In lieu of physically taking place, End of the Road Festival is providing the public with live-streamed performances from names such as Katy J Pearson, Squid and Billy Nomates. As well as this, there will be Q&A’s and workshops to enjoy. The festivities kick off in the ‘garden of streaming’ at 6.30pm this evening and access is free!
End of the Road Festival has been taking place annually since 2006. Its focus is on showcasing independent rock and folk performances from both established names like Baxter Drury to burgeoning acts like Let’s Eat Grandma.
This year, alt-rock legends the Pixies were due to preform alongside King Krule, Aldous Harding and Little Simz. Luckily, these artists have agreed to carry over their 2020 bookings to 2021.
This evening viewers will hear some equally interesting acts playing live from the festivals beautiful home in Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorset.
Squid are a key name in the current brit post-punk revival scene. They once described their music to NME as ‘the Coronation Street theme tune played on flutes by angry children’, a comical response fitting with the bands frequent use of humour to present social issues in their music.
On their 2019 song The Cleaner, singer Ollie Judge recounts an epic 7 minute long tale about how thankless it is to be a cleaner. His voice is such a major part of the bands sound. It has all the undefinable gravitas of David Byrne but is uniquely erratic, sounding like a child having a tantrum when he hits the higher notes.
Their double single Sludge/Broadcaster was released on Warp Records back in June. This sees the band going in a slightly different direction. Broadcaster is ‘built around an arpeggiated synth sequence’ and lacks the incessant guitar and shouting vocals that feature on most of their songs. Sludge, however, is familiar in its rhythm and the frustrated emotions being vented as Judge shrieks ‘Scrape my teeth out on the floor// I don’t want any more’.
The song is a commentary on todays entertainment culture. About three minutes in there is the repetitive noise of what sounds like a dial-tone, and the lyrics ‘On my bed, one eye closed// I’m fixated on the endless glow… sink my teeth in TV shows’.
Squid’s set is sure to be electrifying given the band is at is best live. And for something a bit less intense, Katy J Pearson will be performing at 8.50. Her sound is an amalgamation of Southern American country music, Welsh folk and straight pop. On her most recent track, Fix Me Up, Pearson’s voice reminds one simultaneously of Dolly Parton and Sharon Van Etten.
Her 2019 single Tonight opens with a string arrangement and then picks up with a plucky drum beat, the perfect blend of pop and country. Like country singer Kasey Musgrave, Pearson blurs reinvents the genre with a modern spin.
Other names like The Golden Dregs and Modern Woman will be performing, and Best Fit will be doing a Q&A with Courtney Barnet. Have a look at the full lineup here.
