REVIEW: RADAR Festival, Friday
The Midnight by Nic Howells
The Midnight mesmerizes with unforgettable performance amidst a diverse lineup
The first day of Radar Festival 2024 delivered an unexpectedly packed lineup across both stages. Highlights from the day were spread across both the Sneak Energy stage and the main. While we had our preferences throughout the day personally, it was The Midnight who stole the show, wrapping up the day with a mesmerising performance that left fans buzzing long after the music ended. Here’s the rest:
Giant Walker
Radar Friday kicked off with one of our faviourtes Giant Walker over on the Sneak Energy stage. The festival had promised an improved viewing experience for fans this year. Those promises were rewarded with a healthy crowd for the first band of the day. This was a joint effort between Walker and Sunday's Future Static, as the two bands played separate sets at Radar on separate days as part of Static's ongoing Northern Hemisphere Liminality tour. For the smaller dwellings of Victoria Warehouse, Giant Walker’s sound was excellent, and it was a particularly standout performance for Steph on vocals whose showing here was impeccable. They were an excellent band to kick the weekend off.
The Intersphere
Over on the main stage the first band of the day there was The Intersphere. Again, Radar is a perfect festival for appreciating music, and the excellent mix on the main stage’s first showing got these off to an excellent start. The Intersphere were decidedly reserved in terms of their crowd interaction, but that was not a negative on them, personally, this was a band long-awaited in terms of checking them off a list. So battering through a very varied set list suited us perfectly. Extra points for making the most of staging and having Moritz Mueller play the drums side on from the crowd so they could see the genius at work. They were one of a few bands to do this over the weekend and we’d be happy if it was a more regular occurrence.
Cestra
Immediately following The Intersphere was Cestra back on the 2nd stage. They had a lot of buzz surrounding them given their pending appearance as part of Tesseracts set the next day alongside Choir Noir. This meant there was again a well-attended showing for the Sneak stage, and although Cestra primarily performs alone, it was a case of less is more. The walk-on had fans reminiscing of last year's headliner as Cestra arrived in red backlighting sporting a mask (props to the person coining the phrase “She Token”, not the best pun, but appreciate the effort). Theatrics and showmanship were on tap with this show. They used what space was available to include a turntable platform and a personalised mic stand which integrated well into the set. There was a brief hiccup with their stage performers being held up by security, but they were eventually joined on stage by a larger cast to make it a real performance of a set as well as de-cloaking for a more striking visual during the latter tracks
unpeople
Radar had an amazing pedigree of bands who all slotted in and out of this summer's touring circles. Further evidence of that was unpeople, on the Sneak Stage. These were fresh off of some supporting dates with the fresh-faced titan of a band Better Lovers. Speaking as an attendee of their Nottingham set on that tour, they were amazing there as well. This quartet were a boom of energy by comparison to the other bands by this point in the day, whilst also having an excellent show of musicianship which suited them perfectly to Radar. This is one for the festival to definitely rebook in future years.
Ichika Nito
Going from an act we may see for years to come to one that we could go a long while without seeing again, Ichika Nito’s inclusion on the main stage was an excellent addition, and their complete opposite approach from that of Unpeople made for a momentous performance. They still had full stage lighting, but minimal stage structure, starting the set seated, solo, guitar in hand for some light on the ear, but phenomenal playing. This was exactly what comes to mind with prog influences that Radar is known for. It doesn’t have to always be your typical prog band, instead showcasing guitarsmiths like Nito makes for a varied and brilliant experience. In one of the few spoken moments between tracks, Nito also mentions this was his first-ever UK fest appearance, which was a huge bag for Radar.
Vower
Disclaimer: this was our band of the day. First of all, your writer has and always will be a huge Palm Reader fan. So the presence of some of their members in this band was always a plus. Vower entered their debut performance at our spiritual home, 2000Trees just a few weeks ago. The level of gelling this group had for what was only their 4th show as a unit at Radar was exceptional. Those following their socials know these have been ready to take the UK by storm for a minute, but no one would expect this quality straight out of the gate. Intense, cathartic, brilliant. Listen to Vower.
Vola
Vola are spoken of very highly by fans. It made for an excellent set, these being one of the first bands of the day to actually have on-stage branding and really draw a crowd, akin to Unprocessed’s star-making set in the same slot last year. Voila is definitely an example of being huge within their own niche and it doesn’t feel over the top to say these could one day be headlining a Radar down the line, given when they played in 2019 they were the opener and they’d already stepped it up this much.
Thrown
The day began to wrap up with opposite ends of the spectrum. If one thing has been proven it's that Radar serves itself just as well when it books a heavier act outside of the prog sphere, case and point being last year’s Loathe, Monuments & Heart of a Coward all on the second stage. Thrown made SO good on that trend by making the Sneak Stage an absolute squash, this set had all hands on deck for press, fans and even being the only band to put security in the pit from the second they started playing. These have been a semi-regular presence on UK shows over the last year, playing belters alongside Graphic Nature & August Burns Red, while also being back before we know it supporting While She Sleeps this December. Make the trip. See Thrown ASAP.
Plini
By comparison, Plini was a pure prog virtuoso, like Ichika Nito, but on a much grander scale. The blessing and the curse of this set however was that it was very minimalist, those less familiar with Plini may not have got as much out of this longer set, though it did clearly draw its diehard fans. It was another case of a returning act for Radar that was always going to go down well.
Caskets
These were a first, somehow. Caskets are a case of they have been so busy in recent months that there were few places they could play other than this headline slot on the 2nd stage. Again, things on the heavier/metalcore side of things have proven to work in this slot for Radar and Caskets kind of seemed like a can’t fail band. They oozed charisma while they were on stage and the crowd was very much engaged in the set.
The Midnight
Finally, closing out the day was a huge get for Radar, The Midnight. While stylistically they were much lighter than the latter half of the day, they packed the Warehouse out in a way it hadn’t seen for the rest of the day, and brought the stage presence in abundance to match. Though not familiar with them, these were incredibly enjoyable, and proof that although at an alt festival, you don’t have to listen to rock all the time. Midnight felt like a headliner, playing with the crowd and getting a great response when Tyler Lyle gets them to sing the lyrics back, as well as when the lights go out and Justin Klunk appears at the front of the stage to start blasting sax. This seemed like a bit of an odd move given Radar’s stellar but heavier showing last year with headlines, but The Midnight absolutely dunked on expectations.
