The 2023 Full Pelt Awards are here and you can have your say from our shortlists below!
Votes here will be tallied with those on Social Media, plus weighted votes from our Full Pelt staff with the winners all revealed in a special Magazine on New Year’s Day!
Our 2023 Album of the Year will be revealed on our Social Media on Christmas Day! Let us know your favourite album of the year in the comments and be sure to follow us across social media to be the first to see who wins our award!
The latest issue of the Full Pelt Magazine is here, and you can download your copy for free below!
Volume 15 features cover stars Slipknot as they announce a new tour celebrating their 25th Anniversary. We also catch PET NEEDS at their ‘Fractured Party III’ event and review Ocean Colour Scene on their current UK Tour!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Sum 41, Lauran Hibberd, Kid Kapichi, BLACKGOLD & Hyro The Hero, Kite Thief, Blackout Problems and The Intersphere!
Plus new live announcements from Takedown Festival, Outbreak Festival, Latitude Festival, Five Finger Death Punch, ZZ Top, Lottery Winners, Twin Atlantic, Ferocious Dog, Ugly Kid Joe, Bryan Adams, Microwave, The Dirty Nil, Editors and Sylosis!
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist with FLOYA, rlyblonde and State of You!
Our weekly music News Report has evolved into the Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the tenth issue now for free!
Volume ten includes the latest from cover stars Fightstar plus we review Creeper live in London, Wheatus live in Cambridge. We also review the new album from Lonely The Brave!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Enter Shikari, Lake Malice, Banks Arcade, Stand Atlantic, Have Mercy, South of Salem, Florence Black, Jamie Lenman, Unpeople, Siamese, Courting and The Killers!
Plus new live announcements from Download Festival, 2000trees, 30 Seconds To Mars, Bruce Dickinson, Halflives and Bowling For Soup!
Our weekly music News Report has evolved into the Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the third issue now for free!
Volume three includes an update from cover star Chris Shiflett, and a review of ‘Race the Night’ from Ash.
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Don Broco, Lonely The Brave, Dream Wife, TesseracT, DragonForce, Staind, Duff McKagan, Skinny Lister, All Time Low, While She Sleeps, K.Flay, The Meffs, END and Mother Mother!
Plus new live announcements from British Lion, Fozzy, KITE THIEF, VV, The Amazons, The Coral, Twin Atlantic and Lonely The Brave.
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist with Major Moment, Tropic Gold and Future Static!
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
We start this week with the best new releases from the past week and up first is the latest single from Creeper.
This week saw the band share, ‘Teenage Sacrifice’, which you can check out above. The track comes ahead of the release of new album, ‘Sanguivore’, out on Friday 13th October.
Singer William ‘Von Ghould’ says: “The song introduces Mercy, the protagonist of the Sanguivore narrative. She’s deceptively innocent yet savagely violent, and her ability to make people fall under her spell is just one indication that Mercy is not all that she seems.”
Next up is the return of Lonely The Brave, the band this week sharing their brand new single, ‘The Lens’, which you can check out above.
The track will feature on newly announced upcoming album, ‘What We Do To Feel’, which will arrive on November 10th.
Guitarist Mark Trotter comments: “You can plan it out as much as you want, but you’re just along for the ride. That’s the most exciting part, seeing what it decided to be. With this album, we’re certainly more mature as people and as a band. That makes sense with everything that has happened since our last one.”
Singer Jack Bennett continues about the single, saying it “is a track about the way we value each other. It’s different for everyone and we each have a unique perspective towards the world.”
The Struts are next in our News Report as this week saw the band reveal details of their new album, ‘Pretty Vicious’, which will be out on November 3rd.
The band also shared a live visualiser for their recent track, ‘Too Good At Raising Hell’, which you can check out above.
“This record showcases each individual member’s strengths,” vocalist Luke Spiller says of their impending album. “It’s some of my favorite music, hands down, we’ve ever conjured up. It’s the record everyone’s been waiting for.”
This week also saw Daughtry debut their new single, ‘Artificial’, which you can check out above.
“‘Artificial’ is about the potential nightmare that AI could become and the idea that everything and everyone could eventually be replaced, essentially to perfection, and rendered obsolete,” Chris Daughtry explains. “However, the heart and soul of humanity and the ability to feel love, sadness, and compassion can never be replaced. While there are plenty of applications where AI can improve our lives and assist in many areas of creativity, I feel it’s imperative that we find a way to protect our musicians, actors, writers, and all creative outlets from being destroyed.”
