Forming one of the best line-ups seen this year, seven bands took to the stage to bless the Nottingham music scene, while raising money for a great cause…
Backyard Festival took place at Bodega last Saturday (20 January), and we went along to see if the event was in fact deserving of the hype. It turned out to be a day that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. Not only did the event showcase some of the best musical talent Nottingham has to offer, but it also raised over £2000 for MacMillan Cancer Support.
Festival organiser Louis Gately raised funds for an organisation close to his own heart, as he recently lost his own father to cancer. “I know all the bands had pushed and advertised it super hard so I have them to thank for spreading the word, but of course knowing we’d raised the money we had was truly indescribable, I felt all the work I’d put in had paid off in the best way possible which was wholly gratifying,”
Louis added: “In my opinion, it went exactly as well as I’d hoped, I think anyone who puts on a show wants it to do well and for everyone to have a good time, and it was most certainly a good time.”
Not only did Backyard put some of the best local talent in the same room, but it brought together friends, family, lovers, and strangers together for a day of great vibes, and even greater music. The impressive line up included SOAPHEAD, PASTE., Marvin’s Revenge, Sex Toy Vending Machine, BadHand, SKITZ WIZARDS and Fakers.
To kickstart the festival, post-punk BadHand got the crowd moving. If you weren’t wide-awake by this point, you certainly felt bright-eyed by the end of the opening set, particularly after their performance of recent single Birthday.
BadHand were followed by Soaphead, lead by frontman and festival organiser Louis Gately. The band shook the room with their much-loved track Play It!, and took a moment to raise a glass to Louis’ dad. The heart-touching moment gave rise to a coalition between emotion and release of spirit, be it by shouting lyrics, dancing, or jumping head first into a mosh pit.
Punk band Fakers were as entertaining as always. The ideal band to leave the house on a cold day with a cigarette in your lips and rock into the world. They were a tough act to follow, yet Sex Toy Vending Machine were up to the task. Perhaps a bit of an outlier genre-wise, the band still managed to put people in high spirits as they stomped their feet to their late eighties indie-rock tracks, even without their usual drummer.
Heating up the stage, Skitz Wizards brought blood, sweat and tears - not literally, thankfully. Their daring lyricism released inner anger - if there was ever a moment to shout about the state of society, this was it. What adrenaline.
One of Nottingham's growing music names, PASTE. (make sure to never forget the full stop or Dan Dibb will remind you) unleashed flames upon the venue. Mosh pits were in full-throttle as they performed tracks such as Drain, as well as unreleased material from their upcoming debut album. There is never a dull moment with these guys, be it the sarcastic jokes, the usual climbs or the insane music they fill the room with.
The tension grew throughout the evening, reaching boiling point as headliners Marvin’s Revenge took to the stage. The crowd certainly knew how to match their energy, goading the band into frenzied crowd-surfing. With their latest EP VR PORN under their belts, the band have really defined themselves artistically, and I have no doubt that these guys will go far. Louis Gately even returned to sing side-by-side with the band during Jack (Let Go Of The Door).
The crowd was left reeling after the final moments of Backyard Festival, with one audience member admitting “Backyard was amazing! I have been excitedly following it since it was first announced and I had a wonderful time - even better than I had hoped.
“You could tell everyone playing loves each other and truly cared about the event. It’s so lovely to see that Nottingham has a tight-knit music scene full of extremely talented and passionate young people; it felt really refreshing and certainly heartwarming to see so many different local bands all together in one place - I’ll have to try and get out to see some more local bands this year!”
Meanwhile, many others praised the DIY ethos at the centre of the event, as it was organised entirely by the members of the seven bands who performed “it showed a genuine love for each other's art and for a worthy cause.”
There is only one piece of advice I can offer to the organisers of Backyard Festival: let’s make it an annual thing.
Backyard Festival took place on 20 January 2024
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