Biffy Clyro

Scotland's brightest, boldest and most inventive rock export are a devilishly daring trio in every capacity. On their recent records, such as Only Revolutions and Opposites, they're smashed down preconceptions of stadium rock, bellowing ginormous choruses and shredding riffs with aplomb, with apocalyptic set design, fireworks, confetti cannons and flamethrowers. Simon Neil, Ben and James Johnston are also known for their dour Gaelic wit, as profane as it is acutely biting, and being a pretty fantastic bunch of guys – don't expect rock'n'roll arrogance of yore.
When it comes to exploring their music in a live arena (literally, nowadays), the three-piece are simply a cut above. Although there's only three of them, and occasionally some session musicians, they craft exquisite loudness, flicking through dynamic shifts like Pixies at their most eccentric, and toting axe licks to rival Sabbath, Maiden and other classic metal lords. These days – especially in festival sets – they tend to err towards more recent material (Puzzle onwards), blasting out anthems like “Saturday Superhouse”, “Bubbles”, “Living Is A Problem...”, “The Captain” and “Stingin' Belle (and the occasional acoustic interlude courtesy of Neil), but the band's earlier LPs are represented too, although much more rarely. Those with keen ears may glimpse their jagged, spiketacular raucousness in the form of “57” or “Glitter and Trauma”. Tape your faces to your skull, Biffy will try and melt them off from every angle.

As you see Becca Macintyre take to the stage you would be forgiven for assuming that Marmozets may be the next Paramore or No Doubt, but what comes from Miss Macintyre's mouth will blow you away. She is small in stature but has a voice, and more notably a scream, that would put many male metal vocalists to shame. The perfect balance of beauty and terror that could have you running for the hills is the best way to describe it. However Marmozets are more than just a talented vocalist - with guitarists Sam Macintyre, guitar and bass brothers Jack and Will Bottomley and drummer Josh Macintyre. Together they make one all-might, rowdy, Yorkshire noise-mob. I first saw them in Brighton at The Great Escape Festival in 2013, they weren't even the headliners and yet their raw energy was so powerful that they would have stolen the show had they been given a little longer. As headliners they are just as mad and energetic onstage as you would want them to be. They move around the stage like a band possessed and really know how to get the crowd moving. You'll be hard pushed to find a woman as young as Macintyre who can command a mosh pit with such ferocity and unleash a scream to match it. The Bingley quintet are one of the UK's fastest rising bands and they haven't even released their debut album yet. Scheduled for release in September of this year 'The Weird and Wonderful Marmozets' will showcase exactly that; how weird and wonderful Marmozets really are. With songs like 'Captivate You' and ''Move Shake, Hide' showing how diverse the band really are. Whilst it would be brilliant to see Marmozets grow and expand to bigger venues, because for all their hard work it would be richly deserved, a part of me wishes they would stay this size. In the small venues they currently play they seem totally in their element and really know how to work the crowd in a way that most bands fail to recreate in venues of any size. Whilst they do need some tightening up musically there is no denying that Marmozets are definitely a band on the rise and long may that rise continue.

Each member of the alternative rock band, Don Broco, is incredibly talented, and although this was something that of course I was aware of, seeing them perform live only reiterated and confirmed this for me. As the lights went down and I heard the feedback from the guitar echo through the monitor, everyone was screaming in anticipation as smoke filled the stage. The band ran out on stage and took their positions before immediately launching into You Wanna Know.
From the first chord, their energy was sky high, and the two guitarists were throwing themselves around the stage, running at each other, and dancing like mad whilst playing incredibly complex riffs. They had everyone singing along even without request, but when Rob Damiani, the lead singer, jumped up on one of the amps and shouted ‘everybody sing with me’ the sound doubled, as everyone in the auditorium joined in.
They were great at winning over the audience, and their energy was contagious. The show was over 2 hours long, and my friends and I didn’t stop singing and dancing for the entirety. It was a brilliant performance, and I’d definitely see them again if I get the chance.

Wavves is a band that dominated the majority of my high school years. The ones that mattered, anyway. I finally got to see them at Lollapalooza in 2013 and it was one of the greatest moments of my life.
Five years is a relatively short time for a band to have such enormous success, however Nathan Williams somehow made it work. Lo-fi production at first due to limited resources, then kept to retain the feel of Williams' angst-ridden, self-deprecating lyrics helped lead a revival of surf rock. Relatable to youth on both coasts (I myself hailing from New York,) Wavves quickly found a niche market.
"King of the Beach" is considered to be their first cohesive album and unlike most lo-fi artists that suddenly change sound when they get produced, Wavves only got better and knocked out one of the most relevant youth albums of the decade.
Wavves' set at Lollapalooza was anticipated by a huge crowd of youth dressed in their festival best and ready to lose their minds in the music. When the bass was tuned to the opening riff of "Linus Spacehead" before the set even started the crowd went wild, proving that Wavves' fans are attentive and ready for anything. The set was opened with the newly infamous "King of the Beach" and also contained hits such as "Bug" and "Green Eyes" along with tracks from the new album such as "Demon to Lean On" and the title track "Afraid of Heights."
The crowd was filled with an eclectic group of various objects being thrown around, moshing, and crowdsurfers eagerly egged on by the band and led to an unforgettable experience.

Nothing But Thieves was absolutely amazing the guitar and drum play was great, Conor's vocals were just out of this world. Yeah I definitely recommend it. I hope they'll be back in the Netherlands soon.