End of the Week at End Of The Road
PHOTOS BY KATINKA ROWLAND PAYNE
We can confidently say that the sign of any good festival is when you can only make it for a day, but it still ends up being your lifetime festival highlight. If you don’t know End of The Road, it’s time to get to know.
Set just outside of Salisbury in Larmer Tree Gardens, this idyllic spot is home to individualised stages bordering on dreamy woods filled to the brim with art installations, secret stages, recreation areas and the famed Cornhole. We’d heard tales of EOTR for a long time, finally saw it with our own eyes for the first time, and now we understand.
Enchanting doesn’t cut The Garden Stage – encapsulated by Victorian theatre structures and huts, the billowing sounds of Shirley Collins’ first performance since her 45-year heartbreak made you want to wilt with joy (and adopt the trailblazing folk-singer as your grandma).
Taking a different approach, Canadian art-punks Crack Cloud took to the stage as the sun began to set. This was purely mind-blowing. Unable to push through the Brockwell Park crowds at Wide Awake Fest a few days before, we now understood the hype. With a Squid-like set up, lead-singer and drummer Zach Choy entranced the audience, with belting lyrics set to a perfect background of swirling saxophone harmonies, synths & amp guitar licks.
CRACK CLOUD - PHOTO BY POPPY RICHLER
Their final song Swish Swash married the psychedelia of the Brian Jonestown Massacre with the chutzpah of David Byrne and we can only recommend listening to their album to hear more.
What’s very special about this festival is the multi-generational appeal and levels of respect amongst the revellers – from babies with those cute headphones that make you melt, to young musicheads (dressed to the nines) to elderly couples with walking sticks, End Of The Road is a wonderfully diverse environment that resembles what heaven could indeed look like (should we be so lucky).
With its real focus on live music, there isn’t the pressure to be faced with a monotonous nts nts of droning techno beats that you pretend to enjoy because your friends wanted to go and you have.to.enjoy.the.weekend.because.you.spent.money.on.a.ticket. Don’t get us wrong, there’s still the opportunity to do so, and with bands that make it worth it (like Giant Swan), but EOTR encapsulates so many genres of music, making it the perfect festival to return home with the knowledge of 30 new bands and a renewed love of live music. Here are some of our highlights:
Starting off the day, PVA blew the proverbial top off the Big Top tent. Sweltering in what felt like a hot yoga studio, this only added to the mesmerizing synth-punk sounds of Josh Baxter, Louis Satchel & Ella Harris’ ethereal lyrics. Blending a raver’s paradise with intricate instrumentalism, PVA’s performance only heightened the brilliance that takes place on their existing releases.
PVA - PHOTO BY POPPY RICHLER
One cannot discuss EOTR without mentioning the one and only Little Simz whose evening performance sticks with us as one of the most electrifying musical experiences in a long time. We can speak for the whole audience when we say that Simz’ lyrics are some of the most empowering, witty and sharp lyrics out there. We’d show you the photos but they’re a bit too blurry because we got a bit too excited.
As the sun set to the brooding tones of Arab Strap’s frontman Aidan Moffat at The Garden Stage, King Krule had his dedicated fans at his feet just a few paces away at The Woods stage. The unmistakeable moans of Archie’s music accompanied by a darkly wonderful backing band meant that the power cut during the set was actually thought to be part of the show.
Ending off the evening, the famous secret sets… Black Country, New Road rose to the challenge first, performing an MGMT cover, an Eminem/Sunglasses mashup which made us laugh with its brilliance, and the glorious Track X which brought a tear to our eye. Horsey sent it up as the last band and their chaotic howls (not to mention their gold matching jackets) left us all feeling electric.
If you couldn’t tell, this is a love letter to End Of The Road, and we’re counting down the days until we can be back (for the full weekend this time).
