A mainstay of the UK’s festival scene, 2000Trees has a reputation for bringing a good mixture of new bands and more established bands on the scene together for a few excellent days at Upcote Farm near Cheltenham. It’s been a few years since I last headed to the farm but a lineup this strong is a bit unmissable. So let’s take a look at what we’ve got in store!
An Unlikely Return
If, like me, you’re a fan of post-hardcore legends Million Dead the news that they’re reforming will likely have come as a big surprise. For a long time it felt as though there was no way they’d be reuniting, it’s not as though there was any news out of that camp, most the members have other active and successful projects. As someone who didn’t get to see them the first time round I’m excited for the chance to get to hear some of the tracks that shaped my later teenage years live for the first time!
Fine Art
Showing how the festival builds bands up, this year sees Kneecap headline the Thursday night, a band who’ve grown in popularity significantly since their festival debut in 2022, moving up the stages as they’ve grown. There’s a lot of hype around the Irish language hip hop group from Belfast, they’ve just played Coachella (admittedly their political views got unfairly censored on the live stream, not to mention the Osbourne related aftermath) and their recent documentary was critically acclaimed
A Healthy Dose of Nostalgia
The return of Million Dead isn’t the only bit of nostalgia on this year’s lineup, Thursday night’s headliner Taking Back Sunday are one of the few bands that can coax me into singing along for an entire set and Saturday’s headliner Alexisonfire take me back to a similar era.
A Stacked Wednesday
For the people lucky enough to have a ticket that gets them in a day early there’s an incredible lineup to warm the festival up. Hot Milk and Kid Kapichi are two excellent bands to see near the top of the bill but the inclusion of the excellent Other Half, Meryl Streek, Haggard Cat, Unpeople, Vower, Blood Command, Panic Shack and The Meffs – what a ridiculously good first day!
It Gets Heavy
While sister festival ArcTanGent has the reputation as being the heavier festival, 2000 Trees is not without its moments if you fancy a lively pit. Frontierer bring their utterly brutal whammy-laden assault to the festival on the Friday. Kaonashi bring the slightly out there low riffery too, with a sound that reminds me a bit of early SiKth. Graphic Nature will be there on Friday with their electronic tinged, tuned down low, metalcore which will no doubt go off! Saturday sees Employed To Serve perform, fresh off the back of their fifth album Fallen Star.
New Talent A-plenty
Unpeople stand out as a band who a lot of people discovered after their Trees set last year, even as someone who wasn’t there the hype from that set somehow found it’s way out. It’s nice to see Ben Brown making his first appearance, one of the most talented musicians around in his various bands and guises, it may be a solo set but his humour and charm makes every gig more of a communal experience. Love Rarely are a recent band I’m looking forward to checking out – I came across them while doomscrolling tiktok and then saw they’d signed to Big Scary Monsters, which makes a lot of sense as musically they fit with the early years of the label (definitely reminiscent of Secondsmile) – their recent track Disappear sounds great and I look forward to hearing it live.
2000 Trees runs from the 9th to 12th of July at Upcote Farm near Cheltenham. Wednesday tickets are sold out but most the lineup falls over the remaining three days anyway! Tickets available from Dice