Splendour Festival 2018

I’ve been looking forward to splendour as soon as the line up was announced, and just proceeded to get more and more excited when some of my favourite artists such as Ashfields and the Dandylions were added to the incredible list.

First act I saw was the Dandylions on main stage as the winners of the competition held by nusic: future sounds of Nottingham. The Dandylions are a band that have never failed to impress me; with their pink and yellow stage outfits, their incredible stage presence, their connection with the audience and their catchy songs that get stuck in your head for days after, what’s not to love? I happened to be coming to splendour with a personal friend of the guitarist Dan, and we had a nice chat about the band right before seeing them play.
One thing the Dandylions have never failed at is getting the audience excited, they sure know how to make everyone move (probably something to do with the sugar in the sweets that get thrown at the crowd every time). Whether you know the words to the songs or not, you will catch on quickly and be singing along for the rest of the song, they’re just that catchy.

After the dandylions had finished, I made my way over to the confetti stage, where I saw Don’t Forget Rupert. They are a band I’ve been meaning to listen to for quite a while, I was aware they were at Dot to Dot festival this year and are doing a headlining show at Rescue Rooms with the Mockingjays to support, but I had never got round to actually listening to them. I must say though, I regret not listening to them sooner, because after a performance like that, they could really become a band I grow to love! Majority of the band came off stage at one point and just ran through the audience, while taking photos with fans. The energy the audience had while they were in was magical.

Ashfields came on after Don’t Forget Rupert, and they have been one of my favourite bands ever since I saw them support The Sherlock’s last year at Rock City. Not only did they steal the show back then, but they also did at Splendour. One would not believe they only started out 4 years ago, with their shows you’d be expecting a decade worth of experience within them. They’ve come so far in such a short amount of time and are now getting ready to go perform Y not festival on Saturday!
With so much energy, so much talent, and so much passion for what they do, it’s no wonder they’re doing as well as they are.
I spend some time backstage with the band after their set and got to spend a few hours with them watching the other acts from the side of the confetti stage to watch Peace and Embrace, which I must say, was incredible.

After embrace, I left the backstage area and went to watch the Charlatans finish their set and then see Paloma Faith. The Charlatans added a nice chill vibe after a very hectic day, and allowed to audience to sit back and enjoy the music before getting to their feet for the headliner. Not only was Speldnour celebrating their 10th birthday but Paloma was also celebrating her birthday that day, so the whole crowd sung happy birthday. It was a beautiful performance which got everybody dancing!

This has been my favourite year of Splednour yet and all i can hope is next year is just a good!