visions festival – and so she thinks

Visions Festival – for tunes and dogs (downward and dapper)

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 15:49:22 +0000

Want to know why you should head over to Hackney Wick on Saturday? Not convinced just by the prospect of over forty bands and artists playing this multi venue festival that is now in its fourth year and has sold out and received rave reviews in its previous three? Read on for some more reasons as to why Visions Festival should be your destination.

Clothes

You can get your own Visions t-shirt custom made there and then. Head over to see The Positive Press, the screen printing service run by Sauna Youth bassist Chris Murphy. They specialise in special eco friendly water based inks and Murphy will be there printing festival t-shirts to show you how it’s done, as well as exhibiting his own work.

Woof

A dog show. Yup, no festival is complete without a dog show right? This is Hackney, and moustached men with little dogs are all around. Come join in the fun at the contest, hosted by Jen Long and judged by The Big Moon and Marika Hackman.

Bendy

Talking of dogs, you can practise your best downward dog at the Black Metal Yoga class at Oval Space, and get all limbered up ready to dart around the six venues taking part in this year’s festival.

Brew

Brew your own. Dodge the queues and make your own booze. We’re not suggesting illegal moonshine, but swinging by to see the One Mile End brewery and Home Brew Depot collaborate over the creation of their Snakes Alive Double IPA and teach enthusiasts how they too can knock some up.

Munch

Let’s be honest, no event in London is complete without a street food market, and no matter how great the music is, Visions would be the same. It seems that only vendors with amusing or pun names are allowed, so feast at The Cheese Truck, Oh My Dog, MotherClucker and Mama’s Jerk among others.

Longevity

The fun doesn’t stop on Saturday. Not even Sunday. For those of us who want to keep going until Monday there will be a special festival encore. You can hear old and new tunes from Johnny Flynn, rock out again to Gengahr, and carry on the party with the vibrant Ibibio Sound Machine. Only catch – you have to be at Oval Space at 7am on Monday 8 August.

Music

To hear the sound of burgeoning romance when The Japanese Breakfast play, dance yourself into a lollipop frenzy when Let’s Eat Grandma break out, feel summer air as Bleached ride into town, enjoy some art rave with Drones Club, get lost in Cate Le Bon’s exquisite voice and sing along with Hackney’s all-female Deep Throat Choir.

Visions 2015

admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 18:17:00 +0000

Three years in, and Visions Festival shows no sign of losing its enthusiasm and power at the same time as it marks itself as a reliably brilliant stalwart in the London festival scene. The maudlin lilt of Camera Obscura, frantic fuzz courtesy of Merchandise, angry punk by Fat White Family and Son Lux‘s digital bliss are just a few of the highlights on this year’s lineup. A stumble through Hackney’s independent venues including St John’s, Oval Space, The Laundry, Brewhouse and Netil House. As well as the music there’s a market, and of course local food and craft beer. If you can’t quite wait until the Saturday, Ceremony will be playing the pre party on the Friday night, in a secret Hackney location.
Tickets are available here, and you can have a listen below.

Visions Festival

admin — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 15:05:01 +0000

In the year when the successful Camden Crawl folded, the outlook for Visions was mixed. Was the RIP of CC a sign that we are over wristband festivals, or was it just that new blood is needed. After a successful debut last year, the Hackney one-dayer, with 28 bands playing across four venues, complete with a Record Fair, Comic Book convention, Tattoo art exhibition and Netil Food truck market, wasn’t so grand in scale, but succeeded in inspiration, intimacy and diversity.

In the craft beer hub Brewhouse sophisticated electropop from New Zealand quartet Yumi Zouma has elements of rolling melodies, whilst jangle pop was there in all glory at arts studio Oval Space, with guaranteed good time Veronica Falls and Mollie Rankin’s from Toronto’s Alvvays connective clamour.

Eleanor Friedberger persevered through a chatty crowd in the New Empowering Church, and playing with warm heart and soul endeared the crowd, as the delicate vocals of Swedish sweetheart Alice Boman had earlier.

The Laundry is certainly the heavy house, with the Cheetahs early set leaning to loud grunge rather than melodic shoegaze. It gets heavier for Leeds’ Eagulls, and shocktastic for Perfume Pussy. Andrew WK’s audience are there to party hard. Violent dancing, destroyed amplifiers, stage invasions and crowdsurfing, only ending as W.K’s microphone and piano were unplugged. Crazed carnage.

As frustrating as it us, when nearly all day major band clashes are on, it’s a sign of a stellar line-up is a good one. Whilst Perfume Genius played what I heard to be a deep, atmospheric and beautiful set Policia were haunting and slick as usual, there was the feeling that they may have been a bit weary after their string of festival performances.

Visions – I see a good future ahead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgeLb4QAC6M

Alvvays – Archie, Marry Me

admin — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 10:10:09 +0000

Love a bit of summery pop, and Archie, Marry Me by Alvvays is probably the perfect example. From Toronto, the five piece make the bittersweet jangly pop that makes sunny evenings tingle.