REVIEW: Outbreak Fest, Sunday
The Hotelier by Anna Swiechowska
Outbreak Sunday: An Unforgettable Send-off to 2024
Having seen through their showings of hardcore and rap, Outbreak Festival's Sunday was the turn of the Emo genre. The fest has already proved to be a hotbed for the budding alternative scene of less mainstream acts. Here's how the festival saw off this summer’s showing:
Balance and Composure & The World Is
The rescheduling of Balance and Composure to 11:40 am on Sunday was a must-attend. It had fans digging deep for enthusiasm, and the minds were willing, but BEC had some weak bodies on deck. Plenty of folks are nodding from the get-go during 'Impatient' and 'Cross to Bear'. Jon Simmons jokes that though they love England, the last time they were due to come here, B&C broke up. Simmons & co are equally affected by the early hour, and admitted, “It’s hard to get heavy this early.” Nevertheless, he kept spirits high, promising a more intense show in London the following night. There's a simple moment where all they have to say after 'Tiny Raindrop' is "This is fun. I'm having fun", before dropping the last few tracks, ' Parachutes', 'Back of Your Head' & 'Reflection'. The 40-minute slot was a bit of an ask for the early doors crowd, but after long enough the crowd warms up a lot more to them. Again, Outbreak has come in clutch with the booking and rebooking of this year and B&C was one they had to keep. The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die took the stage after that, and the weather certainly crisped up the atmosphere for this set. The way they got the set started had many talking, with them debuting a new track right out of the gate. The keys and unclean vocals gave their set a different air, and definitely seemed to draw newcomers into the arena as they started their days. They welcome those newcomers by saying "We're from the United States. It sucks there." They echo sentiments of support for Palestine before playing ‘Died in the Prison of the Holy Office' for some of the most frolic-like moshing in history. They round off the set with 'Auguries of Guilt' & 'January 10th', before shouting out Ceremony who play later on and covering their song 'Kersed'.
Balance and Composure by Nat Wood
Angel Du$t & Sweet Pill
Angel Du$t delivered an electrifying performance, immediately urging the crowd to gather up front and get moving. Justice Tripp seizes the mic stand and begins things with 'Toxic Boombox'. He joined the fans at the edge of the stage, echoing Have Heart's set the day before. With a constant flow of enthusiastic pitters, Angel Du$t charge through a rapid-fire set including 'Space Jam', 'Love Slam' & 'Set me Up'. The set runs slower than planned, and Tripp says they have 10 minutes left, and four songs, and they plan to play them all. This makes for an adrenaline-fueled blur, as the band powered through all four back-to-back. They power through 'Headstone', 'Sippin Lysol', 'Stay' & 'Stepping Stone' in no time at all, and don't seem to run over. Angel Du$t felt like a huge get for this year's festival, given their history with the event since 2015. Their distinct style and immense passion for the Outbreak community cements their place as a standout act of the event. Sweet Pill brought a 2nd dose of chaos, this time to the 2nd stage. Building on their positive impression from Saturday, they play this time with a more feral streak. Zayna Youssef had no trouble engaging the audience who had just come off the high of Angel Du$t's performance. They welcome some by shouting “Ya f*cking w*nker” in a cockney accent. They also win a few points with the Northern crowd by saying they're going to Greggs and Nando's after the set. While the main stage was great for exposure, this set feels like the more complete package with the interior setting and more elaborate lighting. Despite having performed already, fans eagerly returned for another dose of their high-energy tracks like 'Dog Song', 'Starchild' and 'High Hopes'. A truly special moment for the band even has a fan kneel on stage in admiration. This was the group's first time playing anywhere outside of North America and so they did two shows. Outbreak did so much solidifying Sweet Pill as a band that could light up any lineup with their energy. Please can we get a Sweet Pill bat signal as they’d be great on any bill in a pinch?
Angel Du$t by Nat Wood and Anna Swiechowska, Sweet Pill by Nat Wood
Split Chain, Mannequin Pussy & The Hotelier
Split Chain kept the ball rolling inside, hot off an appearance at this year’s Download Festival. They have a very bouncy, passionate crowd from the opening notes of 'Haven' and a constant stream of fans two-stepping and stage diving in 'Fade'. Despite their grungey aesthetic, it's hard for the lads to disguise how chuffed they are with this. They also finish the set with a bang, covering Type O Negative's 'I Don't Wanna Be Me' which went down a storm.
