Future Days takes the future of new music to Birmingham in a stellar showcase of some of the best up and comers. I was eagerly anticipating first band Piss and they more than delivered – performance art on stage; warning the audience that it may be an uncomfortable set as they tackle key themes like sexual assault and violence: it turns out they’re more than just their silly name; which they chose because it was an anti-band name – they’re a real statement piece, visionary and powerful. Every band coming on since has time to praise them – and you know you’ve just witnessed something special.
With just two songs on Apple music so far the Canadian band are powerful. They’re more than just a gig – they’re a band that hits you like a shock to the system, tackling systematic violence – when the mid-song backing tracks feature real voices stating a call to respond to sexual assault with violence; it’s met with cheers from the audience. The boundaries between artist and audience are pressed at every turn – it’s enough to leave a real impact. It feels like a mission statement that highlights not just how inclusive Future Days is as a fest – the only white male leads on the main stage are the headliners; Gurriers – but it also shows you how vital bands like Piss are in today’s sphere. The last time I saw a festival where every act praised one band was Ritual Union at the start of the year where Getdown Services were playing; and everyone is in complete harmony now about Piss: TTSFU and everyone who follows scold you if you turned up late and missed them. They’re essential: vocalist Taylor Zantingh addresses screams, howls and shrieks with spoken word passages that really strike a chord.
Punk has new champions. They’re rawer than Amyl and the Sniffers and Lambrini Girls, fitting more into the hardcore scene – but they could easily make the same explosion. Getdown Services for example are now playing support for Viagra Boys at Alexandra Palace. Piss have stops at Left of the Dial and the Great Escape in the new year – two tastemaker festivals under their belt is no small feat. It feels intense, raw and completely unmissable – powerful, emotional – the outpouring of emotions Zantingh pours into her set makes you almost feel like you’re witnessing theatre, especially during an unreleased track where much of her lyrics revolve around the heightened building of emotions and the unpacking of trauma by screaming them as loud as possible. Fans are offered a warning: if at any point it becomes too much, you can leave – and space should be made for those who want to. This is important: it’s easy to get overwhelmed in sets; especially for a band as vital as Piss. They’re a statement band: it’s not often at a festival the best act you see is the opening one, but they set the bar very high for the rest of Future Days. It’s possibly the most angry, devastating and powerful pieces of music I’ve ever seen. Believe the hype – Taylor Zantingh, Gavin Moya, Garretth Roberts and Tyler Paterson are here to stay.
The venue is a college, functionally, and it feels a bit like you’re at a high school dance; but it’s such a unique atmosphere with an impeccable stage set-up it’s hard not to admire how well Future Days have leaned into their theme – with it being in a college for tuning the next generation; this is all the next generation of music – hopefully on course to establish a more prominent scene in Birmingham that doesn’t always feel like it has the same attention as say, Manchester, Brighton or London. We are outside on a smaller stage for hometown heroes Monoxide Brothers – who go full in on electro-punk including a song about the London Underground – did we ever know we needed a club remix to “See it, say it, sort it?” We diiiid. Horses charges forward with agency – inspired by Ken’s quote in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie – “When I found out the patriarchy wasn’t about horses, I just lost interest anyway.”
Next up is TTSSFU on main stage who make the bold decision to come out barefoot onto a venue where drinks are under £6; and that shows you that lead singer Tasmin Stephens is learning to embrace the chaos and delve headfirst into the audience bringing them closer together. She has time for Forever, her self-confessed, happiest song that she’s ever written, and brings joy and laughter into the crowd with a wonderful and much needed respite after the heaviest nature of Piss. Her new EP Blown takes notes from The Cure, Wolf Alice and Sky Ferreira – and the influence is clear on stage with great backing vocals.
After TTSFU and Pip we have time for Man/Woman/Chainsaw; prolific tourers who can never say no to a gig. The British art punk six piece are chaos makers – Billy Ward, Emmie-Mae Avery, Vera Leppanen, Clio Harowod and Lola Waterworth make a real statement of intent with this well-choreographed act that only stands the test of time – new song Adam & Steve is a belter; “I found something to believe, all you had to do was reach, I’d be the Adam to your Steve; but now you’re going overseas,” and it finely harnesses the act into something magical and bittersweet. Like with Gurriers I’ve seen them five times and each time they crop up they find a way to delight and surprise me – Ode to Clio is as emotional as they come; and it’s fitting to end it on that note.
