Simple Things 2016
Posted on: 24 Oct 2016Simply the best: we take you through the ins and outs of the festival whose multi-venue format makes it more complex than the name would have you believe.
Simple Things is the happy product of the marriage between Bristol’s strong musical infrastructure and the arbitration of one its more distinguished tenants, Crack magazine. An authority on all things zeitgeisty, the folks who put together this publication conspire each year to throw a party, logistically complex but straightforward in its ethos: to amass a bill of the hippest artists, bands and DJs around. Having, over the years, carved out its own singular place in Bristol’s music calendar, 2016’s instalment looked to be up to par with those at the peak of their respective (and disparate) genres set to light up myriad venues across the city.
The first half of the festival’s symbiosis of home grown talent and internationally-sourced sensations is evidenced first up, with Bristol-based Cousin Kula opening the stage in the foyer of Colston Hall. With a curveball make-up which includes a saxophone and trumpet amongst the more traditional guitar/bass/drums combination, the six-piece produce a noise it is safest to loosely term psych-pop - but riddled with brass and odd, undercutting afro-beat rhythms. Their songs twist and turn, second-guessing the natural conclusion with breakdowns completely incongruous to the rest of the tune. It is during these that front-man Elliot Ellison takes a break from delivering his beguiling vocal to jerk around as much as the guitar pinned to his chest will allow him to. By the time they unleash the shimmering opening keys of debut single ‘Hesitation’, a generous crowd has assembled as revellers begin to begin their festivals in earnest.
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After denial of entry to IDLES’ gig at the over-capacity Sportsmans had extraneously made for us our decision of who to see in their clash with LICE, we arrived at the bulging Gryphon just in time to see the four University of Bristol students emerge from the toilet-come-dressing-room. The crush within the pub’s heaving back room as they take the stage prevents any individual autonomy of movement, with localised limb-control surrendered to the general sway which responds in part to the feral post-punk being unfurled in the pit below. Presiding over (or, rather, under) proceedings is Alistair Shuttleworth, whose barked delivery and crazed demeanour only breaks for the earnest thanks he gives back between songs. The set, both posited voraciously and rapturously received, feels like an important touchstone for the band who have justifiably become one of the exponents of Bristol’s grubby musical underbelly, which is rumbling with real promise at the moment.
Next port of call is Kanda Bongo Man, the fabulously-named soukous group who instil the Colston Hall foyer with consummate and consuming happiness. Intertwining lyrics which flick between French and Lingala with riffs straight out of Graceland, the five onstage bring the cheer in droves, complete with beach balls and back-up dancers, warming a crowd that is notably fuller at the conclusion of the set than at its beginning.
The premature end to Twin Peaks’ set at the Sportsman (which is shut down early due to legitimate concerns that the ceiling below was about to give in) allows time to accrue a good field position for Warpaint at Colston Hall. Any expectation that the release of last month’s relatively upbeat LP Heads Up would have cheered Jenny Lee and co. up is dashed quickly, as their set draws heavily from their more curmudgeonly output. Downplayed renditions of tracks like ‘Undertow’ and ‘Elephants’ contribute to the exquisite gloom purveyed by the four girls, which is only lifted with the jauntier double-header of ‘Love Is To Die’ and ‘New Song’ closing one of the day’s standout shows.
One of the more exciting things about the Simple Things line-up upon its publication was the relatively high proportion of prominent female artists, bands and, particularly, DJs performing, subverting what has become a worryingly male-centric norm at festivals, particularly those specialising in dance music. As night well and truly sets in, the festival evidences this with its shift in focus towards the electronic, when Nina Kraviz takes to the decks at the Firestation. Hammering through a set which lapses from shuddering techno to the squelchiest cuts of acid house, thanks to spins of ‘Acid Love Making’ and Illuminate’s ‘Tremor Del Terra’, making the transition look effortlessly cool and holding the crowd’s attention captive until time necessitates our leave in time for Helena Hauff.
It would not be unfair to say that Ms Hauff likes her techno on the scarier side, something to which much of the wide-eyed crowd who jam into Lakota’s second room would appear to readily attest. Occasional dashes into Room 3 to catch the altogether warmer stylings of Futureboogie’s Christophe provide respite help to adequately ward off the demons. And the tinnitus.
At 3am, Hessle Audio man Ben UFO takes to the main stage to steer the ship home. Mixing discordant and clattering sounds into tracks like Erosion Flow’s ‘Syyv’ and Geeneus’ ‘Yellowtail’, his set is one that stays rooted to the lower reaches of the thermometer even during his brief sojourns into funky house.
And (at the risk of forcing a contrived microcosm for the sake of a neat conclusion), surrounded by people wholly appreciative of just how good Ben UFO is at his job, I can’t help but think that the set with which he closes it feels very much in line with the aesthetic of Simple Things as a whole: a musician at the head of his field and top of his game making noise, at the austere end of the spectrum, to a room full of people who genuinely care about it.
It has been, quite simply, as good as it gets.
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An ardent Geordie minus the accent, Sam seemingly strove to get as far away from the Toon as possible, as soon as university beckoned. Three undergraduate years at UoB were more than ample time for Bristol (as it inevitably does) to get under his skin, and so here he remains: reporting, as Assistant Editor, on the cultural happenings which so infatuated him with the city. Catch him at sam@365bristol.com.