Mannequin Pussy’s brought an unapologetic and rousing display of defiance outside. Their name was easily one of the most memorable acts of the event. Personal favourite part of the set was their up yours to the BBC prompting them to chant "pussy" in a bold counter to the channel’s censorship of them as Mannequin P in their materials while the Buzzcocks get away with it. Several long periods of the set are Marisa Dabice speaking gold to the crowd. They derided rules that were translated by kings and people who wanted to keep everyone down. The bulk of the set is from the latest album I Got Heaven, such as 'Sometimes', 'Of Her', 'Aching' and 'OK? OK! OK? OK!' which did briefly get halted for a crowd incident and cutting a song. They finish up on the outstanding 'Pigs is Pigs' with Marisa and Bear Regisford swapping places in the band. Bear played the majority of the set stoically, but gets raw in an amazing soundbite of "F*ck cops, f*ck antisemitism and f*ck the Tories".
The Hotelier’s set was a poignant experience. Their trip to the UK marked their first performance in 7 years and they're celebrating the 10th anniversary of their seminal album Home, Like Noplace Is There. The setlist left 0 surprises, as it was the album track for track. The crowd responded by raising a sea of hands, the largest of the day. As the band powered through 'In Framing', 'Your Deep Rest', and 'Among the Wildflowers' the stage became a whirlwind of activity, with fans flooding it and diving off into the crowd. The Hotelier continued to captivate with one of the best emo albums of all time before concluding with the emotive "Dendron'. This was a set that was all about the music.
Mannequin Pussy by Nat Wood and The Hotelier by Anna Swiechowska
Movements, Joyce Manor & Incendiary
Movements brought a powerful energy to the main stage, declaring their return with “This is the second time we’ve played here. The first time we set this motherfucker off, let’s do it again". They started with 'Kept' and 'Lead Pipe'. Patrick Miranda emphasises their latest material as some of their best yet and encourages new fans to start with the Ruckus album. He acknowledges the festival scene isn't always all your own fans, but says anyone not familiar with them can pretend like they know the songs. All they need is that if you see him bouncing, you bounce. The crowd keeps to that request as throughout the next song they are consistently off their feet. The crowd are admittedly more lively on the older tracks like 'Full Circle' & 'Colourblind'. Miranda even acknowledges this, saying after 'Colourblind' that was the energy he wanted. He tries to convert that energy to the new tracks when they play 'I Hope You Choke!'. He tells the crowd to keep that level of energy by picturing someone you hate while they play. The band praised the festival, calling it the best in the UK and Europe. Movements ended their set promoting their tour later this year with the song "Daylily".
Joyce Manor brought their charm with a short, sweet intro before diving right into their set. They played energetic tracks like "NBTSA," "Beach Community' up first, before mentioning a little album they made in 2014. They joked about recording Never Hungover Again a decade ago and said they’d rather play music than talk, never having had much to say in the first place. "Christmas Card," created an electrifying vibe and the crowd was lively. There were many attempts to keep crowd surfers up for as long as possible meaning some people end up about 2/3 of the way back across the standing area. They make the ambitious request during 'Heart Tattoo' for a huge circle pit, but to his credit actually gets one. Going through the album track by track, 'The Jerk', 'In Army Now' and 'Heated Swimming Pool' all get their first inclusion on a setlist in 5 years. They obviously play, 'Catalina Fight Song' between these, and sell their stand-in guitarist, Scott, down the river by not telling him about the surprise intro they do for it live. It was a mix of fun and nostalgia, ending with a full-stage invasion when they go back to their self-titled record for 'Constant Headache' to end the set. Immediately after, Incendiary lived up to their name, delivering a set that was pure chaos. As soon as the lights went out, the crowd was on fire, ready to explode as the band hit the stage. They tore through songs like 'Primitive Rage', 'Still Burning', and 'Front Toward Enemy'. Their set may have drawn the biggest crowd on the second stage all weekend. The band’s shout-out to UK hardcore only added to the already warm reception they earned, both in temperature and mood.