The smaller stage produced gold for me, in the form of Ollie Cook and Lobby, two consistently amazing acts (side note, how great was the afterparty where much of the acts stuck around for? Easily one of the most fun nights I’ve had partying long after the festival ended). Ollie Cook has echoes of Bob Dylan with a tight callback to folk that establishes himself as a statement piece. New band Lobby remind me a lot of The Heavy Heavy and have that 70s nostalgia down to a t, swirlingly good psychedelia and amazing harmonies that really gives a way for the past to be brought back to life. I’ll happily see them again – their fun, playful merch tees – “meet me in the lobby”, were impossible to say no to.
Normally at a festival like these there are at least a few duds. That is not the case – Future Days is one of the most expertly well curated and well crafted festivals that you’ve ever seen. Honeyglaze are on main stage and their pop rock flair captures the post university alternative treading water feeling with gusto – making a great joke about how everyone’s favourite movies are Spider-Man sequels despite Sister Act 3 etc being called out among the crowd. (my suggestion: Trainspotting; which probably went down a bit better than a Powell & Pressburger movie; as much as I love A Matter of Life and Death). Anouska Sokolow on lead vocals, guitar and synth shows why she’s the next big thing as much as anyone else here – leading her band through a series of playful lyrics that aren’t afraid to capture the audience’s imagination.
Following Honeyglaze you have Lynks, a masked frontperson with a lot of passion to inject into their live sets. The crowd is eager to mosh: after they point out how odd their supporting role was for John Grant earlier this year and the last time I saw them in a carpark in Selfridges takeover for a belter of a night, they’re off and running before the kick of the first song: a warm-up for Gurriers to come. Lynks brings on their dancers who are capable of throwing tennis balls into the crowd (TENNIS SONG, of course) and acknowledges that they’re better at home here full of people with mullets in bands; who are louder than their queer fans much to Lynks’ disappointment. But all are welcome here, and if you weren’t a believer in their unique style of hyperpop before, you are by the time confetti swirls over the audience. They even have time to try their hand at the drums in Rebound, and poke fun at the stereotype of the hottest time in your life being 25 – which gets cheers from the audience.
Like Man/Woman/Chainsaw it is my fifth time seeing Irish band Gurriers who always come onto Franki Valli and the Four Seasons’ Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, and we’re away, the audience is singing, in a good mood before they even come onto the stage. Because of course: the mosh comes thick and fast with the belting Erasure, Close Call and Dipping Out in quick succession. It can’t rival Rock Werchter’s chaotic Slope where everyone crowd-surfs but I do get in the air; and the crowd are more than welcoming to get people up on others’ shoulders. Sign of the Times is fantastic – a belter of a song – and Des Goblin is the penultimate Gurriers’ track lists on a wonderful note; about apathy and self-obsession in the face of impending destruction – amped up and warlike. Dan Hoff, Emmet White, Ben O’Neill, Mark MacCormark and Pierce Callaghan are intent on making a real firecracker of a show: a nice warm-up act for their forthcoming support run for the biblically good Turnstile. Everyone wants to get stuck in and the punctuating heavy energy that keeps the crowd moving is easy to like. Hoff is a frontman that most bands wish they could have in their band – fan favourite Dipping Out he delivers with passion and the crowd are joining in. It’s not just Can’t Take My Eyes Off You they love – and the vibes are good, full of free flowing energy throughout the night. Considering the band did a set at Cardiff’s Sŵn festival earlier in the day and had to get from South Wales to Birmingham before their headline show, it’s a real treat that they got things together so well – and credit for them for turning up with as much passion that they usually do and not leaving anything behind.
My favourite of the night is the memorable, earth-shattering Piss. They set out to create waves and do that from the very start – you’re witnessing a real star in the making. I can’t wait to see them again on Thursday/Friday at Left of the Dial festival – if it’s your first time at a Piss show, you’re not ready for what’s to come. I Might have just witnessed my show of the year.
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