Teenage Fanclub continue to gear up for the release of new album, ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ on September 22nd.
This week saw the band unveil their latest pre-release single, ‘Back To The Light’, which you can check out above.
The track was written by Norman Blake who says:
“I liked the idea of using being in a band as a metaphor for a personal relationship. They are not entirely dissimilar experiences. Like a few others on the album, this song has saxophone on it. The first time we’ve had that since Songs From Northern Britain. Stephen Black (Sweet Baboo) played those parts; we really like the richness it brings to the song. Steve will be with us when we head out on tour in October in Europe.”
Saint Agnes recently released their new album, ‘Bloodsuckers’ and this week the band shared a video for the track, ‘Follow You’, which you can check out above.
The band will be joining us this week on The Full Pelt Music Podcast!
The Pale White have debuted new single, ‘Validate Me’, which you can check out above.
The track will feature on new EP, ‘A New Breed’, which is will released on October 20th.
“Ever felt like the world is against you? It probably is… Look around! We’re surrounded by social pressures of what is perceived as ‘normal’” say The Pale White.
“”Validate Me” explores the mental tug of war between following your true purpose, and conforming to what society thinks you should be. It was born during the pandemic when we all lost our social identity and this heightened self-sabotaging paranoia was just as contagious.”
Finally for this section of our News Report we have a big hit single from Gen and the Degenerates who have revealed their latest single, ‘BIG HIT SINGLE’, which you can check out above!
Speaking on their new single, vocalist Genevieve Glynn-Reeves comments:
“If you want the highbrow answer, then BIG HIT SINGLE is about the experience of creating art under late capitalism. If you want the lowbrow –and slightly more honest– answer, then BIG HIT SINGLE is me trying to wind up our label.”
“They’d made quite a reasonable request…‘Please can you write more songs like the song that did well and stop experimenting with every genre under the sun in a completely chaotic and hedonistic manner?’ Unfortunately, I have issues with authority…My parents often regale me with the tale of my Year 4 parent’s evening, in which my teacher described me as ‘too wild, in the bohemian sense.’
“If Mrs Baker couldn’t get me to behave, then what chance did Marshall Records have? Luckily, they have a good sense of humour over at Marshall.”
Some festival news now in our News Report and whilst this year’s event was still in progress, Bloodstock organisers have confirmed the first wave of artists for the 2024 event.
Both Architects and Amon Amarth have been confirmed as headliners, whilst they’ll be joined by the likes of Malevolence, Clutch, Flogging Molly, Green Lung and more.
The city based version of Live At Leeds returns on October 14th and this week saw the event share a massive line-up of great acts.
You can catch the likes of Another Sky, Benefits, Big Special, Feet, Hamish Hawk, Hotwax, Jack Valero, Lynks, Pigs x7, Pip Blom, Shame, Snayx, The Mysterines and Wunderhorse.
Next in our News Report we focus on the best live announcements from the past week and we begin with Neck Deep.
The welsh band will be taking over Alexandra Palace in London on March 28th for a huge headline show.
Sharing the news the band said, “It’s been a long time coming but we’re stoked to be finally headlining Ally Pally. We’ve always loved the venue, now it’s our turn for our biggest headline show. We’re expecting it to be the best Neck Deep show ever, & you wouldn’t wanna miss that would ya?”
Kerrang have team up with the Music Venue Trust for Conjurer to join the ‘United By Music Tour’ next month!
Support will come from Unpeople.
Conjurer’s Brady Deeprose says: “Conjurer simply would not exist without the UK’s extensive network of Grassroots Music Venues. We cut our teeth playing everywhere from Merthyr Tydfil to Barrow-In-Furness for years, and we were lucky to be able to do so. The threat that GMVs are under is an utter travesty, and something that we are so thankful to MVT for getting involved in – without this network, everyone from fans to bands suffers. Throughout my childhood, I would go to The Roadmender in Northampton, The Vault in Rugby (RIP), The Flapper in Birmingham, and Corporation in Sheffield to both play shows and see my favourite bands – that thriving scene inspired me to pick up a guitar and start a band. If we don’t protect it, we lose the next generation of musicians. It’s that simple.
“To come full circle, Kerrang! putting us forward for this tour is a real privilege, their support for not just us but the UK heavy scene in general, has been untouchable over the last few years. We hope that MVT continues to have success, and that the UK can continue to foster exceptional talent with a strong roster of grassroots venues to support it.”
