OrangeFest 2014 at the Orange Tree - Photo by Melanie Siddall
Where can you find vintage clothing stalls, a tarot card reader, and live music all in the same place? At The Orange Tree for Orangefest, of course. And the price for all this excitement is almost the best part - it’s free.
The first act of the day to grace the stage was Pretending People Theatre who kicked the day off superbly with a few songs from their latest play Memory Lane. Following them was a small girl with a big voice named Anwyn Williams. Her talent shining through not only with her vocals but her acoustic guitar too made her impossible to ignore or even look away from.
We then had a change of pace with City of Kites who made sure everyone in the pub, even the families sitting at the back, were wide awake. However, with their sound ranging from post-hardcore to blues you would have been kicking yourself if you did manage to snooze through their set.
House of Thieves - Photo by Melanie Siddall
The Breakfast Club then graced the stage with their comedic songs about subjects such as the annoyance we all face on a daily basis with the tram conductors. Fortunately, the jokes were equally matched with catchy melodies that had everyone in the pub bopping their heads and with no frown in sight. Adding to the bopping heads of the crowd, the toe tapping began with the next band Three Girl Rhumba. Their dancey yet edgy style added to the fun atmosphere that was already starting to take over the place.
Changing it up with a more bluesy feel were the damn talented The Damn Heavy. The band were clearly having enormous amounts of fun stage and the crowd beginning to get off their seats and dance along. House of Thieves followed and kept the momentum and energy going as more and more of The Orange Tree crowd dancing throughout their set.
Moving to a more psychedelic feel Desert Mountain Tribe took over the stage giving the indie rockers time to relax. However, that rest was short-lived as Big Rhino sang their addictive choruses to a crowd that couldn’t help but sing along.
Deaf Bridges - Photo by Melanie Siddall
Deaf Bridges were the last act of the night, and boy did they finish it on a high. With their high-energy mix of what appeared to be most styles of rock you could think of, there wasn’t a single person sitting. This, however, wasn’t enough for the band, and they felt the need to come into the crowd themselves with their instruments to make sure everybody in the place was having one hell of a night. As suspected, the band was met with a very happy, and energetic crowd that couldn’t get enough.
The day could not have gone better, and with the festivities going on until the early hours of the morning, the energy coming from The Orange Tree was so exciting, I dare anyone to have walked past and not walked straight in. Their ultimate mission now is to make next year’s even bigger and better, if that’s possible.
OrangeFest 2014 was at The Orange Tree on Saturday 15 November 2014.
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