Everything looks better dressed in Christmas lights, and so Sunderland does as well. We travelled down to the city for our first Waves Festival, a multi-venue all-day music extravaganza that took place for the first time in 2021. We started our day with local outfit Palma Louca.
The band brought their ethereal shoegaze set of hard hitters to The Ship Isis, a small venue just outside of the city centre. The venue was rammed while the five piece brought their alternative tracks to their eager audience. ‘Stationary Life’, ‘Us and Them’, and new single ‘The Cove’ brought the venue to its height. After this elation we tried to squeeze ourselves into the Museum Vaults, an even smaller venue, for Hannah Robinson. We enjoyed her soaring single ‘Hypnotised’ after which we walked across to new favourite joint Diego’s where Whinge were breaking down the stage.
This fanatic punk rock band wowed us before at Fell Foot Wood and gave us another memorable performance driven by their explosive frontman. Punching punk and emotive screaming vocals made us all wonder what we were witnessing and why it was so brilliant to watch. Sheffield-based indie outfit Work In TV followed at live music venue Pop Recs. They brought all of our personal favourites with catchy hits ‘The Good Life’, debut single ‘Spiral’, and ‘Better Hours’. The energetic group knew how to sway their audience and brought a groove into our step for the remainder of the day.
We nipped into the Museum Vaults for a drink and enjoyed the rocking soundscape Big Break brought to our Saturday although we weren’t sold of their leading vocals. However, that was soon forgotten when we moved ourselves towards The Ship Isis where local energetic rock trio Ten Eighty Trees brought their classic rock anthems. Those delicious guitar riffs, the thunderous drum rolls, and the endlessly energetic performance of lead singer Nathan will never bore us. ‘Spark’, ‘The Incubator’ and their 2018 debut single ‘Something Feral’ made the venue bounce at its core!
Then we headed to Sunderland’s Independent for the band that’s not beaten by many. The alternative Americana rock sound of Red Rum Club filled Sunderland’s live music venue and had the entire audience expressively enjoying themselves during personal favourites ‘Kids Addicted’, ‘Black Cat’, and set closer ‘Would You Rather Be Lonely’. ‘Black Cat’ saw the band returning to their Americana rock roots after pop hit ‘Vanilla’, although even that track has now completely grown on me. All of their releases hit the spot, especially in a live setting, and they’re a fabulous opener for our highlight; Miles Kane at The Fire Station.
The guitar rock star opened very strongly with anthem ‘Rearrange’ and during the intro of the second track needed to pause to break up a fight in the audience, Sunderland was showing off. ‘One Man Band’, ‘Cry On My Guitar’ and ‘Coupe De Grace’ all hit the spot performed by the superstar and incredible drummer Jennifer, together they tore up the stage and brought an exciting set of tracks that still soundtrack our days. The energy was tangible throughout the room although it could’ve been far fuller for the man that has played a massive part in guitar rock music since his debut in 2011. Kane was truly the cherry on top of our first Waves Festival, we discovered some wonderful new music and enjoyed some fantastic live music and can’t wait to be back next year!
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