the set; the chilled out, pop-leaning ‘Holy’ went happily hand-in-hand with the likes of the chaotic ‘Snakes’, crackling with venom, or the primal ‘ANIMAL’, while ‘You and I’ and ‘Ghosts’ helped give a sense of intimacy to the chaos.
The crowd erupted in pink-hued bliss during ‘Oil & Water’, stadium-filling cries during ‘GOOD ENEMY’, and, by the time they’d reached the closing duo of ‘My House’ and ‘GODDESS’, Gunn was crouched at the edge of the stage, soaking in the storm she’d summoned.
Cool’s a stretch, given the heat, but calm, collected, and commanding? Without question. Pvris remain effortless and unforgettable.
Now, people might be thinking that you couldn’t get any more visually impressive than Battlesnakes’ extravagantly golden get-up.
Enter Bambie Thug.
Well, more accurately enter two topless men with horned, Cthulhuian masks, before Bambie themselves ventured in, pale faced and smirking.
There’s something distinctly, mesmerisingly eldritch about Bambie. Alluring yet alien, seductive yet sinister, and effortlessly entrancing as they saunter across the stage, confident in their control of the ‘trees crowd as they strike poses with their minions, wild-eyed and messy haired, a banshee of old summoned to Cheltenham. They’re also impossible to define; cathartic roars one second for ‘Bye Boy’, electro-rave the next for ‘Last Summer (I Know What You Did)’, starting mosh pits with potatoes for ‘Red Rum’, a trio of water pistols ensuring the crowd are wet for ‘Tsunami (11:11)’. A fantastic set, and one hell of an experience.
And then, to crown off the Thursday, who could it be but the band of the month? Of the year? Whether you’re for or against their incendiary views, there’s no denying that, as it stands, there’s no band more in the public consciousness — except maybe Black Sabbath — and no band more currently poignant and topical than Kneecap.
Opening with ‘It’s Been Ages’, it was non-stop for the Belfast trio; ‘Better Way To Live’ became ‘I’m Flush’ became a red, white and blue strobing ‘Get Your Brits Out’, the crowd a maelstrom of energy and excitement for the exhilarating group.
Really, though, it almost doesn’t matter what Kneecap played, who they were. What matters is the sense of community that their presence indicates, the shared sense of outrage. The dozens of Palestinian flags waving over the crowd, the screams of “free free Palestine”, the message that their booking, and their continued support from 2000trees said — basically, that this needs to be said. Loudly.
Pop-punk quartet Spare Kid were next, for their ‘second ever acoustic show’. With their hard-hitting anthems feeling more like gentle midwestern emo tracks as they meandered through the Forest, the set felt special — not least by way of the grinning Quinten Pas, emotions flickering across his face like a faulty TV. Songs like ‘Breathe’ and ‘Run’ commanded adoration from the crowd, while newcomer — and rare positive song - ‘Stargazer’ and a cover of Joyce Manor’s ‘Constant Headache’ were met with no few amount of cheers. Genuinely lovely.
Imogen and the Knife in the Forest felt… right.
Imogen’s hypnotically haunting vocals, layered over trumpet and sax, left the set feeling ethereal and otherworldly; somehow both mournful and hopeful at the same time, they rose and fell with the waves, at one moment soaring high and the next fading to nothing — particularly when it came to closer ‘Bloodbag’, the track crescendoing into an explosive, cathartic blitz of instrumentals and an emotional bloodletting by way of Imogen’s rising roar.
A beautiful set in its own right — but in a glade? Sun streaming down through the trees? The word you’re looking for is perfect.
Julia Wolf, straight after, delivered a light, lofty, and lo-fi set that felt almost dreamlike. Her delicate vocals floated over her band’s pulsing beats, the crowd swayed like branches in a breeze to the likes of ‘Wishbone’, or ‘Last Summer’. ‘Pearl’ erupted with a screamed breakdown, the Megan Fox-dedicated ‘Jennifer’s Body’ entranced the crowd, and closer ‘In My Room’ left you feeling adrift at sea. A set to sink into — and drift far away with.
