One night, 3 venues, 12 great bands.
This music festival, held across Clwb Y Bont, The YMCA and the Muni in Pontypridd is the brainchild of the YPN, Young Promoters Network, a group of talented, passionate young people who have worked tirelessly putting on shows and championing some of the considerable talent that is emerging from the South Wales Valleys at the moment.
With so many bands playing at the same time some very tough decisions had to be made over who I would see.
I chose the YMCA for the first band of the night, Clear The Auditorium (7/10), a band I’d heard a lot of good things about but hadn’t had the chance to see live yet.
They are a young band but definitely owned the YMCA stage from the outset, their sample laden, great sounding, heavy tunes going down well with the sizeable crowd.
They are definitely doing something unique, melding a few different genre’s to good effect. I’m really looking forward to what this band can do going forward.
I then hightailed it over to the Muni to catch Cumbrian three piece Colt 45 (7/10), I was hugely impressed by this band Gaslight Anthem-esque style of punk rock.
The band were tight, and the sound spot on. I have vowed the definitely make Colt 45 one of my new favourite bands and you really should check them out.
Also at the Muni I caught the start of the set by The People, The Poet (8/10), a band I’ve loved since they were Tiger Please.
This was the bands first show with the new four piece line up, but it didn’t show, they sounded great. Songs like ‘Take’ from latest EP ‘3 Years In Limbo’ sounded amazing.
To many cheers and ‘Yeah boys..’ Leon announced they will finally be releasing long awaited debut album ‘The Narrator’ very soon. They played ‘I Will Be’ from that album, the song is a favourite of mine, as it was written from a story by one of our writers ( Paul Mathias, @iPaul09 ) and is a hugely touching tale.
Unfortunately I had to miss the end of The People, The Poet as I wanted to catch Bridges (9/10) in the YMCA.
This was to be the bands final show, and it’s a massive shame as the band were definitely one of the most exciting and best to come out of the scene.
There was a large crowd to give the band the send off they deserved and it was definitely more of celebration. Songs like ‘We’re Not Your Enemies’, ‘Voices’ and the massive ‘Stick To Your Guns’ are perfect in a live setting and really highlight how talented the band are, drummer Martyn Howell is especially impressive, keeping time with serious conviction.
The band threw out their remaining T shirts, EP’s and wristbands into the crowd and singer Ross Dixon created a party atmosphere, urging the crowd to start a massive conga line which snaked it’s way round the hall.
The set finished with ‘The Weapon’ one of my favourite Bridges songs, complete with guest vocalist, Scott, from Falling With Style, it was a great end to an awesome bands short careeer. RIP Bridges, you will be missed.
I only caught the start of Neck Deep, so I wont give them a score, but there lively brand of old school, harder edged pop/punk certainly got the Muni crowd bouncing around, I heard enough to definitely want to look into this band further.
Next up in the YMCA were Reaper In Sicily (9/10), a current favourite of mine.
The band are a high energy and exciting live band, singer Rhys Bernardo is bundle of energy and spot on vocals, songs like ‘The Prisoner’, ‘Horizons’ and latest single ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ were loved by the packed out crowd.
‘Save The Cheerleader’ really got the crowd singing and once again Reaper In Sicily proved themselves to be one the most exciting live bands on the circuit right now.
This was the first time I’d seen Blitz Kids (9/10) live, I’d been meaning to catch them for ages and I’m so thankful to the YPN for bring them to Ponty because they were bloody awesome!
They are an experienced live band and this really showed in a great performance, songs like ‘Warrior’ and ‘Never Die’ went over very well with the crowd, singer Joe James was in fine form and looked every inch the Rock star up on the YMCA stage.
Highlight of the set was forthcoming single ‘Run For Cover’, a brilliant song with a huge, huge chorus, make sure you check out the video below.
The band really enjoy themselves on stage and you cant help but join in.
Rounding off the whole event in the Muni were Canterbury (8/10), and they were a fitting end to a great day.
The bands ‘Heavy In The Day’ album still gets regular play on my ipod and live they are outstanding.
They worked really hard to get the crowd going and playing a mix of older tracks and brand new ones, they put on an excellent show.
The dual vocals of Luke Prebble and Mike Sparks work really well and the band have so many tunes that the set is great song after great song.
This was an awesome event which really showcases the talent and passion that you will find on the current music scene in South Wales and beyond and makes me really proud to have been able to cover it.
It was so well organised and put together and every venue was excellent, it was a real credit to the hard work of the whole team at the YPN.
http://www.youngpromotersnetwork.co.uk
Please click on the images for larger versions.
Photos kindly supplied by Tiegan Neary – http://tiegansphotography.co.uk/
