Dot To Dot 2015 - Photo by Shaun Gordon
First order of the day was to go to Rock City to collect our wristbands. At 2pm Talbot Street already had that festival atmosphere with street vendors, musicians and punters milling around, enjoying the fun around them.
The Gorgeous Chans were the first on my list of bands to see, and stepping into Rock City in the early afternoon was surreal and weird; you don't realise how dark that venue is until you walk in when it's still daylight outside. It was no matter, because the Gorgeous Chans brought the feeling of summer indoors, even if they couldn't quite manage to bring in the sunlight. Their upbeat and cheerful music got the Nottingham crowd dancing, and even their saxophone players couldn't be tamed as they danced across the stage, enjoying every minute of it.
April Towers at Dot To Dot 2015 - Photo by Shaun Gordon
After a quick break in the Rescue Rooms' courtyard, we were back at Rock City to see Rhodes, Amber Run and Hudson Taylor. The former started promptly, accompanied by his band, bringing his melancholic songs to the people of Nottingham. His song Breathe was a solo performance and my favourite of the set, as Rhodes sings openly and honestly about letting go but never giving up.
Amber Run were welcomed onto the stage as heroes; their home crowd obviously proud of the band’s recently released debut album. The boys seemed equally proud of their fans, with lead singer Joe Keogh telling us about their “love affair” with the city before heading straight into their hit single Spark. The audience in Rock City were utterly captivated, shouting the words back to Amber Run with such enthusiasm that it was easy to become overwhelmed.
Crosa Rosa at Dot To Dot 2015 - Photo by Shaun Gordon
Before it was time for Hudson Taylor we dashed back to the Rescue Rooms bar to see Josh Kemp play to a cheery crowd of punters. This guy brings a cheeky smile and his acoustic guitar to all his gigs, winning over the audience with charming tales of falling in love with strangers on public transport. He finished his set with the Hangover Song while members of the crowd threw his own merchandise at him, distributing his glow-in-the-dark wristbands with more efficiency than elegance. That's all part of the fun though, right?
Hudson Taylor were equally charming to see, the two brothers playing their hearts out on stage and chatting to the crowd with ease. Their song Don’t Tell Me, written about the referendum that Ireland had on gay marriage, was played with love as Ireland had voted ‘Yes’ to the convention just two days before. They finished the set with Battles, an infectious song that you can’t help but dance to.
Saint Raymond at 2015 - Photo by Shaun Gordon
The crowd were chanting for Saint Raymond, Dot To Dot's main headliner, to come on stage the second the clock chimed 10pm. He was the most anticipated artist the weekend and it was easy to see why; the room was electric. Callum didn’t need to instruct the audience on when to sing along; they already knew the words and they sang louder than he ever could. They even seemed to know the words to his new and unreleased tracks, overwhelming the singer who stood in front of them as he couldn’t have predicted that level of dedication to his music.
When Saint Raymond performed Young Blood, a song about “getting drunk and doing things you wouldn’t normally do”, a few girls surfed across the crowd to the front of the stage, only to be caught by members of security. It was a wild performance, ending with giant balloons of confetti bursting over the audience and people sitting on each other’s shoulders to catch a glimpse of Nottingham’s most popular musician.
Kagoule at Dot To Dot 2015 - Photo by Shaun Gordon
It was way past everybody's bed time by the time we saw Prides in the Rescue Rooms for one last Dot to Dot finale. The synth-pop trio looked as knackered as we were when they came on stage but the exhaustion seemed to melt away when they started to perform. They hit technical difficulties during their latest single Higher Love, so they quickly abandoned it for the next song on the set-list, getting everyone to dance to the anthemic beat and strong riffs of Out Of The Blue. The set ended swiftly with Messiah, with drummer Lewis Gardiner standing atop of his drum kit, and Prides left the crowd wanting more.
Dot To Dot was over before we knew it; we'd seen beautiful acoustic sets in Broadway and Rescue Rooms bar and fierce, powerful gigs in Rock City. The festival demonstrated the best of what Nottingham has got to offer and whilst other cities may boast of its cultural scene, nothing truly compares, does it?
Dot To Dot Festival took place at various venues in Nottingham on Sunday 24 May 2015.
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