HADFEST

This year marked the third year the charity gig Hadfest was organised by my close friends Lauren Marshall and Rory McNeill. The line up has blown me away every single year and this year was no different. They aim to showcase local upcoming bands as well as raising money and this occasion saw Dolly and The Dinosaur, Tyrant and Misfires take to Croft Hall in Hungerford.

Reading based Dolly and The Dinosaur were up first, and having never heard their music before I was intrigued to see what these 17 year olds could bring to a new crowd. Instantly I was drawn in by their catchy guitar riffs and soft vocals. They seemed way beyond their years hosting immense stage presence, which was reciprocated by the energy from the fairly young crowd. This seemed an appropriate show for them, playing to local listeners and people of a similar age. Expect big things from this young quartet in the future.

Tyrant continued flying the flag for the younger generation of bands. Again locally based in Newbury and Reading, Tyrant also shocked the crowd with their incredible skills across the stage. My ears were certainly left ringing after their set ended due to the loud nature of their style, which certainly leads to a few head nods. They come across much better than their recorded songs, which is quite hard to top as they’re beautifully mastered.

Misfires were the final and biggest band to take to the small venue. They’ve been labelled as ‘The next indie super band’, and after their performance I can 100% relate to this. They almost define the genre that is indie pop. The crowd came as quite a shock to the Swindon quartet as there were very few people that knew the band previously, but this didn’t stop them putting on a showstopper. They sang their tunes loud and proud and encouraged everyone there to have the best night of their lives. A perfect finisher to an even more perfect evening.

The organisation of Hadfest is always of such a high quality, making it obvious that there is masses of planning that goes into the event. A massive thanks to Lauren and Rory for all their hard work surrounding this gig x

All photos by Rory McNeill.