A better act to open a festival does not exist, The Peevie Wonders are well and truly taking the piss but they do it in the form of chaotic and riff-driven alt rock tracks which are rather addictive. Playing for a field of about twenty people, early on day two of Coastella, the band are acting like they’re on the Glastonbury main stage… Some bands could learn from that attitude; because the twenty people that were watching got a show like no other! They made us curious to catch them for a full on headline set, if this is what they can do in only thirty minutes…
After that energetic and slightly overwhelming live show we seek shelter in the Sunday for Sammy stage with Katie Grace. Kate & Band bring a soft and sweet folk pop sound to the mix and grow more and more confident throughout their set. Friendly faces in the crowd always help of course! Next up we return to the main stage for a surprisingly exhilarating set by solo artist Chintzy Stetson, who we’d never heard of before. His powerful voice and electronic quite play make even the main stage look slightly too small, his big sound left us impressed and curious to hear more of this musical wonder!
We find ourselves back in the Sunday for Sammy tent where Eve Simpson performs a beautiful set of folk pop songs with her ‘shy boys’, her gorgeous voice and eclectic soundscapes are still stuck in our head. Next up is the incredibly entertaining Haley McKay who brings a bright smile and funky fiddle-infused Americana songs that are hard not to move along to. Next up our north east-based indie rock outfit Iris Brickfield who we’d caught before in a more stripped back setting. This full band setting and rather spacious stage clearly suits them better. They’re confident and bring intriguing and eclectic mixes of indie, pop and rock to the stage. They’re a powerful bunch who’s drummer is sadly leaving the country soon, but we’re hoping they’ll find a temporary replacement so they can keep on rocking!
We end our day two and weekend with local hazy rock band Hector Gannet who aren’t as rocking as I thought I’d remembered they would be but their live performance is powerful and their audience is loving it. They’ve got potentially the nicest weather of the day too which makes for a euphoric atmosphere! With a line-up of small and emerging artists combined with rather well-known ones, Coastella found a great balance between the two and kept the festival interesting all the way throughout, we’re already looking forwards to next year’s edition!
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