Review: Forwards Festival, the Downs – ‘A perfect weekend’

The Downs saw the inauguration of Forwards Festival over the weekend, a festival from the founders of Love Saves the Day. We had high hopes and they were exceeded.

Ishmael Ensemble started things off by repping Bristol on the main stage; their warm, experimental jazz-infused cinematic soundscapes featured plenty of sax, delay and crescendos to set the tone for the festival.

Following on, University of Bristol graduate Shygirl gave us something completely different to what came before, her whispery voice backed by bass, breaks and beats provided references to dance and urban music culture and brought the hype up a level, strings gave rise to the UK garage feel of Cleo.

Over at the second stage, Overmono gave the crowd what they wanted with a deep dive into modern UK techno, driving beats and subtle changes in synth textures brought the 3am ‘on the floor’ vibe into afternoon light, the crowd here were getting feverish for what was to come.

Charli XCX is not someone who I am familiar with, however her set was mightily impressive, a level of production was reached that had surpassed everything else so far. Lightning strikes and massive booms made way for her to explode onto the stage with a swagger and confidence capable of leading the largest of audiences.

Charli was joined on stage by excellent dancers and gave us a treat to finely executed routines. We had a tour through many of her best-known tracks such as I Don’t Care, Boys and 1999.

Charli XCX showed off her popstar power on the main stage. photo: Giulia Spadafora

She was provocative, energetic and exciting, and with enough of a rough edge that gives her the appeal to play at events such as this. The UK’s answer to Lady GaGa?

On stage two the crowd swelled in anticipation of the hugely talented Fred Again.

Responsible for co-writing many a chart hit with artists such as George Ezra, Clean Bandit, Rita Ora and Ed Sheeran, his talent knows no bounds. Fred’s phone-shot video montages gave us that sense of familiarity that has gained a growing worldwide fan base and we went straight into classics such as Kyle (I found you). Fred played drum and vocal samples on his midi pad with impeccable timing, you couldn’t tell he was playing it live if it wasn’t for his frenzied hand tapping visible on the screen.

His vocals, key playing, and synth manipulation came through on Jungle, Lights Out, Angie (I’ve Been Lost) and culminated with the dance anthem Marea. With the final minutes he managed to squeeze in a cheeky re-lick of the 90’s dance anthem Lovin Arms, it was tastefully done and kept the excitement up.

On the way back to the mainstage I stopped off at the Information Area where I caught the last half of Harvey Causon and band, a talented graduate of BIMM. I was pleasantly surprised with his vocals, eloquently weaving jazz, live drum breaks and electronic sounds together to produce a fusion of sounds that brought together a decent crowd to the grassy dancefloor. This man is certainly a talent and one to watch out for.

The main stage saw headliner Jamie XX dive straight in with a DJ set. He played a mixture of tracks loosely based around the house genre which made the ending feel like a peak hour club set. His set included lots of world sounds, varying breakbeats, chopped vocals and juddering basslines which got the crowd bouncing around and moving nicely.

There wasn’t the crowd interaction or live sound that many expect from The XX but it fitted in with the general feel of the first day which was more dance oriented. The set had lots of energy in it and made sure that everyone kept moving and finished on a high.

Jamie XX drew the crowd with his headline performance. photo: Guilia Spadafora

We were promised lots of rain, but nothing could deter the crowds for returning for a second day of musical indulgence on the Downs.

The Comet is Coming brought their ska-ish undulating rhythms to the main stage, we were given a treat from a hypnotic, heavily delayed sax. The crowd seemed to enjoy this set and there were noticeably more people around at this time compared to Saturday.

Self Esteem came next and you could see by the crowd that there were a lot of fans of this northern lass, she had clearly touched the hearts and minds of many with her provocative, thought provoking lyrics on life, relationships and sexual awkwardness.

Self Esteem and her dances bought all the good vibes on a Sunday. photo: Giula Spadafora

Accompanied by a troupe of dancers and disco-ish grooves we heard recent classics such as Prioritise Pleasure and I Do This All the Time, the crowd joined in for many vocals and its fair to say that this set provided a real audio-visual show to get the main stage filling up.

Kae Tempest shook things up on the second stage, their rap flows delivered emotional depth and intensity, the accompanying synth-tinged rhythms gave a slight 80s electro vibe to the music, the crowd were a bit slow to react, but the engaging drive of More Pressure got them reacting.

Back on the main stage Sleaford Mods gave us a sonic assault, beats and bass meets punk very DIY way. Brutally hard, smooth, and emotionally intelligent all at once. There was no doubting the passion displayed by the man, and this warmed up everyone for the next act Roisin Murphy.

Roisin is no stranger to performing, she brought her brand of hypnotic, hedonistic disco grooves to Bristol and lit up the stage with her many colourful costumes.  Each track had that steady, polished strut that grabbed everyone by the scruff of the neck and forced them to shuffle. Assimilation, a rework of Sing it Back and Murphy’s Law provided the endless grooves that ensured the queen of modern disco stayed on her throne, what a class act.

The headline of the day on the second stage was Caribou. A full live band provided hazy, filtered, feel-good house anthems they tweaked acid lines with vocal chops on faves such as Can’t Do Without You and Never Came Back. The lights and visuals on this were clearly gearing us up for the finale over on the main stage.

The Chemical Brothers gave a brilliant performance to end a perfect weekend – photo: Giulia Spadafora

The Chemical Brothers were easily the biggest draw of the whole weekend and they were exceptional. Their level of production, sound and iconic visuals provided the recipe for a trip into psychedelic realms. Its fair to say that the acid tweakin sound has not worn off and their brand of huge beats, hip hop references and electronic wizardry has them firmly as masters of the game.

Having never played a festival set in Bristol, we made up for lost time with a journey through their stone-cold classics, Go, Under the Influence, Keeping You High, Block Rockin Beats, to the vocal highs of Feel What I Feel, Swoon and the Q-tip collab of Don’t Hold Back.

This proved yet again that the Downs is a perfect site for a festival of this size; the layout, access, and provisions were well organised and enjoyed by everyone.

Main photo: Elijay

Read next:

• Review: Love Saves the Day, Ashton Court – ‘A festival of two halves’
• In photos: Bristol Zoo’s last day after 186 years
• 16 things to do in Bristol this week, September 5-11 2022

Listen to the latest Beristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast: