As Nice Swan descended on to this year’s Great Escape festival, the buzz was palpable for Pip Blom, Sports Team and Sweaty Palms, all playing to packed out shows throughout the course of the weekend. DIY Magazine reported on the below as part of their festival round-up:
At The Western at the sober hour of 3pm, Sports Team are packed into a tiny upstairs room that can barely contain singer Alex Rice’s Jagger-esque dance moves, let alone the heaving crowd that’s watching them. Where previously the London band’s schtick was all about the show – an are-they-real-or-are-they-joking mix of ludicrous shape-pulling and a man inexplicable playing a box of tic tacs – now they’ve got the songs and the musical skill to back it up. ‘Beverley Rose’ and ‘Winter Nets’ are theatrical tales of faded suburbia, while recent single ‘Ashton’ is a gloriously odd nod to the former Punk’d star. How their brains work that way we do not know. But thank christ that they do.
The Komedia has gone Dutch today, with a handful of acts from the Netherlands showcased across the afternoon. Amsterdam newcomers Pip Blom – fronted by Pip herself and backed by an impressively gnarly group of pals – are one of the country’s frontrunners, their Courtney Barnett-esque slacker-garage rock hybrid noisy in the best way.
Words: Will Richards
Photos: Emma Swann
Read the rest of the article here: http://diymag.com/2018/05/19/the-great-escape-festival-2018-day-two-report-phoebe-bridgers-bodega-gengahr