Frank Turner. When it comes to 2000trees, it’s like you can’t get away from him. Last year alone he played three sets, the third of which took place in the campsite named after him. And this year? Along with the long-awaited return of Million Dead, with Frank’s old punk band reforming to headline the Axiom stage — along with a UK tour in November — as well as a signing elsewhere in the day, he just couldn’t seem to stay away. So, why not throw in a set for 2008’s ‘Love, Ire & Song’ too? With the Forest’s trees looking distinctly outnumbered by fans, that’s exactly what the festival got. Old favourites — the rowdy ‘Photosynthesis’, the emotional ‘Long Live The Queen’ and the eponymous, Kneecap-dedicated ‘Love Ire & Song’, about “standing up for what you believe in, even if you think you’re going to get your head kicked in” — were met with the same cheers and raucous energy as you’d expect, but it was the likes of the heartwarmingly relevant ‘Reasons Not To Be An Idiot’, the emotional voice cracks of ‘Better Half’, or the (slightly sadistically) funny story behind ‘To Take You Home’ that really made the set special.
Show #3054? Completed it mate.
If you think the intimate Forest sets are done, think again: La Dispute also had one, and it was as unique as you could want. It wasn’t even a set, not really - it started as more a poetry reading, Jordan Dreyer reading from a notebook as his band surround the stage with introspective instrumentals. And, when the songs did finally kick in — ‘Environmental Catastrophe Film’ or ‘Woman (reading)’, ‘a Letter’ or ‘Woman (In Mirror)’ — it stayed more a goosebump raising, acerbic and accusatory word stream, each strained syllable wrenched from Dreyer’s lips feeling like a tangible hit on his soul, than songs in a ‘traditional’ sense. La Dispute sets are always a unique experience, filled with urgency and feeling like a delve into Dreyer‘s psyche, but the intimacy of The Forest made it all that and more.
The first international show from the solo project of Tonight Alive’s Jenna McDougall was always going to feel different. With Tonight Alive largely being on hiatus the past few years, it’s meant that Jenna has been able to sink all of her energy, her heart and her soul, into Hevenshe — and you can tell. With the almost Americana-infused rock infusing the Forest, the likes of the spiritually healing ‘Wild Wild Heart’, the nostalgic ‘Wish I Had A Friend’ or new track ‘Nothing I Can Do About It’ helped manifest nothing short of auditory soul food to the hundreds present, a set made for holding loved ones and strangers alike.
And now it’s time for Coheed And Cambria. Having already had a warm up of sorts by way of a Q&A and acoustic set earlier in the day, chatting about their first records and the presence of nerves even after close to 25 years of touring, the band didn’t need to prepare themselves; coming onto a tracked ‘Yesterday’s Lost’, the four-piece wasted no time in launching into ‘Goodbye, Sunshine’ and ‘Shoulders’, the crowd roaring alongside them like a pride of prog-infused lions. Bite sized chunks of radio-friendly, scarily catchy songs from recent albums ‘Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind’ and this year’s ’The Father Of Make Believe’ fought alongside the longer musical odysseys that the band are known for, the band making each track feel just as momentous as those around it — the newer just meaning that they had to cram the same amount of frantic excitement into half the time — with the crowd lapping up every word, every moment of (earned) instrumental showboating. It was still ‘In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3’ and ‘Welcome Home’ that set everyone off though; an extended instrumental break in the former letting Travis, Zach and Josh let loose, the latter seeing Claudio break out his double-headed hydra of a guitar, fingers flying as he raised it behind his back and shredded along. As sprawling, immersive and fantastical as The Amory Wars itself.
“If all you’ve ever known me from is singing softly with an acoustic guitar”, Frank jokingly warned earlier in the day, “fucking brace yourselves”.
He wasn’t wrong.
Million Dead are an incredibly different beast than Frank Turner’s solo stuff. But any worry that Frank had shown over the past year over whether or not he could still manage his vocals from 20+ years ago was immediately put to bed on opener ‘The Rise and Fall’, and any concern shown over whether anyone would turn up was monumentally unfounded. With the tent spilling over, dozens leaning through the awnings to say that they were at Million Dead’s first (proper, after a warm-up the night before in Southampton) gig back in two decades, it was carnage. Frank’s vocals flitted between shrieked and shouted, breathless screams echoed back by a crowd desperate to relive those headier times, and he was very much in his element; add on the shared joy displayed on the entire stage, particularly on Julia Ruzicka’s beaming smile, and you’ve got a band overjoyed to be on stage together again… though by the time closer ‘Smiling at Strangers on Trains’ kicked in, Frank’s voice shredded by the strain, you’ve got to wonder how he’ll keep it up for the full week in December.