Luke Morton, editor of Kerrang!, says “The UK heavy music scene is thriving right now, thanks in large part to the community and support of grassroots venues up and down the country. I’m so excited and proud for Kerrang! to partner with the Music Venue Trust for this very metal incarnation of the United By Music Tour, featuring the mighty Conjurer – a band I’ve seen cause absolute chaos in some of our best independent venues over the years. As fans of rock, metal and alternative music, it’s vital we all champion the homegrown, grassroots venues that are the lifeblood of our scene. Support your local venue and make sure you catch Conjurer tearing it to shreds!”
Mark Davyd, CEO and founder Music Venue Trust, says: “It’s great to be teaming up with Kerrang on The National Lottery’s United by Music Tour. The team at Kerrang! were so supportive to Grassroots Music Venues during the pandemic, and the heavy music scene is such an integral part of what makes live music in the UK so essential and vibrant.”
Vocalist Elin Allan comments – “When we were writing ‘The Tide’, I don’t think I realised how much this song was a cry for help. It’s such an energetic, in your face song and I was so angry at this point in my life that I honed in on a very cutthroat approach to life. I had just gone through a huge, very tough break up and was having one of the lowest points in my life and with time, now it’s finally released, I think I have accepted that anger and turned it into power.“
Bristol rock outfit Little Thief share their latest single ‘Geronimo’.
Vocalist and lyricist Charlie Fitzgerald states: “People do incredible things when up against it and true colours often show when everything falls apart. For me, it signifies sticking together through good times and bad.
We spent a few days in the basement of our place on Albany road in Bristol working together on a bunch of new tracks and Geronimo came from that batch. It was one of the first tunes where the music came first and the lyrics followed. I really enjoyed writing the words for this as they are a bit cheesy, fun and simple with a very repetitive nature. We had the demo banging around for ages and really enjoyed playing it live.”
Swear Blind – ‘Still’
Alt-Rock Nottingham natives Swear Blind share new single ‘Still’.
Drew Lawson says: “a certain global event gave us the time to finish a project we’ve been working on for many years and to continue our writing. It gave us a new focus in doing the things that we love doing, plus it gave us a good reason to hang out! We’ve been mates for years so that wasn’t an opportunity we wanted to miss.”
Nevrlands – ‘Chemicals’
NYC-based trio Nevrlands share a second track “Chemicals‘ from their forthcoming debut album, ‘Timeless’.
“‘Chemicals’ is about catching yourself in the heat of the moment,” shares Neverlands collectively. “About painting a portrait of passion and finding that distinction between love and lust in real-time. There’s a very fine line that can sometimes be blurry, or sometimes it’s crystal clear. Is this real? Or is it just another fugazi? ‘Chemicals’ is all about questioning whether or not that perfect chemical connection will last once the moment ends.”
Festival season is in full swing and rock fans once again descend on Upcote Farm in Cheltenham for 2000trees! A true music fans festival, this year there is an absolute smorgasbord of the best new and established acts to savour across three full days of relentless entertainment.
However, before the event proper begins though those with early entry have an additional evening of music on tap in the beautiful forest area. The ‘Forest Stage’ has always been a unique and special feature of this festival which is now on its fifteenth iteration.
Wednesday
The privilege of opening the festivities this year goes to Snayx who, despite playing whilst many are still pitching their tents, still attract an eager and excited crowd. The band are able to seize upon this excitement to whip the crowd up even further with their brand of punk rock. A benchmark is set for the weekend early here and thankfully the organisers have a bill curated to ensure that the quality never drops!
The other stage in operation today is the small ‘The Word’ stage which over the weekend will host various activities such as further bands, live podcasts, comedians and more. Over the next few hours we are able to catch delighted spots from B-Sydes, Masca, Polyanna and Gaz Brookfield.
Over on the ‘Forest Stage’ though, the handful of selected bands combine to deliver a highly memorable evening. Delaire the Liar are up next and are able to continue to build their growing reputation with another assured performance.
A real special moment follows as one of the most talented yet underappreciated bands of the last decade Press To MECO play their final show. Such a moment really deserved a bigger stage and longer setlist but those present are able to bathe in those glorious riffs one more time with an emotional ‘A Test of Our Resolve’ a highlight of the whole festival.
