My Day at Community Festival

A fresh new one day festival hit Finsbury Park on the 1st of July, holding a line up that wasn’t too be missed for any fan of the indie pop/rock genre. Being the debut year of this new event there was definitely speculation in my head about whether the day was going to be worth the travel, but for only £35 I was excited nonetheless.

The atmosphere bubbled through on first step out of Finsbury Park tube station, masses of quirky dressed people heading towards one communal place. A quick mention for the security as it was perfect. After all the scares around the country recently it may have made some individuals apprehensive about going, but with thorough searches conducted on entry and security dotted around the festival, I knew I was going to be looked after.

So many amazing bands performed; Fickle Friends, Clean Cut Kid, Anteros, The Wombats, Nothing But Thieves, Darlia, Slaves, and of course the main event Catfish And The Bottlemen. Fickle Friends opened my day with their summery tunes instantly uplifting my spirits, even if parts of the crowd didn’t know their songs, it would be hard not to dance along. I’ve only ever seen them perform on small stages, but it was confirmed for me they deserve to play on the larger platforms. Their stage presence is filled with masses of energy, making it a perfect start to my day.

Having never seen Darlia I thought this was the perfect opportunity to do so. Their loud songs riled up the crowd, creating a few mosh pits here and there. But for me they were truly setting the scene for the wonderful Nothing But Thieves. It had been time for the crowd to have a few drinks meaning a lot more people were ready to get involved. Their most famous songs were joined by a choir from the crowd and the energy truly went up a few notches. The reception for their latest single ‘Amsterdam’ topped it all off. Slaves quickly followed, not leaving a particularly strong stamp on me for this performance with slight sound issues throughout the set, but either way they know how to control a stage a big as Community.

Now for the band I was most excited for, The Wombats. There’s something about them that brings me so much joy, and almost every performance they do is faultless. The crowd was bigger and better with almost everyone singing along to favourites ‘Let’s Dance To Joy Division’ and ‘Moving To New York’. The sun came out for their performance, making it even more enjoyable. I wanted their set to last forever; they brought so much charisma and happiness, and a true sense of community.

It was time for Catfish to hit the stage. Every inch of grass was covered with huge fans, or people that just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. The pushing began way before they were due for the stage and the vibe was at the height it had been all day. With around an hour long set, everyone would need to be on top form. The second the band hit the stage the screams and cheers could most likely be heard across London. Ripping through song after song, the lyrics were screamed back to the band and the mosh pits grew bigger and better. Van didn’t really have to sing ‘Hourglass’ as it seemed everyone at the venue was singing it louder than him. It came to their finale of ‘Tyrants’, the build up was insane and as soon as the second half of the song dropped, everyone lost it. Once again another solid performance from the boys.

Community festival certainly did what’s said on the tin, and brought everybody together through music.