Friday 16 May 2014

Bushstock 2014 - Preview


Come June and July there will be a noticeable slowdown in the output of Breaking More Waves because of 1 simple word; festivals. In the space of six weeks we’ll be hitting them hard at Field Day, Camden Crawl, Glastonbury, Blissfields, Festibelly and the one we’re previewing today; Bushstock.

Of all the events just listed Bushstock, which takes place on June 14th in Shepherd’s Bush, West London, is probably the most undemanding on the body and well behaved in terms of audience. It’s another one of those multi-venue wristband entry affairs, but it never overtaxes itself, providing just 4 main stages and 29 acts to choose from. 

Bushstock represents very good value, particularly if bought quickly after the on-sale period started, a super early bird ticket setting you back just £15, which is fantastic value for an afternoon and evening of live music (they are now up to £27.50).

As the event is run by Communion Music (founded by Founded by Ben Lovett (Mumford and Sons), Kevin Jones (Bear’s Den), and acclaimed producer Ian Grimble) it’s unsurprising to find that the festival has a strong folky bias, which is centred around the largest venue, St Stephen's Church. It’s probably also unsurprising to find that a large amount of ticket holders take their place in the pews at St Stephen's and stay there all day, with previous years finding headlining performances from the likes of Willy Mason and Daughter. However, for those like us who are prepared to go a little more off-piste Bushstock is not just all about folk acts and typically the other three venues (Bush Hall, The Defectors Weld Pub and new for 2014 - The Sindercombe Social) compliment the main venue with plenty of indie and even pop thrills. In fact two years ago we witnessed the then on the way up Bastille play to no more than about 40 people in the Defectors Weld pub whilst the majority of punters crammed their way into the church.

Here’s some video footage from last year’s event.



So with the line up now finalised, streaming below is a playlist of 8 acts that Breaking More Waves has circled as ‘to watch’. At this point with no stages or timings announced they may all eventually clash, but that’s always the risk with festivals of any sort. 

You can buy tickets for Bushstock by using this link here and then take a listen to half an hours worth of great music from the event below.

Bushstock 2014 - Picks From Breaking More Waves

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