Forest Fest Saturday 26th July

My first ever festival day and with it my first ever festival blog review.

Forest Fest in the scenic Emo Village of County Laois is a now three year running festival, billed as an alternative to the Electric Picnic.

A festival I’ve always wanted to go to, and which I finally attended this Saturday for one of the three days of the festival.

As a way of structuring this review considering how different it is to the standard I’m used to I will name and rate each act I saw and give a description of what I thought, and some overall opinions on the festival at the end.

The Coathanger Solution, 8/10: The first band I saw was more a band I happened to stumble upon, a new enough band with members mostly around the ages of 45, and they play pure raw punk music, it felt like I was back in the days of Rancid and The Ramones, a surprisingly energetic set for 12pm on a Saturday.

These Charming Men, 7/10: Next up was a tribute band of The Smiths, now my personal bias is creeping in here as I do quite dislike Morrissey, and much prefer the music when sung by Johnny Marr, but for fans of The Smiths it seemed to be a really good show.

Therapy?, 8/10: The first act I saw on the main stage itself were the Northern Irish rock band Therapy? performing there hit album “Troublegum” in full, a classic album, now thirty years old, Therapy? proved they still have what it takes to occupy a stage that size.

Peter Hook & The Light, 9/10: Next up on the main stage was Peter Hook & The Light, a name who, if not familiar to you, would be familiar to you in the bands he was a member of, Joy Division and New Order. Peter Hook now tours with his own band and plays exclusively Joy Division and New Order songs and deliver a great set, with absolutely amazing bass lines and bass tone.

The Stranglers, 4/10: Was sadly disappointed with The Stranglers, a classic band with some great hits, I ended up leaving about halfway through after they played “Golden Brown”, not a band suited for such a big festival stage.

Kerbdog, 8/10: Irish grunge band from Kilkenny, Kerbdog, were up next. Honestly one of the best bands that never made it big both in Ireland and worldwide, a band ahead of their time, playing a fusion of grunge and alt rock that would’ve topped charts if released five years later. A powerful live band that was really suited to the small intimate tent they played, although they could’ve filled the main stage by the looks of it.

Manic Street Preachers, 10/10: The Welsh rock giants were up next, headlong the main stage as one of the best live acts to ever do it, delivering hit after hit of pure 90s-00s rock, insightful lyrics topped with masterful guitar work, and they gave a heartstring tugging tribute to their guitarist Richey Edwards who disappeared many years ago. The Manics show why they are a juggernaut of live shows, especially when ending with their biggest song “If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next”, a song that left me stunned staring in awe at the end of it as they walked off the stage.

The Riptide Movement, 7/10: A more local band next, hailing from Lucan, The Riptide Movement are a great indie guitar pop band from the 2010s, who deliver cheerful and infectious songs one after another, a great way to spend the last hour at the concert at one o’clock in the morning.

Overall a very good festival, with some very well set up stages, only a few gripes here and there, the lack of multiple bathroom sites, making it a small pilgrimage to get to from most stages, and the issue of the main stage running ahead of schedule, which did actually turn out in my favour allowing me to get up to the barrier for Peter Hook and for The Manics. A great festival with a great vibe to it, and just my kind of music. Me and one of the people I went with are already organising to do all three days of it next year together, should be a great time for all.