Review - Spectrum Festival 2014

Returning for its second year, Spectrum Festivalinvaded The Speakeasy at Queen’s Students’ Union for an extravaganza of local music. With a heroic eight acts in tow, all gearing up to adorn the one stage, it looked set to be a mammoth evening of music.

With the sun still splitting the clouds outside, Go Swim promptly took to the stage with the early bird punters still finding their way into the venue. Mixing elements of rock and retro synthpop the band dip in and out of danceable guitar jaunts with prickly rhythmic choruses imprinting their catchy hooks within your mind.

In their own brief outing, Hurdles don’t miss a beat. ‘Control’ has all the pop swagger of Phoenix’s dazzling ‘1901’, while new tune ‘France’ might be their best work to date. The song is dominated by a sunny guitar line which could soon be your new favourite summer festival frolic.

The addition of Steven Butler on guitar has given Affleck an extra layer to play with live. They put his talents to good use, helping to build up the dark and brooding sonic soundscapes which they roam through. James Pollock on drums is the keystone of the group; his dynamic beats a major part of their stand out off-kilter electro jam ‘Cat King Lightning’.

With songs about polo shirt romances and ‘ladettes’, The Late Twos are a band who sound like they've emerged from a Manchester suburb rather than Belfast. With rolled-up jeans and their shirts firmly done up to the top, the five piece bound into their breezy repertoire of rock party anthems. Frontman Matty Legge relishes being the centre of attention, sauntering around the stage like a baby faced Ian Brown but with more spirited dance moves.

Meanwhile, the New Ancestors are a far more mellow affair. Their time living in Glasgow seems to have given Solari and Cameron the impetus to write much more ambitious songs with vast choruses and bouncier drum fills. Latest single ‘Don’t Feel Sad’ begins a procession of sombre ballads. Glistening with ethereal spirit, the vocals beautifully intertwined throughout a further smattering of newer tracks. However it’s an old favourite, ‘Sisters and Brothers’ with which the band close their set.

It's been the guts of a year since Kasper Rosa last graced a Belfast stage, but in their comeback show, they prove they've lost none of the technical precision from which they built a sterling reputation. The moody lighting etches out a flock of ghostly silhouettes against the backdrop, the band poised and ready to do battle. They drift and ascend with an alluring sense of melodic drama, reaching heights of post-rock harmonic grandeur to make their own striking mark on the evening.

Then came the homecoming parade. With a roaring cheer from the crowd and a fist pump from vocalist Gerry Norman, Nottingham dwellers A Plastic Rose swiftly get down to business with opening blasts of old favourites 'Build From The Ground Up' and 'Boy Racer'.

'This Side Of Winter' is one of the more prominent sing-a-longs of the night but its pop sensibilities are soon overrun as Ian McHugh steps up to lead vocals to scream home the jacked-up power chorus of 'Foreign Soil'. The band plays their box fresh new single 'Autumn Eases You Into The Dark' with a renewed sense of infectious vitality. Its hasty riffs are not too distant from 'Hours' era Funeral for a Friend.

With t-shirts swirling in the air and the mosh pit at fever pitch, Norman jubilantly announces "We will always be a Belfast band!" as the opening chords of 'Kids Don't Behave Like This' are greeted with a rapturous ovation. A true modern Belfast anthem, outbreaks of crowd surfing and attempts at Irish dancing soon ensue as the crowd sing back one last song from a band the city has dearly missed.

Mojo Fury's first task is to draw the audience back to the stage with their game faces on. And the zany deep-bass jolly 'Terraform' has the desired effect. A plump following rapidly gathers to take in the bounding interlude 'Safe In The Arms'. It swiftly transcends from the wide-ranging hums of atmospheric wonder to the gilt-edge riffs of the crowd pleasing juggernaut 'Origami Bird'.

The band shifts tone half way through in favour of more keys-centric sticky numbers like the twinkly 'All in Awe'. Their jack-knife guitar jolts and pounding drum beats drive the rest of their performance until it all comes to a clattering finish with 'The Difference Between'. But before any of the dust has settled, the band shoots into a breakneck encore. A feisty cover of Nirvana's 'Territorial P...' which sees Mormeecha lurch back and forth as he wretches out the final few screams of a night which saw some explosive returns and a host of memorable moments.

Peter Cinnamond