Movements and Joyce Manor by Anna Swiechowska, Incendiary by Nat Wood
Hot Mulligan, Harm’s Way, Soccer Mommy, Demonstration of Power, and Thursday
Hot Mulligan burst onto the main stage with the demand, “Give me a fucking circle pit,” setting the tone for their high-energy set. The backdrop, an old school DVD player screensaver, was a hilarious contrast to the chaos that followed considering the song in question is called 'Drink Milk and Run'. The guys had a couple of hiccups in regards to sound issues, and not being able to hear themselves. They made sure the crowd could and welcomed everyone to the “shitshow" (Their words, not mine). They were a breath of fresh air, turning the pit into a lively party. Their approach to mic issues was simple and effective—shout louder, screaming "We're cupping the mic baby!". For disclosure, I was not overly familiar with this group beyond their name prior to this set, but they were just so fun. They move on through songs 'Equip Sunglasses' and 'Gans Media Retro Games' and the energy just didn't seem to know how to dip. Even with technical problems eventually spreading to the PA system, they didn't miss a beat. Playing “Bckyrd” third to last seemed to surprise some fans as well. Although by far, as an uninitiated, hearing the song title 'John “The Rock” Cena, Can You Smell What the Undertaker' may have tipped me over the edge. Also, see Friday's write up for why I think people have cheeky wrestling references in songs is a banger. The stage was yet again invaded by excited fans, as Hot Mulligan’s set finished off a much-needed shot of energy. This was a festival highlight.
Post-Mulligan there were 4 booming sets between stages, the first of which was Harm's Way on the 2nd stage, playing their first time at outbreak since 2012 (yes he did the running man from that one meme). Soccer Mommy took to the main stage as a warm-up to the festival’s closer American Football. Meanwhile, over on the 3rd stage, Demonstration of Power played for a thumping 25 minutes with all areas of the stage absolutely packed, letting off party cannons during the last song to close the night there. Finally, headlining the second stage, Thursday closed the Sunday (lol) for 40 neat minutes of nostalgic post-hardcore, leaving it all down to the mainstage headliner to close things out for 2024
Harm’s Way and Demonstration of Power by Nat Wood, Thursday by Anna Swiechowska and Nat Wood
American Football
American Football’s start time must have been coordinated to a tee with the moment Thursday's set finished. The five members walk out in unison at the same time as Thursday's crowd starts pouring outside. With each song of the set the video moves, or changes to a different visual/angle. The long guitar intro of 'Five Silent Miles' is backlit by a video that pans through and out of the House 704. This is the only song from the set that isn’t from THAT album called American Football... the 1999 one. Who knew it would be hard to differentiate between three albums and an EP all called American Football?
Where most bands have played an album track by track, American Football don't do that, for obvious reasons. So the first track of LP1 is 'The Summer Ends', and then proceeds as normal. As far as the set, it was a surreal experience, but not in the usual sense. American Football was kind of just, there, and it was still enthralling. To explain what that means, it took 25 minutes for Mike Kinsella to even speak outside of a song. Most bands will get cheered for saying hello, but the aura was different for American Football. Again, to hammer home the point, Kinsalla has to clarify that yes, the band are happy to be there. That sounds like a damning thing for him to have to say, but everyone believes him. It feels so strange to hear him cracking jokes about not wanting to fight Harm's Way's James Pligge.
So obviously this may not have been the most personal set in the world. But moments like the sun coming down to Steve Lamos’ trumpet on 'For Sure' feel like just that, moments. The Sunday crowd bit for everything, even down to the inclusion of a tambourine when it was sparingly used on 'I'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional’. There weren't boatloads of lyrics to sing along to, but there was so much melody and feeling to each second of the track. By the time the trill of ‘Never Meant’ starts, it feels cathartic. Basement may have had some jabs about ‘Covet’ being referred to as “The Tiktok song”, but American Football’s ‘Never Meant’ feels truly iconic. Like Hot Mulligan before them, I was passingly aware of the band by name. The minimalistic approach in terms of their energy was confusing at first, but damn it, they won me over. Even as someone brand new to the band, this felt emotional. I’m not certain that American Football could have had any other slot than the headliner.
Outbreak truly does a festival like few others can. See you in the Autumn.
American Football by Anna Swiechowska
