Now in its eighth year, the taciturn and notable In The Woods is
back, housed once again in a secret location known only to festival
goers, completely hidden away from the outside world.
We enter the festival via an intriguing path that leads us
into the woods, lit subtly by evocative strings of lights. Every now and
then art installations reveal themselves from the trees, including
ready-made flower gardens, multi-coloured glades filled with string art,
and a giant chalk and board. The reverberating natural amphitheatre
that is the quarry stage emerges to the left, with the smaller Laurel
Lounge a little way off. Further on, through more interactive artworks
and flowers is a clearing, complete with cinema tent, silent disco, and
an array of food, including sumptuous hog roast, freshly blended
alci-smoothies and locally produced cider.
Getting stuck right into the music, nu-soul artist Kwabs
offered some intriguing melodies and vocal styles under a canopy of
leaves, while Drenge provide solid garage-punk, inciting a teenage boy
riot in the mosh pit. Sivu made his second In The Woods appearance, this
time on the main-stage, offering a consummate, confident and intriguing
performance, and special surprise guest Ghostpoet gave a dynamic
headline show. The act that really stole the entire festival however
were Young Fathers – an amazing Scottish trio who provided In The Woods
with a composed yet frantic, stoic, compelling and above all utterly
engrossing performance, full of charisma that was almost too good for
words. Their music was very interesting too – a fusion of hip-hop and
grime with hints of 2-tone, soul and punk – thundering, heavy and
unstoppable, with fat basslines and fast rhymes.
In The Woods 2013 has continued with their true small
festival ethos, with a complete lack of commerciality or bureaucracy
typical in larger music festival. There are no shops or merch stands –
the only thing you have to pay for is food and drink. Camping and
parking is free, and if you want to bring your own booze, that’s OK.
This approach by the organisers is reflected by the punters and the
artists alike, to the point where there is a decidedly mellow, happy
vibe to the place. There are plenty of teenagers and students, yes, but
there are also families with babies, retired couples, and even a few
dogs dotted about.
One element that has altered from previous years however is
the head count, going up from 750 to 1000 tickets in 2013. While this
is still a fairly small number, in actual fact the number of punters has
effectively gone up by a third, and that is not including artists,
press, plus ones et al. This additional 300 has notably changed the vibe
of the festival. It is busier, with longer queues, more
disorganisation, and less of a feeling of calm and solitude than
previous years. There is also far too much chatting and selfie taking
going on directly around the performance areas which is selfish and
disrespectful to both the artist and the people who want to listen to
them. It is not necessarily the festival organiser’s fault that this
occurred regularly throughout the day, however, when the headcount has
been lower, a vibe of mutual respect between artist and audience was
definitely more apparent than now.
That said however, once again, In The Woods have provided a
beautiful, considered, and mellow festival, and they have offered their
audience with a host of well curated, quality artists that are clearly
destined for great things. Indeed, every act we witnessed offered
consummate, talented performances throughout. An even wider range of
styles than last year have been offered to us, but the key thread tying
each performance together is that every act here is creating clever,
interesting, dynamic and accomplished music.
See this at MTTM at: http://www.morethanthemusic.co.uk/review-woods-2013/
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