Preview 2000trees 2014

The Upcote Farm event kicks off this weekend, with Frightened Rabbit, Blood Red Shoes, DZ Deathrays and more.

Words: Sarah Louise Bennett
7th July 2014

Cheltenham may well be more commonly known for the Gold Cup and its picturesque spa town aesthetic, but those aren’t the only things drawing in the masses. Over the last eight years, the nearby Upcote Farm has planted itself firmly on the festival map, marking itself as a thriving hotbed of summer madness. Fresh from winning last year’s Grass Roots Festival award for the second time, 2000trees will be returning to the Cotswold Hills for another year of music-filled chaos - and limited tickets are still available.

Taking to the stage over the weekend, the likes of Blood Red Shoes will showcase the breakneck heaviness of their latest self-titled effort, while Band Of Skulls indulge crowds in the gritty rock’n’roll they’ve honed so well with their three albums to date. Class of 2014 stars Wolf Alice meanwhile will spend their stage time blowing hangovers away with their beautiful brand of grunge-laced punk.

Having already played a handful of festivals on our side of the world, cheeky Australians DZ Deathrays are also coming back. “I feel like we’re here a lot,” offers one half of the twosome, Shane Parsons. “It’s good to be back. We’re playing about four new songs… No one really knows them, so it’s just about playing a couple.

“I kinda wanted it to be an extension of the first record,” he explains, on what the duo hoped to explore with their second record, “but just a little bit tighter. Song-wise, there’s a bit more structure. The songs we had on the first album were just all live songs, recorded it how they were played live and nothing really changed. Whereas this time, we sort of let go of everything.”

Festival season isn’t the only thing on their mind. The band may not have even released their album in the UK yet, but frontman is already looking forward to the next step of their musical career. “We recorded at the beginning of the year, and I’m already looking forward to writing new songs and trying to get another record out as soon as possible.”