It’s been a bit quiet on my blog recently but that sure wasn’t because nothing was happening – on the contrary. May was a month of sunshine, hiking and music, and it all kicked off mid-month while the rain was still upon London with the Hanwell Hootie. This festival started in 2013 on occasion of unveiling a memorial plaque located by the art-deco Hanwell clock tower in the honour of Jim Marshall OBE. Nicknamed “The Father of Loud”, the Founder and Chairman of Marshall Amplification plc passed away in 2012.
At the time of inauguration, 13 bands played across three venues. By 2018, this figure had increased almost seven-fold, with 90 bands playing across 15 venues including pubs, outdoor stages and a church in the borough of Hanwell. On top of that, the Busking Bus gave festival-goers the possibility to chime in and express their musical talent. The Hootie’s impressive growth over the last years secured the festival a nomination for the 2016 and 2017 UK Festivals Awards in the categories of Medium Sized Festival and Best Metropolitan Festival.
I was very curious about the festival, especially since Hanwell doesn’t have a reputation as a great location for a night out. But, while persistent rain on festival day (12 May 2018) meant somewhat fewer crowds at the outdoor venues – namely Viaduct Meadow and Sandy Park –, the pubs and indoor locations were nonetheless bursting at the seams. Flocks of people holding their umbrellas up in one hand and a pint of beer in the other wandered the streets of Hanwell to vanish into pubs with steamed-up windows, in an effort to see bands from Access to Yur Mum, covering all sorts of genres ranging from dance to death metal. A couple of them really caught my attention – they were right up my alley so to say:
Of Empires
A real ‘one-of-a-kind’ life performance awaited us in the Grosvenor pub with four piece, Of Empires. Their rhythmic sound brought back memories of Pulp Fiction with many songs – including the most recent, 2018 releases “Waist Up in Gold” and “Gunslingers” – featuring the distinct drums and guitar reefs of surf rock. The Guardian described their music as “a bit of Brit pop, a bit Stones and a bit Monkeys”. Charismatic singer Jack Fletcher, spearheading the Brighton-based rock group, seemed in his own world for most of the gig and drew the crowd into an intense performance, which at some point saw the front man climbing onto the wall dividing an exit from the main venue during their track “If I were you”.
Morrissey and Marshall
With sounds that bring back memories of the Beatles or Simon and Garfunkel, and the 1970s look that goes with it, the London-based duo from Dublin performed in the unusual ambiance of the St. Mellitus Church in Hanwell. In the beautifully, blue and purple-lit cathedral, their harmony-based tunes magnified in intensity and effect. The band themselves describe their music as “folk ‘n’ roll”; however it would be too restrictive to pigeonhole all of their songs into this category. “Cold November Sunrise” is more rock than roll, while “Play On”, sounds like a true Britpop classic. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ “Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band”, the latter was part of the night’s repertoire and got people off the benches and onto the church floor, just like the 1999 Ocean Colour Scene hymn “Profit in Peace”.
