After getting to grips with the format of the festival I began to discover more things that were happening throughout the city, from the likes of a ‘Korea Rocks’ marathon in Kazimir Gardens to the Australian BBQ just around the corner. This is what made Liverpool Sound City different from other city based festivals such as Dot to Dot, due to the close proximity of the venues and the sheer amount of interesting people scattered everywhere you looked. At any point of the day there was a band to be seen somewhere whether that was in the Anglican Cathedral or a Loft somewhere there was simply masses of international talent scattered across the whole city.

Dune Rats @ Moon Museum

The eccentric Australian trio took to the stage of the moon museum after having been standing in the audience mingling with fellow band members they began their set with addressing the crowd and informing that it was the band’s first time in the UK and they had high intentions of what this small but hopeful crowd could offer! With releasing their lead single ‘ Funny Guy’ in April their tour was giving us an insight into what we’re toe expect from their self titled album out on June 1^st.  Whilst on stage it was pretty clear the trio were not out to impress anyone, they were just there to enjoy themselves quite frankly. After snapping 3 of their bass strings the band began to mumble to the crowd but in all of this it was hard to ignore their amounts of passion for their music. The whole ‘Rough around the edges’ vibe you get from bands like FIDLAR is exactly what to expect with these guys, defiantly ones to catch live if you get the chance.

Luke Sital-Singh @ Studio 2

Having heard the hype over Luke Sital-Singh I wanted to see what it was all about for myself ad he certainly didn’t disappoint! He is a pure abundance of talent and charm and this was certainly captured throughout his set as he played songs capturing spurts of pure angst mixed with genuine emotions al filtered through him and his guitar.  It wasn’t the typical lets get a mosh pit going sort of gig, it was much more emotive and genuinely positive experience to witness for me and I’m sure everyone else in the crowd. It’s not every day you hear a long song about a male killer whale, and actually happen to really enjoy it!

Hermitude @ Moon Museum

The Australian duo began their set by ordering the crowd to move up to the stage and then start dancing. The audience immediately took well to the pair on stage but I was intrigued as to what they could do with a table of kit and I for one certainly wasn’t disappointed. With an overall fun set, Hermitude certainly had every ounce of bass on their side as they layered and manipulated all kinds of music creating new twists on songs we all knew.

AS @ Mello Mello

It’s safe to say that AS didn’t have didn’t have a crowd to match most of the other bands playing in the festival and to me it felt like this affected their performance slightly. On a whole it was half hearted, as the small room was infact full off press and photographers, which is bound to put any band off. But the French trio did perform well even if they were put off by the lack of people before them. They played tracks mostly off their second album ‘Exile’ which features dreamy vocals that weren’t executed quite the same live but I do believe if in better circumstances, the set could have been a lot different.

September Girls@ EVAC

With a warm reception from the crowd, Dublin based band September Girls took to the stage and began to let everyone into their world of harmonised vocals and fuzzy dream pop. The 60’s drum patterns and muffled vocals were all very much intriguing but got slightly repetitive at times and its not like the industry is lacking this type of band at the moment. Nevertheless, the clear influences from bands like ‘Jesus and the Mary Chain’ were apparent throughout the set but this wasn’t a bad thing, not at all.  Not the most original of bands but still great to watch a great group of girls.

The Beaches @ EVAC

Alongside the likes of Haim and Best Coast, The Beaches are sort of the typical ‘saw toothed alt rock’ band implying all that teen rebellion and romantic defiance with a twist of a more grunge feel to them. They displayed an excellent mix of indie rock and ‘girl power’ as clichéd as that may sound. I’m certainly glad I went to see these guys as their bass riffs we’re exceptional live along with their stage presence.

Kodaline@ Anglican Cathedral

Kodaline had a lot riding on them in terms of this festival, being one of the headlining act and all and there wasn’t any disappointment in sight. The crowd seemed to love every minute as the majority of them had been queuing for a while to get into the Cathedral. The lyrics to each and every song seemed to be sung out by everyone whilst the powerful guitar riffs filled the church making the set more special for everyone who was lucky enough to attend.

Jagwa Ma @ Duke Street Garage

Embarking on their very first gig in Liverpool the Australian duo had a highly anticipated set on Saturday night that turned out to be highly exclusive! The intimate venue meant that if you didn’t turn up early you simply weren’t getting in or anywhere near the gig, no matter how important you were! Their album ‘Howlin’ set a perfect scene in the packed out garage for everyone in there. Being a band associated with the likes of Tame Impala and MGMT the overall ‘trippy’ vibes were perfectly executed, resulting in the audience dancing and rare atmosphere that you never want to leave. Even if it wasn’t one of the best live performances I’ve even witnessed, the vibe they created was remarkable.

 

On a whole Liverpool sound city was different to anything I’ve ever witnessed before… The amount of talent on offer was incredible and just the general vibe of the city was something I believe only Liverpool itself can offer. I certainly recommend attending next year if you get the chance.