Now well into its seventh year, the Dot-to-Dot series of one-day festivals across Nottingham, Manchester and Bristol, continues to act as stepping-stone of sorts, unearthing some of the best-kept secrets in the UK and beyond. Acts such as The Rakes, Metronomy, Beach House and Washed Out have all cut their proverbial teeth in previous years.
Coinciding with the Jubilee weekend, this year’s lineup was plagued by miserable, monsoon-like conditions, which failed to dampen enthusiasm among the tattered swarms of hipsters. Ducking the rain, Parks were the first band on at Rock City. However, their formulaic, paint-by-numbers indie did little to impress.
Heading across to the cramped Bodega, Australia’s Last Dinosaurs had just started. Despite looking a day over fifteen, they overcame sound issues to trot out some melodic power-pop. Unprecedented highlight of the day came from Turbowolf who absolutely tore through a set, which had some parallels to early Faith No More. A storming synth-infused cover of Jefferson Airplane’s ‘Somebody to love’ brought a blistering thirty minutes to a close.
Darting back to Rock City, folk troubadour Willy Mason played a well-judged set that included tracks from his upcoming new album. Accompanied by a full band, Mason sounded revitalised and old favourites such as ‘Oxygen’ and ‘ Save Myself’ greatly benefited from the setup.
Co-headliners Pulled Apart by Horses are earning themselves a well-warranted reputation as one of the loudest bands around. A pulsating hour, pummeled an exuberant crowd. The band even finding time midway to launch into a stand-up routine, telling some golden one-liners. Stealth then hosted Olugbenga who played some funk-laden tunes, followed by the impressive Bondax whose debt to Flying Lotus was immediately evident.