Newark-on-Trent, seemingly quiet, but its an elaborate ruse. This year it was the host of TECH FEST, a completely unique festival in the fact that it actually has plumbed toilets and showers that cost nothing to use! Insane right? With two stages full of great bands and an after party over the two nights – this festival may be small, but by George is packs a THALL. Ogranised by Simon Garrod the festival played host to three of the biggest headliners in the Tech world! Vildhjarta, Monuments and the mighty Sikth. I’d love to say I saw every headliner but sadly Vildhjarta were invisible on stage due to a “malfunction with their fog machine” – my guess is they didn’t want to stare at us ugly Brits! However they played a monstrous set and it exceeded all my expectations!
This year was also meant to be the return of The Haarp Machine who sadly pulled out of the festival which sucked but were replaced by the one and only Jon Gomm – if you’ve never heard of him I command you to run to YouTube now.
I know it gets hot when you’re in the pit and you’re moshing about but TECH FEST seems to bring the heat when it comes to summer! Nobody could escape the heat. NOBODY. It didn’t matter where you were you were gonna’ sweat. There are many great things about TECH FEST, as I said previously PLUMBING!! Thats a big one. The friendliest stewards ever! And with the festival being pretty small, you can camp and bump into your favourite artists pretty much all the time! Another big one; the festival was split into two stages and a workshop/after party space – basically just big hangars with the ultimate built in reverb. The main two stages were in two hangars which were joined by another in the middle which was a bar/merch area. Everything you could ever need all within 25 feet of each other.
This being the third year of TECH FEST and my person first I have learnt two things: 1. This festival is going to make it and excel! 2. I am going to go every year.
With previous line ups hosting acts such as Monuments, TesseracT, Sylosis, Heart Of A Coward, Drewsif Stalin’s Musical Endeavors and Xerath. The festival has definitely made a mark on the scene and this year it has claimed its title as being one of the best upcoming festivals with infinite potential – subtle hint for Northlane there Simon! This year hosted many talented bands from around the globe, some playing for the first time in the UK and others making their return.
The four most impressive bands of the weekend were Noise Trail Immersion, who were just so brutal it was impossible to not come out with your organs switched round. Their song ‘We are sleeping’ was just one of the heaviest things of the whole weekend, just sheer relentless brutality. Next is the one and only Drewsif Stalin, on stage and during the final after party. He and Nikki Simmons were just brilliant, a great dynamic. They played my all time favourite cover of ‘ET’ by Katy Perry. Then who could forget the ever famous Martyr Defiled who played the best set I’ve ever seen them play. They played my three of their best tracks ‘616’, ‘Sineater’ and ‘Lvcifer’ – taken from their new album ‘NO HOPE. NO MORALITY.’. Finally on the Sunday, the main attraction for me, Modern day Babylon took to the stage. Giving it all their instrumental tech/djent beans and my god they did not disappoint. Seeing them play ‘Traveler’ live was insane, I was a little bit gutted they didnt play ‘Infinity’, but I did finally get to see their Skervesen 4AP in white with gold hardware – Mmmmm.
As festivals go, this is the most chilled out, fun and community feel festival I’ve ever been to. Couldn’t go wrong with it!
.
thank you!!