Macmillan Fest 2016 - Photo by Tom Morley
Spread across seven stages and featuring an immense number of bands, Nottingham's Macmillan Festival was a dream for any fan of rock music. The festival has been growing year on year and what makes that more of an achievement is that with each year it grows, more money is raised for Macmillan Cancer Support.
The fact such a worthy cause is the soul of the festival is apparent from every band watched, with a reminder of the reason we are all here triumphantly echoed by every set of artists. It was encouraging to see that from early on each room was packed from an early stage. With the line up kicking off earlier than ever it could have been a concern, but the droves of fans quickly alleviated that.
Black Cats and Magpies live at Macmillan Fest - Photo by Tom Morley
Seasoned band The Five Hundred took to the main stage at half-past two and I can't recall ever having such a treat of heavy, bone crushing riffs in the early afternoon; and that is the beauty of this festival, every act a headliner in their own right playing all through the day.
The day isn't all about headbanging and mosh-pits and diversity is the key in making sure everyone's tastes are satisfied. This is exemplified none more so than with The Mocking Jays excellent set with a much lighter indie feel than many of the bands on show. Moving to Rock City basement, Liberty Lies blew the room away with their explosive and incredibly tight set, ending with an excellent cover of Rage Against The Machine's Testify. Clearly the band have worked together for many years as their coherence was evident for the crowd to see.
Black Peaks live at Macmillan Fest - Photo by Tom Morley
There really was something for everyone at Macmillan Fest, with the Rescue Rooms stage hosting Unknown Era. Well known in Nottingham, their calm, reggae driven melodies were a stark but very much welcomed contrast to much of the day’s rock-focused music. It was good vibes all round, something that was evident in all six of today’s venues.
There had been a buzz all day about Black Peaks and it implored me to visit the Rock City main stage to catch their set. It was the busiest I had seen it all day and it was easy to understand why - with absolute precision the band set the room alight. Vocalist Will Gardner hit every note and every member of the band followed suit and they had the crowd in a frenzy from start to finish.
Sikth live at Macmillan Fest - Photo by Tom Morley
There were plenty of distractions to take you away from the music at the festival with merchandise stalls, the chance to meet bands, and some mouth-watering fried chicken on offer. Back to the music, The Barnum Meserve graced our very own LeftLion Red Rooms stage and played a captivating set, with powerful vocals and pulsating piano-led rhythms.
Next on the main Rock City stage were InMe, showing why they have been so consistently produced and performed quality music over the years. The group played through their extensive back catalogue of hits fluently and with their fans singing along in tow.
Ending the day was non other than Metal heavyweights Sikth. It was immediately clear as they took to the Rock City stage that they were the most highly anticipated act of the day. A medley of mosh pits and madness, it was pure chaos in the best sense of the word possible. Macmillan Fest once again was a resounding success, packed from start to finish and clearly lining up to be a must on every metal aficionado's calendar.
Macmillan Fest was at various venues in Nottingham on Saturday 3 September 2016.
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