Cardiff’s Sŵn Festival came back for its 18th year last Friday, in what was a wonderfully chaotic amalgamation and celebration of art, community and culture. Situated in the heart of the Welsh capital, for 3 days it became the heart of activity and a shining example of the beauty of community – bands walked through Womanby Street and shared drinks and conversations with fans outside the City Arms, sharing stories and their respective passions for music, while artists of all different genres played across different venues to different fans with different tastes. This stunning weekend was kicked off by Exeter’s Pushbike:
Pushbike: Bandcamp / Instagram
Post-hardcore band, Pushbike, opened the festival in memorable fashion. The band offered a fusion of slower, more intricate numbers that swelled to become great, cacophonous anthems of noise and emotion, such as ‘Whistlejacket’, with more driving performances of tunes like ‘Bet You Know’, that just hook you in with its repeated but utterly infectious singular use of its titular phrase. The energy onstage was erratic and untamed in the best way, with one member even knocking the mic stand onto me as I stood there packing my camera bag into my bag. All is forgiven. Pushbike were certainly one of the highlights of my weekend, and I’d offer my strong recommendation to any lover of guitar music that you could sing, cry or fight to.
Pale Blue Eyes: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Totnes-Sheffield outfit, Pale Blue Eyes, took to Clwb Ifor Bach’s top floor to perform 45 minutes of enchanting shoegaze inspired ‘modernist pop’. To my ears, the trio replicated the sound of childhood, at least through retrospective lenses. As is the nature of nostalgic experience, however, there can be mysterious or darker undercurrents running below that may be easily glossed over. This was best replicated in tracks such as ‘Motionless’, which despite its glittery instrumentation, just conjured up some underlying tone of uncertainty that left me in a state of mesmerisation, but also curiosity.
Gruff Rhys: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
New to this year’s Sŵn, was the addition of The City Parish of St John the Baptist as a venue hosting live music. Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys performed the first set here, playing many numbers from his recently released album, Dim Probs. Rhys’s performance was fit for its setting, sitting lonesome and softly singing sweet hymns in the tongue of his mother country, over guitar and drum machine. It was a well-timed moment of respite away from the bustle of outside and it felt especially appropriate and in service to the Welsh language, music and culture that Sŵn celebrates.
Bramwell: Facebook / Bandcamp / Instagram
Bramwell – my favourite act of the entire weekend – played an early slot at Boho but lived on in my imagination throughout the day. The band played what only could be described as my favourite type of music: melodic, ear-worm tunes underpinned by jangly guitar riffs. Think of Lee Mavers of the La’s and his ear for melody, and his snappy songs that sound like the musical representation of sweet nectar – that is what Bramwell sound like. The band tore through their set despite injury to their drummer, Sol, who deserves so much credit for turning up and playing (excellently) despite a bandaged head and a broken thumb. This hunger permeated through and came to define the set, with singer and lead guitarist, Tom Grogan, delivering an impassioned vocal performance supported by the sugary embellishments of bassist, Avalon.
I caught up with Tom and Murphy (guitar) after the gig and asked them some questions:
Q: How would you describe Bramwell in one sentence?
Tom: Jangly diamond mod pop music.
Q: How did you enjoy Sŵn, both as an artist and a fan?
Murphy: Playing Sŵn was a privilege I didn’t take for granted. Getting to be included in and amongst all these other top-notch bands felt like an incredibly poignant moment for Bramwell. Attending the festival itself was something I won’t forget for a while too. I will be buying tickets for next year definitely!
Getdown Services: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Getdown Services marked the start of a hectic end to my Saturday night. Where Sŵn festival felt explicitly Welsh, this band felt explicitly British, with lyrics like:
‘You’re nothing more than your dad’s spaff gone rotten, and he was a fucking prick and all I’ve met him’
‘I’ve had more warnings than I’ve had Whisper Golds, and I’ve had about nine of them this morning’.
Getdown Services spoke to a specifically British attitude, a jaded, worn down, ‘not arsed’ attitude that despite its overt contempt for just about everything, contains a deeper feeling that despite the dire political climate we find ourselves in, and the permanent rain and grey skies, and the £6 pints, most of us are in the same boat and the best thing we can do is laugh it off as the big joke it is. There’s comfort in that, and there was a true warmth and comradery in the crowd as we laughed, danced and mosh pitted to great music.
Babymorocco: Instagram / Bandcamp
Of all performances across the festival, none were nearly as fun as Babymorroco, in what was the perfect climax to the weekend. Babymorroco has perfected the art of performance, using his music and body to give the most unapologetic and electrifying set of Sŵn. The singer undressed, swung from the ceiling and wrapped himself in mic cord as he went beyond to deliver what would be best described as extravagant performance art synced with electronic-dance anthems. It was theatrical, hedonistic, campy and exhilarating.
Sŵn festival was the best weekend of the year. It was an action-packed celebration that is worthy of becoming a yearly tradition for any music lover, not just in Wales, but across Britain and beyond.
Sŵn Festival: Website / Facebook / Instagram
Review by Thomas Hill
Photography by Charlie Harris
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