End of the Road festival returned last weekend to Larmer Tree Gardens, gathering thousands in the Dorset fields to watch music, poetry, art, and ceremoniously kiss goodbye to summer. Charlotte Foulkes shares her thoughts.
With over a hundred acts (of vast genres) packed into 4 days it was full of excitement - making it the best seasonal farewell party one could ask for. I caught over 40 sets spanning folk, rock, punk, electronic, and soul, though I won’t bore you with all the details - just a few!
One thing End of the Road does well is keep you on your toes - whether it’s by secret sets and surprise shows, lineup changes, a winding woodland to explore, or a very unpredictable weather forecast. This was not a festival to linger around the campsite and pop in for the headliners, it required you to get fully immersed in the lifestyle and disconnect from the outside (the severe lack of phone signal helped that too!)
The first day of a festival is intended as a warm-up for the larger weekend days, yet even with just two stages open it was not a night to be underestimated. Plantoid kicked off the festival for us and with vim and gusto. They were energetic and the groovy percussion was leaving everyone with a spring in their step. Laetitia Sadier’s Source Ensemble warmed the Woods stage with her synthy explosions and paired perfectly with the low sun and a crisp pint of Laser Juice. Richard Dawson later captivated the audience of Guardian readers at the Woods stage with his experimental folk.
Alongside the cracking live music, my highlight of the night might have been Loud & Quiets’ Silent disco at the Folly tent - we most certainly follied. Their selections ranged from Charli XCX to Fontaines D.C. to Talking Heads and persuaded me to not take it easy on the first night like I was initially intending to.
Hello Mary kicked off my Friday at the Folly stage. This alt-rock three-piece from New York has had my attention for a while and this set did not disappoint! With songs that bargained between heavy and dreamy, the (very busy) crowd was transfixed. I interviewed them later on which you’ll be able to check out soon!
We were upset to hear of Mdou Moctar’s absence from the festival as they were high up on the watchlist. There were some other dropouts this weekend including the Sunday headliner Fever Ray, and militaire gun - but with a lineup so immense, there is bound to be a couple mishaps - and thankfully there was always something else great to see!
Nusantara Beat brought some neo-soul to the woods, while Clarissa Connelly played an intimate folk performance to an intent audience seated on hay bales surrounded by forest, in a stage that looked like a geometric harp. It was a beautiful way to start the Friday night. Lankum then headlined the Garden stage with some enchanting Irish folk who challenge tradition with experimental elements and distortion. Baxter Dury packed out the Big Top, his energetic stage presence connected with the crowd like no other, making me forget all about the pain of being on my feet all day.
Saturday started with Brown Horse on the Woods stage, they were notably impressed by the turnout given their early slot of 12pm. With a steel guitar and an accordion, their 70s country-inflected rock would not make you guess a Norwich origin.
Mark William Lewis later brought all the NTS-subscribing and World-Music (the label) loving individuals down to the Boat stage for some laidback Krule-style vocals and harmonica embellishments over a verby guitar.
After that we switched over to Lip Critic, who were nothing short of Death Grips but with two drummers. This New York group had been creating quite a buzz and it was evident in the volumes that came to see an intense show like that at 3pm.
Glaswegians Camera Obscura had everyone singing their 2000s hits including French Navy at the Garden stage, and with their first album out this year in over 11 years - they have impressively maintained their original sound (Tracyanne has even kept her extreme side-part after all these years!)
Jockstrap commanded the Woods stage like no other with their eclectic mix of Skye’s heavy electronic beats and Ellery’s acoustic guitar, violin and dulcet vocals. 50/50 sent the (usually quite chill) crowd into a frenzy! Slowdive, another band who made a big comeback recently, proved they’ve still got the 90s shoegaze touch playing hits from Souvlaki mixed in with their 2023 album everything is alive. It was unfortunate that their dreamy rock was paired with visuals that looked straight out of an iMac timeout screen. We then hit the silent disco at the Garden to close off the night to some bowie, LCD soundsystem, Pulp and Donna Summer.
EOTR was not a festival to linger around the campsite and pop in for the headliners, it required you to get fully immersed in the lifestyle and disconnect from the outside (the severe lack of phone signal helped that too!)
Sunday felt like it came all too soon but was still a jam-packed final day. While we were stressing over weather forecasts and amber storm alerts, we left the shelter of our tent to see Tara Clerkin’s Trio. They soothed our worries with her synthy soundscapes accompanied by occasional clarinet, accordion and laidback drums. The drummer even used leafy branches as he forgot his brushes which felt very ‘End-of-the-Road’.
The impressive variety of the lineup had us switching between genres constantly - from Tennessee’s egg-punkers Snooper to Japan’s dreamy folk artist Ichiko Aoba, then a Yo La Tengo secret set on the Piano stage - it was incredibly intimate and sweet, playing to a crowd of ~100 before they graced the main stage later that night. They even took requests from crowd members wearing YLT t-shirts! After that was Water From Your Eyes, a personal highlight, and one I'd been waiting to see for a while. This alt-rock duo blends so many different styles it would almost give you whiplash, but in a good way!!
Leeds’ English Teacher showed End of the Road just why they were about to win the Mercury Prize with long queues out of the Big Top to see their set. Swarms of Radio 6 dads flocked to them, and what I heard from standing in the entrance was brilliant - the band are incredibly in sync, a well deserved Mercury win for this lovely bunch!
Floating Points was the surprise Garden stage headliner and while it was a toss up between this and Yo La Tengo, we decided that his entrancing analog synth beats would be an energetic way to kick off the last night, and I believe we chose well. It was awe-inspiring watching him make all of these sounds live.
Cornelius was my dark horse of the weekend, having only heard a song or two before, we stumbled into the big top not expecting much - but as the last live act of the weekend we thought we should give it a fair go. Oyamada and his band were otherworldly, their Psych-infused-rock combined dissonant sounds with pleasing instruments and hypnotic visuals which had us all in a trance.
We shamelessly finished the festival off with some karaoke and then danced at the boat stage until far too late - simply not wanting it to end, grasping at final mixes and the last dregs of our pints. All in all what a brilliant weekend, thanks to EOTR for keeping us on our toes, bringing a motley of acts and activities to a field in Salisbury for us all to revel in. Thank you to Mother Nature for not unleashing the warned thunderstorms too.
Charlotte Foulkes
Images courtesy of EOTR's Facebook
Edited by Ross Williams
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