Next are a band just getting started. Saint Agnes are tipped as the future of rock music by some, and again on the evidence of their set tonight those people are very much correct! Debut album ‘Bloodsuckers’ can’t arrive soon enough; thankfully we only need to wait on July 21st!
The latest Tigercub album is already out and next up the band bring ‘The Perfume of Decay’ to life with a solid showing as the forest area begins to fill up in anticipation of the nights two headline acts.
Both Holding Absence and Bob Vylan will play two sets over the weekend but before gracing the main stage, they both thrill those packed into the woods! Holding Absence are first and they captivate the crowd with a cleverly selected mix of rarities and fan favourites. This band continues to grow and evolve and it’s scary how good they could be.
Bob Vylan also continue to elevate the game with their headline set tonight they bring carnage to the forest! A spectacular off the cuff collection of on point punk rock more than whets the appetite for their main stage appearance, even showing that they aren’t too far away from being able to headline the biggest stage next time they play the festival.
THURSDAY
Each night the now infamous silent disco takes over the site as the party continues into the early hours, but come Thursday morning the arrival of the rest of the attendees ensure even the first act of the day, Blush Puppy on the ‘Forest Stage’ get a good turnout. The duo perform a delightful run-through of adapted favourites which starts the first full day off perfectly.
With the outdoor stage, three tented stages and the ‘Forest Stage’ all rotating throughout each day an avid music fan can fill their boots with live music and literally catch non-stop music for nigh on sixteen hours a day if they wanted to. We don’t quite have that stamina but we give it a good go and are rewarded by great sets from Kite Thief, Beach Riot and Gaffa Tape Sandy.
Following that run we then head to first catch recent ‘Discover’ New Music Podcast guests CARSICK over on the ‘NEU Stage’. The group proceed to smash through their set to the delight of those present with the likes of ‘Anaconda Frank’ showing real bite.
Another act to impress early in the weekend are Lake Malice in ‘The Cave’. The group have been winning over all who see them this summer and their future appears to be very bright indeed.
Thank you @2000trees_festival that was incredible 🖤
You made our debut appearance a special one 🫶
Next malicious festival is @rdrfestival on 30th July. Link in bio for 🎫
Lambrini Girls, Graphic Nature and the official debut of new group Unpeople who have formed from the ashes of Press To MECO all follow and continue to hot run of great sets. Unpeople in particular are able to really tease what is to come and make a fantastic first impression.
The main stage soon literally takes centre stage as first Kid Kapichi and then Bob Vylan deliver two of the sets of the weekend. Kid Kapichi are effortless in their delivery of impassioned punk rock which sees an endless sea of crowd surfers on an inflatable burger! Bob Vylan then reinforce the message that their headline set sent last night, that the duo are as advertised – the most important band in the world!
We then head back to the two larger tented stages, firstly for Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun who preview their upcoming new album ‘Colour’. The record will arrive on July 28th and the band really do a good job of convincing those in attendance that despite the decade plus wait for a new album, the wait will be worth it. All the new material this evening sounds absolutely massive. Then in ‘The Axiom’, The Joy Formidable deliver a delightful little set that evidences the eclectic mix of rock music presented at 2000trees.
Soon enough it’s time for the final run of bands that will close out day one. Skindred are well established as a great live act and tonight they have the crowd at their whim. The Newport Helicopter needs no introduction either as the crowd make the most of the groups big finale.
Back in the big tent next for Eagles of Death Metal who give a festival friendly, crowd pleasing set including the likes of ‘I Only Want You’, ‘Complexity’, ‘Cherry Cola’ and ‘I Want You So Hard (Boy’s Bad News)’.
Finally it’s over to the returning Soft Play (the artists formerly known as Slaves) to close out the day. The duo pick up where they left off and play as if they’ve never been away. It’s great to have the band back and fans revel in the likes of ‘Cheer Up London’, ‘Feed the Mantaray’ and ‘The Hunter’.
Friday begins with an early run of Beauty School, RXPTRS, The St. Pierre Snake Invasion, BLACKGOLD and New Pagans all of whom play their rules well and make the most of their short sets.
After an overcast first couple of days, today is a scorcher and the heat is intense as LostAlone arrive on the stage. The band don’t let that phase them though as they pull out all the stops to get the crowd engaged. It’s mission accomplished by the time they deliver the double header of ‘The Final Call For Forever’ and ‘The Last Drop Of Forever’.
2000trees do very well to bring together the best new music from home and abroad and the next run of Militarie Gun, Zulu, Microwave and Kublai Khan TX shows the keen eye for upcoming talent that the organisers have.
It’s this mix of new with the established acts that perfectly balances out the line-up and Hell Is For Heroes are a great nostalgic party next on the main stage. The quality overall is again on show when you can then head immediately to the ‘NEU Stage’ for an excellently run set from As Everything Unfolds, before returning to the main stage for a very enjoyable Dinosaur Pile-Up show and then jumping straight to the always intense Cancer Bats in ‘The Cave’!
Bullet For My Valentine are the act who close out the night with a huge headline performance. Attracting one of, if not the biggest crowd of the weekend, the band are in confident mood as they showcase their headlining credentials. Older tracks such as ‘Scream Aim Fire’ and ‘Hearts Burst Into Flames’ naturally receive big reactions, but it’s telling newer tracks also are well received.
A surprise AxeWound reunion with Liam Cormier is another festival highlight before ‘Tears Don’t Fall’ and ‘Waking the Demon’ ensure that come the next morning everyone is talking about how great Bullet were tonight!
The festival has been a whirlwind as per usual for 2000trees and it’s a testament to the quality of line-up that to this point there hasn’t been a bad performance. Of course some ultimately standout more than others such as that headline set last night or Bob Vylan destroying the forest but the chilled out atmosphere amongst attendees is reflected by the respect the bands pay the crowd. The reciprocal ambience creates a synergy that elevates every aspect of this event.
SATURDAY
Come Saturday the crowd may be sapped from the previous days heat but over on the ‘Forest Stage’ Xtra Mile Recordings acts (and previous ‘Discover’ New Music Podcast guests) Hannah Rose Platt and Guise are serenading the early crowd with their beautiful music. They are both well received despite the heat being supplemented today by a lot of the wet stuff!
Xtra Mile Recordings has a great relationship and past with 2000trees and new Xtra Mile favourites (and double Full Pelt Podcast guests!) PET NEEDS attract a big crowd to ‘The Axiom’ next. This is no doubt due to some guerrilla advertising from their fans, but everyone that ventures into the tent leave hailing the band as one of the bands of the weekend.
Thank you @2000trees_festival for the most insane midday slot.
Thank you FRACTURED PARTY PEOPLE (official PET NEEDS fan group) for being the best street team in the world.
That concludes three months of touring across 11 countries.
One of the elements that makes the ‘Forest Stage’ so special are the sets from acts playing on the biggest stages which are often acoustic and unique. Next, Electric Six frontman Dick Valentine does a great job of distracting the audience from the deteriorating weather with a highly fun acoustic set.
After catching Dead Poet Society and Enola Gay strutting their stuff we are then able to catch Electric Six themselves who attract another big crowd to the main stage. The crowd lap up the likes of ‘Gay Bar’ and ‘Danger! High Voltage’ as you’d expect, and the band do their job with aplomb.
One Step Closer then cement their hype in ‘The Cave’ before Black Honey demonstrate why they are one of the best newer live acts in the country. Tracks from new album, ‘A Fistful of Peaches’ sound massive as the band achieve another of those more memorable sets of the weekend.
The reshuffled Dream State then show that they still have a big future ahead of them in ‘The Cave’ before Deaf Havana battle through a torrential downpour which decimates their crowd at the main stage. We brave the rain until the end before heading into the forest for a short but very fun set from Lynks.
Talking to people across the site, the opinion is unanimous that this has been a spectacular weekend. You feel as the weekend comes to a close that it can’t get any better, but then Hundred Reasons deliver perhaps the best set of the weekend. The band get the audience onboard from opening number ‘I’ll Find You’ and never lose them despite more heavy rain. One of the moments of the weekend comes when Enter Shikari man Rou Reynolds joins the band for a superb ‘Silver’.
Jamie Lenman then plays his latest masterpiece ‘The Atheist’ in full over in the forest before Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes come out of hibernation to finish the festival with a welcome career-spanning set.
Whilst the band may lack a certain volatility of their early days they don’t lack in swagger or controlled ferocity when required. The final run of ‘My Town’, ‘Devil Inside Me’, ‘Juggernaut’, ‘Lullaby’ and ‘I Hate You’ is the perfect way to bring an incredible weekend of music to a close.
2000trees has established itself at the heart of the summer as a trusted and respected event. From their humble beginnings to now fifteen events later, the festival lays on the infrastructure but the audience makes the event the special weekend that it is!