Taking Back Sunday. A band that’s been on every 2000trees attendee’s wish list since it became a possibility, having them finally come over and headline felt monumental. You couldn’t move for want of a fan happily singing along, whether it was shouting out their sunstroked frustrations to ‘Liar (It Takes One To Know One)’ or commiserating with ‘The One’; and, boosted by Adam Lazzara’s bombastic, effusively bright enthusiasm as he enjoyed himself on stage, the delight was palpable. There were moments of difficulty, sure, Adam’s voice wavering at points and leaving you feeling like some songs should be retired from the set, but most of the crowd didn’t seem to care; given that the band’s sound was lacking in places, there were more than a few moments where the band were comfortably drowned out by the singing crowd, content to treat the set as their own personal jukebox.
By the time ‘Cute Without The ‘E’ (Cut From The Team)’ and ‘MakeDamnSure’ kicked in at the end, it felt like a coronation. One soaked in trials and tribulation, the conflict of rebellion perhaps, but rightful rulers nevertheless.
Opening The Cave on Saturday, Hidden Mothers felt like an unholy blend of Thrice and Holy Fawn. Melodic-post hardcore saw gentle crooning and stricken screams alike washing through the air, the haunting guitar hooks and pounding drums going perfectly with Luke Scrivens’ despondently soft vocals and Liam Knowles’ visceral shouts.
Ending on ‘Haze’, feeling somehow Bon Iver-y in its delicacy, the heaviness felt more beautiful than it did brutal, catering to the pounding hangovers likely arrayed in front of them and effortlessly winning them over. Hopefully the start of something brilliant.
It’s been a while since Daytime TV rocketed onto the airwaves, graduating from the group’s roots as Hunter and The Bear. Now, with a debut album and a recent EP behind them, they’ve finally made their 2000trees debut.
“Thank you for packing out this tent”, joked vocalist Will Irvine; “we know you’re just getting shade from the sun but we’ll take it!” Indeed, the tent was as busy as it had been all weekend, rocked by the likes of ‘Zombie’ and ‘Block Out The Noise’, bassist Nao’s oppressive lines going hand in hand with John Caddick’s rocky riffs, his own harmonising crooning a perfect counterpart to Irvine’s deep rumble.
By the time the group got to closer ‘Lost In Tokyo’, the crowd were a sweltering mess of bodies jumping up and down. A hell of a good debut.
“Thank you for cooking in front of us”, joked
Vower vocalist Josh McKeown, as the sun blasted down on the red necks and faces staring up at the main stage. It was a surprisingly good turn out, considering how many people were still huddling in tents or hiding in the Forest’s shade — and, for anyone who’s listened to the Palm Reader, Black Peaks and Toska mini-supergroup, it’s damn understandable. Launching straight into the opening duo of ‘Satellites’ and ‘False Rituals’, the group were nothing short of immense; with their debut EP having come out a year prior, just in time for their set in The Cave, it felt right seeing the tracks on a bigger stage. ‘Shroud’, especially, felt almost terrifyingly powerful as it buffeted the crowd, McKeown’s final scream shattering under the song’s weight. Closer ‘Eyes Of A Nihilist’, meanwhile, was as close to a sing-along as the band gets, the crowd screaming along. Catch them on tour, with support from Giant Walker, in November.
It’s nice seeing Riding The Low finally get at least part of the support they deserve. Led by a slicked-back-haired, chilled out Paddy Considine, his imitable, larger than life acting career on full display as an electric, excitable frontman, the swaggering, staggering tunes crashed through the trees like a runaway elephant. The likes of the melodica-featuring ‘Carapace Of Glass’ and the primal ‘Tommy Hawk’ preceded the Bowie-coded ‘The Greatest Blast’ and the rollicking, rowdy ‘Heed’, at least some of the crowd familiar and happing singing along.
Even if a fair portion of the crowd came to see the actor up close, it’s undeniable to say they stayed for Riding The Low.
New York based Kevin Devine has such heartfelt, emotional tunes that even the soundcheck got applause. So, when he actually started, it felt pin drop silent. With raw vocals, Kevin toying with sound and silence by letting his shouts fade into Nature’s void by simply backing away from the mic, the set felt like a masterclass in stage presence — particularly given it was just one guy and an acoustic guitar. Having last played 2000trees all the way back in 2017, it felt like a real treat getting to have him back; ‘Just Stay’ and ‘Albatross’ felt particularly special, while the still painfully apt ‘Another Bag Of Bones’ — “I wrote this song in 2008 as an Iraq song”, he told ‘trees; “today it’s a free Palestine song” — felt like a heart-wrenching plea, his own vocals faltering in places. Raw and oh so very real.
Finnish outfit Cyan Kicks were up next, bringing with them a burst of cinematic rock to the sunlit Trees stage, launching into their set with ‘Wish You Well’, its electronic pulse igniting the crowd as Pietari Reijonen’s screams cut through the haze. Though the strobing lights lost some power in daylight, tracks like ‘Tidal Wave’ and ‘Gasoline’ kept momentum high, dust swirling from the pit. Frontwoman Susanna Alexandra even joined the chaos herself!
Only their second UK festival appearance, but with energy like this, it won’t be their last.
Vukovi’s set was (unsurprisingly) a glittering whirlwind, with Janine Shilstone, drenched in sparkles and tassels, commanding the stage like a disco-drenched chaos conductor. Between joking about having to wear Crocs — “the stage is hotter than fucking lava!” — and rallying a circle pit for ‘LASSO’, barely holding composure as Mr Fridge crowdsurfed past, she owned every moment. ‘MY GOD HAS GOT A GUN’ hit harder with Unpeople’s Jake Crawford guesting, while ‘I Exist’ saw her dousing herself mid-set in a doomed attempt to cool down. Sweaty, sparkly, and completely unfiltered, Vukovi turned spectacle into sheer, unadulterated fun.
Jason Aalon Butler is a menace. He’s chaos incarnate. He’s the sort of character that would be cursed by the Greek gods for his actions. Even as the band took to the stage, Jason nonchalantly squatting in the centre, it felt like you were in the eye of the storm, a palpable tension gripping the crowd as they prepared to fight for their lives.
And then it started. Mic stands were thrown, water was launched, body weights were sweated out. There were screams and shouts, bleghs and crowd-dives; even during those few introspective moments scattered throughout — the bridge during ‘Renegade ‘86’, the powerful introduction to ‘Muther’ as Jason vehemently told the crowd “women don't need your protection; they need your respect” — part of you is just left waiting for the next hare brained scheme. In this case, it was stripping down to his boxers and spider-monkeying his way up the stage and onto the light bar hanging above, screaming into his disconnected mic for closer ‘27 Club’. At some point, the crazed stunts will be a modern retelling of Icarus; with the scared gasps from the crowd as he descended back down, he’s not far off. But not this time. For now, if this is indeed letlive’s long delayed goodbye: thank you. Thank you so much. And if it isn’t? ‘Till next time.
Alexisonfire gigs feel like lightning flashes of perfection. With the only band ever taking to the stage to close out yet another ridiculously successful 2000trees, it felt like a fever dream, though that might also have to do with Wade looking like a knight ripped out of Monty Python. But even then, it’s more just glimpses. George crowd surfing on top of an armchair. The three vocalists harmonising on a perfectly timed ‘Sans Soleil’ as the sun disappeared behind the NEU stage. George jokingly shoving Wade’s chain-mail wearing head away from him during ‘Sweet Dreams Of Otherness’. Matt Kelly on keys, softly introducing the incredibly powerful ‘Rough Hands’ before the rest of the group dove in. The explosive launch into ‘Young Cardinals’. The guitar circle during ‘Blue Spade’. Bassist Chris Steele, manic grin in his face as he gyrates on the stage during… well, every song really, the man’s unhinged in the best possible way. Dallas’s spellbinding solo in ‘Dog’s Blood’. The entirety of ‘This Could Be Anywhere In The World’ — okay, a longer glimpse in this case, but it’s hard not to be struck dumb, spellbound as the anthem wallops your ears. The tear-jerking ‘Happiness By The Kilowatt’ slowly transitioning into Neil Young’s ‘Hey Hey, My My’.
But it wasn’t a dream. It was real. And it was oh so incredible.
Another pitch-perfect year down. Wonder what 2026’ll have in store?
Words by James O’Sullivan
Photography by Georgia Penny
