Music

Liverpool Sound City Day One

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7 June 2016

By Aisling Power

On the 29th of May, Bramley-Moore Dock was lit up for the first day of Liverpool Sound City festival. With music starting from 12pm onwards, the crowds flooded in to see what the eight stages had to offer. Most were excitedly awaiting the set by Catfish and the Bottlemen, who were returning to Sound City to headline the festival after five years away; they first played there via the ‘Apply to Play’ scheme.

Whilst walking through the various stalls, ranging from Pop Boutique to Pizza Slice, what first caught the majority of people’s attention was the basically nude models for the life drawing, with the very eloquently-written “F**k Art Let’s Dance” on their backs. This was a fun opportunity for people of all abilities of art to try to get their sketches onto the wall (although sadly none of mine did).

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At 4pm, KYKO was playing on the Atlantic Stage, with his upbeat indie-pop songs including ‘Native’ and ‘Pull Me Up’. These joyful tracks had the crowd – including those who didn’t know KYKO’s music before – dancing along enthusiastically. After this cheerful set came the heart-warming tribute to Viola Beach, the band from Warrington who passed away in February when all four members and their manager were involved in a car accident in Sweden. The set that was played in their memory had been recorded just before the band died and it was truly beautiful seeing the audience’s reaction with the masses singing together to their songs.

Viola Beach

The other stages had a host of different bands, including Youth Hostel on the Cavern Stage, which were an indie-pop foursome with catchy tunes and impressive brass and guitar hooks to match. The Tall Ship had the Bulletproof Bomb rocking out, although the flaw with this stage was there was a big gap between the stage and the crowd, so it didn’t feel as intimate as the other venues. DJs in the Baltic Warehouse kept people dancing throughout the day and into the night – except for one festival-goer, who sat in the middle of the warehouse to eat his sausage dinner.

baltic warehouse

The main attraction of day one was Catfish and the Bottlemen headlining on the Atlantic Stage to finish the night, which was actually their first time ever headlining a festival. Playing hit after hit, from both their debut album and their new album released two days before the festival, with an ecstatic audience jumping up and down and belting out the lyrics to the songs they love, they ended the first day on a high note.

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