Words & Photos by Gemma Shaw
Desertfest 2014 – Camden, London
Sunday, April 27th WarWolf from Brighton bring their hardcore crusty punk to a busy underworld. For a young band, they have a stage presence more like that of a veteran band. A combination of ex members of Dopefight and Sea Bastard, they blast through tracks like there’s no tomorrow.
Hull play to a packed venue to start Sunday off. Progressive riffs and slithering song structures, Brooklyn’s Hull are deserving of a larger stage. I won’t complain about being able to see them on a smaller stage though, because I feel Hull are destined for bigger things, so I’ll be able to say I remember seeing them at the Black Heart.
Grime play filthy, filthy, dirty sludge of the highest order, and being unaware of Grime before this, I am glad to have caught them. It’s a stellar performance, it’s just a shame that it wasn’t a packed out underworld.
It’s great to see Graves At Sea again after Roadburn! Unfortunately, they got stuck in customs along with Sourvein, so both bands only got to play a 30 minute set. But when they finally step on stage, the old saying “good things come to those that wait” has never rung truer.
Radio Moscow bring the psychedelic 70’s rock to Desertfest. I’ve always seen them as more of a small club band but they do translate really well on a larger stage. It’s a strong set, but everyone is waiting for Church of Misery.
Church of Misery bring the groovy riffs of Sabbath-style doom to the electric ballroom and the venue is packed! New Album ‘Thy kingdom Scum’ has whipped people into a frenzy. With a revolving door of band members, you wonder if they can produce a solid live performance. Well, they do, and the crowd laps up killer riff after killer riff.
We watched a bit of Boris and they were great – they produce some seriously different sounds to a lot of the other bands on the Deserfest line up. Tracks vary massively and it’s a great set, but a bit too chilled out for us after Church of Misery, so off we went to see Kongh play the underworld. Like the fabled ape, they level skyscrapers with their massive sound. The Swedish 3 piece are the perfect end to Desertfest!
KONGH