Dot to Dot festival (Bristol) 2010
Saturday 29th May 2010various venues, Bristol, BS1 5NA, England MAP
£25
On paper the fourth Dot to Dot festival in Bristol looks to have overall a slightly less appealing line-up to previous years. The addition of the Anson Rooms in the Bristol University student union as an extra venue for the day has spread the festival out that little bit further into Clifton but buses have kindly been provided by the festival organisers to ferry fans between the various parts of the city. The festival is not just growing in Bristol but has also been expanded to cover three cities for the first time with a third day added in Manchester to accompany the festivals original home in Nottingham. One band missing from the Bristol line-up is Beach House, which is shame since their 'Teen Dream' album is one of the best alternative albums to come out of America this year.
Confidence is not something that could be said to be missing from The Cheek. Over at the Thekla the band formerly known as Cheeky Cheeky and the Nosebleeds strut onstage looking the part in their dapper wear. Front man Rory Cottam seems to be exactly that - a front. He looks like a front man but his vocals seem to be obscured, intentionally or not, by those of guitarist Charlie Dobney who, perhaps cruelly, has the look more of a side-of-the-stage-man. There is ambition in the sound but the ambition reeks of circa-1996 Britpop, which was fun at the time but is best left in the past.
We finally bite the bullet and make a trip to the O2 Academy. Instantly the decision is regretted. The only venue that deems it necessary to search every single bag for entry is made less inviting by the clientele that seem to be using this particular venue as their base for almighty bank holiday weekend piss up. The coupling of an average band, Blood Red Shoes, with an appalling venue does not bode well and the twosome has about as much presence as a pigeon in an aircraft hangar. In fact the sound is so bad the vocals cannot be heard at all from the rear of the venue. Steven Ansell, drummer, has his vocals turned up slightly, followed in a few songs time by those of guitarist Laura-Mary Carter however it isn't until the last couple of songs when the overall sound starts to fill the venue, but it really isnt worth the wait. Disappointing.
Liars, on the other hand are at the Anson Rooms to entertain. As soon as he is on the stage vocalist Angus Andrew is putting on a performance. As they rattle their way through a lot of their recent, critically acclaimed, album 'Sisterworld' Andrew, looking like a curious mix of Nick Cave and Andrew WK, bounces around the stage playing up to the crowd, which is perhaps a little smaller due to the current it-girl Ellie Goulding playing back at the O2 Academy. As a really enjoyable set comes to a close we make the decision to hang around at the top end of Bristol to catch our choice of headliner Los Campesinos!
It turns out to be a great decision. Anticipating a young crowd I was quite surprised to see quite a mature audience for the indie-pop band formed four years ago whilst at Cardiff University. Gareth Campesinos! is on great form as he ferociously hits his glockenspiel and takes the opportunity to indulge in a bit of stage diving. 'Romance is Boring' and 'You! Me! Dancing!' are the crowd favourites tonight and are welcomed by some raucous crowd behaviour Gareth himself reminding the crowd to look after themselves so not to rule them out of Fabio Capello's England World Cup squad. There's no encore but the intensity of the set is triumphant and leaves everyone happy.
Another good year is completed with the delicious sounds of Washed Out and Adem's new outfit Silver Columns back at the Thekla. How the organisers are going to keep the festival growing will be interesting to see, ditching the O2 Academy would be a welcome start, there are plenty of other venues in central Bristol that would provide a better experience and give the festival an extra boost to keep the Bristol gig-going public on their toes.
review by: Richard Stevens
photos by: Sarah Stevens
Latest Updates
Dot to Dot festival (Bristol) 2025
festival details
festival details
last updated: Thu 28th Nov 2024
Dot to Dot festival (Bristol) 2025
line-ups & rumours
line-ups & rumours
last updated: Thu 28th Nov 2024
Dot to Dot festival (Nottingham) 2025
festival details
festival details
last updated: Thu 28th Nov 2024
Dot to Dot festival (Nottingham) 2025
line-ups & rumours
line-ups & rumours
last updated: Thu 28th Nov 2024
Dot to Dot festival (Bristol) 2024
festival details
festival details
last updated: Wed 8th May 2024